New CPSIA news!

Yea! There is a suspension of the law! Of course, this isn't the end of it, just a 'stay of execution' so to speak. We are still liable but not currently required to have the testing done. We'll see how this all unfolds over the course of the year. Below is from http://www.buyhandmade.org/ and http://www.etsy.com/.

We are so excited to announce that the Commission has voted for a "Stay of Enforcement of Certain Testing and Certification Requirements of CPSIA" — which means that they are proposing a 1 year suspension of the burden of lead testing and certification while they take more time to review the rules and plan enforcement! All of your hard work is paying off (for the time being at least!). You wouldn't have to pay to do the certification and testing, though you are still liable if your products are found to have lead. We are so pleased that artisans and vintage sellers got their voices heard. Your hard work is not over; we must continue to play a role in advocating for small business people throughout the coming year.

"The action taken today provides breathing space to get in place some of the rules needed for implementation, but it should not be viewed as a full solution to the many problems that have been raised." —U.S. Consumer product Safety Commission

The links to this article:
http://blog.buyhandmade.org/
http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/breaking-news-the-cpsia-mandatory-testing-certification-prop-3347/

thank you mom

My mom rocks. I learned to sew from my mother. She sewed all of my and my sister's figure skating outfits for years. Mom, sister and I are all shorter than 5'4", so many pants have been hemmed. Clothing repaired, blankets made, you name it. She supported our skating by sewing dresses for others, her own at home business. Where was etsy then? ;)

But lately the desire to sew, I believe, has waned over the years. Upon discovering my new enterprise of sewing baby booties, she took the time to empty out her sewing room (a room any sewer would be jealous of). I now have a few boxes of elastic, thread, binding, buttons, material, scraps, and more. The buttons, however, are the real gem. Vintage buttons from mother, grandmother and great grandmother. Some of them you can tell have been cut off shirts, jackets, or pants. My grandmother was married during the depression, and she taught me the art of finding many uses and saving the littlest thing for that rainy day. But have I cut buttons off of a ragged shirt before tossing? Nope, don't think it's ever occurred to me. What my grandmother and mother have taught me could fill a whole other blog, so that's for another day.

I had a weekend with no obligations, so off we went snowshoeing and came back tired, a good tired, and well relaxed. Husband snoozed on the couch, my Laura in her crib, and off I went into the craft room. I happened to see some batik scrap material I had leftover from some project years ago that I think I never finished (I can be the ultimate procrastinator). I decided to do a little present to mom and started to create a small wall hanging. Pattern? nah. Plan? nah. But I think it turned out okay.

My daughter and I headed to the post office today and shipped her thank you present. Just that simple act of shipping out sewing materials that she thought I could use, meant the world to me. It's her way of saying 'I love you.'

Blogging? What's blogging?

Everyone is doing it. Everyone is blogging. I think I may be one of the last people over the age of 14 and under the age of 50 who is not blogging. So I thought I would try. Not sure if I have enough rolling around in this noggin of mine to express on a blog but we’ll try.

I am mostly trying this to share a bit of what I am doing with my life while I am a stay at home mom, including my little at-home sewing/craft business called laura’s loft (http://www.laurasloft.etsy.com/). I have enjoyed creating my baby booties, and someone said - sell them! - and thought, what the hey.

I am still new to this so I apologize in advance. Have a happy day!