Happy August everyone! We are so excited to bring you a new Treat of the Month highlight to inspire you to create more gorgeous pages. This month we are featuring the beautiful gallery of Sasha Bliss also known as mom2peanuts in the digi-community. Sasha currently lives in Minnesota with her family, but is going to relocate to Bulgaria soon - the country where she was born. She has been scrapping since December 2008, and uses a Canon EOS Rebel XSi to take her gorgeous photos with. To create her stunning pages, Sasha uses Adobe Photoshop CS2.

As you browse through Sasha's gallery, you'll be drawn to how beautifully she creates simple and very clean designs on her pages. Her layouts usually have very few photos on them, but they are always accented perfectly with gorgeous clusters of elements. While the photos are pretty expressive on their own, Sasha makes it a point to include journaling on nearly every page to help tell the story of the special moments in her family's lives. Her gallery is an expansive collection of layouts about summer fun, playing at the park or enjoying simple things like an ice cream or cool new shades. Sasha captures all the little things in life that a mother experiences as she watches her children grow up. It is a sheer joy to view the pages she creates!

All of us at here at the Sweet Shoppe hope you enjoy learning more about Sasha this month as you read through our interview with her...

Sweet Shoppe Designs: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.

Sasha Bliss: I am a stay at home mom to three beautiful girls, ages 5, 4 and 1. I am Bulgarian but moved to the US 15 years ago when I attended college in Chicago. This is where I met my wonderful husband David who loves different cultures and is willing to put up with me.

SSD: What's your scrapping story? How did you begin?

SB: I started to seriously get into digital scraping when my 3rd daughter was born in 2008. I was a paper scrapper prior to that but with having 3 under 3 dealing with the mess was impossible. I still have a huge container of paper scrapping materials and enjoy making a paper scrap page every once in a while. But digital scraping is my greatest hobby now.

SSD: What's your favorite thing about digital scrapbooking?

SB: I love the creative process involved in it and capturing the story behind the photo. It's such a rewarding hobby because it gives you something tangible afterwards, something you can look at even after many years have passed.

SSD: Tell us about your scrapping environment. What's your workspace like, do you listen to music, watch tv?

SB: I usually scrap on my laptop at night after my girls have gone to bed. I usually have some kind of a TV show in the background. This last year my husband and I went through the whole Stargate and Battlestar Galactica Series while I was scrapping.

SSD: How would you describe your scrapbooking style? Do you match your photos to a particular kit you are using or does your choice of kit decide the photo or photos you may want to scrap with?

SB: Busy and clustered. I've tried to create a simple layout before and it doesn't work. There is always one more thing to add to the page. Sometimes I match the photos to the kit, but other times I look for a kit that suits a picture I really want to use. There are times that I have photos I really want to use with a particular kit, but I have to convert them to black and white or sepia to make them fit.

SSD: Your pages are filled with wonderful element clusters that always look so perfect along with your photos ñ do you have any secrets or tips you can share with new scrappers or those unsure on how to go about creating a page that is not too cluttered?

SB: do put a lot of elements on my page but I always try to leave free and open space. This way the eye of the viewer goes straight into the cluster while the open space leaves room for a visual break.

SSD: What's your all-time favorite layout? Why?

SB: This is hard because I have so many that I love. But if I have to pick one it's Joy. I love how bright and sunny the photos and the kit are. You can see the joy in my daughter's eyes, it makes me happy just looking at this page. This is one of those pages that came together so easily too, the photos and the kit really inspired me to create it.

SSD: Where do you find inspiration to create your layouts - is there a particular blog or magazine that you read? Or does a particular kit or photo help inspire you to create your pages? How do you deal with scrapper's block or do you ever experience this?

SB: It's usually either the photos or the kit that inspire me, most of the time it's a combination of both. I do experience scrappers block quite often, and to get over it I usually pay a visit to my favorite scrappers' galleries for inspiration. Other times, I leave the page alone for a time and come back to it after a break.

SSD: What do you like to do when you aren't scrapping? Do you have any other hobbies you like to do?

SB: I love nature, I am usually the one that pushes the family out the door to go swimming or hiking. I really enjoy reading although I haven't had much time for that lately. I also love cooking, movies and shopping. I really enjoy photography although I still have a lot to learn.

SSD: If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only bring one designer's products with you, whose would you choose and why?

SB: I have so many favorite designers but if I have to choose one it has to be Kristin Cronin-Barrow. Her designs are so beautiful and versatile and her style really matches mine.

SSD: Do you have a favorite snack you keep handy while you scrap?

SB: Yes, but it's not a healthy one. It's Blue Bunny Cherry/Chocolate ice cream. It's so good, it has real chocolate and cherry pieces in it. In the winter I usually sip on hot chocolate or tea while scrapping.

SSD: Just a for fun kind of question - what is something about you that would surprise people to know about you? Of course we won't tell.

SB: I am pretty ordinary but maybe the fact that I've lived in three countries and speak 4 languages fluently.

Sweet Shoppe Designs also asked Sasha to share some of her favorite creations with our visitors. It's fascinating to look through someone's gallery with our own eyes but seeing what an artist particularly enjoys from her own collection is always intriguing...

If you would like to see more of Sasha's gorgeous layouts, be sure to visit her DigiShopTalk Gallery where you'll find her amazing collection of inspiring pages. It's been such a pleasure to see the fabulous layouts our SugarBabes have created after spending some time looking through her gallery, and you'll be able to take a closer look at their beautiful pages each time you visit as they'll be featured throughout the month on our homepage!

Finally, creating a lift of a page from Sasha's gallery is the very first task in this month's challenge portfolio! Scrap along with our community as we create a meaningful monthly portfolio and earn points towards sweet rewards while you're doing it too! Thanks for sharing yourself and your beautiful work with us Sasha, it was such a treat getting to know one of our favorite scrappers better!