Amanda Rose Zampelli | the blog

new website: amandarosezampelli.com

Hey, guys! I've created a new website at the address amandarosezampelli.com. It's not finished, but the basic function of it is done, and I'd love for you to visit and tell me what you think. NOTE: wait a few seconds before clicking 'Let's party'.

The creation of this website is not an "I've moved" announcement, redirecting you to there from now on. I plan to continue to post at this blog as usual: as a continuous stream of documentation and musings, but the website will be the hub for it all - the place where one can (hopefully) navigate through all that is ♥ARZ♥ which much more ease than they ever could here.

It will also be easier for me to showcase the creative work I've done, and weed through archives and archives of stories and content. THIS is the problem I think bloggers are starting to face. When we first started out, we just wrote. We just posted. Now, years later -- if any of that writing and posting was any good, it seems to be lost in the internet abyss. The purpose of creating my website is to pull some of it back up, and to continue to log projects and posts in a way that they will always be exposed and available for the clicking.  

I think I might have nailed my working formula (talked about here). 

Project Life 2015 // inside cover

With the completion of my December Daily 2014, I was fully ready to dive into PL 2015. After collaging some clear mambiSTICKS sayings stickers on this scrapbook layout, I decided to the same thing on the inside front and back cover of my Project Life album for 2015.

The pattern of positive affirmations will hit me every time I open the album. This pleases me. It also works nicely with my one little word for this year: PROOF, because when I read something like "There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind. - C.S. Lewis" I think, Oh yeah?! PROVE IT! (Hopefully the events this album documents will.)

I used white clear stickers from the five mambiSTICKS packs above. You can shop your own HERE. 

Tomorrow I'll be sharing my intro page, and soon I'll share the spreads I made for the month of January. Project Life 2015: IN FULL EFFECT. Let do this! -- ♥ARZ♥

jan 2015 blog revamp

Like I said in my last post, I needed to take care of somethings with the start of the new year, and a revamping of this blog was one of those things on the list. Although I got the general new look & feel of it down, and (most of) the buttons (mostly) in place, it's only about 60% complete. Plenty of buttons still don't lead anywhere, and I'm in the process of coding my archives (yikes!), but I'm confident I'll get it all done before February. Thanks for understanding.

Even with an unfinished design, I'm going to get back to posting. I'm leaving today for Anaheim, CA to attend CHA this upcoming weekend (woo hoo!) and spend some time at the mambi office like back in September so stay tuned for multiple posts on that.

In the meanwhile, you can have a look at this blog's past banners for fun. ♥ Amanda

2015: in like a lion

Hi, all! I'm just writing to inform that I'm taking a week off from this blog. The year came in like a lion, and already, I need to gather my thoughts and emotions and deal with it. I also goal to work on a new blog design, head back to the gym, meet my new neice (she's to be born any day now), and gear up for my work trip to Anaheim for CHA in a few short days. 

I plan to return next week with a new design and approach to this blog, a post on my one little word for 2015, the last few pages of my December Daily, and an intro to my Project Life 2015.

Thanks for understanding. ♥ Download the above image for your New Years scrapbooking HERE.

New Years 2015 Free Printable (!!!) for PL

The final days of 2014 are upon us, friends, and to celebrate I designed these three New Years POCKET PAGES™ cards that are available for FREE DOWNLOAD on the me & my BIG ideas blog HERE.

Head over there, click the download link, print the page, and cut them out! It's that simple!

I printed mine out on regular 8.5 x 11" white cardstock, for the thicker consistency, but plain paper will do as well. Print it out on glossy photo paper to make the black really pop.

I cut mine out with a paper trimmer, and journalled and check-listed. I love the idea of adhering clear white mambiSTICKS stickers to the card, maybe in a cluster like I did with this project. 

Enjoy! Head over to the me & my BIG ideas blog HERE to download and print for yourself.

Jack Black, mom's cat

Some people assume all angels are dressed in white and have wings.
I'm here to tell you that some are dressed in black and have fur.

Mom's been having a bit of hard time since I left home and moved to Texas. Change is hard. Growing up is hard. Being a grown-up is hard. 

A few weeks ago, a family member tagged me in a picture on facebook of this little black kitten and asked if I wanted him. I thought of my mom right away, and pretty soon my aunt and I were in cahoots to get mom to adopt this kitten.  I talked to my mom on the phone who was unsure she wanted to take him saying, "...but it's the first time in my life I'm free."  I retorted with, "...to do WHAT?!?! You don't travel, you don't go out, you stay home and lounge around." I ended our convo with my tried and true philosophy of life: "a kitten is never a bad idea" and I think that pretty much sealed the deal. She took him.

...and we're absolutely in love...

He popped out of the carrier he rode in on and immediately started running and playing.  There was no weariness or hesitation. He was like, "Hi, new family! I'm here and I'm home."  There was a new black cat in our life, and he arrived on Halloween. ♥ (look at #2 on this list from a couple of weeks ago...before we knew anything about him)

He met the whole fam that day, who came over for dinner to see me on my trip back home. They loved him, he loved them...he didn't cower, he didn't hide...he fit right in.

The next day, mom took him ot the vet to get dewormed, and we gave him his first (and probably last) bubble bath. We blow-dried him, and he slept cozily and soundly wrapped in a fuzzy white blanket for two whole hours.

He doesn't do that 'kneading dough' thing cats do when they're sleepy or hungry or comfy. He loves chasing crumpled up paper balls, and when I went to take it from his mouth to throw - I kid you not - he growled at me, like a dog. We even watched him standing on his hind legs with the arms by his side like a meerkat. We absolutely adore him.

I truly believe he's an angel sent to give my mother just what she needs at this time of transition. We love you to the moon and back, Jack Black! Take care of my mommy while I'm gone, and before you know it, you'll be meeting your older brother and sister!

I'm part of the mambi team!

Some good news on the job front: I've been hired by me & my BIG ideas (also known as mambi) to be their new Social Media Coordinator.

Last week, I visited the corporate offices and met the fabulous team behind all the awesome and fun me & my BIG ideas products that I've been using for years.  I was there getting a feel for the work vibe and what the job will actually entail.  In a nutshell: most of the instagramming, facebooking, pinning, tweeting, e-mailing and blogging responsibilities for mambi fall on my lap. I also have a repsonsibility to come up with creative and inspiring ways to use product, and act like the 'den mother' for the mambi Design Team (there's an OPEN CALL currently going on and we're looking for spots to fill). I'm a bit intimidated as I have some big shoes to fill (Shelby rocks), but I look forward to where my creativity and this collaboration takes me.

above: me, Stephanie, and Shelby on our Laguna Beach lunch break

It was an absolute pleasure at the mambi office.  I've been crazy homesick, but if I'm going to be, it helps to be around such sweet and positive people like those working in that office.  Genuine. As. Heck. It also helped to be in sunshine that didn't quit and spot palm trees everywhere I looked. My surroundings effect my mood, and California: you were certainly uplifting. ♥ ♥

I'll be blogging here about this journey from time to time, and if you follow along, will get first hand peeks at what's it's like to be the social media butterfly of a craft company. Excited. 

above: Thursday in the office | below: decorating my office supplies with mambi gold and white clear stickers.

Cheers to fresh starts!  P.S. - Isn't it weird that I wrote a post just like this 6 months ago? Weirrrrd.

Oprah & Deepak's 21-Day Meditation Experience

At the beginning of August, I saw a post on loveMaegan (one of my favorite blog reads) entitled LET'S MEDITATE! // OPRAH & DEEPAK'S MEDITATION EXPERIENCE. I read the post and thought about my month of May 2013 when I made it a goal to meditate. When I recapped at the end of the month, I noted times when I did meditative-like activities, but felt like I failed at actual meditation overall. 

Then a few days ago, I posted about anxiety, therapy, zen habits, and my initial thoughts on meditation.  The one 20-minute sample meditation exercise I completed with Oprah & Deepak was eye and soul-opening for me and I decided it was the right time and just the kick-in-the-butt I needed to really attempt this.

Enter August 11th, and the start of Oprah & Deepak's 21-Day Meditation Experience.

 

From then until yesterday, every day for the past 21 days, I made sure to sit with one of my apple devices and headphones and listen to that day's 20 minute recording. Every day for the past 21 days, I listened to Oprah and Deepak share their thoughts on happiness, play, peace, kindness, contentment, gratitude, compassion, serenity, and other components of full, happy life.  Every day for the past 21 days, I've set aside time to relax, to be quiet, to focus on a mantra and release my brain from worry a tiny bit.

Oprah said it all in yesterday's meditation when she said, "This is what YOU did for YOU these past three weeks."  It's all been good. Really good stuff.

However, I would have to say most notably: two of meditation's 'really good stuff' has been the best for me. The first thing is that every day for the past 21 days I felt myself become aware of my core state -- that silent, still, safe place inside that knows I am okay.  Secondly, this meditation experience has given me a greater understanding of mindfulness, or registering mindfully what is going on around you at the very moment in which you are, not dwelling on the past or ruminating about the future. 

For someone like me who often worries incessantly and struggles with bouts of anxiety, these two things have been miracle discoveries. When I'm in that anxious state of mind, I have been able to realize through meditation, that that's not at all my core state of being.  Each and every one of us has a core state of being that is one of smiling calm contentedness that -- and here's the most beautiful part -- can always be accessed! Furthermore, through meditation I've learned how to access it -- through a practice of mindfulness: being in a state of being.

Am I talking trippy dippy hippie lingo? Okay, I'll stop.  But stemming from these past 21 days, I've invested in an another 21-Day Meditation Experience with Oprah and Deepak called Finding Your Flow, and starting today, am going to be doing 21 more days of meditation with those crazy guys. Haa haa! 

In addition, I've started reading the book The Mindful Way through Depression.  It sounds dramatic, but it's actually been everything but. It's a straight-forward read that talks about how the mind gets stuck in negative patterns of thinking and how our instictive way to deal with 'getting stuck' doesn't work when dealing in matters of the mind. It's been very interesting and right on point, and I look forward to finishing it and giving a full report.

In conclusion, some final words:

"The spirtual path unfolds a strange journey because you don't travel any distance.  You begin where you started: with yourself.  But the self you knew at the start isn't the self you know at the end.  Your self at the end is fullfilled.  It has learned life requires no struggle, fear, or resistance.  You only need to be." -- Deepak Chopra, in yesterday's Day 21 meditation

NY to TX | …aanndd I'm off!

Me and the kitty boops are getting on a plane today (two planes, actually - layover - stupid). I knew this day would come, and started talking about it three weeks ago, but even still, there are a number of questions looping around in my brain:

What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?  What am I doing? What am I doing?

God, an answer to any or all of the questions above would be great.

The last time I felt this way, I was starting design school.

Life is hard, but here we go!

anxiety, therapy, zen habits, & meditation

Hello. I'm Amanda Rose Zampelli, and I have anxiety. Everybody does to some extent, but there are a lucky bunch of us that feel it often enough for it to be a thing. I have always been an anxious human being. I believe I had my first panic attack at 5 or 6 years old, and ever since, have developed this habitual fear of feeling fear. Couple this habitual negative thinking with a set of over-protective and paranoid parents (gotta love 'em), and a perfectionist approach to life (in an attempt to over-achieve and plan my way out of fear) and WAH-LAH! Me! -- at my most in need of help.

So I sought it. Earlier this year, for the first time in my anxiety-ridden 29+ years, I went to therapy -- like sat on a couch and chatted with a medical professional specializing in mental and emotional talk-therapy. See clip & clip for reference. ;) I recommend it to everyone and anyone, especially those who share my lovely Molotov cocktail of internal and environmental variables. These variables have shaped my perception of the world and my functioning on a daily basis. Therapy calls for a better understanding of these variables so that they do not maintain such a powerful hold on me. In short: therapy's helped.

What has also helped is having zen habits sent to my inbox every few days. It's a blog created and written by Leo Babuta that's about finding simplicity in the daily chaos of our lives. It’s about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what’s important, create something amazing, and find happiness. Sounds awesome, right? This post was my most recent favorite read from the blog.

Just the term 'zen habits' sounds inviting and like something I'd want more of in my life. Zen. Habits. Yes, please. To me: it's the fuel to fight my habitual negative thinking. Instead of an anxiety response, I've been deciding to do one or two small things everyday that allow for more peace, calm, and serenity. Some of those habits include waking up early, saying 'thank you' with my soul each morning, 30 to 60 minutes a day of intentional exercise, allowing the sunlight to touch my skin, talk and laughter with people I love, eating food that's good for me, prioritizing tasks, taking photographs, making something, going to sleep early, and most recently: meditating.

On the first day of this month, I read this post talking about Oprah & Deepak's Meditation Experience. In that post, Maegan talks about how she's tried to meditate in the past, but struggled with creating it habit-enough to reap the benefits so many who meditate daily talk about. I've been there, too. So I've resolved, like Maeg -- to join Oprah and Deepak on this 21-Day journey in which I tune in for FREE to their channel every day for the next 21 days and am guided through a 20-minute long meditation exercise. Last week I sat and breathed through this sample meditation in which the centering thought was "my security and peace are within" and in the middle of it all, bing! a light bulb went off. 

My security and peace are within.

I sat with those words repeating in my head, and felt them as they sank into my being. I've been aware of when I feel zen. I can recall those brief moments and feelings of calm and peace and serenity throughout my day, and newsflash: that is my natural state, my true self.  The anxiety is an illusion, a habitual illusion I've allowed myself to believe for far too long...my reaction response to almost everything that doesn't go according to plan or threatens my being, but YO! My security and peace are within.  I can tap into it whenever I need to. It is my natural state.

I still felt anxious this week, but this centering thought truly helped me. It's another weapon to fight my habitual negative thinking, another zen habit to work into my daily world. I repeated it to myself one night to sleep. I commented on a friend's facebook status with it. Yep, I'm becoming that person. That person that writes about it in a wordy Monday post. Haa! Sorry. 

...and now I have to go work Day 1 of the Meditation Experience into my world. I hope this post encourages you to do the same, or get help if you feel you need it, or made you feel a little less alone, or had you acknowledge that your security and peace are within. ♥

Keep an eye out for the follow-up post in three weeks. Namaste.