It's been a while since I've blogged, but I was so tired after Scrapbook Generation's Branson retreat this past weekend that I probably would have been incoherent! It's my job to lock down the place at night (or morning), and this time some Saturday night croppers stayed up until 5 a.m.! I was doing pretty well until about 4, then I really had to struggle to stay awake!

I think I can truthfully say that everyone had a wonderful time, and we feel that after three locations in Branson, we have finally found our "home." The Branson Inn and Convention Center has everything we were looking for: a spacious crop room, a separate classroom area, comfortable sleeping rooms, friendly service, and...GREAT food! And best of all, everything is in the same building.

We will be returning there for our spring retreat, set for March 14-16, and after everyone attending the fall retreat got their name on our list for spring, we have less than 10 spots open. (We won't accept deposits until after Christmas, but if you would like to sign up now, you can reserve your spot for spring.)

As usual, I'm going to let those attending tell you how they felt about Scrapbook Generation's fall retreat in Branson.

Following are actual comments...

-- "Great time, great location! Can't wait for the next one!"

-- "Scrapbook event great! Good food, good friendship."

--"This was a fabulous retreat and I appreciate all of the hard work put into it. Thank you!"

--"I can't think of a single thing to change. The food is unbelievable, the store had everything I could have needed! The best part is the staff and friends made! What fun! Thank you for all the hard work you do!"

--"Once again, it was wonderful. Food was great, rooms great, and scrap area wonderful."

-- "I have thoroughly enjoyed the weekend."

-- "The best yet! I loved having a full 6-foot table to spread out on."

-- "Food was great, snacks, drinks, fruit! Nice atmosphere. Very nice instructors, just an overall wonderful experience, fun and relaxing."

-- "Once again, the decor was fantastic. We of course loved visiting with our fellow scrapbookers. I deeply appreciate the table space -- how wonderful! We look forward to learning about your future retreats. I have absolutely had a blast with my mother. What a fantastic way to spend your weekend!"

-- "The location, food, and setup was excellent! I appreciate all of the hard work. We will definitely come next year/time!"

-- "This is my first scrapbook experience/retreat. It has been really fun, and my daughter and I have had so much fun being together. I loved all the goodies and thanks for the fruit and veggies."

-- "Loved everything. I wish the crop room stayed open later on Sunday."

-- "Wonderful snacks and space! Thank you for the contest opportunities -- lots of fun!"

-- "Can't think of anything you could do to improve the retreat! I had a great time, the food was great, and the classes were great!"

-- "The weekend was great! I loved the space we had and all the fun. Thanks for all the work and preparation for this weekend. You guys do a wonderful job and I look forward to the next one."

-- "Fantastic! We had a ball and hope to be back next year!"

-- "Retreat organization great! Homemade snacks over-the-top! Shop good, too."

-- "Again, a great weekend! I had a great time! Thanks!"

-- "The food has been great! I always feel so welcome and you do such a great job at working in the theme. Thanks for a great time."

-- "The biggest thing to me is that you have them. I know they are hard work and very time consuming. But what a pleasure and stress reliever it is to me. Plus, I get to catch up with my great friends. Good job, again."

-- "What a delight to be back at a Scrapbook Generation fall retrat. The accomodations, theme, tremendous attention to detail, theme-based handmade gifts for each participant, and the best homemade, theme-based snack bar provides a girls' weekend out surpassed by none!"

-- "Everything was great! Fabulous decorations, good snacks, plenty of space. I really enjoyed myself -- can't wait until the next one."

-- "Everything is very nice. Love the big tables to ourselves."

-- "Thank you, first of all, for all your hard work. I do appreciate it! Love decorations, love games, love the help."

-- "Everything was great! I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. Each person had plenty of work space and great classes!"

-- "We had a great time. We could have used more sleep, less food (I ate too much!), and more energy!"

-- "Wouldn't change a thing. Loved it!"

-- "I had a great time. Thanks!"

-- "Love: ease of unloading, being close to rooms, meals were yummy, snacks being homemade a super plus, excellent prizes! No-hassle scrapping -- plan on coming next year and bringing more friends. Love your page kits!"

-- "Food great, convenient unloading, rooms close, good large area and table space."

-- "Loved the food, prizes, organization, classes, places, and people. Overall, I give you guys an A+."

* Special Note: We still have a few spots left in our Eureka Springs retreat set for Nov. 2-4. If you would like to attend, please give us a call at 417-886-0440 as quickly as possible.

As soon as things get back to normal around here (meaning after Scrapbook Generation's Branson retreat is over), I'll get back to writing a little more. Today, I just wanted to let you know a few of the things that will be arriving in the next couple of weeks.

-- K & Company: the Wild Saffron collection, a beautiful group with muted red, yellow-golds, and browns;
-- Basic Grey: the Figgy Pudding Christmas collection, including papers, rub-ons, chipboard, clear stamps, and more;
-- Flair: two new Christmas collections;
-- Karen Foster: hunting, fishing, tooth fairy, autumn, and several other themes;
-- Sonburn: a great Halloween group;
-- Doodlebug: all that great glittery stuff that I thought was coming in earlier;
-- Creative Imaginations: several autumn collections, cruising, hunting and fishing, soccer, basketball, football, and more;
-- KI Memories: lace cardstock;
-- Scenic Route: more of the four collections that sold out so quickly, and also a fall/Halloween group.

We're in the middle of end-of-the-month-kit-mania around here so I'm not allowed to stop working to do anything fun, like post a picture on the blog, but I did want to let you know that Scrapbook Generation received several items today, including Heidi Swapp 12x12 calendar kits, Karen Foster blank calendars, an assortment of 7Gypsies minibooks, 7Gypsies self-inking journaling stamps in several styles, new Disney papers, and a ton of albums!

All of the October kit clubs will be ready for you to pick up on Monday!

There is one additional color grouping of the Bohemia line, but I can't get the pics to post today. This group is blues and greens -- really great for boyish or masculine pages!

The Bohemia II collection by My Mind's Eye is one of the most beautiful scrapbooking groups I've ever seen! There are four color groups, including double-sided papers, transparency frames, transparency borders, huge flowers, crochet flowers, large and small jewels, die-cut titles, ribbons, and journaling cards. Absolutely gorgeous!

Calling all Debbie's!

When I was working with the list of people signed up for our Eureka Springs retreat this fall, I started noticing a pattern! Of the 33 scrapbookers already enrolled, eight are named Debbie! That means that 25% of the people attending will be named Debbie. I'm thinking we could just consider it a Debbie Convention. So if I could just find 17 more Debbie's, then 50% of the people attending would have that name!

I'm being silly, but we do have 17 spots left in our Eureka Springs retreat, which is set for Nov. 2-4. Since we would like to have a full house, we're keeping enrollment open until Oct. 20, or until we fill up. For more information, give us a call at 417-886-0440, or check out the retreat page at scrapbookgeneration.com.

We're knee-deep in preparations for our sold-out Branson retreat the first week of October! Our casino theme is turning out to be lots of fun, and we can't wait to get everything set up and ready for you.