SCRAPBOOK GENERATION: March 2010

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

These are the three layouts that we will be making this Saturday, April 3 in the Super-Saver Scrapbooking sessions. We'll be using papers, titles, and embellishments by My Mind's Eye, in shades of green, aqua, brown, and tan. The best part? As always, your cost for all three layouts is only $9!

To attend and get the free cutting guide and three computer sketches you can use over and over, just call us at 417-886-0440 and sign up for one of the four sessions: 10, 11:30, 1, and 2:30.

All of our customers and blog readers are invited to participate in an Allison Davis sketch challenge contest sponsored by Fiskars and its crafting ambassadors' group the Fisk-A-Teers!

Sunday evening, the Fisk-A-Teers sponsored a live chat with Allison about the Scrapbook Generation books "Sketches for Scrapbooking," and our upcoming DVD, "Stretch Your Scrapbooking with Allison Davis." Stacey, Karin, and I joined in the chat, as did some of our local customers. I had no idea what was going on at first, but eventually caught on! It was fun, and we so much appreciate the people at Fiskars for taking an interest in Allison and Scrapbook Generation and our products.

To enter the sketch challenge contest, go to fiskateers and follow the easy directions. The sketch is from volume five, and one that Allison has used for "Sketch Week" on her blog. We'd love to see lots of local entries! Good luck!

The third spring retreat, held at Windermere near Lake of the Ozarks, is now in the history books, and we had a wonderful time with a great group of ladies who love to scrapbook. Karin stayed at Scrapbook Generation, and Stacey was able to attend her first retreat with us. Since she is even less of a morning person than I am, I took the early shift (new for me) and she took the late shift.

Now it's time to get back to what we call normal at SG!

Above, first place winners at the third retreat are front, Esther Miller, Loana Evans, and Seani Gibson; back, Stephanie Dunn and Amy Wissbaum.

Above, second place winners are front, Amy Wissbaum, Chris Stiefermann, and Claudette Schekorra; back, Denise Swanson, Kaye McMullin, and Seani Gibson.

Below, one of Stephanie Dunn's winning entries.

Below, Denise Swanson's winning entry.

Below, one of Seani Gibson's winning entries.

Below, Claudette Schekorra's winning entry.

Below, Loana Evans' winning entry.

Below, one of Seani Gibson's winning entries.

Below, one of Stephanie Dunn's winning entries.

Below, one of Chris Stiefermann's winning entries.

Below, one of Amy Wissbaum's winning entries.

Below, Kaye McMullin's winning entry.

Below, one of Seani Gibson's winning entries.

Below, one of Chris Stiefermann's winning entries.

Below, Esther Miller's winning entry.

Below, one of Amy Wissbaum's winning entries.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Finally! I'm so proud to share the front cover of the soon-to-be-released Scrapbook Generation DVD with you! The complete title is "Stretch Your Scrapbooking with Allison Davis," and it is unlike anything you've seen before in the scrapbooking market. (And didn't sister Stacey do a great job on the cover design?)

Allison, with helper Stacey, teaches nine classes in about two hours on the DVD. There are three "chapters," each using a specific paper line: My Mind's Eye, Pink Paislee, and Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker. Each chapter has three layouts based on a sketch, and features three degrees of difficulty. There is a "simple" layout, an "enhanced" layout, and an "extreme" layout for each sketch and manufacturer.

Allison takes you through the steps of constructing the page, providing great tips on specific techniques. In addition to two cameras capturing the action from the front, there is a "bird's eye view" camera so that you can see her actually making the layout from an awesome vantage point -- looking directly down on the page. And another great feature is that you can follow along with her, using your own papers, at home! Just follow the suggested paper "key" that comes with each sketch.

In addition, the DVD has 25 printable double-page sketches -- all new -- so that you can have them on your computer screen while you are working at your scrapbooking table, or print them out to take with you to a crop or retreat!

To make the sketches even more usable, there is a layout gallery of 75 layouts, three for each of the 25 sketches! Some of the most beautiful pages Allison has ever made are featured on the DVD, and you'll be able to have them easily accessible, in full color, to use as inspiration.

Right now, you can pre-order the DVD by going to the SG website and providing your name and telephone number. Payment of $19.99 (great savings off the regular price of $24.99) isn't due until the DVD is released in about two-three weeks. By acting now, you can lock in the lower price. After the DVD is released, the regular price goes into effect.

The DVD will be available at SG, on our website, and also on amazon.com. In addition, our DVD project is getting notice from around the country. We've had inquiries from other retail stores, from major scrapbooking manufacturers, and from a major chain of craft stores about it, and also about our series of sketch books. This opens up a whole new set of opportunities for us, and we continue to believe that big things are getting ready to unfold for these products. Thanks so much to our Springfield area customers for being the ones to get us started on this exciting journey!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

We have other great news! Fiskars has "discovered" Allison Davis and the Scrapbook Generation sketch books. This prominent company known in many craft industries has a "crafting ambassadors" group called the Fisk-a-teers, and they recently contacted Ali about some awesome opportunities.

Go to fiskateers.com/blog to see what they have written about Allison, in a blog entry titled "Chat with a Scrapbook Sketch Genius." The entry talks about how they discovered the sketch books, and gives some background on Ali and SG.

The best news is that the Fisk-a-teers will be hosting a live video chat with Allison this Sunday at 8 pm. Just go to the site to participate! Thanks, Fisk-a-teers!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

I'm getting excited about our DVD! The producer/director has all the editing completed on the two-hours of instuctional classes and is almost finished with the 25 printable sketches and the gallery of 75 double-page layouts. Stacey has been emailing me proofs of the cover she's designed, and I've been putting in a comma here and there.

We're going to show you the cover on Monday, and I can't wait! My biggest observation about everything is that the whole package is extremely professional, both in design and content. I'm really proud of my daughters. This has been their project from the beginning, and it's taken many, many hours of planning, organization, and just plain old hard work. When "Scrapbook Generation presents 'Stretch Your Scrapbooking with Allison Davis,'" is ready for sale in a few weeks, I think you'll agree with me that it is a product unlike anything else available in the scrapbooking market.

And don't forget that you can pre-order the DVD on our website by just providing your name and phone number. The pre-order price is a great deal... only $19.99! After the release date, the regular price of $24.99 goes into effect. You can also pre-order in the store, or by calling us at 417-886-0440. We'll call you when the DVD is available and take your payment information at that time.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Just received our monthly shipment from We R Memory Keepers, and this month's collection is "Sunny." There are double-sided papers, die-cut papers (a cute sun!), stitched papers, paper pads, cardstock pads, journaling pads, glitter brads, chipboard embellishments, stickers, matching tags and titles, card kits, pre-made pages, and those incredible 99-cent acrylic stamp sets!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

As you can see, the crowd at Scrapbook Generation's second retreat of the spring was a lively, and musical, group. We had a wonderful time, despite the touch of drama caused by icy and snowy and sleety weather reports being phoned in by relatives from several states!

Next weekend, we're doing a gig at Windermere near Lake of the Ozarks. The third retreat will reprise the fun from retreats one and two, and we're looking forward to seeing another group of enthusiastic and talented scrapbookers, this time in a new location! (We are full for the third retreat, with the exception of two sleeping rooms that can be filled with one -four people each. If you and your friends can make some last minute plans, just give us a call and you can join us!)

First place contest winners at the second Branson retreat are front, Karon Rapp, Judi Pellham, and Corbi Beshears; back, Lisa Owen, Linda Sharp, Jamie Gillham, and Nikki Majors.

Second place contest winners at the second Branson retreat are front, Rose Mary Gibbens, Lisa Owen, and Stephanie O'Dell; back Linda Sharp, Cindy Hilgers, and Patricia Owen.

Below, one of Linda Sharp's award-winning layouts...