I'm a Food Channel addict!

Hi. I'm Tracy. And I'm a Food Channel Junkie.

I admit it. I've been come addicted. From lack of other intellectually stimulating programming on TV, I've turned to food! Luckily, just watching it hasn't cause any weight gain!

I've started watching "Throwdown with Bobby Flay," and boy can that boy cook!!! He goes around the country and challenges other chefs to a "throwdown" cooking competition of something they are known for. The last episode I watched featured Grilled Cheese! YUMMY! I have to admit they were both yummy looking, but the winning sandwich I just HAD to try! I'm a sucker for anything with melted cheese and avacados! It didn't turn out exactly like I was hoping since I didn't have the right kind of bread, but I sure didn't have any problems eating it! I needed to let the top cheese melt a little more, but I made do!

What makes the sandwich?

I started with Garlic Infused bread. I found it at our grocery store and it actually has cloves of garlic baked into the bread. YUM! Sliced Montery Jack cheese, sliced turkey, fresh avacado, topped with more Monterey Jack cheese and grilled slightly.. wow! Now I need to go to the store and get more avacados!!!

Creativity hits again!

I love making these little photo albums to send to Jason. My friend Angel was gracious enough to send me some AWESOME images of a Soldier... she knows I love those! I LOVE this one with a little girl. Perfect for our Brodie!

I love how the uniform came out. I colored it with watercolor pencils and used a technique involving paint thinner to smooth it out and blend. I really like how it looks like ACU as close as I can get to it!!
I've actually been able to stamp in the last 2 days and I'm quite proud of myself! I like the layout on this card. I knew what quote I wanted to use when I saw this hodgepodge "square" but I just couldn't figure out what image to use. This is the one that I ended it going with. I think it still works.
This is the second one I managed to accomplish. I'm not quite sure I captured the "picture" in my mind! I started with the embossed blue piece and continued to add with the polkadot papers. I liked how the pieces I pieced together worked on the flower part, but I wasn't sure how to "finish" the middle. I ended up going with a little bit of "fluff." There is some pink encorporated into the smallest polkadot piece, but I don't really like how the center ended up. Oh well.. now I konw for next time!

...and this is where all the creativy comes from! This is my "little corner of the world." I moved it downstairs from my room and set it up in the playroom. It works great since I can "play" while the kids play! We both seem to get more done and it's been great so far! I love having everything within reach.. and I even stole the computer chair with wheels so it's comfy, too!That's it for this blog... thanks for stopping by! I LOVE that you came to visit!

Brodie's Room is Transformed!

Brodie's room is finally finished! (Well, we still need a mattress, but that's coming tomorrow, hopefully!) This is my first attempt at painting a whole wall. It wasn't as bad as I thought! The white line is a hand stamped white picket fence... if you enlarge it, you can probably see it better. There is also a hand stamped cobblestone path leading to the castle! And yes, that's a picture of Brodie "in" her castle! She walked into the kitchen with her princess shoes and crown on and announced, "I am a Princess." I thought it was appropriate that it be included in her own castle!

I did the fence on the wall to match her headboard, and then added butterflies to her headboard to pull it all together. That's her bedspread on her bed. I think the colors will blend in nicely with the colors on her wall!Her modified closet. We took the doors off, added curtains, her name, and we have a useable closet without the doors that pinch her fingers!

Now I'm eager to work on the boys' room! Next will probably be Colt's since I'm trying to get him on his own again. Randy and Riley's room is pretty much done, but I have a few extra touches I want to add, but I'll be back with pictures soon!

Early bird gets the worm!

I'm actually ahead of the game this month! I had a few moments in my "Little Corner of the World" and got some stamping done! I'm playing along with my friend Angel and others in a Devine Design Bible Verse Challenge. I'm creating a 6x6 album of "Scriptures to Live By." It started out as "Proverbs to Live By" but as I was browsing through my scriptures, I came across this one. I've been having some frustrating times with my children and this one shouted at me!!! I have to remember this to keep my calm sometimes! I struggled with the design on this one, took MANY attempts to be satisfied with my layout. I tried to do it with 2 larger children, but it didn't look "finished" till I ended up personalizing it to my kids! Go Figure! The best thing is that I didn't stamp a SINGLE thing! It's all part of a Simply Scrappin' Kit that I've been carrying around for some time. I think it works perfectly, though.

So, here is my entry for the BVC09! FUN!!!

I bought a new notebook for my grocery shopping but it was plain, so I took care of that. I'm not completely satisfied with how it came out, but I had already started and committed (permanet glue) so had to continue. The red "flower" is actually attached to the blue elastic band, used to hold the notebook closed. I like how that part turned out, but I wasn't sure how to "finish" the center part with the words. Oh well... there will ALWAYS be a new notebook to play with in the future!!

Randy the Bear

Randy is now officially a Bear Scout! We had our Blue and Gold Banquet last Saturday. Our theme was "Unknown States." Our den got Rhode Island. I have to say I learned a LOT about Rhode Island. I hope one of my kids does a project on Rhode Island, if not I have a lot of usless knowledge about it!

Here is our table. We were supposed to decorate it for our state, even though we were really the only den that did! My co-leader built the pier on the table and we decorated it with facts about the state. It was quite inpressive. I'll post some more pictures if I can find someone who took more!

Randy, the Bear, with muscles!!!!
Grandpa Mickey came up for the big day!

The shining moment! Randy and his Den become Bears!!!

Riley turns 7!!!

Riley had his 7th Birthday at Chuck E Cheese this year. He invited 4 friends, besides his brother and sister and we had a blast!!!

"We say Happy, You say Birthday."

"Happy Brithday, Happy Birthday"
"Everybody calp your hands."

High Five ChuckYEAH CAKE!!!

Ewwww Mouse Spit!!!

Colt LOVED the cars!!I can't wait till I turn 7!Giddy Up Brodie!

My Rock Monster

Colt's favorite place is right outside the front door in our little rock garden. He heads straight to the door when it's open and out to the rocks. He is such a boy when it comes to getting dirty and right in the middle of stuff!

Look at that face! Even though I have to sweep like 20 times a day, when I see that face I don't mind at all! He's so precious, he just melts my heart!

Inspiration Strikes

I've been slacking in the creative department... partly because I haven't had the time to sit down and be inspired and partly because I've been moving my stamp room from upstairs to downstairs and I'm still re-arranging. I actually had some time tonight to sit and stamp. All 4 kids were occupied and I found 10 minutes to myself! Imagine my overwhelming desire to take a nap, but instead I got two cards done. Oh well, I'll take what I can get!

I got some new supplies in the past 2 months and finally got a chance to use them! My first new addition was some COOL Designer Paper by SU! I split some of the new stuff with my awesome friend Angel. WoooHooo! I LOVE this stuff.

My other favorite new addition is my coordinating stamps and punches. I got the stamp set for free and finally got to use my stamp sets that go with them!!!

I joined a Stamp Club last year and we started doing a swap in February. This month was a Spring Card. Here is my card for the swap. I love these colors together!

Close up of the butterfly. I stamped it on Acetate (overhead projector sheets) and "popped" it out to give the butterfly a 3D look.This was Riley's birthday invitation/thank you for his 7th Birthday Party.
Colt's 1st Birthday Thank You card. I LOVE this little car and the fact that it has a 1 on it was perfect!!

I'm going to try and post a few more pictures while the upload is working! Thanks for browsing!!!