Thank You Stacy Julian!

When I first moved to Arizona in 2006, it was just me and my then five-year-old. My mother's older brother, my uncle (may he RIP) lived in a community a few miles away. He was waiting for his wife to retire and relocate and I was waiting for my mom and dad. Other than my uncle and my son, I had no one. I lived in my mom's house with all of my scrapbook supplies remaining in boxes for the next six months while I waited for my house to be completed.

Having my scrappy stuff in storage was hard, especially with no other creative outlet. Even after my house was completed and I was all moved in, it would be many months before I could begin scrapbooking again. About six months after moving, my scrap space was all set up, but I had no one to scrap with. Then I discovered Big Picture Scrapbooking now called Big Picture Classes. I signed up for my very first class in January of 2007 and since then have registered for over 35 classes. Though I often crafted in solitude it always felt like my BPC friends were never too far away. BPC is what kept me crafting, creating and smiling, even when I was lonely and questioning why I would ever leave L.A. to move to this godforsaken suburb of Phoenix. I couldn't wait to get home from work so that I could log in, get on the message boards and browse the gallery.

It was Lisa Day's class, Journey to Perpetual Happiness, that finally got me into a much better place mentally and emotionally and helped me dump some "baggage" that had grown much too heavy for any one woman to carry! I owe a lot to Big Picture Classes and because I do, I will always remain a loyal and faithful member. While my participation in classes and on the boards may wax and wane due to work loads and just life in general, BPC is never far from my heart. It was my first online crafty community and you know how we women feel about our firsts!

So... before this post gets much too long... I have to say a HUGE thank you to Stacy Julian for starting this community. For recognizing the artist in me when you called to tell me that one of my layouts from Library of Memories was going to be used as the login page for the LOM Community. Yes folks...Stacy Julian called me! Trust me when I tell you I thought someone was playing with me!

Thank you Stacy for sending me "Happy Mail." And now... for gifting me with a seat in your latest class  "The Art + Science of Scrapbooking." I can't wait for class to start and hope that I can keep up!


WrinkleFreeDiva

Make Your Own Thickers Storage

This is Stogie, our 10-year-old English Springer Spaniel.

She takes four medications twice a day and will need to for the rest of her life. Getting her to take her meds was a struggle until we discovered Greenie's Pill Pockets. Now we order them by the case and have them delivered every two months. (I promise...there is a point to this...)

Because I am always picking up Thickers when I find them at TJ Maxx, Marshalls and other stores on sale, my collection is growing. During the summer, I bought one of those pretty paper boxes at Michaels to store them in, but a few months later I've already outgrown it. In looking for a new solution I saw where people were using those wider plastic magazine files. They are difficult to find (although I did see some on eBay or Amazon) and I really didn't want to spend the money or have to worry about them not being available if I ever needed more. Turns out, the Greenie's boxes are the perfect size to make magazine file boxes to hold Thickers! And, I'll have a new box every two months indefinitely!

Want to see how I did it? Check out my video...

Hope you enjoyed it and will give it a try!

Thanks for looking!

WrinkleFreeDiva