Relief given for 1 year!

The CPSC announced today that they will be giving a one year stay on the CPSIA law!!

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09115.html

So, we will not be going out of business in 10 days! We still need to stay on top of this issue, to be sure they make revisions that wills ave our business in the future!

Thanks to all that have supported us in the fight! It looks like our voices have been heard!

Update on CPSIA

Well, it appears that there is only one man that can actually Save Handmade products! His name is Henry Waxman and he is the Chairman for the Committee on Energy and Commerce. This is the committee that is in charge of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Only he can pass an exemption before the new law goes into effect, on Feb 10th. His committee members are feeling the pressure from many artists and small businesses and are urging him to call a meeting to review this law. Here is a copy of the letter they sent to Waxman:

http://reformcpsia.org/2009/01/cpsia-letter-to-henry-waxman/

Keep up the phone calls, email and letters, it appears to be working!!

In Washington, D.C.
2204 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-3976 (phone)
(202) 225-4099 (fax)


In Los Angeles
8436 West Third Street, Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 651-1040 (phone)
(818) 878-7400 (phone)
(310) 652-3095 (phone)
(323) 655-0502 (fax)


Also, be sure to check out this blog for continuous updates, petitions, and class action law suit forms:

http://reformcpsia.org/

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

Well, I haven't been blogging as regularly as I should because I have been super busy with new projects. I have taken over leadership of the design group Gallerybay on Ebay and I am honored to be a part of such an amazing group of gals!! I have also been working on some new ideas for a local boutique. I am doing their monogramming for them, diaper bags, duffle bags, cosmetic bags, etc.... In addition to those and the usual items I supply there, I am also offering monogrammed ribbon key chains, check book covers, business card holders, luggage tags, tumblers, sippy cups & burp cloths!! I will be adding these items to the website, under a new section for the mom's.
Kendalls Boutique is a trendy local boutique that offers handbags, travel gear, jewelry, SC t-shirts, kids items (like Hello Kitty) baby items and more. In addition to the new products that I am creating for them and adding to the website, I will be photographing some of the things in the store to add to the website. So, we will be offering jewelry, shoes and many more cool things for moms soon!! I'll keep you posted on the progress :o)

NEW LAWS = National Bankruptcy Day!

Of course, we all want to keep our children safe and we trust the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commision) to ensure we are not endangering our kids with the items we buy them. However, Congress has gone a little overboard on the new law regarding children's products being tested for lead. Although the laws are very vague as to what needs to be tested and only mentions "durable" items, many responses from the CPSC imply that anything manufactured for children under the age of 12 years old, must be tested by a 3rd party for lead. This means that all clothing and custom boutique items made from home studio's must be tested, at a cost of $50-$300 per item, prior to sale of that item and a certificate, showing that it complies with the minimum lead requirements, must accompany that product. What does this boil down to? No more custom boutique creations! We are small businesses, mostly comprised of moms that work from home to help bring in some income to help our family survive, and we cannot afford to send our items out for testing prior to sale. In addition, this means consignment shops and even retail stores, will have to dispose of thousands of dollars worth of inventory that is considered "banned" because it was not tested when it was manufactured. This means those of you that like to resell your gently used children's clothing on sites like ebay will no longer be able to because they were never tested for lead. No more custom hair bows or jewelry or handpainted shoes to dress up your little ones for those special days! And this does not just effect us little guys either.
Large corporations like Gap, Ralph Lauren, Gymboree....must test each end product that is produced. So, even if they make 7 styles of jeans in 10 different sizes using the same materials, one pair of each style in each size will have to be tested (or each batch produced) Wowza!! That's a lot of tests each day, especially since the economy is already struggling with reduced retail sales. Is this the same Congress that is bailing out large corportaions and trying to figure out how to stop all of the forclosures and business failures? HMMMMM...
So, what can we do? Write to our local congress and tell them how ridiculous this new law is and hope that we can make a difference. All of these imports from other countries that contained high amounts of lead have prompted our Congress to react drastically and now they are going to bring our economy down even more!! Make a difference and help small businesses stay alive!!

There are many blogs and sites that address this, but I found this site to have some interesting information:
http://nationalbankruptcyday.com/

What a year!!

It has been a while since I have posted on the blog, as the end of the year was extremely busy! Unfortunately, I lost another fur baby and did not post about it because I was not able to "discuss"it for a long time. Maximus was almost 8 years old and it was the first time I had to take a pet to the vet knowing he wasn't coming home. He was really my baby because he wouldn't let anyone near him but me. Just over 17 pounds of love, I sure do miss him!