It's time to get you updated on the new goodies that have arrived at Scrapbook Generation the past few days.

In addition to the items pictured, this afternoon we will be receiving the "Big Bite" Crop-a-Dile (similar to the original model, but this one has a fabulous 6-inch reach -- which means you can punch a hole anywhere on a 12x12 sheet of paper or chipboard!). Some of you have already signed up for one, and the rest will go to first come, first served.

We are also expecting a huge shipment from My Mind's Eye either today or tomorrow. It is three groups, and should fill the entire front of the store! New Wild Asparagus, 29th Street Market, and a third smaller group. I can't wait!

New stuff that is already out on the shelves...
-- Creative Imaginations: a military, patriotic, and veterans group of papers and stickers; a western group of double-sided papers, stickers, and epoxy stickers;
-- Disney: an assortment of papers, stickers, and albums;
-- Travel: an assortment of cruise/beach/summer papers and stickers;
-- Flair: new Easter group of papers and stickers;
-- Reminsce: new Easter group of papers, stickers, rub-ons, and more;
-- Sandylion: a red and black Valentine/love collection of papers and stickers;
-- Scenic Route: the new Grafton and Providence papers (die-cuts and stickers following soon);
-- Cloud 9: a travel group and a pink/black group featuring their glitter papers, regular papers, and lots of accessories;
-- American Crafts: 30 sets of alphabet letters (many new styles and fonts) in materials including felt, vinyl, velvet, chipboard, chipboard with glitter, and foam;
-- Bazzill: over 20 styles of "cardstock with an edge," the company's die-cut cardstock (and about 20 more styles will be following next week).

I'm having one of those days where I've been here since early morning, and now it's late at night, and I don't have much to show for my time! Part of the Scenic Route order arrived and also another new group by Cloud 9, but we haven't even had time to open the boxes. It's one of those days! We'll try to have the stuff out by noon tomorrow.

Really good news may be on the horizon. The huge My Mind's Eye order that I thought was supposed to get here mid-March has evidently already shipped, because we've already been billed! That may mean that all their great new products will arrive by the end of the week!

In the middle of all the day's craziness, I did want to post a photo of Laura Parks' kids class that will be held this Saturday morning. She always does cute projects, but this one is outstanding. She is wonderful to not just take them through the steps of a project, but to make sure they learn a new skill or technique. This spring mini-book uses felt, ribbon, jewels, buttons, and rick rack, and is super cute. The class is for children ages 7-12, and just call to register!

We're here! Karin has been at Scrapbook Generation all day, and I get the midnight shift tonight. We have a sold-out Midnight Madness tonight, and the few who couldn't make it have been replaced by those on our waiting list. Anyway, if you're tired of being stuck in the house, we'll be open for shopping until midnight!

We were glad to be able to be here to greet our UPS guy, because this was a big shipment day. We've been working hard to get everything out quickly. Right now, we have more Glimmer Mist than ever, more Disney stuff than ever, and more cruise/beach stuff than ever. I better get out of the office and get back to helping!

Sounds like we're in for more nasty weather. I hate ice! Stacey and I both have sold-out classes scheduled for Thursday, and we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Thursday morning, the Scrapbook Generation team will be carefully monitoring the weather situation (meaning Karin, Stacey, Allison and I will be exchanging multiple frantic phone calls to decide what to do or not to do!)

If we are unable to open the store because of the weather, we'll reschedule the classes for a week later at the same times.

Arriving today:
-- Easter papers (glittery and shimmery) and embellishments by Reminsce, papers and stickers by Pebbles, and a huge variety of Easter and spring embellishments.

Arriving Thursday and Friday:
-- Over 30 colors of Glimmer Mist;
-- Dozens of mini-albums by 7Gypsies and Creative Imaginations, including several new styles;
-- Tons of cruise and beach and travel papers and embellishments;
-- Big variety of Disney papers and embellishments.

Arriving next week:
-- Scenic Route's new Grafton and Providence collections;
-- Scenice Route's Loveland collection;
-- Flair's new Easter collection;
-- Cloud 9's travel and Chocolate Chalet collections (they have the best glitter papers I've seen!)

Sketch sessions this Saturday:
Hope you can join us this Saturday for the Hall of Fame sketch sessions! We're going to recreate one of Allison's layouts that was featured in the CK Hall of Fame book. It's one of my personal favorites, and I think you'll like it too. We're averaging between 50 and 60 people at our Saturday sketch sessions, but there's always room for more. Call us to register.

It's that fun time of the year when all the companies come out with their new products, and we already have placed orders for collections we think you will love. As we know arrival dates, I'll be more specific, but right now, our first picks at Scrapbook Generation are BasicGrey and My Mind's Eye. Both are scheduled to ship in mid-March. (To see what's in store, check out their websites!)

BasicGrey has returned from the bizarre to the beautiful! As many of you know, I thought that four of their last five collections were a little radical, for lack of a better word. I think I must not have been the only one, because the five collections this time are back to what I think of as classic BasicGrey! In addition, they have expanded their products and have matching brads, epoxy brads, die-cut shapes, and other items. I ordered pretty much everything from all five collections: Archaic, Boxer, Cupcake, Sugared, and Sultry.

My Mind's Eye also has three huge groupings that you'll love. Wild Asparagus and 29th Street Market both have loads of style, and so many matching page accessories (transparencies, journaling cards, titles, and more), many with a glimmer finish this time. Just Dreamy is a smaller line with matching die-cuts and buttons. We'll be getting every single item from all three groups!

We will also be bringing you the latest from Crate Paper, Scenic Route, K & Company, and other favorites! I'm ordering as fast as I can!

First of all, I need to announce the winners of the door prizes that Scrapbook Generation gave away as part of our Super Bowl sale. They are Carey Looney, Danielle Keller, Penny Peck, Karen Cavaness, and Christine Rantz! Congratulations!

Next, as I've said before, snow days were lots more fun when I was teaching! We were unable to be open Monday and Tuesday, and from what our UPS guy told us, we weren't alone. Losing a day's business is not my favorite thing, but sometimes you have to use common sense. Karin and Stacey were able to get here Wednesday, but I didn't even try to get out until Thursday. I live on a picturesque country lane (translated: dirt road) that juts off from the highway at a pretty steep incline, then at the top of the incline, you have to make a sharp turn. Getting back in once you get out is pretty tricky, but the scariest part for me is possibly sliding onto the highway on the way down the hill. So I stay home!

New page kits:
Anyway, I got an extra day off, and I tried to make good use of the time! For those of you who have been waiting for new page kits, we put out five new ones last week, and I finished six more during my ice days. Some of them are Sweet & Simple kits, and some are Allison Davis kits.

Rescheduling because of the ice:
If you were enrolled in the Anna Griffin memo board class on Monday the 11th, the heart-shaped mini-album class on Monday the 11th, or the Scrapbook 101 Valentine layout class on Tuesday the 12th, we will be holding those classes a week later, at the same times.

Coming up Saturday:
We will be doing three fun techniques to alter the new Tim Holtz product called "grungeboard." Some of the sessions are full, but if you are interested in making a double-page 6x6 layout using this cool new product, give us a call and we'll tell you what is still available. I've been hiding all the grungeboard sets that have been coming in, so that the people taking the classes will be able to get what they want first!

March retreats in Branson:
If you want to join us for this absolutely heavenly time to work on pages and eat and talk and win prizes, you need to get with it! The March 7 retreat has less than 10 spots left, and the March 14 retreat only has 4 spots. (And a reminder to those of you who are already enrolled -- your final payment is due on or before February 29, unless you've made other arrangements.)

Sorry I didn't get this updated on Thursday like I usually do, but it was a long and busy day. I left Mansfield at 6:30 am (in the dark) and arrived back home at midnight (also in the dark)! Just as I was leaving to head home, I remembered I hadn't blogged, but couldn't make myself stay any longer!

Anyway, we have lots of new stuff to replace all the goodies that went home with all of those who participated in Scrapbook Generation's Super Bowl sale. Just in time for spring, we have literally hundreds of boxes, bags, and bottles of Prima flowers. Some of the new sets have glitter flowers, and some of the larger sets have matching jewels and brads and ribbon.

Also, three new groups by Cloud 9, including wedding, dog, and cat. These collections have a multitude of pieces and parts, including glitter rub-ons, brads, ribbon, fabric border strips, cardstock stickers, glitter paper, regular paper, and albums. The Cloud 9 glitter paper is the nicest I've seen. It almost looks as if it is covered with a thin coat of epoxy.

The Pull EZ ribbon purses in red are a limited edition offering of the popular storage item, and the 12 we have now will be all we get, as far as what I know now.

Not shown in the photos: we replenished the family group by Flair, and have all 20 family cardstock stickers and papers. We also restocked the Western group by Flair.

Coming in next week:
-- Over 30 more colors of Glimmer Mist;
-- Grungeboard, several types of sets (but it won't be for sale until during the Saturday Seminars, and those attending will get the chance to purchase it first);
-- Most everything on the Doodlebug wall (glitter, glitter sets, glitter chipboard letters, glitter brads, letter sets, etc.)
-- Autumn Leaves clear stamps;
-- Fancy Pants clear stamps and chipboard sets.

As promised, here are photos of the three new K & Company collections that arrived today at Scrapbook Generation.

Ancestry.com is a heritage group with glitter papers, and even "frothed" papers! There are family tree papers, and others with areas to record your family heritage. Add in some matching embellishments, and you have a great way to showcase heritage photos. (This is the collection we are using for the Remember Them Club, so if you plan on adding extra pages to your album, now is a good chance to get extra matching supplies.)

Classic K "Margo" is a group which features primarily shades of green and rose. There is a wide assortment of papers, a huge amount of matching embellishments, and two coordinating 12x12 albums. This group includes something new, called die-cut sillhouette stickers.

Smitten is a deep pink and brown love/Valentine group, with, you guessed it, plenty of glitter and hearts. This group has a coordinating solid brown album with a photo opening in the cover.

Also from K & Company, several sets of glitter stickers in two font styles. These would be a great addition to all kinds of pages, and the sets even include numbers.

Changing the subject...
We're hard at work on the spring retreats in Branson, and the letters to those who are already registered will be going in the mail Tuesday. The teachers have completed all their class samples, and I'm glad to announce that we will be displaying those here at the store, as well as posting them on our website, to make class selection easier for everyone. At the very latest, the photos will be up by Thursday, Feb. 7. Just click on 2008 retreats for a link to the class photos.

Our theme this spring is "Fiesta Grande," which actually translates to "Great Holiday!" That's what we hope the weekends will be for everyone!

I'm excited about so many things about the retreats...
-- Food: We have what has to be one of the world's best caterers fixing our meals for us. Dee not only prepares great food, but she serves it with tremendous style!
-- Classes: Our teachers have gone above and beyond designing really special classes for the retreat. Awesome layouts, and some of the nicest mini-albums I've ever seen. (And if there is something we've forgotten to spritz with glimmer mist, I don't know what it would be!)
-- Something New: For those who want to make some great pages but don't want to attend a class during their crop time at the retreat, we've added "Classes To Go," which each include an Allison sketch and a Debbie sketch, photos of the completed pages, and all the paper and embellishments needed to make two double-page layouts. These kits are not pre-cut, so they are a little different from our usual kits. There will be Crate Paper kits, Scenic Route kits, and K & Company kits!

If you would like to attend either the March 7-9 retreat or the March 14-16 retreat, just call us at 417-886-0440. We'd love to have you join us. There's nothing quite like getting away from the real world, wearing comfy clothes, eating too much, laughing too hard, and staying up too late!

Thanks, Springfield and area scrapbookers, for making Scrapbook Generation's fourth annual Super Bowl Sale our best ever! I was almost afraid to walk around the store and see how many empty spots there were after the day was over! Luckily, it didn't look as bad as I had feared, and I'm a pretty fast ordering machine when I need to be.

Probably the most popular single item was the Making Memories supply carousel, and we'll definitely order more!

Another popular item was the Glimmer Mist, and right now, we have zero bottles left. It's great timing that our UPS guy will be bringing us nine more colors on Monday (denim blue, burnt red, black cherry, candy apple red, pearl, key lime, holly berry, gingerbread, and mistletoe). I'll also be ordering more colors which will arrive by Friday or Saturday.

Also arriving Monday, three beautiful collections (papers, stickers, chipboard, rub-ons, albums, and more) from K & Company. We'll be getting the Margo group, Smitten (lots of glittery stuff going on with this set), and the complete Ancestry.com group (lots of specialty papers and embellishments for heritage albums.)

Sometime this week, possibly even Monday, we'll be receiving a huge shipment from Prima -- literally hundreds of bottles of flowers, boxes of flowers, and bags of flowers. Some are assortments we've already had, but many are brand new sets that I can't wait to see in person!

Just as soon as we get everything priced and displayed, I'll post photos here for you to see.