This has been an unusually long time for me to go without blogging! After all the mega-activities of October, it's been nice to slow down just a bit. I even managed to stay home a couple of days this week and spend some much-needed time cleaning and straightening up my scrap area. Then once I had everything put away where it belonged, I started getting it all out again! My friend Hazel and I are going to a new retreat this weekend, and I needed to gather up the supplies I want to take.

This will be a new retreat for us. The one we've been going to twice a year for probably at least three years, was at the Lake of the Ozarks. The lady who hosted it decided to retire and devote more time to her grandchildren. It was always an awesome getaway, and I've stolen all her good ideas and used them at Scrapbook Generation's retreats! The best thing, of course, is that we met our phenomenal caterer while at these retreats.

The new retreat is in Rogers, Arkansas, which is about two hours from Springfield, a little bit farther than we would have liked to travel. It's in a huge John Q. Hammons hotel, and I can already tell that the retreat organizers are dealing with some of the things you run into when you work with that kind of facility -- one of the worst of which is not being able to bring in your own snacks and drinks. Of course, the hotel requires you to buy their cans of pop for $1 or more each -- and who wants to do that! I'm not sure if they decorate, or have a theme, or anything like that. We leave Friday morning, and I'll soon find out!

While I'm gone, SG card-expert Stacey will be taking over the free cardmaking sessions on Saturday. We've designed a great card using a Christmas collection by Crate Paper. The card features a tag tucked in a pocket on the front! Your cost for the sessions will be less than $4, and you'll be able to make as many as six cards, plus take home a cool sketch! We've used the sketch for a Christmas card, but it could be a birthday card, a sympathy card, a thank you card, or just about any topic you would need. If you want to attend one of the four sessions and aren't signed up yet, just call 417-886-0440 and we'll find you a spot!

New at Scrapbook Generation...
-- more cute packs of flowers by Petaloo;
Arriving Friday...
-- about 20 more double-sided papers by KaiserCraft;
-- plenty of creamy browns and chestnut roans (I've been in the doghouse for letting us run out!).