Amanda Rose Zampelli | the blog

This is the lifestyle / craft / everyday blog of Amanda Rose Zampelli - designer, crafter, smiler, and internet friend.

BACK HOME mini book prep

BACK HOME mini book prep

paper | alphas | stickers | cards | journal cards

Happy Workspace Wednesday, everybody! My workspace looks like ^this^ today because I'm working on binding together a thin little mini book to take with me on my travels back to New York tomorrow. I'm going to be there from Thursday to Tuesday, and I plan to document my 51/2 days 'back home' in simple photos + jots. (I suppose I've been inspired by all the fabulous Weeks in the Life I've been seeing floating around instagram & the internet lately.)

Although I'm excited to go home, I'm also a bit nervous, and plan to write that all down. I'm also going to help my mom 'break in' her new black kitten she's getting on Halloween (SO EXCITED) and attend the baby shower of one of my best friends.

I'm looking forward to recording these things, as I haven't documented my everyday since this work trip mini book, and my Project Life comeback does not commence until the weekend after this one. I'll be back with the finished product some time next week. ♥ Enjoy the rest of your day!

Wednesday, October 29, 2014 at 06:00 AM in me & my BIG ideas, mini books, WEEK in the LIFE, WEEK in the LIFE | Oct 2014 | Permalink | Comments (0)

my WEEK IN THE LIFE September 2013 album | Thursday - Sunday

27 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

So, I left off yesterday in mid air, somewhere between Queens NY and Dallas TX, finishing up the book "Don't Worry It Gets Worse."  It was the most uncomfortable flight ever, although only about 4 hours long.  I had a terrible back-ache afterwards.

28 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

I retrieved my luggage off of the conveyor, and found a bench outside the airport where Tomas would be picking me up from the 'arriving' section.  He did.  We hugged, we chatted in the car, yap yap yap. We passed many a place to grub until we arrived at Mo' Fish.   Why there, I'll never know, but grub we did, and smile we did, and share stories we did.

29 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

The next morning, Tomas went to work, and I was alone in the apartment, but he got me a rental car, and off I went to explore...

30 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

...and get stuck in traffic.

31 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

There, above, is that outfit sketch again. Made quite a few of them and I like how the 'arm on hip' matches in the photo and the sketch.  Unplanned!

32 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

I LOVE the above page.  So simple, but SO my late afternoon that day.  

33 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Thursday's dinner that came from it was super yum.

34 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

On to Friday.  Friday, the 13th.  The Friday that felt like my birthday.  ♥ ♥ ♥

35 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

He took me to see Texas mansions that would cost several millions of dollars in New York.  So fun to walk through and pretend. ;)

36 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

37 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

We left the mansions for some BBQ.  The best I've ever had ever.  Ever ever.

38 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

We left with full tummies and drove around until we came across a outdoor wine festival with live music and rides and wine and cowboys.  

39 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Back tot he apartment was next, to change for the night, and relax a bit.  Tomas and his cousin ate the leftover linguine from the night before.  I "dolled up".

40 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Friday night was my first rodeo, and leave it to me to just feel bad for the bull.  It's not nice. Petting the horses afterward -- much more my speed.

41 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

We then had a brew or two at Billy Bob's -- the biggest bar(s) I have ever seen.  Everything IS big in Texas.  It was like a bar the size of Costco with about 10 bars inside it, a concert area, a dancefloor with a rotating disco ball saddle.

42 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

SUCH A GOOD DAY.

43 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

The next morning: my wish for Waffle House was granted, and then we road tripped it 3 hours to Austin, TX...

44 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

...where we drank frozen raspberry margaritas, and listened to some of the best salsa music from the Jonas Alvarez Band on a Saturday afternoon.  In my opinon, that should happen EVERY Saturday.

45 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Of course, I found my walls.  The stay was short, but sweet.  Tomas slept on the way home while I sang to every song I heard on the radio for the whole 3 hour ride back. :)

46 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Sunday, my last day in Texas with Tomas, started slowly and was a bit more quiet and chill.  We both worked on our computers most of the morning, fighting with the Wifi.  Tomas got up and made a banging breakfast:

47 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

We explored Fort Worth by bike after our late breakfast.

48 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

...and we stumbled upon the Fort Worth Water Gardens (so cool!).

49 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

After more driving around Fort Worth, we went home and readied for our last meal together.  We ended up at Keg's Steakhouse.  

50 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

I will always remember. 

51 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

52 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

53 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

...and the sun came up the next day, like thankfully it always does, and without much talking, he got ready for work, and I packed up suitcase.  He dropped me at the airport and pulled away after a long, tight hug.  On my own again, finding my way through the airport, I snapped the above picture and felt the below sentiment:

54 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

55 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Thus concludes my Week in the Life album.  It was an adventure-filled, epic, great week for me.

56 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

I put my jottings in the back (I'll probably never look at them).

57 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

And done.  This was a TOUGH project to finish.  In the moment of living, FUN.  But in the end, with all the data & photos collected, TOUGH.  I think because it calls for you to take note of those in between moments...and then because you take note of them, you want to do something with your findings.

Anyway, done and done.  
Now, to spend the upcoming weekend catching up on Project Life (in a good way).

Happy Tuesday!

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Tuesday, October 22, 2013 at 01:06 PM in WEEK in the LIFE, WEEK in the LIFE | Sept 2013 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

my WEEK IN THE LIFE September 2013 album | Monday - Wednesday

00 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

A month and a half later, and I finally completed my Week in the Life album that started back in the beginning of August.  

01 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

There are over 50 pictures of it, so I'm posting the Monday through Wednesday pages today, and the Thursday to Sunday pages tomorrow. 

02 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

I simplified the above cover page since I last posted it.  That's a perfect picture f how I felt at the start of Week in the Life, September 9th...

03 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

...and on that first Monday, I rode the Xpress bus I'd be riding for the 13 weeks of graphic design school for the first time, to get the feel of it and to keep me distracted from the fact that all the kids were going back to school that day and I wasn't.

04 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Only Monday and Tuesday did I stick ot this above 'Day in the Life' specific times kind of journalling.  The rest of the week was just writing from memory, not as minute by minute.

05 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

That Monday afternoon, I returned home, and was hit with a full blown sinus headache.

06 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

lunch & my baby girl

07 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Alejandro on the banister, above;  very minimal embellishments; lots of simple stapled sentiments that came in a recent Studio Calico kit.

08 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Tuesday, September 10th, had me cheesing, trying on the wigs that came and would eventually be worn on the Electric Run.

11 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

I tried a new thing with this mini album: I sketched my outfit(s) of the day...I think it was a cool idea, adding a cool element to the spreads.

09 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Tuesday afternoon brought with it a delicious panini lunch with my co-worker Vita, and her little guy, Santino.

10 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

I then had to leave to pick up my mom from work, where we sat in the backyard late in the afternoon.  I ate a Strawberry Shortcake bar, and my mom soaked her poor, aching feet.

12 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

In the evening, my sister and I went for a neighborhood walk, and decided somewhere along the way that we were going to make chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.  We went to Walbaums to get the strawberries, only to decide they weren't fresh and travelled the neighborhood to Stop&Shop where we bought the berries.

13 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

We made them, and they were so delish.
I was leaving for Texas the next evening.  So I made sure I rested up good.

14 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Wednesday came -- the 12 year anniversary of September 11th.  I drove my mom to work, then headed out early to get my hair blow dried, and on the way heard the moment of silence at 9:03am on the radio.  I was brought to tears. It still gets you, and I remember exactly where I was.

16 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Mani/pedi was done after, and then returned home and made lunch before I packed.  My mind was full and jumbled with travel thoughts and excited nervousness to see Tomas after so many weeks.

17 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Pack Pack Pack, and a sweet moment with my little mama's boy.

18 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Soon, dad picked me up, and off to LaGuardia airport we went!

19 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

The above was a quote I read in August somewhere and decided it was the precise sentiment that was driving me to take this trip, so I made sure to include it in my Week in the Life album, preceding the few documented days I was in Texas.

21 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Ah, this map insert.  I'm obsessed with it.

20 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

No, not my ingenious creation.  I saw this pinned image by Marcy Penner, and knowing where she got the map image from, I recreated it myself for the purpose of this album.  Thanks, Marcy!

22 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Dad stopped at one of my childhood favorites: Lemon Ice King of Corona.
(When in Queens NY, you must go.)

23 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

Then we went to one of my adulthood favorites:  Empanada Cafe, and at the airport I was dropped. On my own now, with my bag of empanadas. 

24 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

I waited in the gate for a little over an hour until I boarded the most uncomfortable plane ride of my life, but got a little reading done: 

25 Week in the Life album - Sept 2013 | Amanda Rose blog

 ...and I leave you in mid-air with my Wednesday evening flight from NY to Dallas, TX.  

Tomorrow, my Week in the Life album will pick up right from here, and you'll get to see how Thursday to Sunday (well, Monday morning) fleshed out.  I'll be talking about what went on while I was in Texas September 12th to the 15th.  

As for now, Happy Monday, and have a good start to your week, all!

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Monday, October 21, 2013 at 04:48 AM in seasons | SUMMER, WEEK in the LIFE, WEEK in the LIFE | Sept 2013 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

WEEK IN THE LIFE so far (M through W)

Week in the Life is in FULL EFFECT, readers and peepers. Even while I'm in Texas!

Below are some of the photographs with digital journalling I got to work on so far that will be printed out on my HP photo printer and put into my 6x8 Simple Stories SN@P album some time next week.  

00 01 MON01 MondayMorning WEEK IN THE LIFE | Amanda Rose blog

02 MondayAfternoon WEEK IN THE LIFE | Amanda Rose blog

03 MondayAfternoon WEEK IN THE LIFE | Amanda Rose blog

04 MondayEvening WEEK IN THE LIFE | Amanda Rose blog

00 02 TUES05 TuesdayMorning WEEK IN THE LIFE | Amanda Rose blog

06 TuesdayAfternoon WEEK IN THE LIFE | Amanda Rose blog

07 TuesdayEvening WEEK IN THE LIFE | Amanda Rose blog

00 03 WED08 WednesdayMorning WEEK IN THE LIFE | Amanda Rose blog

09 WednesdayAfternoon WEEK IN THE LIFE | Amanda Rose blog

10 WednesdayEveing WEEK IN THE LIFE | Amanda Rose blog
This week's focus is mainly on journalling and snapping pictures throughout my day (Hello, Self-timers!), and uploading and organizing them the next morning...basically gathering the raw materials for the story of this week.  When I work through these raw materials next week for the album, I'm hoping my gathering and organizing made it easier for myself.

Without a doubt what you see above was influenced by this lady's digital Week in the Life, and it's been working for me so far.  I'm excited to see how I put together the images above mixed in with others for the for the final product in my SN@P album.  Stay tuned!

How's your Week in the Life coming along?

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Thursday, September 12, 2013 at 09:51 AM in WEEK in the LIFE, WEEK in the LIFE | Sept 2013 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

the upcoming school year without me in it

This used to be the view from my classroom window last year:

08

Now today, with the start of a new school a year (a year that - had I not left teaching - would have been the start of my third year in the classroom) I'm not headed to a classroom with a view of NYC, I'm headed to NYC itself. By EXPRESS BUS.

Design school starts in two weeks from today, and instead of sitting home and thinking about how I didn't make it as a teacher or about all my former students asking where I am, I'm getting out there to test the MTA waters for the best route to get me where I need to be these next three months.

How do I feel about it all?
Sad.
Definitly relieved, too (because if I were going back today, I know in my heart it would've felt wrong), but mostly sad, and a little unnerved.  If you allow me to take a moment to be melodramatic, there's a part of me that feels like a failure...like there's a fundamental flaw in my personality that caused me to not make it as a teacher.  Even though I know deep down this is not true, and I've expressed in great depths here, here, and here (among other places) what led me to leave, a part of me can't help but feel it, and feel lost.

I'm combating the negative thoughts that I suspected today would bring with well-wishes to my teacher-friends and family, a whole morning and afternoon worth of adventure by public transportation, and the drowning of myself in my new book and the first day of Week in the Life.
(More info on Week in the Life HERE.)

Thanks for allowing me to process this day and reading what I had to say about the upcoming school year without me in it.  Mostly, I just want to wish my bunch happiness and growth this year. They were the heartbeat of the job, and what I'll miss the most.

Now, without further ado, I'd like stop looking and speaking about what's behind me, and turn my face in the direction of what's ahead of me.  This post is my transition into that.  

Adventure is out there!

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Monday, September 09, 2013 at 05:06 AM in fresh starts, personal, WEEK in the LIFE, WEEK in the LIFE | Sept 2013 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

prepping for 'Week in the Life'

Prepping for Week in the Life 01 | Amanda Rose blog

When Tomas left for Dallas, TX on Tuesday, something visceral came over me.  About an hour after I saw his car pull away from my street, I had this intense craving to go to Michael's Craft Store. Once there, I was making a haul like never before...I think it was a physical reaction to him leaving and me just needing a new project or two to keep myself busy.  Actually, I have three coming up: Mug Swap, 30 Days of Lists, and 'Week in the Life'.  Four, if you count Project Life (but that's become so routine, I don't even reference it as a separate project).

Here's how I prepped for Ali Edward's 'Week in the Life' coming up September 9th - 15th:

Prepping for Week in the Life 02 | Amanda Rose blog

I bought a 6x8 Simple Stories SN@P! album to document the week.  

...and now for the anticipated question:
But, Amanda, don't you already have a Project Life album for documenting your weeks?

Yes, I document my weeks with Project Life, but the 'Week in the Life' project is waaaayyyy different. It's seven days in a row of 'Day in the Life', pretty much.  Being uber-documentative and aware of your everyday for SEVEN DAYS STRAIGHT...journalling, taking photos, registering feelings.  It's a challenge, and not as laid back as sitting in front of two empty Project Life protector pages asking yourself, "What're my five favorite photos from the week?"

So that's the difference, in case you were wondering. :)

Prepping for Week in the Life 03 | Amanda Rose blog

I also bought some sweet 6x8 protector pages (like a mini-me project life album -- I die!) and some stickers, inserts, and dividers.

Prepping for Week in the Life 04 | Amanda Rose blog

I also prepped by already preparing Ali Edwards' 'Week in the Life' recording sheets with the dates:

Prepping for Week in the Life 05 | Amanda Rose blog

I had fun playing with neon paint and Heidi Swapp stencils to make the title insert:

Prepping for Week in the Life 06 | Amanda Rose blog

I also jotted some design plans on post-its of where I think I want a photo, a journalled thought, the run-down of the day...

Prepping for Week in the Life 07 | Amanda Rose blog

...and having that plan a month in advance is sort of invaluable.

Prepping for Week in the Life 08 | Amanda Rose blog

The last thing I prepped besides all you see above is an insert with the word:

Prepping for Week in the Life 09 | Amanda Rose blog

...'TEXAS' in gorgeous map thickers on the tab.  Can you guess why? :)  Yep, during the week of 'Week in the Life', right before graphic design school starts, I'm visiting Tomas in Texas for a few days.  I wanted to do a separate mini on it, but fitting it into this album will work out just fine.

I'm pretty excited, and this might explain the physcial need I had to get to Michael's and supply shop for it.  (I translate pent-up anticipation into making things. Do you do the same?)

Prepping for Week in the Life 10 | Amanda Rose blog

That's how I prepped, for all those of you who were curious.  

I'll be recording 'Week in the Life' between Monday, September 9th through Sunday, September 15th.  I project those days will be filled with crafting, jogging, thoughts on not going back to school that week, and a plane ride to and weekend in Texas. Hot damn!

The three main inspirations for this upcoming project are:
 Ali Edwards | Kelly Purkey | Lynnette from Nettio Designs

Their fabulosity is immeasurable!

♥

Thanks for stopping by! Stay tuned!

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Thursday, August 08, 2013 at 06:00 AM in fresh starts, my blog/her blog, seasons | SUMMER, WEEK in the LIFE, WEEK in the LIFE | Sept 2013 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

  • a Mile a Day in March
  • PROJECT LIFE 2015
  • 30 in 30 LIST
  • OLW 2015: PROOF

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Recent Posts

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