The gang at Scrapbook Generation hopes that you had a great Christmas! We certainly did! It was so much fun to watch Drew open his gifts, and to see Jackson taking in all the sights and sounds of Christmas. Stacey and Jeremy's children were added to the mix this year, and Kaitlin and Jaedan proved to be speedy gift-openers as well. I remember seeing a blur of gift wrap flying everywhere, and then it was all over!

We did have some interesting moments during the holidays. Karin left Scrapbook Generation at 5 pm on Christmas Eve to discover that her car had a flat. Not a good time to try and get help! As for me, I had treated myself to a new Nikon digital camera from Lawrence Photo (yes, I'm possibly the last person in the world to go digital!). However, when I opened the box about 1 pm on Christmas Day to shoot a few practice shots before the crowd arrived, there was nothing in the box! And I looked several times! I spent the rest of the day worried that they wouldn't believe me when I told them I had a box but no camera. I called the minute they opened on Friday and said "This is Debbie Sanders, and..." The lady immediately said "Oooohhhh, Debbie!" I knew then that I was okay! They had discovered the mistake earlier in the week, but had no way to track me down.

Anyway, I looked at the calendar after Christmas, and wondered where the time had gone. We have so many things coming up that I'm going to remind you about several activities.

-- Scrap-a-palooza. This mega-crop at Remington's on Saturday, Jan. 17 is filling up quickly! We're shooting for at least 150 people, and it's already over half full, just from our newsletter. The radio stations are just now starting to promote the event, and I think the rest of the spots will go quickly. Stacey and Allison will be there all day with a fully-stocked store for you to shop from, and they are also going to be doing free demos, free mini-classes, as well as a variety of paid layout, card, and mini-album classes. You can sign up for the mega-crop via our website, which has a link to the radio station's website, and you can sign up for the classes here at the store, or at the event. The $38 fee for the event includes lunch, dinner, snacks, and drinks. For more info, feel free to stop by or call.

-- Sketches For Scrapbooking, Volume Three. This third volume of our hugely popular sketches books will be available for purchase on Thursday, Jan. 1. Priced at $12.99 for 30 two-page sketches, it's a bargain, and such a time-saver when you want to create great pages without the stress of re-inventing the wheel!

-- Spring retreats. The sign-up for both the March 13 and March 20 weekend retreats in Branson has been tremendous! We'll be relaxing and scrapbooking in a Polynesian paradise! If you want to join us, there are spots available at both retreats. For more info, check our website, which shows photos and comments from our past retreats.

-- Girl Crazy and Boy Crazy page kit clubs. Both these new clubs start January 1, and you still have time to get in on the first kits, which I think are outstanding! The clubs are $14.99 per month, and will feature popular topics for both boys and girls. If you are in more than one of our page kit and card kit clubs, you qualify for combo pricing, which saves you $2.99 on each additional club after the first one!

-- Super-Saver Scrapbooking. Our second session is scheduled for this Saturday, Jan. 3. We'll have three 12x12 double-page layouts for you to recreate, using 6-7 sheets of cardstock, 3-4 sheets of patterned paper, 1 sheet of letter stickers, and a few embellishments like jewels, brads, buttons, and ribbon. When you register for this free class, just pre-pay $9 (plus tax) to cover the cost of your materials. Using our classic designs, you'll be able to create three photo-ready layouts in less than an hour and a half, all for under $10. The 10 am session is full, but there are openings in the 11:30, 1, and 2:30 sessions. We had about 50 people try this new concept out in December, and everyone seemed to love it! To sign up, just call or stop by.

-- Midnight Madness. We have a midnight crop scheduled for this Friday, and spots are available. Hope you can join us for an evening of scrapbooking! The fee is $10 and includes pizza, snacks, and drinks.

-- New products. The Valentine's group by My Mind's Eye arrived a few days ago, and the Valentine's group by Little Yellow Bicycle is shipping today. It should arrive late this week or early next week. We're also stocking up on winter/snow/snowmen papers and embellishments, which should arrive late this week or early next week.

-- Classes. We already have several of our January classes on display here at the store, and they should all be on the website in a few days. There are lots of cute winter layouts, and other fun projects!

Looks like the bad weather is over, for a while at least! We managed to hold five classes yesterday, three of them at the same time, to make up for what we missed Monday and Tuesday.

I wanted to alert you about some special things we received this week that will make great gifts. KI Memories created six different album kits, and packed each in a great matching tin, perfect for gift giving! The kits have $100 worth of goodies inside, and the selling price is not even close to that! Contents of the tin's 850 pieces include 40 12x12 papers, tons of regular stickers, epoxy stickers, glitter rub-ons, chipboard stickers, a 12x12 album, and more! There are six themes: two Christmas sets, plus winter, birthday, floral, and all-occasion. These are the nicest album sets I've seen, and since it was a special holiday offering by KI Memories, once these are gone, they're gone for good.

It sounds as if nasty weather is headed our way, and there's not much we can do about it. Snow is one thing, but ice is a totally different situation. We definitely want to consider everyone's safety when deciding about holding classes or cancelling classes. Before heading out to classes at Scrapbook Generation next week, please call ahead first. I don't want Allison and Stacey, or any of you, out on dangerous roads.

If we have to cancel any classes, we will reschedule for later in the week or early the next week. We won't schedule anything later than Monday, Dec. 22. If you can't make the rescheduled class, we'll be happy to provide a kit and complete instructions.

Karin is our go-to emergency gal, and if weather permits, she will always have the store open. However, if there is any messy stuff going on at all, we will not hold classes. Again, please call ahead about classes next week!

I don't usually go this long without letting you all know what's going on, but we've had problems with my "blogging computer" in the office that still aren't resolved. So no photos for now. New stuff the last few days includes the following...

-- Technique Tuesday: several awesome sets of acrylic stamps;
-- Three Bugs in a Rug: cute paper groups for boys, girls, Christmas, winter, and fall;
-- Cloud 9: a beautiful Christmas group of regular papers, specialty papers, and embellishments;
-- My Mind's Eye: the first Valentine collection to arrive!

Super-Saver Scrapbooking starts this Saturday!

Since this is a brand new concept for us, and for you, I wanted to give you a sneak peak of the THREE layouts we'll be making Saturday for only $9. For ALL THREE! You get 6 sheets of cardstock, two sheets of regular papers, two die-cut papers, a full sheet of letter stickers, plus jewels, buttons, and twine.

I've had lots of fun with this new class, kind of like putting a puzzle together backwards! My challenge was to make the cutest three layouts I could, with a specific limit of supplies, and also making sure the pages were simple enough to complete in less than an hour and a half. I'm really pleased with the way this first group has turned out! Even though the papers coordinate, I think I came up with three distinct looks, so you don't have just three layouts that look the same.

The 10 and 2:30 sessions are full, but there is still time to get registered for the 11:30 am or 1 pm sessions this Saturday. All you have to do is call or stop by, register, and pre-pay the $9 materials fee.

New Christmas items at Scrapbook Generation...

-- K & Company: both Christmas groups, Swell Noel, and another one that I can't remember the name! One group is pastel, and the other is more traditional Christmas colors. There are glitter papers, and great embellishments;

-- Making Memories: the FaLaLa Christmas collection of papers, die-cut papers, and embellishments, including the cutest glitter sticker letters I've ever seen, with huge flourishes on some of the letters;

-- Scenic Route: the Garland mini-collection of double-sided papers and matching stickers -- my personal favorite this season!

On the way...

-- My Mind's Eye: we re-ordered the Christmas collection that we had early in the fall, and that sold out so quickly;

-- Anna Griffin: two beautiful, classic Christmas collections of papers and embellishments.

New goodies at Scrapbook Generation include the following...

-- SEI card kits: great Christmas gifts, in six styles;

-- SEI word albums: remember the Bo-Bunny "layered" word albums that are so cute, and so time-consuming? SEI has done the hard part for you! These albums (with the chipboard pages already covered in coordinating papers) are smaller, but would make super-quick, super-cute Christmas gifts;

-- KaiserCraft: we've sold tons of the cute and sturdy MDF mini-albums, and now have some MDF home decor items for you -- cute frames and wall hangings just waiting to be personalized;

-- Colorbok: we have a new supply of the 26-sheet set of 12x12 chipboard monograms (about 10 different letters styles for each letter of the alphabet -- great value, great gift idea;

-- Daisy Bucket: two double-sided paper collections.

Anna Griffin's Christmas Icons class...

I'll be teaching our regular third Thursday of the month Anna Griffin class, using one of the prettiest groups of holiday papers and embellishments I've seen. We'll make a two-page layout, plus THREE cards, using flocked papers and glitter embellishments! You'll get a complete set of glittery dimensional stickers and a 12x12 page of glittery die-cuts to use, and you'll have plenty left over for other pages and cards! The fee is $15, and the class is offered Thursday, Dec. 18 at 2 pm. (Space is limited for this class, so I'd advise calling early!)

Christmas Paper Bag Mini-Album...

Stacey is teaching this cute project made from white lunch sacks. Tags are tucked inside the bags to look like a cluster of gifts! Fee is $12, and the class is offered Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 6 pm.

Tis the Season Mini-Album...

We're always so fortunate when Allison is able to replicate for our classes one of the projects she has had published in Creating Keepsakes magazine. This month, we are proud to offer an album similar to the one on page 91 of the December issue! A snow-white Bazzill mini-album is decorated with Scenic Route paper and stickers, as well as 7gypsies stickers. Each page features a unique Christmas tree, with plenty of room for photos and journaling. The fee is $18. Because we are running late with our class models and newsletter this month, we are going to offer this class an additional evening, a little later in the month. You can choose from these three times: Thursday, Dec. 4 at 2 pm, Thursday, Dec. 4 at 6 pm, or Thursday, Dec. 11 at 6 pm (this time does not appear in the newsletter).

Family Holiday Favorites Recipe Book...

I don't usually do mini-album classes, but this project seemed like something any family would cherish over the years. This 40-page mini-album has room for 20 recipes and 20 photos. We'll do some acrylic stamping, which provides an area for you to journal special things about each recipe. We'll use the same format (sometimes reversed) thoughout the whole book, so construction will go fairly fast (I think!). The 7gypsies chipboard album is decorated with BasicGrey's Wassail Christmas papers. The fee is $15, and the class is offered Monday, Dec. 8 at 2 pm or 6 pm.

Christmas Tree Layout...
Allison Davis will be teaching this adorable holiday layout featuring an over-sized Christmas tree made of multi-colored ribbons. You'll do some acrylic stamping, and a small amount of stitching! Fee is $15. The class is offered on Monday, Dec. 15 at 2 pm or 6 pm.

To Grandmother's House We Go...
I hope you can join me for this Christmas layout class, offered Saturday, Dec. 13 at 11 am and 2 pm. Grandmother's house is decorated for the holiday's with Scenic Route papers and Bazzill cardstocks! Fee is $12.

Scrap-a-palooza...
Many people have already called about signing up for the January 17 Scrap-a-palooza at Remington's, hosted by Scrapbook Generation and the Midwest Family Broadcast Group (home of radio stations Star 105.1 and 92.9 Bass Country, to name a few). Later today, Stacey will have a page on our website, scrapbookgeneration.com, with a link to the registration page on the radio station's website.

The radio station will take in all registration fees, and in a few days, you will also be able to register and pay for our classes on their website. (Stacey and Allison will be teaching four paid classes at the event. They will also be doing several free demonstrations and free mini-classes!)

The $38 fee includes lunch and dinner, and 13 hours of scrapbooking in very spacious quarters! Scrapbook Generation will have a fully-stocked store on-site. The best part (for you!) is that we are donating $25 worth of scrapbooking goodies to EVERY person who attends!

If you need any further info, don't hesitate to call us at 417-886-0440. Scrap-a-palooza will give all of us something to look forward to in gloomy January!