Cleveland Rocks but Boston Rules!!

We are back from our whirlwind, mini vacation to Cleveland! This was my first time there and I found it to be a lovely city! We spent a good portion of the day there on Wednesday and were able to park the car and walk everywhere we needed to go. It was super clean, the traffic wasn't bad and the buildings were nice. We visited the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame which is chock full of interesting memorabilia. Everything from Madonna's cone bra outfit to Michael Jackson's gold glove. I drooled over Jon Bon Jovi's Harley and leather jacket, lol. While we were walking to the museum we came upon this huge rubber stamp...

My boys and I tried to use it but it was too heavy, lol. It read "free" on the bottom, it probably has a story behind it but we didn't find it out. This photo was just begging to be taken by a stamper!!
In the evening we went to Progressive Field to see the Indians play the Red Sox. The stadium was awesome!! We had seats 20 rows up from home plate so we had a great view. Just like the time we went to Toronto to see the Red Sox play, there was no shortage of Boston fans but we were still surrounded by Indian fans. Some of them got a bit rude towards the end but we didn't let them dampen our spirits. I felt badly for them since their team was up 5-0 at one point and still lost the game 6-5 in the 10th. Baseball games are such a great experience...the smell of hot dogs and peanuts, the green grass, the crack of the bats, the diving catches...awesome I tell ya! Here are my guys before the game as they wandered around the upper decks...

Just so this post isn't all non-stamping, here is a photo of the gift swap I made for last Saturday's event. This was one of those projects that just evolved and I loved the finished outcome. The house shaped hard board was a clipboard I purchased from Michael's with the intention of just covering with paper.

I took off the clip part so I could attach the paper easier and liked it better once it was off. I don't remember the make on the paper but it is thicker, textured DP that I adhered with Zip Dry glue. All the edges are sponged with Distress ink. I cut down a large acrylic frame I had in my stash and carefully put 2 holes in the top with the Crop-o-Dile so I could attach them to the board with hinges. The acrylic layer lifts up so you could display photos underneath and the top surface doubles as a dry erase board. Cool, eh? It doesn't take much to amuse me, lol! The bird is another hard board shape I picked up at Michaels, it came in a 12 pack for pretty cheap. It didn't come with a wing so I covered a coaster with paper and cut the wing out free hand with scissors. The eye is a brown button. The bird is adhered to the front of the acrylic layer with some of Jody's red liner sticky circles, they are the bomb!! I purchased a shabby picture holder from Hobby Lobby so the whole thing could sit on a table or desk but it could easily be made to hang as well. The picture doesn't do it justice but you get the idea.
Thanks for stopping by!