Start thinking and planning! On Tuesday, June 1 at 10 am, registration opens for Scrapbook Generation's fall retreats in Branson. If you attended one of our spring retreats, you can call or stop by and pay your $50 deposit to hold your spot for the weekend of October 15-17 or the weekend of October 22-24.

Any spots not filled in June by past guests will be up for grabs starting Thursday, July 1 at 10 am.

New arrivals:
The cute Max and Whiskers dog and cat collection from BasicGrey arrived yesterday. Even if you don't have pets, there are still some great papers for general pages!

Here's a sneak peek at the layout we'll be making Saturday in the sketch sessions. To celebrate the third anniversary milestone of the sketch sessions, we have special events planned for the remaining sketch sessions in May. This Saturday, everyone who attends the "Basic Sketch" sessions will receive 50% off the cost of their papers, and get a free title for the layout. As a bonus, you'll receive a card sketch to use the "scraps" left over from the layout.

The photos above show the layout we'll be making on Saturday. You'll have enough paper left to make not just one card from the bonus sketch, but two! (And as always at our sketch sessions, you can choose other papers to purchase if these don't work for you.) With your half-off paper offer and free title, you'll be making this layout and two cards for less than $2.25!

Bonus Reminder: If you attend three of the four sketches sessions in April and May, you receive your choice of spring-themed page kits, a $12.99 value.

We hope you can join us this Saturday. To sign up for a session (10, 11:30, 1, or 2:30) just call SG at 417-886-0440. See you then!

And don't forget that this is "Sketches Week" on Allison's blog. She has some gorgeous and creative layouts for you to view all week, with lots of details about her creative process.

Just talked to Chris Louzader of Midwest Family Broadcast Group, our Scrap-A-Palooza partner, and registration is going strong for the June 26 event at Remington's. Almost 100 of the 250 spots have been filled! The radio advertising starts Thursday, and enrollment surges then, so if you plan to attend, don't wait too late to sign up. Last time, Scrap-A-Palooza sold out several weeks in advance!

This is the layout class that Allison will be teaching Thursday evening at 6 pm. It's one of my favorites -- love the nature scene she's created on the left page! You'll also be using the Tim Holtz Perfect Pearls pigment powders to enhance some acrylic stamping, which is a fun and easy technique. There are still spots available, and the cost is only $15. Just call us at 417-886-0440 to sign up.

I'm working on the June/July newsletter today and hope to have it to the printer tomorrow. In June, we have a first for SG. We're bringing in a guest teacher, Tammy Tutterow, with tons of scrapbooking credentials. She'll be here a whole weekend, and I know you'll love her style. In July, we're hosting the world premiere of the new collections designed by Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker, just prior to their display at CHA Summer Show in Chicago. More details about both special events later!

Hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day! We had a glorious time combining Mother's Day with Jackson's second birthday party and Stacey's way-older-than-that birthday party. We had great food, lots of laughs, and if you want a mental picture, the day ended with Karin on a trampoline.

Don't forget that this is "sketches week" on Allison's blog. She's outdone herself this time. I heard something about 10 layouts!

And I wanted to alert you that BasicGrey's Max and Whiskers collection will be arrive at Scrapbook Generation on Thursday. It's a cute pet group with lots of fun embellishments, and even a matching album.

Just finished up three live television segments shot here at Scrapbook Generation by KOLR10 here in Springfield. We did some simple projects for Mother's Day, and it's wonderful publicity for us. We've done this type of thing six or seven times since we've been open, but this was the first one done here at the store.

I'm just waiting for prime time! So far, it's usually been early mornings. Today we had to have the store open at 5:30 this morning for the set-up, so I had to get up at 4 for the drive up here. I'm pretty sure I'll be fading fast by the time noon gets here! But that said, I'd get up at 2 am if necessary, because it's such awesome publicity for us!

I demonstrated how to make a cute purse card in one segment, and did a simple one-page layout with a baby photo in another one, then did a repeat of the layout in the third segment, which aired on a different channel.

And on the subject of Mother's Day, don't forget that you can stop by SG Saturday and make a free Mother's Day card and matching bookmark. Just call us to pre-register...you don't have to bring a thing!

It’s time to take a leap of faith.
Starting July 27, Scrapbook Generation will no longer be just a retail store.
That day, we also become a wholesale business exhibiting at the CHA Summer Show in Chicago.

We’ll be marketing and selling our Sketches for Scrapbooking books to other scrapbook stores. This huge change in our business comes after much encouragement from others and much discussion among ourselves.

Our sketch books have been around for almost three years. In the beginning, our local customers bought them. Then travelers bought them. Then a few people bought them on our website. As time went on, we began getting orders from people all over the country who had seen one of the books at a retreat or a crop or at a friend’s house. A few months ago, the chatter started on the “Two Peas in a Bucket” message board, and things just snowballed.

We started getting calls from scrapbook store owners in other states inquiring about purchasing the books from us at wholesale prices so they could sell them in their stores. The first few calls, we said "we're flattered, but just aren’t set up to do that." But then we started talking about the possibilities. Next, someone representing a major scrapbooking company and with contacts to a major chain of craft stores contacted Allison with praise for the books, and with the suggestion that they could be exciting, unique, and viable products at the national level.

Our interest level in pursuing wholesaling perked up considerably!

To do this, there are some changes coming. All this time, we’ve been printing and binding the books ourselves. We’ve burned up one laser printer, and abandoned a hand-crank binding machine for an electronic one. Now, the books will be professionally printed. The cover has been given a facelift, and although the sketches in each volume will remain the same, the key/legend and measurements and placement directions will be uniform.

Stacey and Allison will be representing Scrapbook Generation at CHA in Chicago. They’ve already worked out the basic design for the displays, and one of the most exciting aspects is that the SG booth will be across the aisle from “Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker,” a local company we’ve been proud to partner with on numerous occasions.

I want to share with you some of the comments -- with no editing on my part -- by people on the Two Peas message board. These comments are by people from all over the country. They are a large part of why we made the decision. And why we think we've made the right decision.

• “I have all of them, and there really isn't one that's better than the other- they're all great!!”

• “I also have all 5 books and they are the best I have ever used. Best buy ever!!”

• “Well after scrapping a 2-page layout yesterday using one of her free sample sketches on her site, I am TOTALLY hooked and want all five of her sketchbooks now. I couldn't believe how fast this layout came together, how awesome it looks and how I only used strips of patterned paper for it with a cardstock background.”

• “i *know* you will love them!!!! i have made several LO's using them. I just love looking at the sketches and see so much potential!!!! i really don't know what it is about this type of sketch but my brain seems to absorb them so easily!!! i have bh's [Becky Higgins’] sketch books (all of them!) and page maps and all the free downloads from sb etc. and Allison's books are hands down the easiest for me. I'm saying this b/c I do believe in them and I am not being paid to say this!!! BUT if they wanted to reward me for saying it, I'd gladly accept a free book! LOL!”

• “I just completed a 2 page LO in about 30 minutes with one of the sketches! This is amazing for me because I am very slow usually.”

• “I think that each scrapper has different go-to tools for when we create most successfully. For me, Allison Davis sketches are one of my go-to tools and share "prime real estate" on my scrapping table along with my ruler, ATG, and paper cutter.”

• “I enjoy scrapbooking more and get more accomplished using the Allison Davis/Scrapbook Generation sketches and that is why I look forward to subsequent editions.”

• “I see what you're asking about have 5+ SKETCH BOOKS from the same person, but I guess you could ask the same thing about a year's worth of CK or SBEtc."

• “For me, it never ceases to amaze me how many combinations you can come up with for a 12x12 area (much less a 12x24 area). While some of her SKETCHES may be SIMILAR, there really is SO MUCH VARIETY in her books, it's worth it to have them all.”

• “If I had to choose between all of my CK's or the 3 AD [Allison Davis] SKETCHBOOKS I have, I'd choose the SKETCHBOOKS. (And, in my opinion, HER SKETCHES top ANY other SKETCH ARTIST's by a MILE.)”

• “For me, I bought all 5 mainly because I know I'm going to use the heck out of them. I've followed Ali Davis for years in CK and her blog, and I know beforehand what I'm getting with her books. I LOVE the way she does layouts and it matches my style perfectly. She also uses mostly 4x6 photos or sizes you can crop from 4x6 whereas, say, Becky Higgins uses a variety of photo sizes, enlargements, odd sizes, etc., which I'm not a fan of. Again, I KNOW that the Ali Davis books will get a lot of use at my house whereas I can't say that about other sketch books I've bought.”

• “she is totally the queen of 2 pagers...I love her!”

• “I use the Allison Davis sketches for 99% of the LO's I do. This weekend I did both one and two page LO's and found just the inspiration I needed - all from Allison's sketches.”

• “I particularly like these sketches because they
-use a neutral background (something I personally like)
-she suggests types of patterns that best fit the design
-typically use 4x6 photos
-look GREAT when done”

• “as I wait for my sketch books to arrive I used one of the sketches from their websites (they have some really good sample sketches) and I "test drove" another sketch and OMG! i think that's the quickest I've ever done a LO that actually looked decent!!! LOL! I don't know why this method works with my brain! I have all of BH's [Becky Higgins’] sketch books, Page Maps, but I've never really been to excited about the sketches until this book and I'm a 'seasoned" typical scrapper! Most of all I love that you can do a 2 page LO! that's what was always holding me up in terms of finishing a LO! I am so happy with the results of these 2 sketches I've "test driven" I CANNOT wait for my books to arrive and you bet I'm gonna order some more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

• “I so love these sketch books! I think I have almost every sketch book made these are the easiest to use and the layouts are so good when completed. They are also the quickest to finish, I have probably finished about 40 pages in the last 6 weeks which is alot for me.”

• “I can't say enough good things about these sketch books. I currently own 3 and I have her DVD on pre-order. The sketches come together amazingly easy with the given pp measurements. I love that her style is nothing like my style, so it gives my albums a nice variety of looks.”

• “I think the big difference is that the measurements for every piece of the LO are included. With Becky Higgins sketches the photo sizes are there, but you have to guess everything else. Allison's sketches even include how far from the bottom or top some pieces go. She also uses a color code to suggest big pattern, little pattern, stripes and cardstock. This has helped me sooooo much.”

• “anything that will cut down on the shifting photos/chunks of paper around my page for hours on end while getting cranky and lets me get to the fun stuff sooner is money well spent to me!”

• “I used my new Allison Davis sketch books too! I got 8 layouts done today! That is so un-heard of for me!!!!”

• “The sketches are so versatile and make scrapping fun. My scrapbooking has amped up in volume, style, and personal satisfaction since I discovered Allison Davis' sketches!”

• “I have the *other* sketch books by other authors, but somehow it just didn't work for me. Your books for some reason work with my ADHD brain!!!!! I can't explain it, but they speak to me like the others one don't!!”

• “I am a fairly linear scrapper and, I have to say, I think I am going to LOVE these books! They maintain my linear style without having EVERYTHING all in a line, all of the time. I can see that these are going to be my FAVORITE scrapping tool of all time!”

And just added tonight...a new thread on Two Peas titled "I think we need an Allison Davis forum." The post? "There are five threads about her sketch books on the first page...so why not just start a new forum?"

All I can say is we're lovin' it!

We hope you can join us Saturday and make a free Mother's Day card and matching chunky bookmark to tuck inside! We'll be using acrylic stamps, Perfect Pearls pigment powder, an edger punch, and rock candy Distress Stickles. It will be a great time to make something for Mom, plus try out these fun tools and products. And you don't have to bring a thing...this project is fun and free!

Call us to sign up for sessions at 10, 11, noon, 1, 2, 3, or 4. (And thanks for remembering that this activity is for adults only.)

Congratulations to the winners of our prize drawing at the end of National Scrapbooking Day this past Saturday! Sandra Anderson, Mary Kay Daniels, Stefanie Hayes, Elaine Littrell, and Briana Patterson, next time you're in SG, we'll have some great prizes to send home with you!

And right now, there are six (SIX!) different threads on pages one and two of the Two Peas in a Bucket message boards that are singing the praises of the Allison Davis/Scrapbook Generation sketch books! The timing couldn't be better for the announcement we'll be making here, on Ali's blog, on our website, and on Facebook on Wednesday!

Thanks for celebrating National Scrapbooking Day with us!

Numbers that I'll remember from Saturday...
103 scrapbookers participated in the Super-Saver class sessions;
65 people in SG at one time (according to someone's husband who walked around and counted them!);
1 minute Allison had to run to the computer when she realized her 2 pm live chat on the Fisk-a-Teers website was actually 1 pm our time;
238 free mini-class projects completed;
180 gourmet mini-cupcakes eaten from the chocolate buffet;
4 happy Scrapbook Generation family members when we discovered that NSD 2010 broke last year's sales record and was our best day ever!

Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.

Saturday's National Scrapbooking Day celebration was Scrapbook Generation's record-breaking best-ever single day of business. And I think that anyone who was there wouldn't be surprised...the store was full and fun all day long!

We can't thank our customers enough for the support that we receive all year long, not just on special days like NSD. (And your wonderful comments on Facebook are the icing on the cake. Or should I say cupcake, since the gourmet mini-cupcakes by Laura Parks of Something Simple were the hit of the day!)

Karin, Stacey, Allison and I are planning to slow down just a bit for the next few weeks, since I've been working us all pretty hard since January. We're still going to have all of our regular store events, but we won't be hosting anything massive that requires moving almost a whole store to a different location (not fun!) again until Scrap-a-Palooza on June 26.

This will give us time to focus on Sketches for Scrapbooking volume 6, that pesky DVD, and a brand new scary-exciting venture that I've let Stacey and Ali talk me into. It will change our lives and our business, in a good way, I hope! Watch our blogs, website, and Facebook for a simultaneous announcement from us maybe as early as mid-week!