New 52 Catch up

I know it's been forever since my last post but better late than never!

I'm finding the New 52 project is not turning out exactly the way I had hoped. I had thought I would force myself to try something new every week. Instead I am looking back over my week and trying to find something new that I did. I have only really forced myself out of my comfort zone once or twice a month. I think next year I will aim for a new thing once a month instead.

Anyway, here are the latest entries:

Week 21 - I came up with a new drink using frozen mango. It was pretty good but I'm not sure I'll try it again. I don't really like vodka that much.

Week 22 - I tried a chicken dish from Pinterest. I was supposed to flatten the breasts first but forgot. LOL!! Anyway, that's avocado, tomato and cheese on top. Yummy.

Week 23 - Scrapping In the Woods. This is a bi-annual event at Suzy's place in Anmore, BC. I've never been able to attend but this time I did! So much fun. Thanks Suzy!

Week 24 - I finally met up with my very oldest friend, Claudio. We hadn't seen each other since high school - over 30 years ago. We reconnected on FaceBook and finally got together in real life. My junior high buddy, Sue Picard (Metcalfe) was also there!

Week 25 - My niece, Cassia, has been dancing since she was a little girl but I had never had the pleasure of seeing it. Now, in her 31st year, I FINALLY got to see it!! What an incredible talent that woman has. And watching as she guided all her little students through their dances was a real treat too.

Week 26 - I haven't weeded a garden in so many years that it is like something new to me. When Mom moved into her new place my sister, Simone, and I had a lot of weeding to do! This photo is of just one of the raised beds in the backyard. And there is another HUGE flower garden in the front! We worked hard.

Week 27 - There is no photo for this one but this week I participated in a potluck with my Stampin' Up gals. We had a great time just visiting and getting to know each other better.

Week 28 - Since I've been off wheat for over a decade I haven't had delivery pizza for a LONG, LONG time. I found out that Panago has a gluten-free option so I ordered my very own yummy pizza. Lots of feta and tomatoes.

Week 29 - When I was at Mom's she made Raisin Jumbo Cookies. Again, I haven't been able to eat them in FOREVER so when I got home I found GF flour at Costco and tried my hand at making Mom's recipe. THEY WERE WONDERFUL!! They look a little funny but all the flavour was there.

 

 

Week 30 - We started the carpet removal in the family room. We are installing hardwood next week. Can't wait!! This photo is of hubby but believe me when I say I did my part!

 

 

 

Week 31 - My daughter, Taya, and I went on a 3 hour hike on our visit to Nakusp to see Mom. I haven't done a hike like that since I was in my 20's. Lots of fun.

 

 

 

Week 32 - Yoga was on my initial list of things to try this year and I finally got to it this week. I'm not 100% sure that it is "my thing" but I will keep going and give it a good trial.

 

 



Week 33 -  I got nothin'. Honestly. I can't think of a single new thing I did this week. Sigh...

Week 34 - GLUTEN-FREE BROWNIES!! What more can I say?!? Here they are all wrapped individually for the freezer so I would only eat one per day. Of course I eat more than one per day...

New52 (Yes, I'm still alive!)

I know I haven't been here in a while but we've had a ton of stuff going on over the past couple months and now I'm just trying to catch up.

Here are the NINE New52's that I have missed posting. I will admit that a few are pretty lame but I've been too busy to think too hard about this. LOL!

Week 12 - Meeting Brooklyn my new grand-niece. I know I mentioned it before but here is the New52 post for it. This is me holding this mushy little bundle of joy.

 

 

 

Week 13 - Making Filler Cards for Project Life. I know I did another post on this but here it is again but with a new card. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the Fabulous and a Stampin Up stamp and punch for the butterfly

 



 

 

 

Week 14 - This one is not very exciting... nope, not at all!! But it was necessary and I did the job all by myself. I hung these towel racks from Ikea to hold my growing supply of punches. After finishing the job I realized I will need at least another two!!

 

 

 

 

Week 15 - There is no photo for this one but I got a new client for my bookkeeping business. Her name is Tawnee and she is a VERY inspiring woman. I look forward to working with her for a long time to come.


Week 16 - There is no photo for this one either. I booked our Alaska cruise! We are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary next week and we needed to do SOMETHING special so we're going in September to Alaska. (That will be another New52 for me at the time!)


Week 17 - My kids had surprised me with tickets for Cirque Du Soleil's Amaluna on my birthday and we finally got to go this week!! I had never been to one before and what an incredible treat it was. Lots of fun with my kids too. Here's us just before we left.

 

 

 

Week 18 - Scraping the bottom of the barrel for this one as this week was SO busy trying to get our rental house ready for sale. But I did try a new restaurant with the kids - one of their favourites. Kinjo sushi restaurant. It was really good and very fast. Yummy!

 

 

Week 19 - Went to my regular monthly Stampin' Up card night and learned how to do double embossing. It was confusing as I don't have a Big Shot and never use embossing folders so I didn't really "get" it but I LOVED the result!

 

 

 

 

Week 20- My Mother's Day was quiet but fun. My son, Corey, and his boyfriend were over for a simple hotdog dinner. LOL! Cor brought a new game with him named Quelf and we had an absolute gas playing it. It's similar to Cranium but very, very strange. The photo below is of my game piece - Super Ninja Monkey. I know she was a girl because of her pink bow.

 

 

I have to add one more for Week 20 as it was very special. Corey gave me flowers and chocolates for Mother's Day. That really made me smile as it was a real first!

New52 & meeting my new grand-niece! - Mar 18, 2013

I have a new New52 to share but first I just HAVE to show you a photo of the cutest little thing - my new grand-niece. Isn't she precious!?

 

 

Okay. Enough of that cuteness!

 

Here is my New52 for this week. It's still VERY wintery here in Calgary so I didn't venture farther than my scraproom for this one. LOL!

 

Week 11 - Cutting several different papers at once in the Cameo.

 

This is the view on my screen in the Studio software for my Silhouette Cameo. The marked squares are 4"x4".

 

 



 

 Here is the cardstock secured onto my cutting mat. I used scraps only!

 

 

 

And here it is after cutting it all out. The only problem I had was the dark blue cardstock was a textured (all the rest were regular cardstock) so it didn't cut all the way through. So, next time I'll be sure that ALL the cardstock is exactly the same weight.

 

 

New52 - Mar 14, 2013

I have three weeks to add to my New52 today.

We were in Vancouver and were going to go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge but at $32 each it was just too expensive for what you get. Then we thought about Lynn Valley but on the way there were side-tracked to Burnaby Mountain Park.

We used to go up there all the time before we were married but haven't been in years. One thing we did this time was actually hike around a bit and saw much more of the park than we even knew was there. LOL!!

Week 8 - So, this is us all huddled against the rain and fog and wind!!

 

 

 

Week 9 - The next week we were back at home in Calgary and we went on our first Downtown Photowalk. I had seen this very cool wire structure and want to take some photos. This is me inside the structure.

 

 

Week 10 - This week I was so busy with work I didn't even think much about doing anything new. It was enough just to do what I HAD to do!! But a young friend had posted this Pin and raved about these gluten-free Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies. Well, I don't know what I did wrong but mine did NOT turn out. They never cooked all the way through and I ended up throwing them out. This photo is from the original Pin as I wasn't going to take a shot of the mess I made!!

 

New52 - Feb 16, 2013

Thought maybe I should catch up my New52 posts. I have Week 6 and 7 to add.

Week 6 - I hosted my first ever Stampin Up party. I go once a month to a rep's house and the attendees share the hosting duties. Feb 9 was my turn and I'm getting so much free stuff it's insane. I will take a photo of everything I get next month.

Anyway, I had a really good time with the ladies and we made this card (I'm receiving this stamp set for free!):

Week 7 - This week's New52 is completely different. In case you don't know, I'm a bookkeeper and I run my own business (with my daughter) from home. I have been looking for new clients and I got one this week! Here is a link to her Linked In bio: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jannette-anderson/0/1a4/869

So, what did YOU do this week?

New52 - That's what got me here

My first ever blog post. Whew! I hope this turns out okay.

So, New52 - what is that, you may ask? I found it on the web a couple months ago and thought the idea was very intriguing. You try something new every week for one year. At first I thought it would be impossible to come up with something EVERY week but after 5 weeks of doing it it has turned out to be rather easy! As a matter of fact I usually have a few new things every week - not just one.
The key is not making it a HUGE thing - you don't have to jump out of an airplane (unless you really want to!) - it can be something small like trying a new recipe or new food or maybe a new scrapbooking technique.

So, what have I done since the beginning of the year? Well, here they are:

Week #1 - Use my new Silhouette Cameo

In case you don't know a Cameo is an electronic die-cutting machine that makes all kinds of cool things for scrapbookers, cardmakers and other papercrafters. I got mine for Christmas but held off trying it out until the first week of January.

And, as a bonus this week I also used the Print & Cut feature on the Cameo for the first time. AND, another bonus, I made my own file for the first time.

 

 

Week #2 - Use my new mixer

 

I had ordered a very fancy new mixer using my Airmiles and had to give it a try. It's a VERY different mixer than my old Kitchaid and I just love it!

 

 

 

Week #3 - Make Perogies

 

 My daugher Taya has also started a New52 project and she decided making perogies was next on her list. She brought the ingredients to my house and we made them together. Definitely a first for me!







 

 

 

Week #4 - Use Saffron in cooking

 

I've always wanted to try cooking with saffron so this week I gave it a shot. I made a simple chicken dish and it turned out really well. Saffron has an amazing flavour. Hubby and I both loved it.

 



 

 

Week #5 - Start a BLOG!!

 

That brings us to this week and this page you are now reading. LOL! My first ever blog. I hope you are enjoying it and will come back. I hope to share some of my other interests too. I'm doing a Project Life (specialty scrapbooking), scrapbooking, cardmaking and a Project 365 (take a photo a day for a year!).