Amanda Rose Zampelli | the blog

dressing festively / first edition

Ya'll might or might not recall the second thing on my december manifesto list:

So far, it's been the most direct one on the list that I can tackle daily, and it makes for cute instagrams here and there.

Here's my take on dressing festively...

swans & red:

(you can't see my red shoes)

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forest green, gauzy, & grey:

(like I was trying out for The Nutcracker)

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bright teal-green & stripey:

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mini dots & a below-the-knee sock party:

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a champagne bubble-like tunic:

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b&w graphic stripes + red:

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I find that I dress like a scrapbook page.  I love polka dots and stripes on my pages, so I usually gravitate toward the same in my clothing.

...and there's definitly a major color theme going on...LOTS of red + black&white.
Today is no different.  I've got my school's Christmas party and, well...check out my instagram to see today's #festivedressing.

Alright, lovies...
...tootles.

Happy Thurs, and see ya tomorrow!

December Daily | Dec2 to Dec8 |

Unexpectedly, on Sunday, December 2nd, I got a new iPhone 5.  My sister lost her iPhone the Friday before in a cab or something, and because I was the only one due for an upgrade, she took my old phone, and I got a new phone. Heeeeyyyyy!

I expected Christina Perri's "Something 'Bout December" to go here, but this song was my carol last week.

I couldn't add anything else to the below spread. Quiet and wishing.

our glitter circles...

#2 on my December Manifesto shown below

It was inspired by elise's recent PL recording of #mileaday

get your own selfie stamp here

That little guy was meant for this Secret Santa page. What's he up to?

Finally, my 'Gifts To Buy' page is just a place to jot down the presents I still need to buy, wrap, and get under the tree.

Thanks for visiting!

Stay tuned for more!

Link to yours in the comments.  I want to see!

December Daily | cover & opening pages |

I love these pages because they remind me of freshly fallen snow...

I did the typing, just as I imagined back in the beginning of November, on my "new" typewriter.

I even did a dedication page...

...because let's be honest: don't we all imagine our babies and our babies' babies finding these silly books of ours? 

Some captions were added throughout the book too. Yay.

see last year's December pages

As always, thanks for viewing.
I shall be back soon!
Much love.

December Daily | Nov26 to Dec2 |

These pages pick up where I left off.

Nov26 - Field Trip!

hohoho tag from Target.

...and Decemb's here...

I'm already struggling with #s 3 and 5.

...that Martha Stewart glitter glue...I'm SUCH a mega fan, but it
really becomes a disgusting obsession around the holidays.

Tomorrow I shall be posting my updated cover, and
some sweet typewritered front & back additions.

I'd love to see your December Daily if you've been working on one!

Link to it in the comments.

first few days of my DecDaily2012

I decided to start my December Daily from Thanksgiving, and do it all the way until New Year's.

Here's Thanksgiving - November 22:

My [I ate this.] Yum. stamp is sold out at the moment from Amanda Rose's STAMP SHOP, and will be restocked with the release of my New Year's stamps in the next weeks.

-------------------------
Black Friday - November 23rd:

Home, home, and home.
You won't ever see me out in the crazy on Black Friday. 

We went all-out Christmas decorating...anythin to get my mind off it.

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Saturday, November 24th:

Shrunk this in PSE, and adhered it to the back of a paper strip.

...and there you have it so far, folks.

If you've started your December Daily already, I'd love to see it!

Link to it in the comments.

Off to a field trip today!

 

a good little x-mas MEME for DecDaily

Okay, first off, what is a MEME?  I looked it up, and I found the definition:

meme/mēm/

    (noun) - An element of a culture or behavior that may be passed from
one individual to another by nongenetic means, esp. imitation.

Oh, okay.

Now I get it.  (Sorta.)

I got the Christmas MEME below from here.

Here't goes...

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

Hot Chocolate, hands down.  

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?

He wraps 'em, I wrap 'em, we all wrap'em.  Cute paper's where it's at!

 

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?

Little bit'o both.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?

I did last year. See here.

5. When do you put your decorations up? 

Usually the first week of December, but I'm so in the Christmas mood this year, it might be today or tomorrow.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?

Stuffed aritchokes. They are our fall/winter delicacy.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?

 Playing with the figurines in our nativity set...pretending that they were Bo Peep and TomTom from March of the Wooden soldiers.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? 

 I don't remember how I learned the truth, but I think when was in 7th or 8th grade.  

Yeah...I believed for a long long time, and then was in denial for about two years.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

 Yes. Always have. Just one...or two. ;P

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

 No theme, no consistency...just years worth of collected ornaments and multicolored lights.

...and no more tinsel b/c we have kitty boops.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?

 Love it when I'm off work and it first falls.  Hate it when I have work and it's old and dirty.

12. Can you ice skate?

 Yes. Take me, please?

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?

Yes.  I was in 6th grade, I wanted to be Storm from X-Men, and under the tree was an X-men Movie Maker computer game.  I believe I was a hermit in the computer room the whole rest of that year's Christmas vacation.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?

The time spent with people you love.  It's so hard to get together regularly, and the holidays are designated 'be with loved ones' days. ♥ ♥

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?

My tiramisu, and biscotti...for dipping in coffee and tea.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

I love the making and mailing of our Christmas card each year, the trip to Rockafellar Center to see the tree with friends, and as of last year I love the idea of Christmas Karaoke.  I look forward each Christmas to making holiday traditions with my own future family.

17. What tops your tree?

It's been a star these past years.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?

I love giving a gift that I know the reciever will love, but I hate the pressure of needing to give gifts.

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?

The smell: YUM.

20. Favorite Christmas movie?

Home Alone.

21. Saddest Christmas Song?

Christmas Shoes.

22. What is your favorite Christmas song?

December by Norah Jones,

Something About December by Christina Perri,

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,

Love is Christmas by Sarah Barrilles, to name a few.

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If you decided to start your December Daily project before December starts to document the holiday season, and not just the month, then the list above might be a great way to kick it off. 

I'd love to read your answers, so if you do the MEME on your blog or December Daily, link to in the comments.  

ThankYouLoveYouBye.

Happy Saturday.

December Daily during Hurricane Sandy

Today is the first day back to school since last Friday!  Hurricane Sandy hit us Sunday night, and all public schools in the five boroughs of New York were closed all week.  I still can't believe all the devastation Sandy caused.  Nothing major in my immediate vicinity, but all surrounding neighborhood blocks have down-trees and power lines...my family near beaches will not be able to return to their house until...who knows... it really is unbelievable.

I stayed home, mostly. ...and crafted. 

Plenty of crafting.  
Halloween seemed to skip over my neighborhood this year (I guess I felt like I had my fair share of ghoulish fun a while ago with this post anyway) and instead of dressing up, I Christmas crafted.  
I breathed my December Daily journal into life.  ...and although I have a crystal clear vision for it in my brain, the unknown-ness of December is going to add the perfect amount of spontaneity to the project.

My front and back cover are cardboard, with a white woodgrain cardstock adhered to it.

I've made my own glittered polka dot pages with Martha Stewart's glitter glue.
I love Martha Stewart's Glitter Glue, like whoa! 

Above is how I plan to document the date on each page.  
Simple and low-key, simple and low-key, simple and low-key, repeat repeat.

*  *  *

Below are my December pages from last year when my depleted creativity was resparked...when my year 2012 for |movement| was ignited. It was important for me to include them.

...and they actually were what dictated the size of my December Daily album.
>> 51/2 by 81/2  <<

The rest of the pages...

...and that's all for now.

More pages have been added since these photos were taken, but those'll be for next time.

With it being November 2nd, journalling in this puppy begins in twenty days.
Twenty days until Thanksgiving.

Will you be ready?

I'm such a paper nerd. ;)

Thanks for being one with me.

 

my December Daily prep so far...excitement is building

Two months from today is my favorite day of the winter: Christmas Eve.  
I like it even more than Christmas...like, 10x more.
------------------------------------------- 

...and it's offical: I'm going to be doing December Daily. See here.

My prep so far has been:

    (1) to pull from my mile-high stack of scrap paper those ones that speak 'December' to me,
         and that look okay near and next to each other

    (2) to ready my star and snowflake hole-punches

    (3) to cut up last year's and this year's Crate&Barrel Holiday Inspiration catalogue
        (OMG! It is chock FULL of good stuff!) and make adhesive labels by running 'em through         my sticker maker machine 

How are you guys getting ready for it?

Will this be your first year, or
have you done December Daily before?

If you don't know, now you know, scrappa...

As we get closer and closer to December, more and more references to December Daily -- or as instagram likes to call it #DecDaily -- are being made.

If you were like me a few short weeks ago, then you have no idea what Decemeber Daily is. However, I was determined to find out and with research and internet snooping, I discovered this:

December Daily was started by Ali Edwards and refers to an album project that documents the 25 days leading up to Christmas.  According to Ali, some people start earlier, and go longer.  It's all up to the individual scrapper.  See HERE for Ali's past December Daily albums (they're amazing).

So it's really just a way to soak up the magical month of December on a daily basis in an album made specifically to document your Christmas season.  I think it's a fantastic tradition to start, and imagine in a few years, when you've accumulated several albums, what joy it will be to look through them. 

I have been going back and forth whether or not I want to do my version of a December Daily.  I feel like I will be doing it in my Project Life anyway, but a separate mini December Daily album would be different.  Last year in December, inspiration flooded my being.  This blog was created, I signed up for a Doodle 12.31 Art Journal Class (which was an art-journal, rather than scrapbooking, form of December Daily...info on this year's Doodle 12.31 here).  
With prompts from that class, I flew, and ended up creating the December pages here, here, here, here, and here.

I hope this has helped you better comprehend what seems like an awesome scrappin' December time: December Daily.

After writing this I'm thinking how could I NOT do some kind of December Daily somethin' or other. So, I think I will.  ...and now's the time to ready your album/journal/whatev for it.  

Updates to come.

Happy Tuesday, ya'll.

Life-record on!