It's nice to be back at Scrapbook Generation! Like many businesses in Springfield, we were closed Tuesday and Wednesday, but did manage to reopen on Thursday. Drew went home with me on Monday and stayed until we were able to get out on Thursday. We had great fun working puzzles, building with blocks, playing games, watching movies, and baking cookies. However, he was SO glad to get back to his house and his mom and dad -- I know, because he told me many times!

I wanted to remind everyone about our Super Bowl Sale this Sunday. It's the only day of the year when EVERYTHING at Scrapbook Generation is 20% off! The sale starts at noon and last until 6 pm. Hope to see you here!

Other news:
-- Allison and I will be appearing on Fox 27 television sometime between 7-8 am on Monday, Feb. 9. They asked us to show several Valentine products.
-- Along with Midwest Family Broadcast Group, we are finalizing two more Scrap-a-Palooza dates for 2009. Right now, it's looking like early June and mid-September.
-- Tons of new Valentine stuff will be coming in mid-week, including the Love Notes group by Making Memories, the True Love collection by Doodlebug, and the Sweet Talk collection by K & Company.
-- We still have openings in both the March 13 and March 20 retreats in Branson. We know that money is a problem for many people this spring, and as always, we can work out payment options for you so that you don't get hit with a huge sum all at once. (The March 20 retreat is nearly full -- only 5 spots available.)

Scrapbook Generation has some great classes coming up...
-- Chocolate Valentine Gift Projects: Laura Parks has designed three mini-gifts, featuring a plentiful supply of chocolate, of course! Make all three projects for $15, and the fee includes all the chocolate! Have some fun, and make three great gifts for friends or coworkers. Class is offered Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 6 pm.

-- Truly, Madly, Deeply Paper Bag Mini-Album: Stacey Atchley has created a cute album from white lunch bags and bright and colorful Scenic Route Valentine papers. I'd post a photo if I could find the album. After Scrap-a-Palooza, everything got dumped in the office, and I'm still trying to dig out! Cost is $12, and the classes will be held Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 2 and 6 pm.

-- Chocolate Lovers Recipe Book: BasicGrey makes awesome mini-books, and I chose the "milk chocolate" one for this recipe book featuring colors that make me think of neopolitan ice cream! There will be room for 8-10 recipes, and matching photos. We'll use papers by My Mind's Eye. Cost is $20, and the classes will be held Thursday, Feb. 5 at 2 and 6 pm.

New products...
We've had a steady stream of new stuff coming in...I just haven't been here to blog. The latest include four great collections by Paper Loft, several collections by Piggy Tales, the Valentine group by Rusty Pickle, and more! We've added lots of new clear stamp sets, and the Colorbox cats eye pigment inks. There are six new colors of Glimmer Mist, and later this week, about 50 colors of Stickles (the crowd at Scrap-a-Palooza pretty much cleaned us out!), including the new Glitz Stickles.

Weather concerns...
I think it's safe to say that we are in for some nasty weather today and for the next couple of days. I always err on the side of safety, and don't want my family, or any of you, to be out in ice and sleet. Once the ice starts today, which sounds like later this afternoon, the store will close. Right now, that's sounding like it's going to be in the neighborhood of 3 pm. If you have any doubt at all about whether we will be open Monday or Tuesday, please call us at 417-886-0440.

I think it's safe to say that our first-ever Scrap-a-Palooza was a huge success! Sold-out with 200 scrapbookers, and filled with fun activities from beginning to end, this mega-crop at Remington's is the first of many to come!

Our collaboration with Midwest Family Broadcasting worked well, and Chris Louzader of MFB made a great emcee for the day's activities. With MFB providing food and set-up and lots of prizes, and Scrapbook Generation providing a store, paid classes, free classes, demos, and goodie bags, everything seemed to go smoothly. One of the nicest features was the huge screen for Allison's four demonstrations. Everyone was able to hear what she said, and see what she was doing, from the comfort of their seats!

I chose a few of the comments that people wrote to share with you here...
-- "Excellent food, and lots of food. Thank you for feeding us well. Store was amazing and contests fun."
-- "Everyone was friendly and helpful. The day went by way too fast. I enjoyed myself. The emcee, Chris, was great. Allison's demonstrations were interesting. The Scrapbook Generation crew was terrific."
-- "I love that it's a good location and price for me! I had plenty of room to work and enjoyed the on-site store, demos, classes, and give-aways. Love Scrapbook Generation! Thank you so much!"
-- "I can't imagine what could have been better -- great table space and lighting, prizes, great food, merchandise available for purchase. I had a great time!"
-- "This was great! The demos on the big screen were awesome and the mini free classes were so good! It was very nice to have on-site shopping available. Food was pretty good. Snacks and drinks were very much appreciated. Of course the drawings were great! The gift bag was soooo awesome! You did a wonderful job."
-- "Great job! Can't wait until next time. Awesome day. Awesome friendly people. Great food. Great time."
-- "Had a wonderful time. I thought the event was well-organized and plenty of room. Snacks and food were wonderful. Nice to take a break and look at vendors. Hope to come to another!"
-- "Great time. Lots of space. Food was good. Liked having supplies here to purchase. Thought it was well-organized and pleasant atmosphere. Good price. Loved the massage. Can't wait to do it again!"
-- "The scrapping was awesome! Great to have the store here to purchase supplies. Radio station employees were great. Having it at Remington's was a good choice! A+!"
-- "Everything was terrific. Great food, comfy environment, wonderful selection of classes, shopping and prizes."
-- "This was my first event and it was so much fun! The demos were very helpful both the hands-on and on the video screen. Great food! Good price! Thanks for all the goodies, too!"
-- "Loved it. The food was great, music was not too loud, good snacks, liked the demonstrations on the big screen so everyone could see. Thank you for a wonderful day!"

Scrap-a-palooza update...
Latest word this morning is that there are 188 people registered! If you want one of the last 12 spots, better hurry! Go to our website and follow the link to Midwest Family Broadcasting's website where you can register online. If you have any problems registering online, just call them.

We are frantically getting everything ready for demos, free classes, paid classes, displays, contests, drawings, and moving a big part of Scrapbook Generation to Remington's on Saturday! I've ordered tons of your favorite products, and new goodies as well, so that you'll have access to the latest and greatest items to shop from.

New items that have arrived and are already on the shelves...
-- Paper House: lots of new stickers arrived, many of them are new travel destinations;
-- Creative Imaginations: Christmas die-cut papers, travel groups for New York and other destinations, Lego papers and stickers and more;
-- Paper Loft: four great collections, including an outdoor-camping-hunting-fishing group, Christmas group, winter group, and a boy-girl group.

The Anna Griffin order arrived yesterday! There is a red, blue, and green beach and travel collection, a wedding mini-collection, and two elegant Christmas collections -- one silver and gold, and the other traditional reds and greens. The Christmas groups include both flocked and glittered papers!

The red and green Christmas group has already proved popular! We used it for the December Anna Griffin class, which was held on the day after we had missed several classes because of weather. We held five classes that day! One of the ladies who takes the Anna Griffin classes on a regular basis (for years) wasn't there that day, for probably the first time in three years. I had her materials set out with the rest of the class, and then things got crazy! Drew and Jackson were here with Ali, and since she had another class later that night, it seemed like a good time for me to take Drew on an outing -- somewhere other than Scrapbook Generation!

While I was gone, Stacey moved my Anna Griffin class stuff to a side table in the classroom area, so she could hold her class. Long story short, when Drew and I returned a couple of hours later, all of the Anna Griffin papers and die cuts and stickers that I needed for my absent student had been picked up and purchased by eager shoppers! Anyway, we have plenty for everyone now! I love that 12x12 sheet of glitter die-cuts...for some reason, that snowman reminds me of something from my childhood. Now, Lynn and I can both have some of the goodies! I'm going to hide our sets right now!

Update on Scrap-a-palooza...
-- As of today, there are close to 150 people signed up. We can only take 175-200. If you plan on going to this exciting new event, better get moving!
-- To sign up for the six classes that Stacey and Allison will be teaching there, stop by Scrapbook Generation to pay, or pay online at scrapbookgeneration.com.

We have great new stuff coming in at Scrapbook Generation! The Love Letters collection by Little Yellow Bicycle is beautiful, and I was so glad to see a Valentine collection that wasn't pink! The burgundy, gray, and black color scheme will look great for anyone, even the male of the species!

We also have lots of new winter papers and winter embellishments, as you can see by the photo. Companies include Reminisce, ANW Crestwood, EK Success, Making Memories, Pebbles, Creative Imaginations, and Doodlebug.

Now on to what is coming in within the next few days...
-- Piggy Tales: several themed paper collections and matching goodies;
-- Anna Griffin: two beautiful and elegant Christmas collections, glitter die-cuts, and glitter stickers; plus a beach-type collection of papers, stickers, and even some stuffed fabric embellishments (I just had to have this cute little puffy lobster!);
-- Paper House: great new stickers;
-- Creative Imaginations: new travel collections, the Lego collection, and some general papers;
-- Rusty Pickle: a Valentine's collection;
-- SugarTree: more hunting, fishing, western, and military papers;
-- Paper Loft: four cool collections including a yellow, blue and gray boy and girl group; an outdoorsy/camping group with neat embellishments; a brown and cream colored winter/snowman group; and a really cute Christmas group;
-- Kaiser Craft: about eight new sets double-sided papers in groups of four;
-- American Crafts: 12 new styles of Thickers foam and chipboard letter sets.

New at Scrapbook Generation...

-- the January issue of Creating Keepsakes finally arrived, after a detour to Tennessee!
-- 101 Expert Solutions for Scrapbooking (features CK's Hall of Fame winners, Dream Team members -- Allison has lots of pages in this -- and the Scrapbooker of the Year).
-- the Valentine collection from Little Yellow Bicycle (love the colors -- wine, rose, gray, and black!) -- there are regular papers, flocked papers, and die-cut papers, plus their usual assortment of awesome embellishments.
-- lots of winter, snowman, and snowflake goodies by a variety of vendors.

Class information...
Stacey has all of the January class photos, and the calendar, ready at scrapbookgeneration.com. We have lots of great classes on the schedule. Be sure to check them out!

Scrap-a-palooza...
We met yesterday with representatives from the broadcasting group that is co-sponsoring this event with us, and we're all getting excited about the numbers of people who are attending. There are over 125 people registered, and we're shooting for 150-175! If you are planning to attend, please register quickly to make sure you get in! If you need more information, Allison will be doing live radio interviews tomorrow morning on two radio stations -- Star 105.1 at about 8:10, and Bass Country 92.9 at about 8:20! You can also call us and we'll explain as much as we can. I think it's going to be a great event that will be the start of a regular schedule of mega-crops for us!

Scrap-a-palooza Classes!
Call 417-886-0440 to register, or register and pay online at scrapbookgeneration.com. Scrap-a-palooza is a mega-crop set for Jan. 17 at Remington's. If you aren't registered yet, follow the link on our website to register and pay the $38 fee, which includes lunch, dinner, drinks, snacks, and a $25 bag of scrapbooking supplies from Scrapbook Generation! We'll be there all day with a fully-stocked store, and Stacey and Allison will be doing free classes and demos in addition to the paid classes that follow.

-- Glitter Triple Play with Allison Davis

Make three double-page layouts in this class, using glitter in a new and fun way on each layout. Class fee -- $18

--Valentine Paper Bag Mini-Album with Stacey Atchley

Transform white lunch bags with bright Scenic Route papers and stickers into a great Valentine's album to keep for yourself or use as a gift. Class fee -- $12

-- Time to Celebrate Layout with Allison Davis

(For a photo, go to scrapbookgeneration.com). This is similar to a birthday layout Ali has done before, with a giant birthday hat. The layout uses Scenic Route papers. Class fee -- $12

Scrap-a-palooza classes!

Call 417-886-0440 to register, or register online at scrapbookgeneration.com. Scrap-a-palooza is mega-crop on Saturday, Jan. 17 at Remington's. To register and pay the $38 fee, follow the link on our website.

-- Card Collection with Stacey Atchley

Six cards using bright-colored Fancy Pants papers, Scenic Route chipboard buttons, and glimmer mist. Class fee -- $10.

-- Winter Wonderland layout with Allison Davis

This double-page layout features chipboard snowflakes covered with snow-white flocking powder. Class fee -- $12.

--Let it Snow layout with Allison Davis

This double-page layout features a cute snowman, and a flocked journaling block with acrylic stamping. Class fee -- $12.

Once in a great while, you're going along living your life, and something out-of-this-world happens! That happened to us today. Allison came back from lunch and said that several of her online friends had contacted her with the news that she was on The Today Show on NBC this morning!

An online scrapbook that Allison had made as a sample for Creating Keepsakes magazine was featured on a segment about what to do with holiday photos. Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb talked about Ali's album and showed several pages. We were able to see a clip just now on our computer, and I'm sure Ali will put a link on her blog later this evening. We saw Drew's picture several times.

What an awesome thing to happen!