Longaberger Basket 1

I was in Ohio for Honda Homecoming. For the first time, I had some extra time to make the trip to the Longaberger Basket Factory in Frazeyburg which I have wanted to do for a few years.

Here I am in front of the World's Largest Apple Basket sporting my new hairstyle.

It turned out that this was the weekend that Longaberger demonstrators visit the Homestead for their annual convention. It was very busy but actually lucky for me because many of the women gave me great advice on accessories and tips for the basket that I made myself and I got some of the Longaberger family members to sign the bottom of my handmade treasure.

I soon found out that Longaberger is quite a huge phenomenon in the US. It is like a little village of stores, restaurants and activites all related to baskets, home decor and apparel. There is even a golf course for the husbands to enjoy themselves while the women are shopping.

I expect that I will be back again :)

Longaberger Basket 2

Here I am making my own basket (with help from Matt). Note how the basket slats are formed over a wooden fixture to make the shape of the basket. The slats are moistened with water to make them pliable. The factory is behind me - it is the size of 7 football fields.

Longaberger Basket 3

Here is a close-up of my basket during the last step.

The website is: www.longabergerhomestead.com

Some of you are probably wondering what is Honda Homecoming. It is an annual event where Honda motorcycle owners bring their motorcycles home to the Marysville Motorcycle plant. It is a huge event that includes plant tours, activities, demonstrations and a light parade.
This year, the parade had over 1,000 motorcycles in it and lasted 40 minutes. Some of the motorcycles are decked out with lights, cool horns or pulling unique trailers and some of the parade participants dress up (including Santa) all for the enjoyment of the parade watchers.

More info at:
http://www.ohio.honda.com/news/Homecoming/index.cfm

Rub On Card

Images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!

Another Rub On project using Love & Happiness.

This card features the new scallop punch (a sneak peak from the new Fall & Winter catalogue) which coordinates with the All Scallops stamp set.

The butterfly image, the "friend" sentiment and "you make me happy" are all rub ons.

Monochromatic Rub On Card

Images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!

First the rub ons were applied onto white paper and punched with the small square punch then matted with the large square punch. Another rub on was added as the sentiment on the card and onto the ribbon.

The edges of the paper were sponged.

Rub Ons Featured: Love & Happiness

Rub on Card with Jumbo Brad

Images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!

This card was made by stamping the images on white paper randomly using rose red, regal rose and so saffron ink. The main snail image was done using the rock and roll technique with so saffron & more mustard and applied with stampin' dimensionals. Then I added a rub on to a jumo brad and as the sentiment on the card.

Stamp Set: Garden Whimsy

Rub Ons with a Washer

Images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!

Rub Ons can be applied to many surfaces: paper, glass, ribbon, buttons and brads etc ... I even saw an example where someone decorated their Guitar Hero guitar.

Here I applied the white butterfly image to a washer. Then I used only the centre section of the same image in old olive and applied it over the first image.

Washers can be found at Home Depot in a variety of sizes.

Now this can be used to make a necklace or as an embellishment on a card or scrapbook page.

Get creative with your rub ons.

Dirty Dancing on Stage

I went to see the Dirty Dancing musical in Toronto last night with my sister. It was fabulous. It made me remember why I loved the movie so much. We really enjoyed ourselves. I must say that I missed looking at Patrick Swayze though :)

Melissa O'Neil (who won the 2005 season of Canadian Idol) was in it. I thought she was great.

Ben Mingay (Billy) closed the show with "I've had the time of my life". It gave me goosebumps on my arms. I bought the CD on my way out.

I would recommend this show to anyone.

The only downfall was the seats in the Royal Alexandra Theatre. Everyone was complaining of sore backs and numb butts during the intermission. Maybe they should spend some of the money they charge for the memorabilia on new seats. I'm sure people would pay big money to buy the old seats as souvenirs.

Dirty Dancing Movie Clip

My photo

I have been asked about the photo on my blog. It is a portion of a 2 year old family picture (prior to my braces). We will have a new one taken in the fall. But the cool thing about this photo is that my husband, my son and I all wore brand new, crisp, white t-shirts and blue jeans. The photographer had us on the floor in various poses. What I find about this type of picture is that you focus on the faces and not what we are wearing because it is so monochromatic. Plus the fact that we were on the floor made it more playful. The best photo that day is when my son & I piled on top of my hubby. The look on his face is priceless (like - here we go again). I love scrapbooking and great photos with great memories make it even more fun!

Peach Punch

Summer is here finally!
Here is a great recipe for Peach Punch.

PUNCH
1 pkg. of M&M Peach Drink Crystals with 10 cups of water.
2 litres of Sprite or GingerAle
1 pkg. of M&M Berry Mix (optional garnish)

Makes approximately 6 litres.

My family omits the water and adds 2 bottles of 2 litre GingerAle instead.
It can be made in a large drink dispenser and stored in the fridge.

Seafood Chowder

I am currently on vacation so I decided to try making one of my mother-in-law's recipes for Seafood Chowder. Here it is:

SEAFOOD CHOWDER
1) Fry 1 onion, 1 carrot & 1 celery stalk in 1/4 block of margarine.
2) Boil 1 potato until soft.
3) Add a little flour to the vegetables until creamy.
4) Add 1/2 pint cream. Simmer with the vegetables.
5) Add 1/2 pint whipping cream.
6) Put in scallops for 5 minutes. Then add any combination of
lobster, shrimp and crab meat.

I doubled the recipe because of the amount of seafood I had and mashed the potatoes before I added them to the soup pot. It was delicious. I found lobster in a tin at Costco in the frozen food section ($15.99)

Sex and the City

Yesterday, I dropped my son and a friend off at Wonderland then I headed off to Vaughan Mills Mall for some summer sale shopping. Then I went to the movie theatre to see: Sex and the City. Just me and a bag of popcorn.

I have been waiting for the lines to die down to go see it. I became addicted with the first DVD I rented from Block Buster. I actually would begin shaking if the next episodes were unavailable to rent :)

Anyway, it was great to visit with the ladies again and catch up on their adventures looking for labels and love. Jennifer Hudson was a great addition to the movie.

I won't spoil the story but there was one quote that I thought would be fitting for a wedding card or scrapbook page: Ever thine, Ever mine, Ever ours.