The 12 days of Halloween...

was a challenge over at Moments.

It was a lot of fun. Starting from day 1 - Jess would

tell you what to put on your layout.

Not where but WHAT.

She freaking had me running in circles. 

I finally picked out paper. DAy 1 & 2

Day 3 - make a banner - ok I did- homemade.

Day 4 - make a homemade embellishment.

Well I already did and she said make another.

So I did.

I made that adorable spider from button, goofy eyes, wire for legs and jute

Then she says add a spider. SIGH!

I already had a freaking spider.

So I had to add something new and homemade.

It went on from there. One jump ahead - two steps back.

Well I couldn't let her beat me now could I...

I love the result and it was fun. And you

should see all the others. A bunch of pages

as different as could be.

I had illusions of having all the grands on one page.

But alas I think I have to make another.

Oh gee................
I WON!

Made a new friend in Catalina

and he was quite the poser.

I believe he thought he might be earning some fish.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

I just couldn't

 resist this photo.

 Its just too adorable and perfect.

She is quite the girly-girl.

The little girl outfits are beautiful

and her personality just shines!

I broke out the chipboard, sandpaper and glossy accents

for the title. Its been a long time since I used 

glossy accents. It gave the title the

perfect shabby chic look I was after. 

More fun at Moments.....

We have a lot of fun and SMIRK was a result of Layout Tag.

A number of us play and it starts with a page and secretly

the first one does the page and thereafter, you scrap the page you get.

The reveal is an absolute hoot watching the twists and turns.

This was my contribution and I love it.

8x8 too. 

 This photo was too much fun and adorable to pass up.

April and I called dibbs.

bwahahahahaa....

Can't wait to see her page.

I'm so glad I live in the age of technology where its

easier to be long distance grandparents.

 If only there could be more touchy feely.

Apple needs to do something about that.

Enthralled.......

This is my newest grandbaby Annie.

She's sooooo tiny and aware of everyone and everything.

Of course I'm taking it personally that she's looking at me.

Focused. On. Me.

As I was on her til I wanted a picture.

And may I point out there are iphone photos (new one).

I knooowww!

This is a lift of April's perspective page.

Head on over and check it out.

Can we say - used stash?? All Chatterbox.

Quickutz & bling.

MANIC Monday......happened....

Don't know if it was a lack of mojo.

Or not in the mood.

Or just wasn't feeling the love.

So I found this picture which of course had nothing on the back.

Shocking I know. LOL!!!

Anyway I knew the story from my parents of them seeing the 

great golfers play.

So I felt compelled to do a "documenting" page.

It's their story that I heard.

So I put my own spin on it.

Rusty Pickle, QK Olivia and swirl, 7 Gypsies.

Attics can be a scary place....

So I sent my youngest up the steep ladder to the roof

over our garage that acts as our attic.

Or a collection dump.

So I decided it really needed to be straightened up

and cleaned up.

So it started small.

 Shane brings down the first box and a bag.

Well the bag had cutsey beach things that I'm gonna

pawn off or our friends that have become beach bums.

But the box had a TON of old photos in it. *Swoon*

And OMG! Like I really need more pictures.

So of course I needed to sort through them.

And that's where nostagila and amusement came in.

On the page below, I found another article (I have one stashed 

in my heritage album somewhere) of my Gram hanging

with her buds at the Rec Center and decided

to do a quick and dirty to save the article

and to write a bit more about it.

This second page is kind of tongue in cheeck.

I flip this photo over and my mom Bless Her Heart 

writes canoe 1958 as if I couldn't figure that

one out. And of course sadly she's not

around to ask and my dad has CRS.

So there's 3 guys looking at a canoe. Sigh.

 The last one is a photo of me and a friend from the hood.

As ugly as we or I look - the fashion police really

should've swooped in. LOL!!!

However, its a great great insight of back in the day.

And it brought back memories that while we were

friends, we were not best friends.

Age and type defined our relationship.

In all cases I used the original *gasp, faint, thud* I know.

But why stick them in a box to get torn up.

And I have a digital copy.

There is more to come in that attic. Can't wait.

the Blue Angels totally rock

and their show was amazing.

This is Fat Albert. It's a huge plane and

carries all the techies and tools required

to keep the Blues up and running, ready to fly.

 Fat Albert takes off and does some tricks to keep

your focus off what's happening on the ground as the Blues

get ready to begin the take off sequence.

 I got some pretty good shots by sheer dumb luck.

Because they are FAST......F/A 18's.

Below is their infamous diamond formation.
The angle really blws me away as to how close they are.

 They change up their show just to keep you on your toes.

And the "center" point changes.

So you really have to be on your toes.
The crowd helps because everyone is watching for them.
And you'll get a heads up for tracking purposes.

I kept my finger on the shutter, pressed half-way,
and continuous mode of course.

There are also two solo flyers that fly by
so there's always some action.

 The precision and timing just blows my mind.

And it never ceases to take my breath away.

Continuing with the Challenges over at

Moments!

This one is the Recipe challenge; use a stamp, faux stitching,

Halloween paper and a pumpkin.

Wa-la.

The spider and bats are stamps that I cut out.

And my faux stitching are the bats flight path.

I had to purchase some Halloween paper. *gasp* I know.

So this is K&Co from a pad that had some

really cute stuff, a couple of $1 stamps, sissix and sandlion.

 This next one is the Surprise challenge.

Make a masculine page & get some hardware on it.

All basic grey granola - and my hardware is 

faux dogtags. 

Got a couple more to go, and today starts the

first day of the 12 days of Halloween.

Say that 3 times fast. LOL!

The patterned paper challenge

over at Moments consisted of 1 geometric,

1 stripe, 1 butterfly.

Which I just happened to have.

I have NO Halloween paper but I have butterflies.

Anyway, I had trouble with the design

til my pal April mentioned that the photo needed

to be bigger so it wouldn't look stupid.

Duh! *Headslap* Anyway, enlarged it to 5x7 and 

converted to B&W. Had trouble

with what it looked like on Aperture (perfect), and 

the printed copy (dark). Sigh.

After 3 tries I went with lightest one. 

What a beautiful moment!

And the priest made it so much fun and joyous.

All American Craft, Tim Holtz sissix butterfly & Heidi (MM) rubons.

Returning on home. Can't Wait!!!

In the meantime this was the best I could do

with the whole FALL thing.

Seems I'm a week to soon to be a leaf peeper.

And yesterday granddaughter Annie became a baptized

child of God. 

It was a wonderful family celebration.

ANOTHER NEW CHALLENGE coming up is

the 12 days of Halloween hosted by Jess at Moments.

You will be creating a layout/page over 12 days guided by Jess

telling you what elements to add each day.

On the 31st post your page on Moments with the rest of the gang

for all to admire.

And a prize will be involved.

Sign up HERE to join the fun!

New challenges are UP at

Moments!! My challenge which of course

is Heritage is to take a trip back to

your childhood home.

This was page was completed a couple of years ago 

for another challenge and is perfect for this challenge.

The journaling was done in numerical form and is

sometimes easier to write or pull out your memories that way.

ANOTHER NEW CHALLENGE coming up is

the 12 days of Halloween hosted by Jess at Moments.

You will be creating a layout/page over 12 days guided by Jess

telling you what elements to add each day.

On the 31st post your page on Moments with the rest of the gang

for all to admire.

And a prize will be involved.

Sign up HERE to join the fun!

A travel day....

Hopefully we'll be there in no time.

Welcome Home....

Challenges are going on over at Moments.

And my pal April is in charge of Journaling challenge.

So the challenge this month was use the word

Awesome somehow/somewhere.

She gave us a break this month after intense

journaling assignments over the past months.

As you can see I blew journaling off the board here

with one sentence and it took a few hours to think it up

because I had so many jumbled thoughts about it

and I was making it harder than it needed to be.

Succinct. Terse.

Short and to the point. 

Anyway, my boy is home on American soil

after his 3rd tour in Iraq.

Awesome!

Kraft paper, Fancy Pants, Heidi Swapp, QK bracket, Office Depot tag. Creative Imaginations stamp, Magic Mesh.

I've been quite the slacker

And under the weather.

So last night was manic Monday and it 

had all the mayhem and merriment you could want.

However, I can't share. 

Shocking, I know.

 However, it occurred to me I haven't bored

you with airshow pix.

I love airshows. Been going to them since

I was a kidlet and you can use

you imagination for that one.

We hung out in Camp Semper Fi which I never

knew you could do.

When we went we hung out with the regulars on the tarmac.
At the camp, there was food, drink and a ring side seat.
And a tent to keep cool.

 Miromar in San Diego puts on an amazing show.

The guys repelled down, hung out and blew stuff up.

And then connected back to the rope on the chopper

and  hung there while flying off in the wild blue.

 It was all amazing. And gave you a view of
what these special men and women train for.
These photos depict a air-ground assault.

And these pix are just the tip of the ice berg.

I can keep this going for days...

(I know you're thrilled)

 They started something new called the "Heritage flight"

which pairs and vintage with the new.

Its breathtaking really.

Then and now.
F-16 Viper and P51

I may have mixed these pix up. So bear with me.
There is also a legacy flight with an F/A-18 Super Hornet & F8-F Bearcat.

To be continued.
I have stunt pilots and of course
the Blue Angels.

This is the bus......

that was used on the tour.

It was built in 1953.

 Notice the drop off in the road through the window.

 Fortunately the views were stunning.

Really really Stunning actually.

Notice the small, winding road.

 I have found that the shots I thought I had of the

dropoffs were of the sky. LOL!

I couldn't look down, so I looked out.

Aw well. It was a ride!
More views of the ride below if you
want the full effect. Lmao...

We took the ferry over...............

This is the ferry from Dana Point that

we sailed over to Catalina Island 

At the crack of dawn.

 26 miles across the sea.
Santa Catalina is the place for me.
Now that song will be in your head all day.
You're welcome.
This is a view as we were approaching the island.

It is beautiful!

 One of the streets on the Island as
we went exploring.
So far, they have everything.

 We took the Island tour and it was amazing
ANDOMG THE ROADS ARE WORSE THAN CA HWY 1.
And its on a bus, that can't make some of the turns,
or barely fits on the road.
Of course I was at the window, again on the DROPOFF
NEVERTOBESEENAGAIN side.
And the driver pulls over to EDGE. Like he had to do that.
And then he talks, looks where he's pointing and
STILL DRIVING ON THE EDGE.
As soon as I get over the trauma, I'll show you some of the
dizzying shots. I need to pace myself.

This is one of the pony express stops to change horses.

 Zane Grey a popular western novelest (and his books totally rock)

lived on Catalina. A hollywood film-maker wanted

to do a film of his books (which are awesome BTW)

Zane agreed but wanted it done on Catalina.

So they imported North American Bison.

Which still live here roaming the range.

 Above is one of the layover stops on the pony express.
It has been around the block a few times.

 Hummingbirds which I had a lot of issues getting a shot of.

They really need to slow down and smell the roses,

And so not be in front of the light. Sigh.

And here is leg one of five of the zip line tour.

Of which I can unequivocally say that will NOT be ME
zipping on down the line.
I'm still traumatized from the road, the cliffs, the dropoffs.
Dangling.