Fly away fly away home!

Click on the picture to see the darlingest ladybug sample set from kidschoiceboutique,
it even includes the bows!

New year...New Design!

SweetChili is offering a boys U-Design-It (Anything) set!
Snap this up from this talented designer before time runs out!



Click on the picture to see other sample designs she can do for your little man!

Pop Garden Pooch!

How cute is this one? A boutique dog collar made from the awesome
Heather Bailey pop garden fabric!

A must have for the little furry folk in your life!




From Upsiedoodle, Click the picture to go there now.

Feel the love

Click to go there now

This one is just in from Etsy Seller, LesTissusBows.
It's a cute baby & toddler bow band just perfect for Valentine's day.

A Spoonful of Sugar

Who has been checking out the new Sugar3 group on ebay?
They had a rousing debut launch and still have a handful of
interesting listings to peruse

Search Sugar3

Love Struck

Here's one for the boys for the Hallmark Holiday that will be soon fast approaching,
Love Struck, a tee with attitude and attention to detail from PBandJ*Creations.
"appliqued lightning bolt and "LOVE STRUCK" onto a premade long sleeved red tshirt... also added a fun detailed stitching around the neckline. "

Click the picture to get a closer look,
Tee: $65.00, hat/jeans not included.

Bright and Bold

Click on the pictures to go to this detailed and darling set from boutiquenrf.
The details make it so cute!

Apron strings

Yummy Aprons are arriving at Punky Fae Designs!



They have the sweetest assortment of children's aprons!
Designer Y can't wait to see the new Mommy & Me Apron Collection
when it arrives! Click on the picture and take a look at her new site!

A Darla-in' Debut!

AllegroFabrics has had a very busy week with huge boxes full of new and amazing fabrics arriving everyday! Valentine's Day and Spring Flowers are here and filling the studio with bright colors and pretty pastels. MODA has a fun group called Love is in the Air...lots of red, pink and white...Tanya Whelan has a beautiful new spring collection called Darla. April Cornell created a pretty group called Nature's Chorus. For adventurous little boys, there is a new group of Robots and Rockets from Free Spirit. And there are more.....
The best way to search for my newest collections is to go to my front opening page. On the left side you will find "new items" at about mid column.

Enjoy Darla by Tanya Whelan....


Check out Allegro Fabrics Today!

GORGEOUS!

This is a new Christening gown from Sara Norris Ltd.
Wow, what a beautiful dress!


Click on the picture and be sure to
take a stroll through her website,
she does some really amazing work!

The CPSC wants YOUR comments!!! CALL TO ACTION

The CPSC wants your comments and input regarding the CPSIA's testing by 3rd party labs & component testing!!
HURRY!!
Go there now!!

Do not pass go, this is an urgent call to action!
Tell everyone you know!!

Read How/What/When HERE

Cute!

Cute customs for Valentines Day!

Check out the Euro*Girls Ebay Store

Click Here

Making Sense of the CPSIA (Clothing)

This will be the last post about the CPSIA, this was gleaned from
Fashion Incubator
and written by site owner, and CPSIA "War room" coordinator,
Kathleen Fasanella.
A fashion industry insider with 27 years experience.

Designing Minds hopes the info we have gathered about the CPSIA has opened your eyes if nothing else to the fact that all of us WAHM/ Boutique designers could possibly be out of work come February, 2009.

"In this portion I’ll explain which classes of products need to be tested, if they need to be tested and how this is effected. This first part will deal with kid’s products. Even if you don’t make kids products per se, please humor me and read it because some obscure things can affect you and you don’t want any nasty surprises.

Children’s wear:
Not everything is tested equally under this new law so pay close attention. If you are currently making a product that falls under other CPSC guidelines such as for flammability, you can continue to use component testing for those attributes. You are also permitted to use vendor supplied third party certifications for product integrity. However, the lead and phthalate aspects are different. For lead and phthalate, unit testing is required; this is separate and apart from flammability and draw cords and what not.

What must be tested: Lead
All sewn products intended for use of children 12 and younger must be unit tested for lead at this time. Lobbying groups are looking for exclusions for certain categories of goods like tee shirts. Toward the end of proving lead is not a dangerous element in kid’s apparel, I have been asked to make a request of you. If you have any lead or phthalate test results from a certified laboratory, please send them to me and I’ll pass them along.

Another question I’ve been asked is, “can I use my supplier’s third party certifications to comply with the lead and phthalate law instead of testing it myself”. The answer is no. You cannot. I mean, not for lead and phthalates but you can for flammability etc.

A note to adult clothing producers:
Sure, you read 12 and under and breathe a sigh of relief thinking this doesn’t apply to you but don’t be so quick. From now on, I will be recommending that everyone place a line of copy on their hang tags and on their order form that reads “This product is not intended for use by children aged 12 and under.” The reason is, you really have no assurances that it won’t be. Maybe a twelve year old is mature and likes your stuff or mom buys it and gives it to her. If you don’t actively market your product as intended for adults, you may have to test your products too. Two of the panel speakers (Rachel Murray Meyer and Carol Pollack Nelson) provided some provocative ideas about age grading, human factor assessments and targeted age related marketing that could trip you up. For example, considering how popular the application of Swarovski crystals on tee shirts has become, particularly with tweens… well, I think that’s enough said. If you didn’t know, the crystals are almost entirely lead.

What must be tested: Phthalates
Since we’re just doing sewn products, I’ll restrict my comments to that. Phthalates are a plasticizing agent. It can (potentially) be found in several child related products. Not all children’s items must be tested, only certain categories and then, only products intended for children aged 3 and younger (caveat on the age disclaimer above applies). Specifically, sewn products that are described as “child care” items must be tested. These include items such as bibs, diapers or diaper covers, footed pajamas etc. In other words, such items that contain plastics or plastic coated materials."

(from Fashion Incubator, Nov. 2008)

Making Sense of the CPSIA New Guidelines (Product Labeling)

Click here to read the CPSIA legislation


Section 103 deals with mandatory product labeling: you must label your wares geared to children to tell some way of tracking them, when they were made,
the batch number, etc., so that you can go back and tell them if they ever want to know WHO, WHERE, WHAT, WHEN they were made by and who you got each part from
(if supplied by someone else).

You can devise your own code but you need to have the info
on there so that if there is ever a problem, you can go back and answer the questions.

Section 104 also addresses "durable nursery products". These products, such as cribs, high chairs, cradles, bassinets, baby gates etc. (not any of the things you put inside of them or around them,) but the "FURNITURE" OR "GEAR" themselves.
Every maker of these types of products must have a customer registration card with all the pertinent contact info made available to be mailed back (postcard etc) so that if there is ever a recall you can get in touch with the original owners of all your furniture/gear. This must be postage paid by the maker so the consumer incurs no fees in sending it back so they can
easily "register" their ownership of the product.

Etsy is backing up designers: CPSIA News

A Quick note from Designer Y...

Etsy has drafted an official on behalf of the thousands upon thousands of businesses that could be adversely affected by the CPSIA legislation.

They have also planned a live chat with a representative of the CPSC.

It's good to see Etsy taking a proactive & supportive stance.

Click on the picture to see what the folks at Etsy are saying...

A lil' history on the CPSIA

(Designer Y wishes to apologize that our regular boutique posting has been derailed at the moment, but this is a very important issue and we want to stay on top of all the news. We'll continue bringing you the info as it becomes available from the CPSC.
Designer Y did in fact receive a response from Patti Bittner, small business ombudsman at the CPSC on Friday night and she is passing along all of our questions to the correct party for clarification so I hope to have more info soon for our readers).

Some History on House Bill 4040:
The Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act~

Here's where this all got started from, I found it interesting that all of the companies were *importers* and all but 1 of the companies imported from China. None of the items that caused this legislation were manufactured domestically, and they were all toys and jewelry.

Take a peek:
Committee on Energy & Commerce
Go to their contact page and leave message about the CPSIA!

Designer Y Sounds off about the CPSIA (Editorial)

Opinion:
Designer Y is no stranger to fighting against "city hall". I take pride in my past of being an activist of sorts. I have seen firsthand the power of the people at work. I KNOW when people believe in something and they come together they *can* make a difference. At this time, I am feeling extremely frustrated at the lack of response I've received from nearly 10 phone calls and emails to contacts at the Consumer Product Safety Commission. I guess I shouldn't be "surprised" but I was hopeful that Patty Bittner, the small business ombudsman at the CPSC would reply to at least one of my inquiries, even if it was just to reply to my email to tell me they are working on addressing the concerns of so many who have contacted them, or that she wasn't the correct person to speak with and refer me to the individual that I would be able to interview for the Designing-Minds blog to help quell the fears, answer the questions and clear up any misinformation out there.
But instead...I received no reply, no email, no response.

The question on everyone's mind at this time is WHY? ...why would the CPSC want to legislate the "cottage industry" of designing moms and make us comply with impossible to conform to, impossible to afford testing and labeling requirements...and lump us together with large manufacturers who may actually be able to afford and comply with these industry rules?
Because one bad apple has spoiled the bunch... Somewhere back in the not so recent past
large/massive industry looking for cheap labor and lower overhead farmed out much of it's labor and manufacturing to companies in China (*not JUST China but the majority of offenders are Chinese based companies) with little or no regulation in the way of safety standards. Thus American toy makers and other children's product companies imported products laced with lead based paint and other harmful components such as Phthalates. The very unfortunate truth is, many children were exposed and harmed, and many killed due to these harmful substances in the products.
While we all want what is best for kids, and Designer Y admires the CPSC's intention of wanting to protect children and make sure the products are safe in which they come into contact with
...this legislation is not the answer.

After reading and re-reading the legislation, Designer Y finds it is not all bad, but it does not exclude the cottage industry that produces handmade children's products such as toys or jewelry. In my opinion, this responsibility should be up to the manufacturers or importers (in most part) to make components which are safe for market, and used in creating our designs and then sold by cottage industry people like you and I.

Example:
It should NOT be up to a small jewelry designer to be sure her bracelet findings and metal parts are lead free any more than it should be up to a car dealer to be sure each car driven off his or her car lot after being sold is within industry standards on every single part put into the car down to the plastic on the cup holders. The car dealer is not required to drive every car to a testing facility for plastic cup holders to make sure the holders meet every single guideline, and even if they were...
who would enforce this? The cup holder inspector brigade?

In Designer Y's opinion, things like this should NOT be getting into our country in the first place, the importers dealing with countries with questionable standards should be held to acceptable/safe standards, not those of us in the cottage industry who buy our supplies and then create something in small quantity and then resell the completed product.

What to do now...
I'm still trying to get to the bottom of whether or not this legislation affects clothing, fabric, bibs, room decor, textiles and the supplies used/or made in the handmade community. My eyes are crossing but I will bring our readers the info as it becomes more clear.
In the meantime, it's my personal opinion that everyone needs to get involved.
We need to:

1. Stop the legislation where its at right now.
   
2. We need to contact our elected officials as well as the CPSC and tell them we do NOT support the CPSIA of 2008 and urge them to support the handmade /cottage industry we are a part of.
3. We need to sign the petition at ipetition that has been started
4. We need to blog about this and educate as many people as possible about why this legislation, although it has good intentions it is not economically feasible, enforceable, nor is it fair to small businesses.
5. Contact news media and alert them to the fact that this proposed legislation is causing a stir and is horrible for small businesses.
   

Here are some important links to get all of our readers into action:

Contact the CPSC
on their website via the
CPSC Contact Form

Sign the Petition at ipetition

Contact and Find out who your elected officials are

If you're feeling vocal, give the CPSC a call...
(LET'S FLOOD THEIR PHONE LINES!)
Toll-free Consumer Hotline:
800-638-2772 (TTY 800-638-8270). Hotline staff may be reached from 8:30 am - 5:00 pm ET. Messages may be left anytime after these hours. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
If you're local, call...
General Information: (301) 504-7923 M-F 8:00 am - 4:30 pm ET
or fax your letters/opinions to them:
Fax: (301) 504-0124 and (301) 504-0025

Send your letters via snail mail:
Street and Mailing Address
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
4330 East West Highway
Bethesda, MD 20814

Send a copy to each person at the CPSC:

Nancy A. Nord, Acting Chairman

Thomas Hill Moore , Commissioner

Office of Public Affairs, Director - Julie Vallese

Office of Compliance and Field Operations Assistant Executive Director – John “Gib” Mullan
Deputy Director – Marc Schoem

Office of Congressional Relations
Director - John “Jack” Horner

Office of the Executive Director
Executive Director – Patsy Semple
Deputy Executive Director – Jacqueline Elder (Acting)

This woman is supposed to be a liason for small businesses
Small Business Ombudsman
Patty Bittner
EMAIL: pbittner@cpsc.gov

Please let Designer Y know what you think about my opinion, and this blog post, and leave me a comment.

Making Sense of the CPSIA New Guidelines (Children's Jewelry Part B)

Designer Y would like to add this small piece of information to the Children's Jewelry information posted earlier this afternoon.

As stated in the proposed CPSIA legislation; the CPSC stated that as of February 9, 2009, all jewelry must meet the 600 ppm lead level guideline for metal parts and painted jewelry.

However, The CPSC has now outlined that they must FIRST decide upon what the specific requirements should be for third party labs for testing. Once those requirements are outlined and approved, then designers will have 90 DAYS from the date of the CPSC deciding on requirements for 3rd party labs to get their wares tested and (hopefully approved for sale).

-Y

Making Sense of the CPSIA New Guidelines (Children's Jewelry)

After mulling over all the documentation contained in the Consumer Safety Product Commission's (CPSC) new guidelines called The Consumer Safety Product Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) in regards to specific designers and handmade items, I'd like to present some specific facts about jewelry made for children. A child, according to the CPSIA is defined as any person 12 and under. These new proposed guidelines are for the metal parts (findings and chain, hardware etc) in jewelry as well as any paint that is applied to the jewelry.

The way it stands now, if this legislation goes through, any jewelry made for children (after a designated date) would need to have a TOTAL of less than 600 parts per million (ppm) of lead. This is a TOTAL of all the parts and/or paint combined.

Over the next three years, the lead level guidelines will then be gradually be lowered.
The timeline looks like this:
Feb. 10, 2009: a total of 600 ppm or under
Aug. 14, 2009: a total of 300 ppm or under
Aug. 14, 2011: a total of 100 ppm of under*
(*100 ppm unless the CPSC says they can't technologically measure lead in that amount)

The CPSIA legislation makes no diferentiation between WAHM designers, or huge mass producers in any of this legislation.

ALL jewelry for children that will be for sale will need to be tested for lead by a third party, CPSC approved laboratory. It must be found to be under the level of lead at that time. If not, it will be considered "contraband". The list of approved third party labs will be available on the CPSC's website. In their documentation, they provided extensive guidelines for who will and who will not be eligible to be considered as a 3rd party lab and notes to the labs on how to properly test for lead.

More to come in this series soon. . .
Please post questions/concerns/comments about children's jewelry and these new proposed guidelines and legislation here. Note: Designer Y is awaiting a phone call and email back from a contact at the CPSC.

Making Sense of the CPSIA New Guidelines (Intro)

As Designer Y delves into the confusion out there in the world of WAHM designing, and unravels the legalese surrounding the Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) proposed new guidelines; which are causing quite the ruckus out there in the handmade & boutique communities, the Designing-Minds blog will attempt to bring you several non-biased, informative articles that outline the facts and what this new legislation, if indeed, approved, will mean for the cottage industry of designing moms.

Designer Y will most likely, throw in a few editorial articles, because Designer Y is most impassioned about this so if you want to know what I *really* think, the stories with (editorial) in the titles are written by Designer Y and have my personal views as content.

Introduction to the CPSIA
The Goal of the CPSC is to protect consumers from unsafe products. They are a "watchdog" government agency. They have come out with a new set of guidelines recently entitled The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (Referred to as the CPSIA) of 2008.

The goal of this act is to lower lead content in children's products to the lowest level possible. There are three sections of this Act. The first Section, deals with the amount of lead contained in paint and what the CPSC considers acceptable levels for children and a timeline for restructuring and lowering these guidelines.

When the CPSC uses the term Paint, this means paint and similar surface coatings such as glazes or stains. The new guidelines the CPSC has proposed for lead content in any paint or surface coating is meant to apply to Toys, Jewelry and other articles intended for use by children ages 12 and under. This also includes certain furniture items such as cribs, dressers etc. but does not include such items as wall hangings, window shades or draperies.

The other two sections of the CPSIA of 2008: Parts 2 & 3 deal with HOW items should be tested for lead content and how certain parts of a toy may be excluded from these new lead level guidelines if it is sealed inside of a toy or object where under normal use by a child would render it unreachable. (Such as the small inner workings of an electronic toy which has a motor sealed inside it and the child can not gain access to the motor).

What all the HOOPLA about? (CPSC & CPSIA Buzz)

Designer Y is hot on the trail of gathering all the facts & buzz about the Consumer Product Safety Commision & Consumer Product New Safety Regulations That Can/Will/Might Affect all of us WAHM Designing Moms.



There are a lot of rumors, good information as well as misinformation out there, I'm doing my best to sort through it all and bring you the most concrete and definitive answers to the questions we all have about this issue.

We don't want to bring you the wrong information and post hastily, so if you have comments, questions or something you'd like addressed, please comment here, and we'll try to answer it when we come out with our story.

Thanks for your patience, and STAY TUNED to the Designing Minds blog...
we want to bring you the facts you need!

Mom always said 90% of your body heat....

escapes out of your head so....cover that little head!



Who doesn't love a little one in an adorable hat?
Designer Y is in love with cute fleece hats
for her nieces and nephews this year!


There's such a huge assortment on
ebay of adorable ones from top name makers:

Fleece Hats

and if you want to see all the
whimsical and snuggly warm handmade hats on ebay,
like these from lilylushoppe1216, click the pictures of
these darling girls hats in her store




or search all custom boutique fleece hats,
there's some darling ones out there right now!

Search them now

Have fun!
Tell them Designer Y sent you!

Jingle Bell Rock

One for the boys from Sara_Joe!


How fun!
Click on Rudolph's nose to get a better looksie!

This will steal your heart!

piatilly's just listed this darling little set on ebay for Valentine's day, how cute is this one?


Click on the picture to get a closer look!

What's the buzz in toys this Christmas?

A trend in toys this christmas is natural wood toys inspired by the "Waldorf" philosophy of education. There are a lot of wonderful handmade wood toys available on ebay right now that inspire open ended, imaginitive, creative play...
Click here


another hot name in toys is the German toy maker
HABA


As well as soft doll maker Kathe Kruse

JolieB Jingle

Jolie B Boutique is offering this one on ebay
in her ebay store, Love the style &
the mix & match prints are so funky!

Check it out HERE

Oh how cute is THIS??

Loveland Avenue is offering this darling road runner hoodie on ebay this week


See it HERE