Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had so much fun watching Drew play with his toys on Christmas day. Having a little one around certainly makes the holiday more joyous!

My husband and I tried to go on a little get-away the next day, but it wasn't to be. He ended up sick the first night, and I had to drive him back home, then play nurse for a couple of days, then bring him to the city to the urgent care place, then play nurse some more! Not exactly what we had planned. I know he's better now that he's started grading my nursing abilities and deducting points if I don't check on him hourly.

While I was gone, Scrapbook Generation got a new supply of the cool new Pull EZ ribbon purses, in pink, blue, and lavendar. They are a big hit, and it looks like shipment #3 won't be far off!

I also wanted to show you a picture of the beautiful new love and Valentine collections from My Minds Eye. Great papers, and die cuts to match!

Changing the subject, thank you so much for the huge response to our new "Remember Them" Club, which can best be described as a heritage book with some fun twists and a unique way of remembering family and other important people in your life. Those of you who are already signed up can pick up your albums and free first page kit (complete with beautiful glittery chipboard titles and accents) on New Year's Day! And for you procrastinators, just like the "Remember Me" Club, you may sign up at any time.

The other pressing issue at this time of the year is Scrapbook Generation's two spring retreats in Branson. As you know, the March 14 retreat is sold out, and we have limited spots in the March 7 retreat. We will be sending out confirmation letters within the next week, and will begin accepting deposits January 1. If you want to attend the March 7 retreat, I recommend calling us as quickly as possible. I'll explain more about both retreats in a post next week!

Just a quick message to let you know that Scrapbook Generation now has the two great love/Valentine collections by My Minds Eye, one of my personal favorite companies. I'm anxiously awaiting January/February when the company comes out with Wild Asparagus Four!

And believe it or not, I managed to get our new Sketches for Scrapbooking book printed and bound by my own self-imposed deadline! The book contains 30 original sketches by me and by my daughter, Allison Davis, who is currently on the Creating Keepsakes 10-person Dream Team.

The contents include all nine of the designs from the Basic Sketch Sessions in 2007, all five of the designs from the Hall of Fame Sketch Sessions in 2007, and 16 brand new, original sketches by the two of us. I'm a little biased, but I think the book is just what a busy scrapbooker needs -- a way to create stylish and coordinated pages with little stress, just lots of fun. Each sketch contains exact measurements of photos and papers, and since we've tested half of the sketches on our Saturday "regulars," I know that they are scrapbooker-friendly!

The books are priced at $12.99, a great value!

P.S. If you want to see a hilarious photo, check out Ali's blog by using the link on this page. Drew wasn't exactly feeling the Christmas spirit while he was sitting on Santa's lap! It's one of my favorite pics of him EVER! Who says we just have to scrapbook the good times!

Several new arrivals at Scrapbook Generation would make wonderful Christmas gifts! We just received a shipment of the 12x24 Scrap-n-Frames by K & Company. There are three frame styles: black, mahogany, and a medium brown wood with gold trim. I love these frames because the pages just fit so nicely inside, without any trimming or effort, and the 1/4" plastic "lip" allows room for dimensional items.

We have a huge assortment of 12x12 and 8x8 album kits by K & Company, SEI, and others, plus a new supply of the All My Memories totes.

The new Pull EZ ribbon purse is going quickly, and we already have more ordered. Making Memories new white supply carousel sold out in the first two hours, and we just ordered eight more which should arrive on Christmas Eve!

Late last week, when we thought we were getting 20 zillion feet of snow, I was worried that we would lose a Saturday's business right before Christmas. No small business needs that! As we all know, that prediction of snow turned out to be slightly off, and we ended up having a great day here at Scrapbook Generation. Actually, we had better attendance at our activities than usual! Go figure.

Design Team member Marti Blattert's sold-out Christmas layout class (pictured above) had perfect attendance, and over 50 people participated in our Hall of Fame sketch sessions. We had a great time laughing about the snow non-event, and sharpening our scrapbooking skills in the company of lots of great people.

New sketch book to be available soon...

The sketch sessions continue to be our most popular activities, and because of the many requests for a book of our sketches, I'm working on that right now! I hope to have a book of at least 30 sketches, all Debbie or Allison originals, ready for sale by Saturday! The book will include all of the sketches from sessions we're hosted in 2007, plus some bonus ones Ali and I have created just for the book.

New products on the way...

New items on the horizon include two beautiful Valentine/love collections by My Minds Eye, and the Ancestry.com collection by K & Company. Wednesday, we'll receive the new white supply carousel by Making Memories, and the EZ Pull ribbon purse, in three colors. We'll also have more of the Bazzill stitching templates that sold out so quickly.

New club starting...

For those of you interested in the new "Remember Them" album club that starts January 1, I've made the opening page, and it's on display here at the store, with the album used for the club. Remember Them will feature pages for all of your family members, even down to aunts and uncles and cousins. While facts will have a place in the book, we'll focus on special memories and go beyond journaling included in a typical heritage album. For more information about the club, see an earlier post below.

New year on the way...

We want to thank you so much for your continued support. As we approach 2008, I'm reminded of how blessed we are here to have made such wonderful friends through the growth of Scrapbook Generation. Now that we're in our fourth year, many of you feel like family, and those relationships mean so much to us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for shopping with us!

It seems as if we can't get enough of Christmas around here! Scrapbook Generation just received the Rhonna Farrer Christmas collection from Autumn Leaves. There are three glitter papers (the photo above doesn't do them justice) and four die-cut papers, plus matching plastic monograms and felt "ribbon." There are also three cute acrylic stamps sets just for Christmas.

And for those of you who missed out on the BasicGrey Figgy Pudding collection the first time around, we re-ordered since so many of you requested it. Those great double-sided papers arrived this week also.

We also have all of the colors of the Doodlebug glitter cardstock back in stock, except white.

We're still planning on hosting our Midnight Madness crop tonight, and we hope the forecast is correct about all the action happening after midnight! We'll also be here Saturday for our Hall of Fame sketch sessions, and we hope the weather cooperates, although we certainly understand if anyone needs to cancel. Definitely don't want anyone to risk an accident!

REMEMBER THEM CLUB...

Registration is now open for Scrapbook Generation's latest album club, "Remember Them." The album and some of the materials that will be used are shown in the photo above.

Following the success of the "Remember Me" Club, SG will begin its sequel, the "Remember Them" Club, on January 1. This album club will preserve the important relationships in your life, including parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, siblings, spouse, children, and grandchildren. Including non-family members such as ministers, teachers, neighbors, and friends is an option.

Four kits are one-page layouts, and the rest are two-page, for a total of 20 pages. The initial fee of $29.99 includes a K & Company album and the first month's FREE page kit. The "Remember Them" Club is a year-long commitment.

The best part is that you can register for the "Remember Them" Club now, but pay nothing until January 1! On that day, we'll bill you for $29.99, and have your album and free first page kit ready for you (if you register before Dec. 15 -- if you register after that date, we'll try to have the materials here, but can't guarantee they will arrive by January 1.)

We've already had a great response from many of the scrapbookers who were enrolled in the "Remember Me" Club, and we would love to have you join the group that is growing every day!

REMEMBER ME CLUB...

And for those of you who have wanted to join the "Remember Me" Club, but proscrastinated, it will still be available. You can join at any time!

The "Remember Me" Club would also make a great Christmas gift! There are two ways to present the album club as a gift.

Option One: Give the entire "Remember Me" Club as a unit. Just purchase the album and all 12 page kits for $170.

Option Two: Give the club over time. Present the album and free first page kit at Christmas, then the recipient will receive a page kit per month for the next 11 months. Pay for the entire year up front ($170), or pay the $29.99 album/membership fee now and then be billed $12.99 each month for 11 months.

I don't know how many of you will be getting out today, but Stacey and I are here at Scrapbook Generation. Earlier this morning, I listened to the weather and decided it was too bad for us to venture out, but when I got up a little later, everything at my house was dripping, so I decided it would be okay to drive up. Highway 60 was clear, and the traffic didn't seem that much different from a "normal" day.

Anyway, we'll be open our normal hours today. I'm working on several more kits, and hope to have at least six or seven new ones done by the weekend.

I've been at home the past couple of days, and Drew was with me to keep me company. We took a walk in the woods the first day (he wasn't a big fan of the crunchy leaves and the sloping hills, so I had to carry him on the way back). The next day he was looking outside at just the right time and saw five deer run through the yard. My favorite time was when he sat cuddled up on my lap to watch the first 30 minutes of Rudolph. That's about as good as life gets, in my book!

Hope this nasty winter weather passes us by today, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to drive home on some messy roads tonight. We've already had calls from people who've told us about ice where they are!

Cool new items at Scrapbook Generation this week: Shimmer alphabet sets by Making Memories, ready-to-glitter letters and shapes by Making Memories, velvet "Thickers" alphabet sets by American Crafts, and stitching templates and piercing pads by Bazzill. We also restocked all the great tropical/cruise papers and embellishments by Flair.

Arriving on Friday, over 20 new cruise stickers and embellishments and 11 new cruise papers, from a variety of companies. Also, over 25 styles of mini-albums from 7Gypsies, Creative Imaginations, and other companies. There are board books of every size, and shaped books, and just a great assortment of albums that can be transformed into wonderful personalized gifts, with very little time involved!

If you're stumped for that perfect Christmas gift, why not give the gift of memories, a gift that will be enjoyed for months, instead of forgotten after the flurry of activity on Christmas morning.

Scrapbook Generation is offering three-month or six-month gift subscriptions in three of our wildly popular clubs: Allison's Hall of Fame Page Kit Club ($14.99 per month), Generation Page Kit Club ($12.99 per month), and Generation Card Kit Club ($12.99 per month).

There are combination prices to help you save:
Generation Page Kit Club and Card Kit Club -- $22.99 per month
Generation Page Kit Club and Hall of Fame Page Kit Club -- $24.99 per month
Generation Card Kit club and Hall of Fame Page Kit Club -- $24.99 per month
All three clubs -- $35.99 per month

For the three-month or six-month "gift subscriptions," just multiply the monthly price by three or six to get a total price.

Provide us with the recipient's information, and we'll print a certificate describing the gift for you to present to them at Christmas. (Or if you want to start the gift off with our December kits, that is also an option.) Or perhaps it's a gift you would love to receive yourself. Feel free to send someone in, and we'll take care of everything for you!

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.

Thanks so much to all of you who stopped by Scrapbook Generation on Saturday for our celebration of Allison's accomplishments this year! We had a great time visiting with "old" Mansfield friends, "new" Springfield-area friends/customers, and family. Drew was also at the store all day long (I managed to get him to take a nap in the office on his inflatable Spiderman bed), and the day was so hectic that I forgot to take any digital pics to post on the blog, so I'll have to wait until I get my others processed to let you see how our day went.

We went through quite a large stack of Hall of Fame idea books, but we still have five or six left, and I'm sure that I'll be ordering more. It was so much fun to see Ali's pages in the book! Some people even wanted her autograph, which was definitely something new for her.

Product news:
-- 43 different styles and colors of the Queen & Company adhesive die-cut felt "ribbon," in individual packs, will arrive about 2pm Tuesday. This was one of the "wow" products we ordered at CHA in Chicago this summer.
-- KI Memories' "lace" cardstock will ship to us sometime the end of this week, and we ordered all styles and all colors. Another of the "wow" products from CHA!

We've started moving things around, and we love the new Doodlebug wall at Scrapbook Generation! Doodlebug stuff has always been cute, but when they started "sugar-coating" everything, it's beyond cute! We have all 12 colors of glitter cardstock, glitter brads, and glitter, and most of the colors of the glitter chipboard letters.

Today, we also received over 30 new sports papers from Scrappin' Sports. All the major sports are included, plus T-ball, Tae-Kwon-Do, hockey, swimming, running, and more!

Another new product that arrived today was Bo-Bunny's cute new chipboard word books. We have all six words: baby, friend, family, believe, party, and love.

Also, the Hall of Fame idea book finally arrived, as well as the new Ali Edwards' book "Life Artist."

And if your weekend isn't booked solid, please join us for "Allison Davis Day" on Saturday. We'll have some refreshments to snack on, lots of Hall of Fame books to sell, and Ali will be here all day to lead sketch sessions and meet with anyone who drops in!

On the horizon: Queen & Company die-cut adhesive felt "ribbon" will arrive early next week!

The rest of the sugar-coated stuff from Doodlebug will be arriving at Scrapbook Generation this week, and we'll have a complete supply of every color of the sugar-coated cardstock, the individual glitter vials, the sugar-coated chipboard letters, and the sugar-coated brads, plus the complete color selection of the new "hopscotch" alphabet sets. We'll also have all six colors of polka-dot Doodlebug 12x12 albums.

When that happens, we're going to do a little rearranging around here. All the Doodlebug products will now occupy the area to the left of the check-out counter. We thought that would make it easier for you to find all their matching items in one place!

The Scrapbook Generation kits will now occupy the back wall, which will give us more room to expand our selection of pre-cut kits. The best news is that in addition to designing her Hall of Fame Page Kit for club members, Allison will now be designing at least four kits per month for general sales!

Also arriving later this week: the cute BoBunny "word" albums! If you haven't seen these advertised, they are chipboard albums that spell out a word, like baby, love, etc. We've getting all six styles!

Both of the new Christmas collections by Daisy D's arrived at Scrapbook Generation yesterday! There are 36 papers, stickers, rub-ons, chipboard titles, and more.

Right now, we have the latest Christmas groups by BasicGrey, Doodlebug, Flair, and Daisy D's. Several others will be on the way over the next few weeks!

If you haven't already, please consider signing up for the free Hall of Fame sketch sessions we will be hosting on Saturday, Oct. 27 in conjunction with "Allison Davis Day" in honor of her selection for the 2007 Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame, and as one of the 10 finalists for Scrapbooker of the Year.

We have a great page made for you to recreate using the new "White Out" paper collection by We R Memory Keepers, and based on one of Ali's original pages. Your only expense is the cost of the paper, and you'll leave here with a super double-page spread, and a computer sketch you can use over and over. Although I usually lead the sketch sessions, Allison will be talking you through the design elements she used to create the page.

Even if you don't enroll in the sketch sessions, we hope you can drop by on the 27th, meet Allison, check out the Hall of Fame idea book, and have some snacks with us!

New arrivals at Scrapbook Generation:

- Flair Christmas line including 22 papers and four stickers sets.

- Basic Grey Figgy Pudding line including 18 papers, diecuts, monogram stickers and matching chipboard letters, clear stamps and rub-ons.

- Creative Imaginations cruise, fall and Thanksgiving papers with stickers, large chipboard shapes and rub-ons.

Wow! We already have Scrapbook Generation's spring retreat (March 14-16) in Branson filled! We also have already started a waiting list, and I encourage you to go ahead and sign up for that if you are at all interested. Knowing everyone's busy lives, it's a good bet that at least a few people will have to cancel once we get past the holidays.

You can't imagine how great that makes us feel, to have found the perfect spot in Branson for our retreats! Our first two retreat locations were good, but not perfect. After the first retreat (not enough cropping room) and the second one (not-so-great food), we were just about to despair of finding the right place for our group. But I think it was pretty much a unanimous verdict that the Branson Inn was just what we had been looking for.

We'll just host one retreat in the spring, but we've already got the place booked for two fall retreats, so we'll be back in Branson in 2008 for retreats the weekends of October 3-5 and 24-26 (for those of you who really like to plan ahead)!

Other news...
-- This was the first day that Ali has been back "at work" at SG since Drew was born! It's nice to have her here one day a week to help out, and I can't wait to hear about Drew's first day of daycare! He's at a place with four or five other two-year-olds, so I can only imagine how much fun he'll have...once he gets that sharing thing down pat.

-- Flair's two new Christmas groups arrived today, and they once again feature their traditional colors of reds, greens, creams, and golds.

-- Jan Whitney, one of our Saturday "regulars," is the winner of the scrapbooking gift basket we gave away at our third anniversary hoopla last weekend.

-- Some of you know the situation that has evolved over the past year with my two cousins. The latest news is that Monica (the older sister who became paralyzed from the neck down a little over a year ago) will finally be going home to North Little Rock after almost 10 months in the Craig Rehabilitation Center in Denver. Leslie (the younger sister who gave up her 20-year-old cross stitch and framing business in Bolivar to be by Monica's side the entire time) just left Denver this weekend and is awaiting Monica's arrival by air-evac transport. Leslie's husband Bob is already there, and was able to find a job in the framing department at Hobby Lobby. Leslie has had to learn to care for Monica and her needs, and I know that the first few days of being totally in charge, with no medical backup on hand, will be stressful for everyone. However, Monica has wonderful support from her church, Park Hill Baptist in NLR, and from her friends. Monica and Leslie have both maintained an almost unbelievably strong faith in God's plan for their lives, no matter how difficult the past year has been. Every time I start to get frustrated at problems in my own life, I have only to think of them and their cheerful spirits. What a sermon they are preaching with their lives!

A quick update on products and activities at Scrapbook Generation...

-- March 14 retreat: only three spots left, but we will keep a waiting list.

-- BasicGrey: Figgy Pudding collection will arrive Tuesday mid-afternoon.
-- Creative Imaginations: shipment of fall, sports, cruising, and more will arrive Tuesday mid-afternoon.
-- Queen & Company: self-adhesive felt cut-out "ribbon" in both 1.6" and 2.7" widths, in every single color and style, is arriving soon. You'll love these borders of flowers, scrolls, stars, snowmen, autumn leaves, hearts, and more.
-- Daisy D's: The Paisley Sugarplum and Snowflakes & Holly collections will arrive Thursday or Friday, including 36 papers and all the stickers, rub-ons, and chipboard letters to match!

It's really going to be Christmas in October next week around here, with holiday goodies arriving from Flair, BasicGrey, and Daisy D's!

In all the activity this week, I forgot to mention that today is Scrapbook Generation's third anniversary sale! Anyone who shops with us today will unwrap a chocolate and get a total purchase discount from 10-40%. We're also giving away a basket of scrapbook goodies with a value of over $100! Stop by and register for a chance to win!

I'm also posting a photo of the first batch of "sugar-coated" everything from Doodlebug. We received Halloween and Christmas papers and matching stickers and glitter rub-ons, plus glitter chipboard letters, glitter brads, and sets of tiny vials of yes, GLITTER!

Also in, a terrific assortment of new styles of acrylic stamps by Autumn Leaves, and chipboard, foam, and vinyl "Thickers" letters by American Crafts.

Wanted to let you know that after a flurry of activity this morning, there are only five spots left in Scrapbook Generation's March 14-16 retreat. We aren't taking deposits now, just names. If you want to get in on the action, call 417-886-0440 or stop by the store.

A quick update on new products currently at Scrapbook Generation, and also on new items which will be arriving over the next few days.

Here now...

-- K & Company's Wild Saffron collection, done in muted reds, yellows, and browns, and with everything imaginable to match, including papers, rub-ons, stickers, grand adhesions, adhesive ribbon, and even albums;

-- Scenic Route's new Halloween collection of matching papers;

-- Prima's new Sprites flowers;

-- Miscellaneous: puffy Halloween "ribbons" and wide grograin polka dot ribbons.

Arriving mid-afternoon Friday...

-- Doodlebug: most of the sugar-coated "stuff" order, but not all. Here's what we will be receiving, and I'm assuming the rest will be following shortly. Halloween and Christmas papers, glitter stickers, glitter rub-ons, and jewels; sugar-coated brads; some of the large sugar-coated chipboard letters; the glitter assortment, but not the individual glitters; some of the hopscotch letter stickers.

-- American Crafts: more of the Thickers chipboard letters and foam letters;

-- Autumn Leaves: 33 different acrylic stamp sets, including new Christmas sets by Rhonna Farrer.

Arriving early next week...

-- BasicGrey: pretty much the complete Figgy Pudding Christmas collection, including matching clear stamps;

-- Flair: two new Christmas collections of papers and stickers;

-- Creative Imaginations: a huge assortment of autumn/fall papers and stickers; sports papers and stickers, cruising collection, and more.