Progress & Side Projects



A picture is worth a thousand words,
but a personalized frame helps to tell the story!

As promised, I spent my week focused on scrapbooking and I finished my pages for the past few weeks!  Of course, when you get a good rhythm going, scrapbooking can be even more addictive than usual.  Just as I was finishing up, I found myself dangerously close to ordering more photos.  The fact that I spent $50 at A.C. Moore this week - I swear I only went in for a few pieces of loose paper, but they were having a really good sale - did not help me fight the temptation to keep going.  But as I was searching my room for photos I had already printed, I came across an old calendar that simultaneously inspired a side project and ensured I'd be needing a long break from scrapbooking once I finished. 



It's Kind of a Funny Story

I suppose it depends on who you ask...my mom would disagree.  It was winter 2005 and I was a freshman at Boston University.  I was on the cheerleading team, which usually didn't mean much at a school so obsessed with hockey.  For some reason (ie: the hockey team was away), the basketball team got to play a rare double-header at the new arena.  My parents and their friends had come to watch, so in between games I met up with them at concessions.  Unlike most of my fellow cheerleaders, food was always a priority for me.  Just as we got to the concourse, there was an announcement that the Red Sox's 2004 World Series Trophy would be on display in between games.  This was news to me - awesome news!  Unfortunately, there was a long line, and I'm not the most patient person.  I didn't have my camera so I borrowed my mom's and attempted to sneak a picture of myself with the trophy, while they waited at the end of the line.  Of course, that got some negative attention quickly and a security guard told me to go wait my turn.  Instead, I put on most innocent voice and said, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to take a quick picture because I'm a cheerleader (as if that wasn't obvious from my uniform) and I have to go get ready for the next game." Then next thing I knew, the security guard was repeating was I had said to another security guard in a sympathetic voice.  And then they offered to take my picture next!  This was probably the only time I benefited from being a BU cheerleader, but what a time it was!  I got an awesome picture and I practically skipped back to my parents to drop off the camera.  When I saw them after the game, I found out that they had waited with their friends for more than an hour to see the trophy.  When they asked the guy to take their picture, the camera battery died!  Oh yeah...the security guard had told me the battery was low after he took my picture, but I was so excited (and the line was really long) that I forgot to mention it to my parents.  They weren't too happy.  But it's been 7 years, so they've probably forgiven me.

Back to Crafts

So when I came across this photo in an old calendar my mom had made for me, I decided it needed a proper display.  Any old frame just wouldn't do!  So I pulled out my box of miscellaneous scraps and a few BU alumni magazines and got to work.  I went to work organizing a collage on the frame.  Once you decoupage it, it looks amazing, but getting there is a bit of a battle.  After hours of cutting and rearranging my scraps I was ready to pull out my hair.  But once I saw the finished product, I was so excited and proud of myself for sticking with it.  I accomplished a lot this week.  No doubt I'll be showing off this picture for years to come.  But it'll be a while before I mess around with any more scraps!