Amanda Rose blog

FREE DOWNLOADS // each version of my Week In Review cards

Howdy, all!  A few months back I posted an instagram and my |week 8| PL spread featuring the first version of my 'Week in Review' cards I use each week in my Project Life spreads.  Well, I'll tell ya! It was greeted with such a positive response that I decided to make it available for free download soon after.  

Since that post, I've made several other sizes and versions of the 'Week in Review' card, and in honor of it being MEMORY-IAL DAY WEEKEND I have attached to this post downloadable files of each version in .psd format (which means you need to have Photoshop in order to download and tinker around with them).

the original 3x4 version:

Download AmandaRose3x4WeekinReview

the 6x4 version:

Download AmandaRose6x4WeekinReview

the 4x4 square version:

Download AmandaRose4x4WeekinReview

the wide 12x4 version over photograph:

Download AmandaRose12x4WeekinReview

...and last but not least, the long 4x12 version with script dates:

Download AmandaRoseWeekINReview4x12

As always, thanks for showing interest and visiting this little blog space of mine.

I'm sorry if the .psd format is of any inconvience to anybody.  I'm kind of learning as I go, and at this point the goal is simply to make/create & share. Presently, this is the only way I know how.  As I get more versed in design and digital downloads, I plan to release more fun stuff in a more user-friendly format.

However, if you do happen to download any or all of the cards and use or talk about it, I ask that you please refer back to this post. :)

Thanks!

Have fun!

 

STRESSED...so let's SHOP!

1. Hunter Gloss Wider Calf Rain Boots in Pillar Box Red
2. Lavish Alice Structured Skater Dress from ASOS
3. Queens Grocery Tote by Maptote
4. Mara Mi Chevron Cell Phone Case available at Target

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Today's the HELL DAY.
The mock Quality Review that I talked about in this post and this post.
I'm stressed to say the least, and when I'm stressed, I shop -- even if it's just window shop.
Above is what I'd currently buy.

I cannot wait until this day is over. 

Que sera sera!

field trip today // hell day tomorrow // and those kiddos

field trip today

Thank goodness, too.  We had one last week and the shot above shows some of my bunch chasing after my para across an open field.  It's amazing when kids can just be kids, and not expected to be robot regurgitaters of the stupid Common Core Standards. Ick.

hell day tomorrow

Tomorrow is the mock Quality Review I talked about in this post. There's a 1 in 3 chance they're going to be visiting my classroom because there are only three of us self-contained teachers.  I guess I'm prepared (sorta) but I can't help but feel like these reviewers are dying to "get" me..."get" all of us NYC teachers and try to prove in some way we can't/don't/won't teach.  Like, what else would we be doing?! Anyway...it's sent me on a stress super-highway to a nervous breakdown. People have been asking me if I have any plans this Memorial Day weekend, and I'm just like, "I haven't yet thought past Thursday at 3pm...if I make it to there, ask me then."

those kiddos

I love 'em.  I mean all the bull---t aside, they're friggin' hilarious. So weird and great.  Sometimes they drive me crazy, too, but I usually appreciate every second I spend with them.  Yesterday was a good day.  ...and Monday?

This happened Monday:

BIANCA: "Miss Zampelli, I heard Perla say 'shit' and 'dick'."

ME: (gasp) "Oh no. Thank you for telling me, Bianca. I will talk to her."

BIANCA: "I heard her say 'shit' and 'dick.'

ME: "...oh, okay...I'll make sure I talk to her tomorr..."

BIANCA: "...'shit' and 'dick'..."

ME: "Okay, thank you. That's enough."

There she is, with my four girls. She cracks me up.

She wrote me this poem last year.

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Happy Hump Day!

Let's make it to Friday, shall we?

PL 2013 |week 20|

|Week 20| started on Mother's Day Sunday...and my morning was spent thinking about my mom and two grandmas and crafting cute cards 'from the boops'.

That quote says it all: begin doing what you want to do now.  I woke up Tuesday on this mission to apply to my desgin school, fill out the application, put down the deposit...I was waiting on my dad for advice or somthing, but on Tuesday, I just did it all myself, and don't know why I was waiting.

I designed some immigration travel tickets so my kiddos could pretend they were immigrants migrating to some place to make their BIG DREAM come true. Our weekly classroom garden log also happend...still no flower blooms. :/

middle insert: Thursday's Field Trip

Love that run shot.  It was amazing to be with the kids when they were allowed to be kids. No sucky staewide tests.  No Common Core Standards breathing down my back.  Just them and and an open field.

right side:

Even though we're pouting, it was a happy hour.  This Friday's will be even greater!

Week in Review.  As per usual. Matched the colors.

One of my favorite [shoe shots] ever...I love those Target glitter sandals.

^ me, getting sentimental about my new planner, and the nearness of Summer...

...and then my Saturday sentiment.

|Week 20| was breeeze compared to the stress/anxiety of our
current |week 21| that I'm calling HELL WEEK.

...and then I turn on the news, and see all the devastation in Oklahoma,
and I shut my stupid mouth.  Thank you, Lord, for all my blessings, and
send strength and support to OK.

♥ ♥ ♥ 

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For more of my past Project Life spreads, go HERE.

For more on Project Life itself, go HERE.

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Thanks for visiting!

my weekend with my Erin Condren LIFE PLANNER

Well...look what landed in my lap Friday evening: my Erin Condren Life Planner.
I told you it would arrive any day.

A bunch of this past weekend was spent getting to know this planner, and testing out all sorts of jottings, pens, recording techniques, figuring out what I liked, didn't...you know the deal.  

Here are some shots from my weekend with my Erin Condren LIFE PLANNER:

top, left: I chose the 2013 life planner - collage cover which customizes the front and back of the planner with pictures you upload.  It looks a lot like my current header, as those are the things most making up my life right now.  I personalized it with my name, and the sentiment I'd most like my future plans to propel me toward: "She believed that she could, so she did."

top, right: I marked my first May week with my planner by printing out instagram shots from those days.  I really like how they look and how it ties the day to an image, so I'll probaly continue that all throughout December.

middle, left: a close-up look of the instagram I took once I had my new planner in my lap, with a little bit of journalling around it

middle, right: a quick weekly BLOG POST sticker I designed to match the month and function as a spot to plan the posts for that week

bottom, left: I love that just two days with this planner has brought my stamp mojo back! Maybe by summer it'll inspire me to whip up some new stamps for the shop! Who knows?!
(Those used above are Amy Tangerine's.)

bottom, right: I don't really like to "attack" my planner in advance.  I like to write/scribble/fuss once the week hits...so I'm big on removable stickies.  I'm already thinking about July (duh!) and labelling my weeks of project life. ;) (Those arrow stickies form Target.)

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I decided that I'm going to experiment with this planner -- no holds barred -- for the rest of May and June -- while school is still in session.  THEN...when the ever-loving SUMMER STARTS on June 27th (last day of school is June 26th) I will have developed some sort of system to make this work for me.

I'll let you know when I know!

Adios, amigos!

WTF, Saturday?!

Yep.

Here I was at work yesterday -- on a  Saturday -- cleaning, making charts, and sorting through MOUNDS of paperwork.  I got dizzy twice and had to sit down.  

The reason is because of a "mock" Quality Review our school has going on Thursday.  "Mock" meaning it isn't real and doesn't count for anything, but the school's atmosphere is still one of tension, nerves, and fear.  Yep, fear. I've heard many teachers 1, 2, 5, and 15+ years in saying they're losing sleep over the amount of work they've had to produce and pressure they feel.

I'm so over it.

I'm going to attack this upcoming Hell Week with a postive attitude, a focus on giving myself time to zone out in center clarity, peace, serenity, and with this song in my head.

Que Sera Sera!

SIDE NOTE:

Whenever I mention that I'm considering leaving the teaching profession

someone never fails to say to me "the grass is always greener..."

AT THIS POINT: I don't care which grass is greener,

as long as I'm not mowing it on the weekend.

PL 2013 |week 19|

Welcome to |week 19| of my project life album. 

The whole left side is rather gray. I think it matches the fog I felt last week.

I wasted no time using the clear plastic heart-centered geotag, and it's donut hole heart cut out that I received in the Studio Calico May Scrapbook kit. OMG. 

Mark my words: lucite is the new wood veneer.

(I do love my wood veneer, though.) ;)

Half-ponytails never fail to be a bitch when I try to remove them ^. Ouch.

The bottom is the birthday card I sent to him with the sentiment: "I miss you million." I really do.

Middle insert is my 'Week in Review'...changed around again and made into a 4x12 divider. 
(I will be make all the different formats of my 'Week in Reviews' available for free download sometime next week.) 

The right side:

I made the right side have color because Friday-Saturday-Sunday did feel less foggy than the start of the week.

robe + rainboots + coffee + Carmen + squirrel feed  = Saturday, May 11th @ 7:38am...

A little inside joke started with my sister: 'car fun'...

Some words I've been living by from 'The Jobs':

...and stapled sequins. :) ...inspired by this recent project life of the fabulous Elisa Blaha Cripe.

The last two inserts of |week 19|'s spread was the most recent classroom garden shot I took,
and a karaoke song-selection shot.  Very routine images for these past months.

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Only 27 more work days left until Summer.

Eye on the prize.

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For more of my past Project Life spreads, go HERE.

For more on Project Life itself, go HERE.

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Thanks for visiting!

Preach, Zooey.

Love this.

...and I braked for a bird yesterday.
Twice. The same bird.

Happy Thursday!

Erin Condren LIFE PLANNER Inspiration

I received an e-mail yesterday informing me that the personalized Erin Condren Life Planner I created for myself at the beginning of the month has been shipped and is on its way to me.

...any day now, any day now...

In the meantime, I've been obsessing over how others around the world have been using theirs. I've been gathering inspiration -- usually right before bed -- and drift to sleep with visions of my new planner and the future plans I'll fill it with dancing in my head.  

I'm a total paper-geek, but it's more than that...

I think I'm excited about what the planner symbolizes.  To me, this planner means thinking ahead and planning how to make the most of my summer...it means zeroing in on what I need to do once this school year is over (YES! 30 more work days)...it means propulsion...it means preparing for design school. EEK!  Not to mention, it's friggin' adorable. The design inspires me. The layout inspires me.  Erin Condren herself inspires me (as a woman, as a designer).

So hurry up, little planner companion!
I'm ready to fill you with future.

P.S. - Spy my current planner in this post. It's over in June. I was so due for an upgrade.

Sooo...I MADE A KIMONO ROBE.

Remember back in April went I set out to MAKE A KIMONO-STYLE ROBE by the end of April?  
You kind of followed my journey when I posted my OUT TO SEWs // 1, 2, and 3.

Well, I finished just this past weekend.

It's kind of sad story.  It was supposed to go on for the four consecutive Saturdays in April, but on the third Saturday, our sewing instructor (who I absolutely adore) got sick.  Class resumed on April 27th, but that would mean the "finishing" of the robe would spill over into May.  Then, that first Saturday of May got cancelled because poor Pat was sick again.  When the class finally got together for our last session this past May 11th Saturday, we found out Pat had a severe asthma attack, was in a coma and on a resperator.  8|  I just can't believe it.  I hope the news on her comes back good soon.  It would be a nice deviation from all the saddness that seems to happen one after the other this past year.

Anyway, that Pat: she taught me everything I currently know about sewing.  Most importantly, she made me feel comfortable sitting in front of my sewing machine.  I now have the confidence I need to embark on other sewing adventures.  ...and my robe?  It's pretty sweet, even with it's many imperfections.  I love it.  

Get well soon, Pat!
I am so very grateful for the sewing skills she taught me, my new spring robe, and how my one little word {MAKE} manifested itself last month.

See March's here and here.
See February's here and here.
See January's here and here.

my DIY flowers in my hair