my sillyturnips will be illegal

OK, this is horrible. After February 8th I will no longer be able to legally sell my dolls! This goes for anyone who sells anything for children under 12. Not only that, it's for anyone who sells anything that could be used as a toy.....so I can't just say my stuff is "soft sculpture". It also effects apparel such as clothes, purses, bows. This also hits resale shops and garage sales! I've written to my congressman Kay Bailey Hutchison but she gave me a form letter response saying she supported this legislation. This is will be the end of the grandma selling homemade Barbi clothes at the craft fair, the guy who makes wooden cars or rubberband guns. If I understand it correctly it makes things you've already bought illegal, if you use it outside your home. So those preschools better watch out! They will have to have their toys and equipment tested by places government has deemed acceptable. Below are a few blog excerpts with links and if you would like to help and write your congressman, you can do that by going here and scrolling down to the bottom. You can also sign a petition here. Signing is very easy and quick. Please blog about this and get the word out!

From the folks at "Cool Mom Picks"

"Moms who sew beautiful handmade waldorf dolls out of home, artists who have
spent decades hand-carving trucks and cars out of natural woods, that guy at the
craft show who sold you the cute handmade puzzle--even larger US companies who
employ local workers and have not once had any sort of safety issue will no
longer be able to sell their toys. Not without investing tens of thousands of
dollars into third-party testing and labeling, just to prove that toys that
never had a single chemical in them still don't have a single chemical in
them.
In other words, handmade toys will now be illegal."

Etsy has also released on open letter obviously in defense of all the craftspeople who use Etsy.com! WalletPop has some more information here basically pointing out that the new legislation will make it way too expensive to buy handmade anymore.

Bad laws for small handmade businesses

From: Jewelrydesignsby me

I posted this originally at ETSY NJ & plan on posting it everywhere I can.
The CPSC & CPSIA new law guidelines effect most of us - sign or start a PETITION NOW.
So all of us should support each other and stand united to get exclusions or amendments or extensions for compliance referencing USA handmade products and small batch items to this new law by writing to our public officials. Even if none of your items are made directly for children ... Can you imagine an ETSY, FireArt, 1000 Markets, a local craft show or eBay without any children's items in it?

This is effectively THE WORLD'S LARGEST CHILDREN'S PRODUCT RECALL ever imagined. But without the option of returning the items for refund or replacement.

THIS NEW CPSIA WILL EFFECT ALL OF US that sell ANY products that can be consider for children. Not just toys and jewelry, but CLOTHING, ROOM DECOR, SCHOOL SUPPLIES, EDUCATIONAL AIDS, ART WORK, ART SUPPLIES, PILLOWS, HAIR BOWS so on & etc. if it is made for someone 12 & under to use it will be subject to the certified testing. Even HAND-ME-DOWNS as resales or vintage items will be subject to the testing. To read the whole "brief", 67 pages long, requires some basic law education but you can get the gist of it in the CPSIA's FAQ section http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/faq.html#educational

This new law is blindsiding us by giving very little notice to comply to it, if we're even able to provide the proofs the the CPSC wants. It's been so under the radar the ETSY doesn't have a STORQUE article on it yet. Niether has eBay or most of the other online seller's outlets even mention the new law. I think there waiting for after the holidays to tells us that lots of the items we bought are now effectively illegal and that we should of never given them to our children in the first place. There should be some type of grandfathering clause included that parents shouldn't have to shell out more good money if they feel their child is in danger just because the government said the product is not longer safe.
This will put quite a few of us out of business. Even larger companies are having problems complying with the deadline or the batch material testing requirements. Here a set of excerpts from a recent CPSIA hearing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUlY6zOMPqQ, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlMh7MJiodY&feature=related, & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk0Vr0yDrXc&feature=related.

Don't just believe that the legislation will change on it's own, do something to let your voice be heard. Write a congressperson, tell ETSY what you feel about this law, blog about it, just get your voice heard by CPSIA that the law is impractical and bias towards small & cottage industries. People for a Greener Earth should also take up this issue since it will put an end to reusing durable children's products outside of the immediate hand me down process, sending tons of good resalable items to landfills.

Many items that were legal this holiday season will be banned come Feb. 10, 2009 regardless of if the child's product was a handheld video game by a super multinational corporation, a made in the USA pair of jeans from a local mom & pop retailer, or one of the fantastic wooden toys available at ETSY shops. This means it would even be illegal and punishable by fines and jail time to resell or reuse, outside your own home, those items in anything that that would be for a child. So no one, even a consumer looking to green up the Earth a little, could list a child's items as vintage piece at ETSY or a sell it as used on eBay or at a garage sale without it having the the testing done.

Generals threads for any one :
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5938698
http://www.ipetitions.com/
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?messageID=511163411&forumID=124&x#511163411

for toy makers :
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/
http://grecowoodcrafting.wordpress.com/

for children's clothing, doll clothes, hair bows, and accessory makers :
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5935443
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/