Amanda Rose Zampelli | the blog

my first LADIES CRAFT NIGHT

I'm excited to finally share with you some shots from my first LADIES CRAFT NIGHT. It's been something I've wanted to host / do/ start up for a long time and I'm proud of myself for setting a date and just doing it.

To prep, I purchased each attendee two medium-sized orange pumpkins and two mini white pumpkins (Trader Joe's had 'em for a good price). I laid brown craft paper I got from Staples on my long dining table to catch any paint drips or splatters. I also spread out 'a runner' of masking tape, paint brushes, and paint down the middle of the table.

Click on the images below to enlarge, and view scenes from the night. My sister had the idea to try some Fancy Tats™ Metallic Tattoos from me & my BIG ideas on one her pumpkins, and it came out great! I also adhered some large mambiSTICKS alphabet stickers to one of my pumpkins, which gave it something special.

I have my second LADIES CRAFT NIGHT scheduled for next Friday. I plan to host one of these once a month, and I hope to get better at hosting this type of craft event with each one! I'm excited! Stay tuned!

snippets / november 2014

• Rita, D, and me at Danielle's Baby Shower (baby girl due Christmas !!!)

• Elisa, Nat, and me at mt faux birthday party

• mom's new kitten, Jack Black

• my Dallas TX 30th birthday entourage 

• my very first shiny heads-up penny from Nana found on the floor of a Whattaburger at 2am on my 30th birthday

• my Hard 8 birthday BBQ lunch after church

• up and down every aisle at Costco during holiday time

• Anna visited; we didn't stop; us on the rickety boblsed ride at Six Flags Over Texas

• planning / crafting / stamping / wondering / thinking / marking / hoping

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a bit about snippets:

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

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.

I plan to post snippets of my month on the last day of every month. 
(see snippets of Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct of this year) 

bundled bffs

Believe it or not, Christmas is in one month from today! I'm sure you can believe it because all these weeks since Halloween ended, Christmas has been shoved down our throats.  I try to make it a point to not let it really sink in until now -- until the final countdown begins, which for me begins on the 11/25, with a month left to go. So with the holiday season "here" I made this layout of what I'm looking forward to.

Not yet having a family of my own, the few holiday traditions I have made over the past few years have been with friends. Every year for the past three or four years, myself, Elisa, and Natalie (as seen on this card) take a bundled up trip to New York City to see the Rockafeller Christmas Tree, and then get dinner and drinks.

I created this layout using papers, stickers, and gold glitter letters from a new me & my BIG ideas Christmas kit called 'All that Glitter'.

Next to the photo on my layout, I adhered a trimmed-to-size transparency sheet and placed various clear stickers from mambi's two new holiday clear stickers packs in white and red & green. You can pick up both at your local Hobby Lobby.

I added journalling with a dark green Sharpie marker, and my layout was finished.

Thanks for visiting and let me share. Get ready for a lot more holiday posts on here, including my Christmas cards, a cute holiday craft for couples, and a Starbucks red cup DIY coming tomorrow! :)

a baby girl Baby Shower

Two weeks ago, I was back home in New York and I attended my long time friend, Danielle's, baby shower. To give her something to open at gift time, I decided to frame various size prints from the 'girl' themed me & my BIG ideas DIY Gallery Art Pad.

In total, I framed six prints from the GIRL Gallery Pad, and one 3x4 POCKET PAGES™ card from this pack. 

All the frames were bought at A.C. Moore except the gold frame, which I think fits nicely with the white ones, and is a cute unexpected detail.

Here Danielle is at her shower, taking out the biggest frame from the gift bag:

If you knew my friend Danielle, you'd know that that print was the favorite & most true of the bunch among the shower: "Little girl, BIG personality."  Here are some more shots from the shower:

soon-to-be MOM + soon-to-be AUNTIE 

Next to a game guessing the baby's arrival date, she placed this print of one
of the photos from this photoshoot I had with her & Manny back in July. 

Finally, she had guests fill out a "Wishes For Baby" card. Above is how I filled mine out. ;)

I cannot wait for this kid. Can you tell?

chillin' with the girls never gets old

n + e + a

Nat and Elisa and me.

Chillin' with the girls never gets old. The girls get old, but not the chillin'. Couldn't be more true.
I am so grateful for this summer hanging out with these two. Whether it was at the beach on our triple-threat Tommy Bahama chairs or on a Starbucks run at 4:30pm (we were wired) or singing some karaoke, it was always a relaxed, good time. 

That's why after receiving the sweetest 'goodbye goodluck' gifts from them, I knew no regular old 'thank you' note would suffice. I saw these old lady cards in a local Walgreens, and the rest is history. I've been cropping my friends' and family's head onto cards since I was little. It's always been a fun and unexpected twist, and the reactions you get are great - especially when they see a Hallmark signature and expect that store-bought feel. Lot's of fun. For you and them. ;)

august : currently

following suit with one of my favorite bloggers

loving all the karaoke that's been sung these past few days. above with e + n.

celebrating some good news on the job front. 

enjoying my daily meditations with Oprah & Deepak.

preparing for my big, scary move to Texas.

wondering how the cats are going to take the big, scary move to Texas.

writing 'thank you' notes.

checking the steaks on the BBQ.

packing a mug swap package for my swappee.

expecting a mug swap package from my swapper.

drinking coffee from my mom's new-to-her confiscated/restored Keurig machine.

planning a way to start Project Life-ing again.

listening to dad's over-protective advice.

watching episodes of Property Brothers and Fixer Upper with my sister.

thinking that is was Saturday every day this week. today is actually Saturday.

wishing there was a way to be in two places at one time.

feeling as ready as I'll ever be.

snippets / july 2014

• from where I watched 4th of July fireworks this year

• cousin Rachel, Ness, and me, and my first ever wedding photobooth experience

• Carmen and I like to party with a bold cup of coffee topped with cinnamon, outside barefoot in the sunrise, while everybody's still sleeping

• me + my girls on Field 6 at Jones Beach sippin' on my specialty Pink Lemonade

• July is fly | heat + pool + swimming + lazy afternoons

• that Tuesday night Ness and I raided the home decor items of our public library and had a night-in flagging the best of the best with post-its

• I want to be skinny but I also want to eat cookies #thestruggleisreal

• I love my cousin, Claudia, to the moon and back because she's the only person I know who gets as excited as me to stick your face in a corn cob hole and ham it up for the camera  

• some art I got framed, and Alejandro overseeing 

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a bit about snippets:

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

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.

I plan to post snippets of my month at the end of every month. 
(see snippets of January | February | March | April | May | June) 

scenes from a pool party

These are photos from our pool party earlier today. All of my white cheddar popcorn was eaten. Pink lemonade was drank. Girl talk. Nail-painting. Dancing to What Does the Fox Say?  Dunking, splashing, and diving. Some gulping and crying. Raisin fingers!!! Pizza for dinner. :)

July ♥ July ♥ July.

beach photoshoot baby announcement

News flash! I think babies are gravy, and this Christmas, I'm going to be an auntie! Wooo hooo! My buddy pal cousin-friend, Danielle (yes from this mini-book and this weekend getaway) is pregg-a-roo with a baby girl due this December!

I agreed take photos for a collaged baby announcement they plan to mail out, and here are some of my favorite shots. We were going for a simple, clean, black-and-white feel...sort of like a Calvin Klein ad. The pop of pink with the teeny tiny baby flip flops was my fave!

I couldn't be happier for her and Manny. Much love to them, and much love to my future neice! ♥

snippets / june 2014

• our Blue Marble salted-caramel ice cream experience at Smorgasburg, June 1st

• whole wheat 'everything' bagel w/ tomato, egg, and cheese & one of my famous banana/strawb smoothies - bangin' breakfast

• dad and I at Bamonte's in Brooklyn with tucked napkins, after Grandpa's funeral

• Aunt Laura retired after 27 years in the NYC DOE! We took her to dinner and I made headbands

• my John -- because I went to his 5th grade graduation and he and his classmates will always have a special place in my heart ♥

• my second line with We R Memory Keepers - in the flesh - ready to used for projects 

• St. Greg's Carnival

• Saturday morning routine (that I need to break) + saltwaters

• us four cousins at my cuzzie-poo Claudia's backyard BBQ graduation party

-------------------------------------------------------------------

a bit about snippets:

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

I plan to post snippets of my month at the end of every month. I can't believe tomorrow's July. 
(see snippets of January|February|March|April|May)