2 posts tagged “handmade”

I'm not a political junkie, but OOOHHH, there's a new law here in the US that's making me angry.  Luckily they've put a stay on it, but we need to let them know that we want them to change it.

It's called the CPSIA.  It's designed to help protect toys from being contaminated with lead.  It will require the testing of anything that is or can be used as a child's toy to be tested for lead.  If it hasn't been tested by the CPSIA, then it's illegal to sell.  

Sounds good, right?

On the surface, yes, but if you read it, it's going to have terrible ramifications for a lot of people.  You might think this won't affect you.  You don't make plushies or dolls or anything that can be used as a toy, so you're good, right?  Nope.  What if you want to BUY handmade toys?  

You think, "Well, the makers should just get them tested, then - That's not hard, right?"
It is, because getting things tested for lead ain't cheap.  We're talking three or four figure numbers, here.  And the new restrictions posed by this law are so harsh that there's a lot of commercially made toys currently out that will be deemed unsafe, even though they're entirely non-toxic and haven't hurt anyone for YEARS.  The average independent, self-employed artist is lucky to make that amount in a month - Trust me, I know.  How much is the average rent/mortgage?  Utilities?  Food?  Do we have insurance?  Usually not.

Chances are good that those of you who sell or enjoy buying handmade plushies from cons aren't going to be able to anymore.  Parents or soon-to-be parents like me aren't going to be able to buy handmade toys for our little ones.  Traditional toy items like corn husk dolls and toy war shields - Made by my tribe. Yep, Crazed is a Native American, did you know that? - won't be able to be sold and thus put many traditional artists out of business.  Even Japanese temari balls can't be sold as toys because they can be used as a toy.  Art objects that were traditionally toys but are now made as replicas can't be sold under this law, including art dolls.  Even if they're made entirely of cloth, they still need to be tested.

So...  Kachina Dolls?  Important cultural and religious tribal item?  No longer are they used as toys, but they are "dolls".  They will be illegal to sell unless they've been tested.  Handmade rocking horses out of wood like my grandfather used to make?  Also illlegal.  Sock Monkeys?!  Those, too.

I know a lot of people who make and sell handmade toys and children's items for a living.  I want to be able to buy them for Lemony when she's old enough to have them because I want to buy local (well, as local as possible, in today's world, so that means buying things made in the US) and all-natural as much as I can.  Please read this article on Etsy and call your state senators.  Ask them to support amending this law because of how it will affect your life.  Don't forget to mention that it will put a lot of AMERICANS out of business in an already floundering economy where small businesses are closing down left and right.  It will impact a lot of our cultural heritage as well, Native American and otherwise.  Please call them or pass it on.  It only takes a minute.

And if you just want to call your senator right now, call ths number: (202) 224-3121 and tell them what state you are from and that you would like to talk to one of your senators.  That's the number for the Senate Switchboard.  Be polite, be nice, and in the end, thank them for listening to you.  It doesn't matter if you are of voting age or not.  This only takes a minute.  The switchboard was busy when I tried last time, so I'm going to hit redial on my cell in half an hour and try again.  It's that simple.

Please, please, please call.  We CAN make a difference.  We've ALREADY made a difference by signing petitions and getting this law put on hold for a few more months while people look it over.  We can change it.

Thank You,
Crazed

First off, here's a picture of my new earrings - I love them!
I have also learned that labradorite is REALLY hard to photograph.  Yo uhonestly have no idea how long it took me to get that picture, and that's the best once I could get.  I sadly could not capture the excellent fire that exists in both of them.
Oh, well.  They're still pretty!
Anyways, on to my thoughts.  I just read the the founder of Etsy was on Martha Stewart.  Huzzah!  In my brain that means more buyers who love unique, handmade stuff, which is good for everyone.
Etsy's brave founder, Rob Kalin, mentioned that 200 years ago everything was handmade.  This is true.  What crawled into my brain was the realization that if you were rich or poor, what you owned was handmade, and that the richer you were, the less you made yourself.  I think that to an extent, this still holds true.  I have met some wealthy people, and had the things that were handmade pointed out to me.  IE Handcarved mohogany end tables, original paintings, handwoven rugs imported from across the sea, etc.  So in my brain Handmade = more valuable = more expensive = more money.  Except now instead of Rich = You Don't Have to Make Your Stuff, Rich = Lots of Handmade Stuff.  At least in the cases I have seen.
For the rest of us, it's not so.  Things are made in factories and bought at WhateverMart.  IKEA is huge, and it's gotten to the point where I can go into people's houses that I've just met and see an eerie reflection of my own living room.
Thank the Gods for Antiques and Handmade!  They set off my place nicely, and I think everyone should have them.  Honestly, our prime piece of wall art in our living room was found at the side of the road.  It's a beautiful 3D work of a woman's face emerging from what looks to be at first glance a bunch of leaves.  Sort of a NeoGreenwoman.  I think it's plaster.  The 3D face piece is mounted on an old cabinet door.  When we found it there was a small price tag hanging from the hardware - "$625"

Obviously the doing of an artist (I wonder whose face was molded for the portrait?) that was thrown to the curb, amongst other works, after a heated argument with a lover and/or a roommate.  There were also supplies and a hamper of laundry tossed there, amongst other things.  The supplies had gotten ruined in the rain, sadly, and the clothes were rather unisex in their cut and construction, and mostly vintage.  I did rifle through them because I wanted to find out whose works these were, possibly a business card or something in the pockets.  The garbage truck would be by in no less than four hours.  We had limited space in the car, so we saved the art, and kept the Greenwoman for ourselves.  We were doing flea markets on the weekends at that time, testing out maile prices and whatnot, so we sold the artwork there.  A really excited couple bought the artwork, and were just as baffled as we were when I recounted the tragic story of The Art on the Curb.  The pieces are all unsigned, and we all scoured the surface for some trace of who might have made them, but who knows?
Anonymous Art, like all the Wal-Mart T-Shirts and IKEA posters with cool designs and no names.
Some day I would LOVE to be able to walk through my home and tell a bit of the story behind who made what.  I hope that even my clothes will someday tell a story, even if all they hint is, "I Like Webcomics!"

That's it...  I'm off to sign the HandMade Pledge.  I just found the website three days ago because I live in a cave.

Later!
Crazed