Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Such.....

So, yesterday was Thanksgiving. We spent the day at home just our small little family and Shane's dad.
We opted not to cook a big turkey because Shane wanted to just try a boneless turkey breast. A long time ago a friend of ours cooked one, and it was awesomly moist and yummy. Well, ours sucked lol. We got the deli meat because that is what we thought she used. Apparently not. I think she used actual turkey breast. Not this pressed deli meat turkey. It is not nearly as good as a homemade turkey. Lesson learned.
Shane's dad and I both fell asleep on the couches and had some nice afternoon nappies. I loves me a nice siesta lol.
Then, later, we decided to give the early Black Friday sales a go along with some friends next door. Ummm.........can you say craziness? Lol. We started at around 6:00 on Thursday night and continued on through Friday morning off and on. Tiring! But, we got what we came for, and then some. \
I got a wireless router (yay!) and some security software for Shane's computer. We are going to dump it and restore it to factory settings now that I have a laptop. They had some REALLY good prices on that, so I was happy.
Shane got a PS3 Move system and a few games. He's pretty excited. I hope it works because I really liked playing the Wii and Kinect at the neighbor's house. If it works, we could have some fun family nights.
Anyway, that about sums up the last couple of days here in the Scott house. Going deer hunting with some friends tomorrow and the boys will go goose hunting Sunday.
I tried to upload pics, but apparently there is a 1 GB limit to how many I can post now? Lame! So, what, now all my blog posts can only be texts? Maybe I'll have to quit blogging and just use facebook. Hmmm...........that sucks!

Long Time No Post

Wow. Haven't blogged in a while. Wondering if it's even worth it now that we have facebook lol. It is good for when you have a lot more to say than seems appropriate for facebook though.
So, what have we been up to? Ummm.......pretty much nothing. That's a little sad. But true. Shane and Garrett have gone pheasant hunting a lot. And, our friend, Dustin, is doing the bow hunt this year (for deer). Shane went on opening morning with him and his family out to Tabiona yesterday. They saw a monster buck. The kind Shane dreams of.......a non-typical freak with points going everywhere. But, alas, the shooter didn't see it in time. He wanted to cry. They both did lol.
As for me, not much really. Work takes it all out of me, so I pretty much don't do anything after I get home except play on the computer and watch TV with Shane. I've made a few Christmas cards, but haven't really been able to decide on one for 'the card' this year. I'm just not as into it as usual. Which just makes me sad. I just have to much going on with work and home that is stressful. Takes the holiday spirit right out of you, ya know?
I have been trying out a few recipes I'm finding on Pinterest. Most have turned out really good. There was just one that I really pretty much didn't like. But I don't remember what it was.
I got a new camera (because I dropped mine straight on the lens and broke it). And, I got a laptop! Yes, finally a laptop. I love it. It's fast, and it's pretty. That's all I care about lol. It is red. I need to find out how to make our router wireless though. So, I'm still stuck in the office away from all the action in the house. Which is kind of the point in getting a laptop--to be in the action, right? Grrr.........I hate technology sometimes. Wish there was just a button that said "Wireless On" or something simple, you know?
Thanksgiving is coming up next week. Normally we would have put out the Christmas decorations this weekend. But, I didn't want to do it while the house was dirty. So I spent most of my weekend cleaning. Hopefully I can work up the energy to get it all out and up before Thanksgiving. I like the atmosphere it creates for the holiday.
Welp, it is close to bedtime thirty now. So I'm going to hop off. Hopefully I'll be back with some fun holiday pics or something crafty to share soon.

Yummy Italian Chicken

Found this recipe on the Crock A Doodle Do blog and figured I'd give it a whirl. Looked easy enough (yes, even for me). And, we went out hunting with some friends again tonight, so I knew I wouldn't have much time to make dinner.
This turned out SO good, we're going to have to do it again. Shane and G both loved it and told me I could make it anytime.
She had some other recipes on her blog that also looked really easy and good as well. I'm going to try to make more stuff in the crock pot so that we don't eat out so much. We eat fast food way too much because we're all too tired to cook, and we just want dinner fast since I don't get home most days until 5:30.
If I could come home, eat dinner, and relax for a bit before I had to put something else in for tomorrow, I think it would work out better. At least that's what I'm hoping :)

This recipe made enough to feed all three of us plus me and Shane each got a good size lunch for work tomorrow too.

And now I will leave you with this so cute (and so true!) little piece of fun.

Catching Up...

Whoa. Haven't blogged for a while have I? Well, September was a busy month for us. It always is. The hunts are in September, and lots of getting ready going on.
Plus, my dad got married last Saturday! So, yeah, lots going on.
This year Shane and Garrett both got a deer as well as our friend, Colin, that lives next door. They got them all within about a half hour of each other and all in the same place! Pretty cool huh?
John (Colin's dad) spotted them, Colin shot one, and then a bunch more just started popping up all over the side of the mountain! So they called us on the radio and we got down there as quick as possible and shot two more. It was awesome.
Here are some photos from the hunt:

Road hunting break

 Yes, that is my dad. Yes he is flipping me off.

We know how to treat each other right!

 Pam, Colin, and Dustin road hunting in the back of their truck.

 My dog, Angel. She is looking for deer, right?

I love dirt road photos with leaves. 

 G and his grouse.

 This is the only pic of me I have lol.

 Getting ready to go hunt some birds before the deer hunt opened.

 Shane giving our nephew, Ryan, a ride. Going to scout some deer.

 Wheeler ride and bird hunting trip.

 We were playing Jenga with the wood pile lol.

 This is a deer that we saw on the private hunting unit--can't shoot him. Lucky dude. Lucky.

 Colin's 5 point

 Garrett's 3 point

 Shane's 4 point--he is big!

 Group shot.

And here are some from the wedding:

My niece, Jordyn, and a the sign she made for the receiption.

"Grandma and Grandpa are getting hitched." 

So cute!

Diane is about to cry right here.

 Exchanging rings

 Kissy kissy

Group Family Photo

Stoker Family Photo--all my siblings, my dad, and his new wife, Diane.

 The pretty cake my sister, Lacy, decorated.

 Beautiful backdrop for a wedding, no?

Well, that's all I have to share right now. There is probably loads more that happened in the last nearly two months, but I don't remember right now. I am too old to be expected to remember that far back now lol.

Some Hunting and Fishing Layouts

So I've gotten the camping itch really bad lately. Our annual family hunting trip (aka: vacation) is coming up, and surprisingly, I can't wait. I haven't always been the camping type. But it helps a lot when your family and friends are there. And, I get a whole blissful week off of work. Only problem there is that I will most likely be getting up at 5 am every day to go look for Bambi. Eeeesh. Oh well. Beats working any day, right?
With all of my thinking about the hunts coming up, I dug up some of the pictures from recent years and decided to do a little bit of scrapbooking some of our favorite memories.
I used sketch 12x12-58 from Amy Alvis's 4X6 photo sketch blog on this layout. I love her blog. It gives me lots of different ideas on how to position my pictures and get the most out of my space.

Full Layout

Left Page

 Right Page

 

 This layout was made using layout 12X12-73 from Amy's Blog.

 I am positive that I got this layout idea from the same blog, but I can't find the exact sketch. So, maybe I was just inspired by it? Lol.

Full Layout

Left Page

 Right Page

Hope you enjoyed my post--leave me a comment! Thanks for stopping by.

Clean and Simple FTL203

I was itching to make a card yesterday, so I grabbed this week's Clean and Simple sketch FTL203 and went with it. I've been wanting to do something in these colors for a while. I saw a card using them a couple of weeks ago and thought it was a stunning color combo.
I have been putting some of my cards up for sale on Ebay recently. I haven't sold much--only one to be exact. But, I know that it takes time to build up trust and get sales going, so I'm going to keep plugging away. This card will be a new addition to my listings tonight.

Front View

 A side view to show dimension

 The inside of the card

This is the sketch I used (FTL203 from Clean and Simple Stamping)

Let me know what you think! I'll be back tomorrow to share some hunting scrapbook pages I've been working on. I can't wait til our vacation. I sure could use a break from 'real life' sometimes.

My Lost Layout.........

A bit of funny background on this layout lol. A few weeks ago I posted this on Facebook:
I am losing it. I was going through all of my stuff looking for this craft project that I know I did. I am convinced it has to be here freaking somewhere. 
I take pictures of all my little crafties. So, I go looking through the pictures, and it is not there. Turns out it is just one of those things that I have been meaning to do but never actually got around to doing. Seriously? I wasted like 45 minutes looking for that damn thing lol.
Isn't that hilarious? I just knew it was here somewhere. Turns out I created it all in my head lol.
Anyway, this is a layout I did this week (finally!) about our camping trip for the muzzleloader deer hunt in 2010. Our good friends next door, the Carter's, came with us for the first time. And my nephew, Ryan, spent the week up there with us too. His mom (my sister Lacy), dad, and sister (Jordyn) came up over the weekend. We had a blast and hope to continue the tradition every year. Like a reunion of sorts.

That picture of Garrett (top right above) is really dark. So I have a new one coming in my next print batch. It will bug me to no end if I don't replace it lol.

My Craft Room Storage Mini Makeover

Just so you know, this post is going to be long lol. I don't mind if you skip through to the pictures. But some people like to read the evolution of how a scrap room happens. I know I do just to get ideas for my own. So, consider yourselves warned lol.
I have always been one of those people that look at those craft rooms online--I know you know the ones I am talking about--and just drool over other people's space and wish I had something like that.
Well, I decided a few weeks ago that while I still share office space with my hubby--which won't change until the boy hopefully graduates college (he is 15, so yeah a while)--and I can't make the changes that I would really love because he would really hate them, I can make some changes that we can both agree on (or live with in his case :).
First I went through all of my things and got rid of a lot that I don't use and is taking up space. I hate things being stacked on the floor and all the clutter going on. My sister and I had a big yard sale this past weekend with all of mine and her crap (ahem, I mean good usable stuff lol).
I like the look of black and white, which is really no surprise because I love me some zebra print. And Shane already helped me build a white craft desk a long time ago when I bought some modular pieces while working at Roberts. I also bought some white tool caddies and desktop storage to match.

I still have this same desk and it still work well for me. I think you can buy similar pieces at Hobby Lobby and Michael's. The top piece was a melamine piece that I got at Home Depot and just had them cut to size (as you can see from the exposed end on the right. I bought melamine to cover it but never got around to it).

You can also see in the above photo my most used punches hanging on the cafe rod. LOVE that. Makes them very accessible.

Above is my storage system for my other punches. I really can't think of anything better for these in such a small space. This is functional and you can see them all. Although I have added more now and I think I will need another shoe hanger on the back side of one of the doors. It's really an addiction problem.

And here you can see my black magnet board and Making Memories white storage shelf that were also bought back when Roberts was still around and I worked there.

So, anyway, a few weeks ago I decided to look for storage solutions in the black/white color scheme. I concentrated on the black mostly because that was what Shane and I could agree on. Then I added zebra print as an accent. But I plan on bringing in a few butterflies and damask here and there as well. I think as long as I keep it black and white, it will still be pretty. And Shane agreed that it was fine as long as it was an accent and nothing was too permanent (like paint).

I did a search on Ebay for CD storage because my stamps have been unmounted and are stored in CD cases. I had them in a CD tower, but I didn't really like it because it was on the floor and got kicked or tipped over a lot. Plus the grooves that you use to slide them in didn't seem to be wide enough for my CD cases. They always fell off the tracks and looked messy.

I found these super cute Snap N Store boxes at Bescsuel Solutions store on Ebay. They have really great prices. The shipping was more than I wanted to pay, but they were exactly what I was looking for. I also purchased very similar boxes to store my handmade cards, my pictures waiting to be scrapped, and my flower embellishments. I don't have before pictures for most of that. But it was all pretty much in rubbermaid totes like you find at Walmart. They were big and ugly and all with different colored lids. It did the job at the time, but now I have what I want.

I have wanted to change my paper storage for a while. Mostly for cardstock. Because I have it stored vertically, and it gets bent or warped a lot. I think if it lies flat, it will be easier to keep it nicely. I went to Hobby Lobby just to look around and was pleasantly surprised to find that all of the Paper Studios storage was on sale. And, they had them in both plain black and in zebra print--joy! I bought two zebra and three black then switched the lids on some to change it up a bit. I love love love them. I left the patterned paper in my Cropper Hopper vertical files because it is beneficial for me to be able to see it. And it is in plastic dividers so it doesn't really get too much damage unless I handle it a lot. I have my paper divided by manufacturer because I was a scrapbook buyer. So I know the general style a certain scrapbook vendor has and it makes it easier for me to find what I'm looking for. But, a lot of people find it easier to divide by color or theme.

The system I had for my paper scraps before worked just fine. In fact, it was the best system I  had in place lol. But it wasn't cute. So, I just updated it. Before it was in Sterlite file boxes with blue lids and those ugly green hanging file folders. I sold the Sterlite totes in a yard sale and used the money to buy one inexpensive black file crate. I then purchased a couple of rolls of zebra duct tape and used it to decorate the file folders. Now it is functional and pretty!

I have this idea binder in my craft room with card and scrapbook page sketches, color combo ideas, and other random things to spark my creativity. It was in a pretty blue binder with flourishes and butterflies. But I bought a cheap black one and decorated it to match my new theme.

A few months ago I bought this modular storage system from Walmart. Now they have black ones. But I guess the white are ok too ;) This makes it so much easier for me to find and put my things away, you have no idea!

This year I started saving my coupons from Archiver's and Hobby Lobby and slowly changing out all of my post bound and multi-color binders for genuine leather black albums with metal tag accents. I love them. And when I need to add a page in the middle, it isn't a pain at all anymore.

Sorry for the low quality pic. I just took it inside the house at night with a cell phone inside a closet. So, you know :(

Last, but not least lol. I have had this bag forever. But it is my fave! And probably the biggest inspiration for my craft room. The inside is hot pink. It is so cute. Too bad I don't go to crops much lol. But it serves as storage for all of my extra page protectors and the cute binders that don't match my theme and I couldn't let go of just yet lol.

And, just for fun, this is how my craft closet used to look. Eeeesh.........see all of hte mismatched plastic storage containers stacked on top of one another mixed with boxes and bags and everything spilling out? I hope you can see the improvement anyway.

Thanks for visiting and reading my huge long post. Hope you made it. Til next time...........