Upcoming classes for special events (including all four classes that will be taught at Scrap-a-Palooza and Scrapmania)...

It's a Beautiful Day, above. My Mind's Eye's Lost and Found collection with glittery accents makes for a sophisticated layout that would work for many themes or celebrations. Allison Davis, nationally-recognized designer and author of six volumes of Sketches for Scrapbooking, adds stylish touches for a layout you'll treasure forever. (The colors are much less yellow than the photos show -- more of a vintage cream with red and black accents!) Fee: $15

This class will be offered at the following special events (and will not be offered again at SG -- these are the only times you can take this class!), and you may begin signing up now...
-- Scrap-a-Palooza on Saturday, September 25;
-- Scrapmania on Saturday, October 9.

My Friends Trio of Layouts, above. This collection of pages designed by BasicGrey and taught by Debbie Sanders, is perfect to showcase special moments with friends, both past and present. You'll use BasicGrey's Origins collection in greens, yellows, cream, brown and black to make one 2-page layout and two 1-page layouts. Materials include designer cardstock, coordinating die-cuts, rub-ons, and printed chipboard. Best of all, you'll have lots of treats left over to use on other projects. (The white area at the top of the top left layout is not part of the layout.) Fee: $22.

This class will be offered at the following special events, and you may begin signing up now...
-- "Scrapping on the Orient Express" fall weekend retreats in Branson on October 15-17 and October 22-24.

• Queen Bee Card Set, above. Designed by Stacey Atchley, author of the popular Sketches for Cardmaking book, this set of five cards is fit for a queen. Pink Paislee's Queen Bee paper collection provides a regal touch, and special accents include Prima mini-roses, Maya Road pearl stick pins, American Crafts glitter buttons, Memory Thread, and more. Fee: $20.

This class will be offered at the following special events, and you may begin signing up now...
-- Scrap-a-Palooza on Saturday, September 25;
-- World Cardmaking Day at Simply Scrapbooks in Claremore, Oklahoma on Saturday, October 2;
-- Scrapmania on Saturday, October 9;
-- "Scrapping on the Orient Express" fall weekend retreats in Branson on October 15-17 and October 22-24.

Monsters on Parade Layout, above. BoBunny's Whooligans collection gives this Halloween layout extra pizzazz. Allison Davis, nationally-recognized designer and author of six volumes of Sketches for Scrapbooking, adds her signature hand-stitching touches to give this layout a wow factor. The other great feature is that the layout has room for lots and lots of photographs of your favorite ghosts and goblins. Fee: $15.

This class will be offered at the following special events (and will not be offered again at SG -- these are the only times you can take this class!), and you may begin signing up now...
-- Scrap-a-Palooza on Saturday, September 25;
-- Scrapmania on Saturday, October 9.

Grandma's Layout, above. BoBunny's Olivia collection gives this layout a color pallette that will flatter every doting grandmother. Allison Davis, nationally-recognized designer and author of six volumes of Sketches for Scrapbooking, uses her design skills to create a layout that will be perfect for photos of interactions between two special groups of people -- grandmothers and their grandchildren. Fee: $15

This class will be offered at the following special events (and will not be offered again at SG -- these are the only times you can take this class!), and you may begin signing up now...
-- Scrap-a-Palooza on Saturday, September 25;
-- Scrapmania on Saturday, October 9.

'Scrapping on the Orient Express...'
For our two fall retreats in Branson, we're borrowing the graceful, colorful, and slightly mysterious designs of the Far East to bring to life the theme "Scrapping on the Orient Express." We're knee deep in paper lanterns, Chinese dragons, take-out boxes, and fortune cookies. Once we got started planning our decorations and activities, we found out just how much fun this theme is going to be!

We're officially full for both retreat weekends (Oct. 15-17 and Oct. 22-24), but could take groups of 1-3 in both weekends. (And if you've always wanted to go to a weekend get-a-way but don't have a scrapbooking buddy, the weekend of Oct. 22 would be perfect for you. We already have eight ladies who are attending as "singles," and Karin does a wonderful job of matching everyone up with congenial people. We've seen many friendships get a start at our retreats and crops!)

Letters and emails have been sent to those of you who are registered, but I'm going to repeat some information here in case it's needed. Both retreats start at 3 pm on Friday afternoon.

'Orient Express' Classes

· School Spirit Layout:
Most everyone has a favorite student, and this two-page layout is just waiting for photos of school fun. Crate Paper's new School Spirit collection features red, gold, aqua, orange, and green, and the bright designs will work for both boys and girls. The coordinating sheet of stickers you'll use even has a mini-grade card you can use for real grades or for journaling.
(Teacher - Allison Davis; fee - $15)

· 'Tis The Season Layout:
With the holidays just around the corner, having a completed layout ready for family photos can be one thing you check off your to-do list. Traditional Christmas colors of red, pine green and creamy white take center stage in My Mind's Eye's Holly Jolly collection, and adds a touch of festive charm to this two-page layout. Handstitching adds homey accents, and a 12x12 sheet of die-cuts provides embellishments like a Christmas countdown, reindeer, and holly.
(Teacher - Allison Davis; fee - $15)

· My Friends Trio of Layouts:
This collection of pages is perfect to showcase special moments with friends, both past and present. You'll use BasicGrey's Origins collection in greens, yellows, cream, brown and black to make one 2-page layout and two 1-page layouts. Materials include designer cardstock, coordinating die-cuts, rub-ons, and printed chipboard. Best of all, you'll have lots of treats left over to use on other projects.
(Teacher - Debbie Sanders; fee - $22)
'
· Queen Bee Card Set:
Designed by Stacey Atchley, author of the popular Sketches for Cardmaking book, this set of five cards is fit for a queen. Pink Paislee's Queen Bee paper collection in yellow, gray, black, green, and cream provides a regal touch, and special accents include Prima mini-roses, Maya Road pearl stick pins, American Crafts pearl brads, and more. The cards have a variety of shapes and sizes, and can be used for a variety of occasions.
(Teacher - Debbie Sanders; fee - $20)

Contests:
Entries are limited to three per person, one per category. The page, or components of the page, (or mini-album) must not have been made in a class, or from a kit. It is acceptable for some features of the project (like computer titles or journaling), to have been made prior to the retreat.

All contests will be judged by a vote of the people attending the retreat...
· "Moo Goo Gai Pan" -- (a food or recipe-themed layout)
· "Jade Dynasty" -- (a layout featuring a family)
· "Happy Garden" -- (a special event or celebration layout)
· "Golden Dragon" -- (creative, clever, innovative use of ribbons and trims and hand-stitching on a layout)
· "Fortune Cookie" -- (a mini-album of any topic)
· Sketch Challenge -- Everyone will receive a computer sketch. Use papers and embellishments of your choice to produce the most creative interpretation of the sketch. Any subject, any theme!
· Best Overall -- any subject, your best original work

Scrapbook Generation website back up...
Our website is back, but you may need to do a little extra work to get there. If you have it bookmarked and it doesn't open up, hit refresh. You may need to do a new bookmark for it work properly.

Scrap-a-Palooza registration...
If you haven't registered for Scrap-a-Palooza yet, I'm going to give you a link directly to the radio station. Click here to register.

We have a convergence of "situations" right now that have complicated things for those of you who are still trying to register. First, the radio station has changed its call numbers and is no longer STAR 105.1. It is now STAR 92.9, which has led to much confusion! Second, our SG website is totally down, which has led to even more confusion! However, the link above will take you straight to the registration page. The last I heard from Chris Louzader at the station, there were less than 50 of the 250 spots still available.

October/November newsletters...
The latest newsletter will be going in the mail early next week, and it includes information about all kinds of good things coming up in the next couple of months:
• World Cardmaking Day
• Scrapbook Generation's sixth birthday mega-celebration
• Return visit of guest teacher Tammy Tutterow
• Day-After-Thanksgiving sale

Retreat payment reminder...
For all of you who are registered to attend Scrapbook Generation's fall retreat the weekend of Oct. 15-17, your final payments were due yesterday. Those of you signed up for the second weekend need to make your final payment by Sept. 22.

Another great school collection arrives at SG...

This bright and colorful school collection by ANW Crestwood/The Paper Company just arrived at SG. It seems that this has been an especially good year for school collections!

Website issues...to say the least!
If you try to access our website, scrapbookgeneration.com, and don't find anything there, don't be alarmed! Unless you happen to be Stacey, who tried to update some areas today and then discovered that everything went away! And that's a bad thing! She's working with the webhost to get the problem resolved as quickly as possible.

Allison Davis sketch session this Saturday...

You're in for treat this Saturday at the Allison Davis free sketch sessions. This is the two-page layout that we'll be making, and your cost is only about $4. As always, you get a free computer sketch you can use over and over again, and if you want to choose other papers to purchase instead of the ones we've picked out, that's totally fine. To sign up, just give us a call at 417-886-0440. (Do the same to request a kit, which is a $5 fee due at the time of registration.)

I'm looking forward to being back! I've been gone the past two Saturdays, and Karin has done a great job of handling everything by herself. It's so nice to be able to take a break and not have to worry about what's going on at SG!

Note to Super Sketch Club members: Yes, this layout and sketch will be included in your September kit!

Another new Halloween collection arrives!

A huge assortment of Halloween goodies has arrived from We R Memory Keepers. There are double-sided papers, die-cut papers, paper and cardstock pads, card kits, pre-made pages, glittery borders, embossed titles, chipboard embellishments, glitter brads, clear stamps, and more!

Debbie Sanders sketch sessions this Saturday...

This is the layout we'll be making this Saturday, Sept. 11 at the Debbie Sanders free sketch sessions. I loved this paper collection by Scribble Scrabble the minute I saw it. (And actually, the paper is more reddish than the orange you see in the photo above.) As always, if these papers don't work for you, you have the option to choose and purchase others.

You can join us and make this page Saturday for about $4, plus you get a free computer sketch. (If you can't attend and want a kit, the fee is $5 and is due at the time you request the kit.) Sessions are at 10, 11:30, 1, and 2:30. Just call 417-886-0440 to sign up.

Note to Super Sketch Club members: Yes, this layout and sketch will be part of your September kit!