I've been at home a couple of days working on kits, and several new fun things arrived at Scrapbook Generation while I was gone.

The Crush collection by Fancy Pants is gorgeous and includes double-sided papers, 12x12 felt shapes, die-cut sheets, and rub-ons (rub-ons will get here this afternoon). There is also a new 12x12 set of chipboard letters in a different font, and a Christmas/winter set of both felt and chipboard. Both are really cute.

There are single acrylic stamps by Autumn Leaves for $1 each! Also new styles of Queen & Company felt ribbons.

For Christmas lovers, we received just about every Jolee 3-D imaginable, and what you see in the photo above is just a small part of our Christmas goodies. (On the way, the Rhonna Farrer Christmas group with shaped papers and glitter papers, and you won't believe the shaped/glitter papers that Reminsce has created!)

The Tim Holtz distress crackle paints arrived just in time for our free seminars this Saturday. There's time to sign up if you haven't already! And for those of you always on the cutting edge, the Tim Holtz "grunge board" should be here soon!

I wanted to share a photo of the Anna Griffin ornament class I'll be teaching on Monday, Dec. 3. When I sat down yesterday afternoon to make the three ornaments, I was prepared to be miserable, because sometimes decifering the directions can make it seem like my head is going to explode. Imagine my surprise when I had fun!

Once you learn the folding technique, making these zillion-sided ornaments is really easy, and you feel rather clever! It's a technique you could use to decorate an entire tree! If you can, please join me at 11 a.m. next Monday.

Just arrived at Scrapbook Generation...Flair's new Valentine group of papers and stickers. We also have a huge collection of album kits by K & Company, SEI, and others, plus some stylish embellishment totes that would make great gifts.

Monday, we'll be getting some new styles of the Queen & Company adhesive felt ribbons, and a new supply of the Fancy Pants chipboard shapes in both 12x12 and 6x6 sizes, and more of the Harvest set of 12x12 felt shapes. A huge shipment of Autumn Leaves clear stamps is scheduled for Monday, and in addition to the great shape and letter sets we've already had, we'll have their new $1 single clear stamps!

Later this week, we'll be receiving the Crush collection and new 12x12 felt shapes from Fancy Pants! Also, more of the Doodlebug sugar-coated chipboard letters and brads, plus the distress crackle paint by Tim Holtz. For those of you with calendars on the list you're making for Christmas gifts, we'll have four versions of Heidi Swapps' great calendar kit in both the 12x12 and 9x9 sizes. You'll be able to choose between pink, natural, and jet black

On another subject...Allison's first on-line how-to article is available at creatingkeepsakes.com. Just look at the area at the left titled Web Hostess, then underneath that click on "Start to finish with Allison Davis." She takes you step by step through the process she used to create a fantastic Christmas layout. If you want to see the real page, it's on display here at Scrapbook Generation, and she will be teaching a modified version of the page for her December Hall of Fame Layout class.

Are you ready for a sale? Scrapbook Generation is gearing up for one of its two major sales of the year, our annual Day-After-Thanksgiving-Also-Known-As-Black-Friday-Sale.

In case you haven't heard, we'll be opening at 7 a.m. Friday, Nov. 23. It's always fun to see the line start forming outside in the dark -- makes us feel like the big guys, at least for one day! This year, the first 50 customers who make a purchase of at least $10 will receive a bottle of Prima flowers, a $6.99 value, FREE!

All-day sales include 30% off one item of your choice, 20% off all adhesives, and 10% off all Scrapbook Generation page kits (by the time Friday gets here, we'll have at least 20 kits to choose from, including 8-10 brand new ones, and including at least four designed by Allison).

We'll be spending most of the week unpacking all the great stuff that will be arriving for the sale, including over 20 varieties of album kits by K & Company, SEI, and others; stylish totes, supply cases, and embellishment organizers; and lots more.

If we don't see you before then, Karin and Stacey and Ali and I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Finally! I hate waiting to be able to share great news! I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to say just yet, but if you'll go to creatingkeepsakes.com, and click on the area which will get you to the new look for the magazine, then all you need to do is scroll down to the bottom of the page for a HUGE announcement concerning Allison Davis and nine other scrapbookers. Once again, Scrapbook Generation is SO lucky to have Ali as a part of both our home and store family!

PS. Since Ali has blogged already about the news, I guess it's okay for me to blab! She is one of the 10 Dream Team members for Creating Keepsakes! It's a brand new concept for the magazine, and Ali will have all kinds of new opportunities as she works and designs exclusively for them. Can you tell that I'm a proud mom?

Today has been a fun day at Scrapbook Generation! New products include the following...

-- Scenic Route: the Salem Halloween collection and the Roxbury Christmas collection. Both feature double-sided papers, scrap strips, die-cut sheets, and matching stickers.

-- We R Memory Keepers: both "White Out" collections (Explore and Promenade) including double-sided papers, chipboard letters, chipboard words, chipboard design elements, colored rub-ons, white rub-ons, and matching over-sized eyelets. The great thing about the papers is that most of them are divided into four separate 6x6 designs on the back, which would be super for mini-books and other projects!

It seems we're always waiting for the next greatest thing to arrive here at Scrapbook Generation, and I thought I would share with you the new products that are on the horizon!

-- Scenic Route: the "Salem" Halloween papers sold out so quickly that we have reordered them, plus the matching stickers and die-cut arrows and shapes; plus, we'll be getting the "Roxbury" Christmas collection of double-sided papers, stickers, and die-cut arrows and shapes! All this is supposed to arrive Thursday.

-- We R Memory Keepers: 24 papers, rub-ons, stickers, chipboard embellishments, and matching oversized eyelets, from the two "White Out" collections.This might be here Wednesday, but for sure by Thursday.

-- Fancy Pants: the new "Blush" collection of papers, die-cuts, and rub-ons, new 12x12 acrylic stamps, the 6x6 acrylic blocks for their oversized stamps, new 12x12 chipboard sets, new 12x12 felt shapes for winter and Valentines Day, plus a restocking of other items we've had before, including 12z12 and 6x6 acrylic stamps, the harvest felt shapes, 12x12 and 6x6 chipboard sets, and more! Not sure when this will arrive...possibly Friday, possibly the next week.

We did it! We've scheduled two retreats for March to accommodate all of you who want to attend a spring retreat hosted by Scrapbook Generation. Because we filled the first one quickly, and had a waiting list of almost 20 people, we will now be hosting two spring retreats, the weekends of March 7 and March 14! We will be returning to the Best Western Branson Inn and Conference Center near Silver Dollar City.

For many reasons, this is an ideal location. The crop room is generously sized, the sleeping rooms are in the same building, the classroom area is private and spacious, and the catering service is excellent, to name a few.

People who have already signed up for the March 14 retreat will now have the option of choosing between the two dates. If you are interested in attending one of the spring retreats in Branson, you may sign up at any time to reserve a spot.

Official registration will begin January 1, when Scrapbook Generation will begin accepting non-refundable $50 deposits from those who plan to attend. Unless other arrangements are made, deposits must be paid by January 25 in order to hold your reservation. Final payments will be due in February.

All-inclusive prices for the retreats at $225 per person for four in a hotel room, $235 per person for three in a room, $245 per person for two in a room, and $285 for a single room.

The KI Memories "lace" cardstock is gorgeous, and Scrapbook Generation has all 18 colors and patterns! It's the perfect product to stretch your creativity muscles.

I wanted to share with you the photos from Scrapbook Generation's second fall retreat, in Eureka Springs. We had a wonderful time, and made lots of new friends! As always, I'll let those who attended speak for us...just read their comments below.

-- "Overall, great retreat! Great prizes, great presentation."

-- "Good prizes, size of the classroom, size of the cropping space, and bottled water!"

-- "Your overall set-up and use of space was A-1. The store was up-to-date with current trends and furnished many of the basic needs just in case. Lunch, dinner, and snacks were excellent. Your prizes and gifts were outstanding. Retreat personnel were positive, polite, caring, helpful, and all-around great."

-- "Had a great time. Loved the classes. Met lots of friendly people! Great prizes. The teachers were great."

-- "The retreat is awesome. Great food. Nice prizes, loved the gift bag of food, and the booklet. Great classes. Very friendly. Will come back!"

-- "I have attended several retreats and this was the best by far! I can't wait to attend again - I'm on the waiting list for spring...hopefully I'll get in! Thank you for a wonderful weekend.!"

-- "Love the homemade snacks."

-- "Loved the food. Treat bags were fabulous. Prizes were fantastic! Crop room was really nice. Classes were terrific!"

-- "This was my first retreat and I have had a wonderful time meeting other scrappers and meeting the designers. Everything was really fabulous."

-- "Great food! Thank you for a great weekend."

-- "Everything was great again! Thanks so much!"

-- "I loved it all! The pizza boxes (full of prizes) were fun! The treat bags were fun, too! I felt very welcome and liked how we could work and do whatever, whenever."

-- "Well organized, great rooms, scrapbook room awesome, plenty of items to buy."

-- "Door prizes and food were great! Had a great time!"

-- "Well organized, fun prizes and games, food very good."

-- "The food was great. Snack mix great. Had a great time."

-- "Great check-in, well organized, great snacks provided throughout, great giveaways, thanks. Good cost for meals, activities, hotel. Fun contest and specifics on how to enter. Great ideas. Had a great time."

-- "Loved the food! Loved the whole weekend. One of the best retreats I've attended. Will be back next fall."

-- "This was my first Scrapbook Generation retreat and it won't be my last. I loved the classes, the on-site store, everything. I cannot wait until the spring retreat. Thank you for a relaxing creative escape."

Finally, the KI Memories Lace Cardstock has arrived! I was so excited to let everyone know that I didn't even wait to take a picture. There are 18 different papers - six styles in three different colors each.

We had a great time at Scrapbook Generation's second fall retreat this past weekend! This time, we took our traveling show a little south, to Eureka Springs. I'll post pictures as soon as I have a little more time.

Since the waiting list for our March 14 retreat in Branson is getting quite lengthy, we promised the ladies at this last retreat that we would check into opening up a second spring retreat in Branson. I'll try to get that in place the next few days, and I'll announce the second date as quickly as possible.

Karin and I are tired, but it's nice to know that our hard work is appreciated, and that those who attend want to do it all over again.

-- KI Memories "lace" cardstock should be here Tuesday or Wednesday!

Not much time today, because we're in the final stages of getting ready for fall retreat #2, but I did want to show you a couple of pictures.

The new Queen & Company felt is awesome, and there are over 40 colors and styles! I also wanted to show you our expanded kit selection, which includes four new kits designed by Allison Davis.