The Sad News of Longaberger

Did you hear the sad news last month? Longaberger has ceased operations, and there is talk that the company is going out of business.

So sad!

At the height of their popularity, Longaberger made $1 billion dollars a year and had over 8,000 employees. The iconic basket office building in Newark, Ohio became a tourist destination.

My sister, Tina, was a consultant for them at one time. We took a chartered bus trip to see the office building shaped like a market basket, the fun shops of Dresden, and the beautiful Homestead in Frazeysburg. These are a few of the scrapbook pages I made from that trip back in 2002.

Don't laugh too hard! I was never a big scrapbooker, as you can probably tell from these creations! LOL!

When I heard the news, it left me feeling sad and nostalgic. Why do things have to change? And why is it that the change never seems for the better?

I still love my Longaberger baskets and pottery, and use them every day. They are such a high quality product. While some people say they are "out of style", I've managed to incorporate them into my evolving style over the years. There's something about the wood that adds warmth to a home. I don't have every one on display at all times, but I do pull them out seasonally when I change the decor.

The pottery? It's fantastic. In the years I've been using Longaberger pottery, I have gone through two sets of Corelle dishes that chipped and scratched and faded. My Longaberger? Still looks beautiful. That area of Ohio is well known for its pottery. Roseville Pottery and McCoy pottery are big collectibles, and they all come from the same region of Ohio.

I remember watching Daddy Day Care and being so excited because the dishes the family used in the movie were the same Longaberger dishes my family still uses today!

Hand crafted, just like cards. There's something very special about that in our cheap, disposable society.

I'm sending this card to my sweet step mother-in-law, who first introduced me to Longaberger so many years ago!

{Today's Brew: Vintage Picnic stamp set from PTI, PTI inks and card stock, MFT cross stitch frame die and stitched banner die, button twine, prisma markers}

I have to admit, even this card makes me a little nostalgic for another Ohio-based company. Papertrey Ink's style has changed a lot in recent years, but I still love the old images like this one!

Blessings, cafe friends!