New arrivals at Scrapbook Generation! From We R Memory Keepers, we have two bright collections of heavy-weight double-sided papers, many of which are quartered into four different designs and are great for mini-albums, or just to get many designs for the same price. We also have eight new collections of four double-sided papers each from KaiserCraft. There are lots of new albums, including binder-style albums from Making Memories. Each color has a different embossed design. Really nice!

On the way to us...
-- My Mind's Eye: everything new they have created for this spring! The order should be here any day.
-- Teresa Collins Designs: five great collections, including Documented, Family Matters, Haute Cuisine, Journal It, and Boardwalk. You'll love these papers and die-cuts, which are both different and fun!
-- BasicGrey: both the Marrakech and Porcelain collections -- everything available!
-- BoBunny: all seven new collections, including themes of birthdays, bugs, little girls, pets, and more. This company has some great new sticker sets that include both letter stickers and swirls and borders!

It's been a difficult week...
After losing our good friend Linda Hoover in November, we've had another loss. Sonya Hesterly, one of my three "cruising buddies" and a long-time family friend from my home town of Mansfield, died of an apparent heart attack late Tuesday evening. She was 56 years old. Her services are Friday.

I've known Sonya since our girls were little. Together, we made it through church Christmas programs, neighborhood birthday parties, Vacation Bible Schools, and summer softball games. I had her son and daughter in my high school classes. In later years, our mothers became best friends, and that gave us even more in common.

Sonya and her best friend Judy always loved to cross stitch, and were good customers of my cousin Leslie's cross stitch store in Bolivar. When Leslie had to close her business, I tried to get Sonya and Judy addicted to scrapbooking. It took easily with Judy, because she had a new granddaughter. Sonya was resistant, but after going to two of our retreats, she was hooked. At our recent Scrap-a-Palooza, she learned some new skills, and was really interested in making pages of her four grandchildren, including the cutest set of blonde twin boys you've ever seen. She had just joined our Remember Me Club this past month and was going to attend one of our March retreats.

I think that it still hasn't hit me that she's gone. Just three days before she died, I had another jolt of a personal nature, and for the past four days, I've drawn strength from a circle of women. They range in age from late 20s to early 80s, and I feel surrounded by their love and care and concern. Some are friends, some are family. All are wonderful.