Sounds like we're in for some nasty/nice weather, depending on your viewpoint! When I was still teaching, snow days were like little gifts from heaven. Now, they're a pain in the you-know-where!

Anyway, we still plan on having a huge weekend here at Scrapbook Generation. Our free love mini-album class on Saturday has tons of people signed up for the five sessions, but we can always fit in a few more!

And don't forget our fourth annual Super Bowl Sale this Sunday. Everything in the store will be 20% off! Stop by from noon until 6 p.m. and shop all you want. We'll also have several door prizes you can register to win!

Just wanted to let everyone know that the photos of Scrapbook Generation's class projects for February are posted at scrapbookgeneration.com. We have some great classes coming up!

The next couple of days, I'll be working on designing the free class for Saturday -- the 6-page love mini-album. We'll be using glitter, but I'm also adding in that great new product -- glimmer mist -- that everyone is falling in love with! If you want to attend one of the five free sessions, just give us a call at 417-886-0440. We'll learn some fun stuff, and you'll leave with a great project that could even be given as a special Valentine!

Because a group of four switched to the March 7-9 retreat, we now have four open spots in the March 14-16 retreat in Branson. If you want to grab any or all of these spots, call us at 417-886-0440!

BasicGrey has arrived at Scrapbook Generation! We have both the Two Scoops and the Infuse collections, including papers, rub-ons, clear stamps, chipboard letter sets, and chipboard mini-albums.

We also received a new shipment of Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels. Our first supply sold out quickly, and we now have 27 more colors! There is a swatch of the real color on the back of the bottle, but you can't see the beautiful swirly, marbled, metallic, shimmery colors until you shake the bottle and mix up the metallic particles with the rest of the liquid. Greatest product I've seen to instantly transform raw chipboard into something special!

We also have a supply of the Making Memories supply carousel, which has lots of openings to stack tools in, and also six drawers for smaller supplies, and sits on a swivel base. I got one for Christmas, and it's a super addition to my scrapbook table. Everything I need is within reach.

And a heads-up for Friday. We'll be getting more Doodlebug and Fancy Pants items, plus tons of Valentine's/love embellishments by Jolee's, Bo-Bunny, and other companies.

Wow! Saturday at Scrapbook Generation was like a party! We had over 50 people attending the Hall of Fame sketch sessions (at four different times!), people attending the Scrapbook 101 class, and just lots of shoppers! At times, there was almost a roar, and it's been fun to watch people get to know each other through the activities we have here on Saturdays.

Next Saturday (January 26), Allison will be teaching "show-me how" sessions, and the topic is journaling cards. This is a project she designed as part of her Scrapbooker of the Year entry, and it was so cute that I talked her into letting us convert it into a class. Having a distinctive page embellishment like this might even keep you from letting your journaling be an afterthought on your page. With the addition of die cuts, ribbon, and faux stitching (that looks remarkably like the real thing!), this journaling card can be a great addition to any page. The sessions are held at 10, 11, 1, 2, or 3, and the best part is that they are free. We provide everything you'll need!

Changing the subject, by the time I finished picking out more Glimmer Mist colors, I had almost 30! They should arrive Wednesday or Thursday. And I also forgot that the BasicGrey order coming in tomorrow also includes most of the Infuse collection.

A couple of quick things...

1 -- BasicGrey's "Two Scoops" collection will arrive mid-afternoon on Tuesday. In addition to that collection, there are papers, rub-ons, clear stamps, sticker letters, every set of chipboard letters that they make, plus some really cool shaped mini-albums.

2 -- Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels is the coolest new product I've seen in ages! I tried out the candy apple red, and it's gorgeous. Spritz, spritz, spritz, and my plain chipboard word became red with golden metallic highlights! On a sheet of grungeboard, the look was more marbled, and so pretty! The neat thing is that it seems as if every one of the zillion colors it comes in has a different story to tell. Someone at the crop last night used bubblegum pink on chipboard, and it was a beautiful pink with white/silvery highlights. So cool! As soon as I get off of here, I'll be ordering as many more of the colors as I can. We started off with 11, and that's just a drop in the bucket!

January continues to be a huge month for us at Scrapbook Generation, with more new goodies coming in almost every day! Here's a peek at the latest...

-- Tattered Angels: Glimmer Mist! This is a new, trendy product, and at least one of those bottles will be going home with me tonight! In the photo, the bottles look dark, but perhaps you can see a little metallic sediment at the bottom. When you shake the bottles, the liquid changes to a beautiful, bright, swirly, metallic color, and we have 11 different shades. This new product is acid-free, and as the name suggests, gives paper products a glimmer effect.

-- Flair: The "Keeping the Faith" collection of papers and stickers.

-- Creative Imaginations: five new travel groups (Florida was the one I couldn't think of a couple of days ago), plus four new general groups including stickers and chipboard letters.

Wednesday, for sure, Scrapbook Generation is getting 11 colors of Glimmer Mist, by Tattered Angels! Also, on Tuesday, travel collections for Ireland, Paris, Hawaii, Mexico, and someplace else I can't seem to think of right now, plus several general (and beautiful) collections by Creative Imaginations.

I have the greatest news to announce about Scrapbook Generation's two spring retreats in Branson! Many of you have heard me rave about the food at the retreat a friend and I attend at Osage Beach twice a year. My news is that we have been able to entice the caterer there to provide the food for both our retreats!

The caterer is out of this world! She fixes meals designed to match the theme of the retreat, and the food is so yummy, and is displayed and served in such a creative way, that you feel like you've just attended a fancy party. We always anxiously await each meal, and can't wait to see what she has come up with to fit the theme. And in addition to tasting so great, everything looks so cute that we always take pictures of the food!

We believe this final addition will make our retreats one of the best events in the country. From decor, to food, to prizes, I don't think anyone can beat us!

The March 14 retreat is sold-out, but if you want to have a super time scrapbooking for a whole weekend, and being pampered on top of that, consider registering for our March 7 retreat! Call us at 417-886-0440 to sign up.

I thought I would give you a heads-up on an exciting new tool: the Crop-A-Dile "Big Bite." This "souped-up" version of an already great tool includes what we've all wanted, a longer reach -- 6 inches! I've ordered 20, the suggested price is $39.99, and the expected ship date is March 28. As with many new items, they sell out quickly and then the manufacturer has a hard time filling re-orders. In anticipation of that, we'll be happy to take pre-orders from any of you who would like to have one of the Big Bites as soon as we get them.

Also, our distributor has let us know that they have an exclusive limited run of the EZ Pull ribbon purses in RED! We've ordered 12, and if you want to pre-order, you can. They are supposed to ship to us at the end of January.

Another product you can pre-order with us is the white Making Memories supply carousel, priced at $39.99. (I got one for Christmas, and I love it! It twirls, has open sections for tools to stand up, and also has several drawers for tiny items.) We have 8 ordered, and we'll be getting them sometime, I just don't know when.

For any of the three items, give us a call, or stop by, to pre-order.

Finally, we are supposed to be getting in an order of a trendy new product you spritz on your papers and other materials, called "glimmer mist," by Tattered Angels. We have about 10 colors coming in, and I think they may be here on Wednesday. I'll let you know for sure on Monday.

I don't have time to stop today and post a picture of more new stuff because I'm trying to rearrange all of Scrapbook Generation's cardstock to add in our 78 new colors, about half of which arrived today! The only one I had a hard time deciding about choosing was "grasshopper," because I'm absolutely terrified of them (I know that's irrational) and I wasn't sure if I wanted to sell cardstock that had a bad association for me! Anyway, when it arrived it's actually a pretty cool color. I just don't plan on using it myself! The most interesting color name is pauly-poo, which is a neat shade of blue. From now on, in addition to 240 colorful shades, we'll also have five different shades and textures of white, and five different shades and textures of black!

We did receive all of our Timeless Touches stitching templates order today, including multi-tool paper piercers and cork boards. For a brief time, at least, we have pretty much all the templates in stock!

Another surprise arrival today was the "Keep the Faith" religious collection by Flair: 14 papers and 4 sets of stickers. Very nice.

It took me 12 photos to show most of the new stuff that arrived at Scrapbook Generation today. There's more, but you have to drop in and see the rest for yourself!

Here are the highlights:

-- Crate Paper...over 50 gorgeous papers, and most of the groups have rub-ons or die cuts;

-- Tim Holtz grungeboard...a small supply because that's all that was available, but once you see it, you'll want to try it out;

-- Reminisce...a new Genuine Boy collection with papers, stickers, and rub-ons; and a French Kitchen red, black, and white group with the same items; plus the coolest, glittery shaped papers (peppermint candy, Christmas ornament, and snowflake);

-- BoBunny...several new groups of papers and matching stickers, including Glee, Pep Rally, Clownin' Around, Primrose, and more;

-- Creative Imaginations...a black and cream vintage group with three die-cut papers;

-- Several companies...winter papers and embellishments.

In addition, we re-stocked almost all of the Fancy Pants 12x12 acrylic stamps and 12x12 chipboard sets, and all the great Autumn Leaves acrylic stamps sets, ones we've had and some awesome new ones. We have a new selection of idea books, included a couple of ones that are designed to help you get organized!

And that's not all. Over the next week or so, look for a huge shipment from BasicGrey, a re-stocking of all the Timeless Touches stitching templates, more BoBunny papers and flowers, and several collections from Creative Imaginations.

P.S. I'm on the fourth printing of our Sketches for Scrapbooking book in less than three weeks! The books are getting rave reviews!

It's time to update you with information about Scrapbook Generation's two spring retreats in Branson.

First, the March 14-16 retreat is sold out and has a pretty hefty waiting list.
Second, the March 7-9 retreat has less than 20 spots available.

Location for the retreats is the Best Western Branson Inn and Conference Center near Silver Dollar City. 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, just to name a few strong points. Then we add our own touches, like late-night snack buffets, homemade goodies, themed decorations and hand-crafted favors, and everyone goes home with a pizza box stuffed full of scrapbooking supplies.

We are fortunate to offer a variety of cutting edge classes by an excellent teaching staff which includes our Design Team members and Allison Davis, Creating Keepsakes Dream Team member!

All-inclusive prices for the retreats are $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.

For testimonials from past retreat attendees, and for photos of past retreats, check out our website, scrapbookgeneration.com.

To sign-up, pay a $50 non-refundable deposit. Call 417-886-0440 to register by phone, or stop by SG to pay. If you need more information, just call and we'll be happy to answer any questions.

It's been so busy around Scrapbook Generation this past week that it's time for tons of new stuff!

Should be arriving this week: a new faith and religion collection of 14 papers and stickers by Flair, over 50 beautifully textured papers by Crate Paper (the Samantha, Baby Bee, Crush, Zoom, Brunch, and Crate Avenue collections), plus die cuts and rub-ons to match.

Then there's BasicGrey! I'm never sure when their stuff will arrive, but we'll be getting shaped chipboard albums, rub-ons, acrylic stamps, chipboard letter sets, most of the Infuse collection, and all of the new Two Scoops collection!

As soon as these things arrive, I'll be sure to let you know as quickly as possible.

Just wanted to let you know that on Monday, Scrapbook Generation will receive a large assortment of winter and snow-themed papers and embellishments from companies including BoBunny, Reminisce, Paper Company, Creative Imaginations, Jolees, and more! There are regular papers, glitter papers, stickers, ribbons, brads, and other embellishments.

I'm also doing a third printing (already!) of our Sketches for Scrapbooking book, a Scrapbook Generation exclusive. It has 30 original sketches (all of the ones used for Saturday sketch sessions during 2007, plus 16 new ones Allison and I created just for the book.) It's been selling like crazy, and one customer has already come back for a second copy because she gave her original one to a friend! Several people have been back in since they bought their copy, and have told us how simple it has been to use the book to create easy, beautiful pages.

My next project? I'm working on a quote book!