Amanda Rose Zampelli | the blog

snippets / january 2015

• interest concept; I think I'll try it ;)

• welcomed my niece Valentina into the world (!!!)

• wishbone FancyTat™ from here

• sequins in a mason jar

• southern california in january ♥ ♥ ♥

• shoulders exposed b/c southern california in january

• me & some of the girls at CHA

• new dress on display

• dad & me & eggplant parmigiana heros

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a bit about snippets:

Blogger Manda Townsend posts snippets of her life every now and then, and after reading her ode to snippets post back in January 2014, I commented that I would join her in 'snippetting'. :)  

I posted snippets of my month on the last day of every month in 2014, and I'm back doing the same for 2015. (see 2014 snippets of Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec)

What I find I usually include are those images that get lost in the shuffle -- ones that I would probably never include in a post or instagram, but are attached to a fun memory or a highlight of the month.

another blog update | geeky blog talk | & what's next

So remember, like, twenty days ago when I was all like, "Hey, I revamped my blog! New Design! Yaddi yaddi yadda!"  Well, literally, the millisecond the new design went live, I thought to myself: NO. I need to fix it. (deep sigh) Such is the life of a picky graphic designer who's type A and can't make a decision about anything.

On a sort-of-related note: Typepad vs. Squarespace. I've been blogging for 5 years now, and I hope you and I spend many more years together at this fun little internet party I call my blog. I started on Blogger, then transitioned to Typepad, but now - 5 years in - a part of me can't deny the positives of Squarespace. I've been thinking about switching over, or keeping up two personal platforms, or making my Squarespace site more of a website, and this site more of a blog. I've been seeing the Squarespace site vs. the 'bloggy' platform debate popping up all over the web here|here and here|here and here|here. 

Needless to say, it's been on my mind. Decisions decisions. In the meantime I'm happier with this new design moving forward. I feel there's going to be a lot of change on the horizon, so as always, I imagine when my world starts to evolve so will how I blog, what I blog, and where I blog. -- ♥ARZ♥

recent pins // JAN 2015

sources // 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

These are some pinned images I've recently added to my Pinterest account. To look at them collectively, you can tell what mood I'm in and where my brain's been at. January usually finds me in a quiet, contemplative mood, and this year is no exception. Things around me are changing. I've been having visions of long, basic dining tables that seat no less than eight people. Plants and art, too. 

--- ♥ ---

Any particular thing(s) recently inspiring you?

(see past pins here)

my time @ CHA 2015

I've wrote about getting to go. I posted one of the videos I was in. I wrote about outfits I wore. I wrote about when I met Amy Tangerine. This post is all the rest about my time at CHA 2015 that I wanted to get down before a new month begins and it becomes "something I did a few weeks/months ago".

I spent most of my time at the me & my BIG ideas booth (which you can see more of here). I took tons of photos, revealed new products via instagram, and talked with visitors and potential buyers. On the opposite end of the room housing the Tradeshow was the We R Memory Keepers booth. I often walked my way over to creep and stalk my Love Notes collection that was on display. I touched the paper and posed like a ham.

We had blisty.com, scrapbook.com, and Noell Hyman from paperclipping.com visit the booth and shoot video starring yours truly. It was nervous wreck, but I felt ready. Speaking about product and talking craft & hobby is something I hope is a part of my career for years and years to come. To have the show be my first real exposure to that was awesome.  With each video, I got more relaxed in front of the camera, and I wished I could have done more!

Two things about my time at CHA were my favorite. The first thing was being with and meeting so many creative ladies who share my passion for this industry. We talked memory keeping, the lengths we scrapbookers go to get good photos, products we liked from each company, how to get into mixed media, and many other things only people that love to MAKE understand.

The second thing about CHA that was my favorite was the profound sense of being where I belonged. I was amongst other creatives who enjoy paper and images as much as me, and have an intense desire to express themselves through craft, and who understand how a 'making' hobby can make a happy life. 

In short - CHA was OMG, and I am so grateful for the amazing start it gave me to this new year. ♥

The story of how I met Amy Tangerine.

If you follow my instagram account @amandarosezamp, and followed my weekend at CHA 2015, then you've probably read this short story. It went something like this:

"Walked to her booth. Got shy. Managed to say hello. Posed for pic. Told her she's my inspiration. Thanked her for her sweet email she wrote me a while back right when I needed it. She told me she bought my paper line: "the one with the pineapples." My heart did a cartwheel. Then Jack Archibald gave me a pound 👊 and a kiss 😘. That's the story of how I met Amy Tangerine."

I hope to one day be on her level. I hope to design line after line and products and more products for a company/companies in this industry until my fingers can't craft anymore! I want to do what this lady does, and because of the inspiration she has been to me, I've gotten farther this past year than I ever thought I would pursing design as a career.

Amy, you motivate me to keep going. You motivate me to trust in my creativity and believe in what I have to offer.  Thank you for paving the way. Thank you for sharing your journey, as it helps me along my journey. Thank you to the moon for your kind words and spirit. You're a class act, Miss Amy Tangerine, and I only hope to pay it forward. ♥

December Daily 2014 // days 21 to 25

She's done. My December Daily 2014 is done, and put in its own album. Using those red glitter me & my BIG ideas number stickers to mark the days, finalizing each page with a coordiating washi tape on the page protector's seam, and (mostly) journalling digitally has been my system -- and it's helped me to finish.

See a flip-through of my finished DD spreads days 1 to 25 below: 

Day 21 was a pretty great, lazy, chore-doing Sunday. I washed my sheets; Alejandro lounged. My cousin Claudia came over to spent some holiday time with us. Pasta and salad was for dinner. Tomas and my sister came over and we four played Cards Against Humanity for the first time.

That game is a lot of fun. Things were said, like, "Maybe she's born with it...maybe it's a stray pube."  Pretty ridiculous.

I had a regular workday Monday on day 22, but Claude was over, and later on when I went ot drive her to the train station for her field trip into NYC, we stopped and had the below photoshoot moment. I love the nine shots we got, and I love the page that came of it.

On day 23, I baked some cookies for Tomas's family. There are so many of them, and they all give gifts on Christmas Eve. To have something to hand back to them, I baked up two giant tubs of chocolate chips, placed them neatly in pretty Christmas tins, and labeled each one "baked with love from Amanda".

At night, we went to Tomas's sister Anna's house, and had dinner with his parents. It was a lovely, peaceful time.  

The next day was Christmas Eve! Day 24 had me wrapping some gifts, and singing Eminem's Rap God song, but with a different meaning. Then, I got ready for my traditional Christmas Eve spent with Tomas's wonderful Filipino family.

The night included the usual: singing karaoke, playing card games, a glorious lobster dinner, and handing out presents at midnight.

Finally, day 25: Merry Christmas! My dad gifted me a free Leo's Tire Shop t-shirt he got when his tire was fixed. ??? 

My sister and my best friend, Jamina, each gifted my an Alex+Ani bracelet. 

Then we went to Uncle Matt's for our traditional brunch buffet. We brought the karaoke, so people sang. 

We left around 2-ish, and my family went back to our house to take long naps. We woke up and had fried shrimp and more pasta. That's how we do on Christmas. 

...and there it is! Done. Days 1 to 25 of my December 2014 documented and in a book, and done. I wasn't able to finish my December Daily the past two years, so getting this one done makes me happy.

In many ways -- 2014's Christmas and all its happenings is the Christmas of my twenties. The same places, the same routines and traditions... I look forward to the holiday season morphing now that I'm in my 30s. Hopefully somewhere in the next 10 years I'll be able to host Christmas at my place, and my kids will be there. 

In the meantime, I have this album.  I love the the little washi tape party that I created by sticking a strip on the seam of every page. I shall be continuing that in my Project Life 2015. Stay tuned! Thanks for visiting! -- ♥ARZ♥ 

See my DD 2014 days 1 to 12 here. // 13 to 16 here. // 17 to 20 here. // See DD 2014 beginnings here. // See my DD 2013, 2012, 2011. 

ode to snippets

Last year, on the last day of every month, I posted some snippets of my life during that particular month. What I tried to include were those images that 'get lost in shuffle' -- the ones that I would probably never include in a full blog post or instagram, but are attached to a fun memory or a highlight of the month nonetheless.

The idea to do this monthly round up came from blogger Manda Townsend when I stumbled across her ode to snippets post about a year ago, and I commented that I would join her last year in 'snippetting'.

So here is my ode to snippets. Here is my round up of all the round ups from last year -- and what a year it was! I plan to continue to post snippets of my month on the last day of every month, and challenge you to do the same. Seeing them collaged at the end as a snippeted summary of all these special moments of your year is definitely a worth while goal.  -- ♥ARZ♥

(see 2014 snippets of Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec) 

Awkward Family Photo

Oh, that silly photo! Olya (@paintpaperstudio), myself, Stephanie, and Ali were walking around CHA 2015 when we stopped and all purposefully looked at the same point in the sky. We were poking fun a couple of hours before this photo about how that sometimes happens, and so here we are, making sure it did. ;)

I've been in the me & my BIG ideas office the past few days getting work done and drooling over new product ( did you see this video?) and talking about updating the mambi blog, and I squeezed some time to create this layout.

It will work perfectly for the new Instagram Challenge that mambi launched with the hashtag #mambiREDandPINK. You can head to their blog to read about it, but basically if you create art with any red and/or pink mambi product and post it to instgram with that hashtag, your work could be featured on the blog the day before Valentine's Day. Sounds simple and fun enough, especially if you do that anyway.

Here's to crafting! ...and instagram! ...and color challenges! ...and Fridays! Always Fridays. ♥ ♥ ♥

the outfits I wore to CHA & thoughts

Here are three outfits I wore this past wekeend at CHA. I wish the I had worn the first outfit on the second day because my Nana's lucky red pants (see middle photo) ended up in all the videos I filmed for mambi. That's no big deal, but I'll know for next time to wear my 'best CHA-OUTfit' on day two. I also wish I had gone with a completely different look on the third day, and put my hair back in a sleek bun, but what's done is done.

Not wearing heels was a great idea - as we were on our feet all day. My low brown boots looked Cali-winter cute with my day one and three dresses. My fanny pack was both a lifesaver and a nuisance. It held a lot of things (namely my two cell phones to keep on top of all the social media work I needed to do) which was good - because it was with me at all times and provided good access, but was annoying because by day's end my lower back was killing me from it.

I suppose Batman felt the same way wearing his utility belt, and it's all in a superhero's day's work. ;)  

my new planner & the video from CHA 2015 by scrapbook.com

At the end of this post I left you in suspense about a planner that was hitting the market and would be my new planner now that my Erin Condren Life Planner has come to its end. Working for me & my BIG ideas, I knew they were developing a planner system that would be hitting store shelves this spring, but hadn't seen the planner until this past weekend at the show, and man! am I excited to start crafting in it (as I know all of you are as well).

The video above (featuring me - so funny!) gives an overview of the planner, add-ons, and embellishments mambi has created for their system. Thanks for watching! ♥ Amanda