Win a Cricut:

Want to win a Cricut? Who doesn't!

Scrapbook Generation is giving everyone in this area the chance to win one of the cool new electronic die-cutting machines, which has a list price of $299. The competition started this past Saturday, and ends on Christmas Eve. We'll draw the lucky winner the day after Christmas. Here's how you earn Cricut tickets...

-- ONE TICKET for every 12x12 album (of any brand) you purchase

-- ONE TICKET for every Scrapbook Generation page kit you purchase

-- TWO TICKETS for every $25 in merchandise you purchase

-- TWO TICKETS for every $25 in gift certificates you purchase

-- THREE TICKETS for every class you attend in December

-- THREE TICKETS for every crop you attend in December

-- TEN TICKETS for enrolling in the Generation Page Kit Club or Card Kit Club (check out scrapbookgeneration.com for details on this great new club!)

Come join the fun! And if you want more of a sure thing, we'll be happy to order a Cricut for you, at 20% off the list price!

Holiday Gift Extravaganza:

Scrapbook Generation has a set of five classes that are grouped together this Saturday, Dec. 2. The classes, taught by five of our Design Team members, include Christmas Mini-Tin, Monogram Cards Set, Ornament Mini-Album, Christmas Gift Tags, and Accordion Album in a Tin. The package price is $35, and includes lunch, snacks, and drinks, plus some surprise bonus projects. To see the projects, check out our website, scrapbookgeneration.com

New Products:

As promised, we received a shipment of Urban Chic albums from All My Memories today. We have the 6x6 and 8x8 albums in all six colors (red, green, black, brown, pink, and blue), and the 12x12 in everything except brown. We also have a new supply of the All My Memories totes, and just received a limited supply of the 12x12 blank calendars from Karen Foster.

The gals in Marti Blattert's advent calendar class tonight really created some great projects. After I saw how cute they turned out, I kicked myself for working when I could have been back in the classroom area playing! Marti's enthusiasm for scrapbooking is contagious, and when you're around her, you can't help but feel good about yourself and about this hobby/addiction.

Thanks to all of you who attended our Day-After-Thanksgiving sale. If you want to read about what the day was like, check out Allison's blog (there's a link on this blog).

New goodies we are expecting this week or early next week: a new supply of the Plain Janes chipboard shapes by Deluxe Designs; three new paper collections and Christmas chipboard shapes by BasicGrey; new collections from BoBunny; a new supply of Urban Chic albums in all colors and sizes by All My Memories; three paper collections and Biggest Chipboard shapes by Fancy Pants; chipboard letters by Heidi Swapp; more pink and green totes by Making Memories; more albums in a bag and box by SEI.

Several new goodies have arrived just in time for holiday shopping, and Scrapbook Generation's big sale on Friday! Don't forget that the doors open at 7 a.m., and the first 100 customers get a free $9.99 page kit.

Here's what's new...

Chatterbox: Five styles of Doodle Genie, a great tool for drawing, shading, or like some of us plan to do, use as stitching templates. They arrived yesterday, and have been selling like crazy!

Karen Foster: The cute set of calendar papers for each month of the year that you've seen advertised in all the magazines.

Making Memories: We've added the stylish pink and green rolling totes and shoulder totes. (If you don't get here early enough on Friday to snag one of these, we'll be happy to provide rain checks for those of you who would like to place an order. We'll honor the 30% off deal we're offering all day Friday, and it will only take about a week to get the totes here. All we ask it that you pay half of the cost up front.)

Prima: An absolutely huge supply of flowers in tins, flowers in cans, flowers in boxes, ribbon sets, and embellishment sets containing matching buttons, ribbon, chipboard letters, and flowers. You'll want to have one of each, and they'll make great gifts!

Assorted brands: We've stocked up on storage items and totes for the holiday season. Especially cute..."Junk Bags" by Tim Holtz for Junkitz. We also have a new supply of those great storage containers by ArtBin.

Hope to see you Friday!

We can always tell that fall has arrived when the Friday night Midnight Madness crops at Scrapbook Generation start filling to capacity after the lazy days of summer! With 19 happy scrapbookers, we almost had a full house last night. It was good to see lots of familiar faces back again!

Today, I'm posting a photo of our latest arrivals, the set of papers and matching embellishments from SEI, and fall and Christmas groups from Flair. I've lost track of how many Christmas collections have already come and gone this season, but I'm definitely going with Flair for my Christmas pages. Their reds and greens and tans are a perfect match with my family room, where most of my Christmas pictures will be taken.

Quick updates on several items of interest for Scrapbook Generation customers...

-- Don't forget our Day-After-Thanksgiving sale. The doors will open at 7 a.m., and the first 100 customers will get a Scrapbook Generation page kit, a $9.99 value, FREE! Our all-day specials are 30% off any one item, no coupon needed, pre-cut ribbons and fibers are 4 for $1 (regularly 39 cents per yard), and all adhesives, buy one, get one at half price. Last year, we had a line all the way back to the parking lot, just like the "big guys!" Come join us for some great bargains.

-- The deadline to sign up for our March 2-4 retreat in Branson is Wednesday, Nov. 29. A non-refundable $50 deposit is due when you sign up. Call 417-886-0440, or stop by the store. To see what people at the last retreat had to say, read an earlier post.

-- Newsletters will be mailed Monday, so you should receive them before Thanksgiving. We have an absolutely awesome class schedule for December and January, with over 3o new classes.

-- There is a special Holiday Gift Extravaganza scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 2 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Five Scrapbook Generation Design Team members have joined forces to create five classes that will ease your holiday stress. In addition to the classes, lunch, holiday snacks, and drinks will be provided, plus a few holiday surprises. Enrollment is limited to 16 people, and the day-long package costs $35. The classes include Christmas Mini-Tin with Marti Blattert, Monogram Cards Set with Amy Estes, Ornament Mini-Album with Laura Parks, Christmas Gift Tags with Candy Conner, and Accordion Album in a Tin with Allison Davis. (For complete descriptions, check our website after Monday.)

-- We're having an unbelievable response to our "Remember Me" Page and Album Club. I've talked about the club in an earlier post, and it is also explained in detail in the newsletter going out Monday. It seems as if almost everyone we talk to about the club, and the concept of creating an album about yourself, wants to join the group! I think the idea of committing to spending some time capturing your own memories, without feeling rushed or pressured, appeals to us all. And actually, because of your suggestions, we plan to have a party in July of 2007, not just in January of 2008, so that we can all share our progress toward this worthy goal! (If you want to see pictures of the album and papers we'll be using, there is a link on the home page of our website, scrapbookgeneration.com).

Just returned home late last night from a lengthy stay in Little Rock. Sometime I'll write about what it was like to watch my aunt Marsue (my mother's twin) die from cancer on the tenth floor of a hospital while my cousin Monica (her daughter) was paralyzed from the neck down and being cared for on the first floor. My cousin was sticken first, and my aunt was diagnosed while there caring for her. It's an almost unbelievably sad situation.

At the end, neither was well enough to be able to visit the other. My other cousin, Leslie, who owns a cross stitch and framing business in Bolivar, has spent 53 days there, never leaving the hospital, running back and forth between her mother and her sister. My mother and I were there the past eight days, trying to help as much as we could.

While we were there, we met an incredible group of women who are Monica's friends from her church and her work for the Arkansas Baptist Convention. They have organized committees to take care of every need, down to lawn mowing, mail gathering, and "hospital sitting." Over the days we were there, they were so sweet and kind that I found myself wishing they were my friends as well. For days, they were with us every step of the way, holding us up both physically and spiritually. They were truly representative of the strength and power of Godly women.

While I was gone, Karin and Stacey and Allison did a great job keeping everything else going here at Scrapbook Generation. I'm actually not sure they need me at all!

To update you just a little, we did receive a great assortment of albums from Pioneer. There are several solid color albums with a photo opening on the cover, as well as new silk albums in great jewel tone colors.

There is also a new collection of papers and matching tags and letters from SEI. The papers are combinations of aqua, tan, black, rust and gray, and are perfect for boyish or manly scrapbook pages.

Just returned from Scrapbook Generation's weekend "safari" retreat in Eureka Springs. With 23 scrapbookers, it was a smaller retreat than our group of 47 at Branson about a month ago, but that didn't diminish the fun and fellowship. In addition to Missouri gals, the states of Illinois and Kansas were well-represented! We just need to pick up a few Arkansas scrapbookers!

The weather was beautiful, and the convention facility at Inn of the Ozarks in historic Eureka Springs was wonderful. We were in such a large room that the ladies each had an 8-foot table to work/play at! Our meals were served in a separate banquet room, and we also had a separate, spacious classroom. Karin had baked lots of goodies for snacks, and our Saturday night chocolate buffet continues to be a hit! We gave away over $1,250 of scrapbooking supplies as prizes, and just generally had a super time.

Here are some of the written comments we received...

"Really great experience. Lots of work space and prizes! Great snacks. I learned a lot and got some great ideas from others. I will definitely be back."

"What a wonderful weekend. I wouldn't change a thing. The classes were great."

"Accomodations and food were great. Loved the table space for each person. Thank you for a wonderful weekend."

"Good classes. Good work area. Good food. Good group. Great prizes. Great weekend overall."

"Food was delicious -- meals and snacks and drinks. Prizes were wonderful and generous. The store provided a nice variety of items for purchase. I will definitely recommend your retreats and be back myself."

"Thanks for a wonderful retreat! I love the location, room, motel, and weather! Big kudos for the 'pizza box' prizes! Great fun! Snacks and bag-of-treats are yummy."

"This was my first retreat and it was awesome."

"I had nothing but a good time! I also learned a lot."

"I thought the whole thing was great. I wish I could stay longer. You guys did a wonderful job. The prizes are awesome."

"I thought everything was very well done and organized. It's been a fun and enjoyable weekend. Your set-up was excellent. Thanks so much for your hard work, which is what really made it so great."

"I thought it was wonderful. I'm so glad I came!"

"It is wonderful to be able to have lunch and dinner together as a group away from our work space. It was great fun to get to know everyone! Good job, ladies! I had a ball!"

"I loved the retreat. The dips and brownies were a hit. The theme was carried out well with everything. The space was far and above what I expected."

"Accomodations and food were wonderful. Great gifts."

"I thought the retreat was very organized, and all the details were well thought out. The snacks were delicious. I'll definitely do it again."

"I will definitely plan to attend another one."

"There was plenty to eat. Yum, yum! The 'pizza boxes' were great."

"The organization of the retreat was wonderful. The workspace provided was great!"

"Wonderful job - wonderful time. Table space great - store available and classes are much more than I expected -- overall super!"

"Wonderful weekend! Well organized, lots of great food and inspiration!"

"Great location. Great facility. Awesome food and snacks. Fabulous traveling store. Excellent prizes."

As soon as the photos are processed, we'll try to post them both on this blog and on scrapbookgeneration.com.

Reminder: The deadline to sign up for Scrapbook Generation's spring retreats is November 29. The Branson retreat at Lodge of the Ozarks is the weekend of March 2, and the Eureka Springs retreat at Inn of the Ozarks is the weekend of March 9. We are limiting the enrollment at each site to 50 people, so that we can provide a quality experience, with a spacious cropping area for each person attending. Since we are limiting enrollment, that means that the retreats may fill up before the deadline, so please register early.

To register, stop by Scrapbook Generation (or call 417-886-0440) and pay a $50 non-refundable deposit. The total payment is due by the end of January.

Prices are $285 per person for one person in a hotel room, $245 per person for two in a hotel room, $235 per person for three in a hotel room, and $225 per person for four in a hotel room. Price includes all meals, snacks, and drinks, and lodging. Classes are optional and are a small additional fee.

"Remember Me" Page and Album Club

Scrapbook Generation is proud to announce the start of an exclusive club for those of us who scrapbook pages and pages about others, but seldom take the time to chronicle our own lives, thoughts, relationships, and dreams. Please read on to find out how you can take part...

Remember Me
Page and Album Club Information

Your scrapbooks are full of your kids, family, friends, and pets.
Now it's time to turn the attention to yourself!
Let's create an album just about you.

Let Scrapbook Generation do the planning and design work.
Once a month, you add special photos and deepest thoughts.
At the end of 2007, you'll have a completed album.
Just about you.

Scrapbook Generation's "Remember Me" Page and Album Club features K & Company's beautiful 20-page Hannah album, papers, and embellishments, with page designs and journaling topics created by Debbie Sanders, a Creating Keepsakes award-winning scrapbook designer. Here's how the club works.

-- You receive a kit each month with enough cardstock, papers, ribbon, and embellishments to make a one- or two-page layout (January, June, July, and December are one-page, the rest are two-page.) The kit will include a photo of a suggested layout, the page topic, and a variety of easy ways to journal this topic. This project is simple and doable, with easy suggestions for success. All you have to do is create one layout each month, and at the end of the year you'll have a beautiful scrapbook that highlights you!

-- For example, in February, the two-page spread will be about "things I love." You'll have the option to present your feelings in categories (family, movies, food, books, music, sounds, nature...etc.) or in random order.

-- To get started in style, the first page kit is free! In January, you will receive the Hannah album, a $29.99 value, plus the first page kit, all for just $29.99. After that, the monthly page kits are $12.99. (You must sign up for the entire year to participate in the club.) You can enroll in person or by phone (417-886-0440).

-- To participate, you must enroll and pay the first month's fee ($29.99) by December 15. After that, the $12.99 payments are automatically billed to your credit card on the first of each month, beginning February 1. You may either pick your kit up at Scrapbook Generation, or have it shipped to your home (shipping costs will apply.)

-- Each month after you complete your assignment, just tuck the pages in the album, and watch the memories grow. You won't have to wonder if anyone will "Remember Me." You'll have created a priceless gift for those who know you, and for future generations.

-- In January of 2008, we'll host a get-together at Scrapbook Generation so that all of us can share what we have created.

"Not only am I going to complete an album about myself, I'm going to encourage my mother to enroll in the club and work on an album about herself." -- Debbie Sanders, "Remember Me" designer

-- PS. Still having trouble loading pics on blogger. For a photo of the album, papers, and some of the embellishments, please see our website, scrapbookgeneration.com.