CPSIA and Bit of Whimsy Dolls

Some of you may have heard of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) but I am sure many of you have not. This is a new law passed late last summer in reaction to the numerous recalls of mass-produced plastic toys from China. To protect our children from lead toys and toys containing phthalates (a plastic softener) this law was hashed together and approved as a Feel Good Bill with little thought to its wide sweeping effects on small and micro businesses. According to the law which goes into effect February 10, 2009, all children’s products will need to be tested for lead by certified third party laboratories. This includes clothing, toys, bedding, books (yes, books!) school equipment, electronics, etc. Some products will also need to be tested for phthalates as well. The testing is expensive and with the way the law is written now, the only approved method of testing destroys the product being tested. I make one of a kind dolls! The way that the law was originally written did not allow for any exemptions… if it is a product (or looks like a product) that is intended to be given to a child 12 years of age or younger, it has to be tested or it is illegal to sell it. Make that: illegal to sell with huge fines and a felony charge! This would mean that all of the wonderful handmade items made for children on Etsy, Hyena Cart, Lollishops, etc. will be illegal to sell after February 10th. This will include items sold at craft fairs, small boutiques and even second-hand stores.

I am all for increasing the safety of items that I give my children… I have three young ones and I don’t want them playing with toys that can make them sick. I have weeded out recalled toys from the toy box and was very disappointed to be throwing out toddler toys from companies who should have a good reputation. Mattel and Fisher Price, are you kidding me? I do not believe that this law will help in stopping these toys from coming into the US and into our children’s hands. There are already laws to prevent this from happening and the large manufacturers either find a way around the requirements or ignore them. Even if they do comply to the requirements of the new law, they have the money to have items tested or they have the ability to pass the cost to their consumers. Who will be hurt by this new law? Every person who creates handmade goods for children and every person who wants to buy these goods. The irony makes me want to laugh and cry since the Handmade Movement has been made more popular due to these massive recalls. I cannot tell you how many people have told me that they were buying from me because they wanted a safe toy for their child, grandchild, niece or nephew.

One of the biggest problems with this law is how difficult it is to understand. Because it is written so broadly, it is confusing to the extreme. To add to the confusion is the fact that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) itself is not a reliable source of information and has in fact been the source of bad information since not everyone who works for the CPSC understands the law or its implications. Many statements have been made and then retracted that make it impossible to know what to do. The CPSC agreed to consider if natural materials (cotton, silk, gems, wood) should be exempt and it appears that they have done so. This may seem like good news but what does it mean? The current understanding is that the rule for cotton is undyed cotton which is not helpful at all! Could you imagine my shop filled with beige dolls? Could you imagine only being able to purchase beige booties, bibs and blankets? For wood products, could you imagine buying little wooden dolls with no faces? I love to buy these dolls for myself, will I no longer be able to purchase them since they are toys? These and many other questions have been swirling around my head and around the handmade community at large.

The law does allow for “reasonable” testing between now and August 2009 when the laws get stricter and I am looking into a cost effective and reasonable method for testing my dolls to be in compliance with the law to the best of my ability. I am not sure what this method will be but I stand behind my products and use only items that are high quality and inherently lead-free. It is very frustrating to make a product that is inherently safe but still have to prove it by means of expensive tests.

There is still time to act and let our voices be heard! Here are a few links to help you further understand the implications of this law and to help you find out how you can help. The law needs to be changed to allow exemptions for small businesses and products that are inherently safe .

http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia

http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/cpsia-updates-and-calls-to-action-3157

There are many forum posts on Etsy that address this new law and can be found searching “CPSIA”. Please keep in mind that even though the forums have a lot of great information, they cannot offer definitive answers to questions about this law.

January 7, 2009. Uncategorized. 5 comments.

New ideas and some changes

I have so many ideas for new dolls but I never seem to find the time to get to them. I could literally put out a new pattern each week! It is exciting and frustrating at the same time. With school starting and the kids participating in after-school activities, it’s time I start using my limited Bit if Whimsy work time to the best of my ability. I love making special dolls for my customers and that sometimes gets me in trouble with my productivity. Custom orders always take me much longer to complete than dolls for my shop. Sometimes, it can take me three times longer to make a custom doll. I do not want to take this option away as I know that these custom dolls are very special when made in a favorite color or to look like the child it is being given to. After much thought and consideration, I have decided to make a few changes to my custom doll orders. The first change is price: I will be charging an additional 25% for custom orders. The second change will be how these dolls are purchased: I will set up special listings in my shop and the doll will need to be paid for before I start working on it. The last change is availability: I will be limiting the number of custom orders I make. In fact, between now and Christmas I will only have 10 total custom order spots available on a first come, first serve basis. I am hoping that by making these changes, it will be easier for you to place orders for a special doll and I will be able to have more productive work days and I can start turning my pattern drafts into dolls and patterns. I have some really great stuff in my sketchbook!

September 26, 2008. Uncategorized. 1 comment.

Trying a new blog

Well, things have been great and growing for Bit of Whimsy Dolls. Over the past few months I’ve have been very focused on transforming what started out as a hobby, into a full fledged business. It hasn’t been easy, but not overwhelming either – just slow. There are many many things that need to be addressed and I quickly discovered that I can’t (and shouldn’t) do it on my own. Fortunately, Bit of Whimsy Dolls is profitable and able to pay for the services and staff I need to get things done!
I have tried some new things, most of which worked, so didn’t. Maintaining a blog is one of those things that didn’t work in the original attempt. I suspect it may have had more to do with the software and it’s capabilities/limitations than anything else. Perhaps to a lesser extent it was also because I simply didn’t have sufficient time to dedicate to writing a blog. Well, now it’s time for blogging 2.0 for me. I’m trying WordPress and have renewed hope that this will take off now. Many of you know that I have been using Twitter as a primary means to share thoughts and updates with those who are linked with me there. I hope that through this blog I am able to share fairly frequent, lengthy messages with all of you out there OK, I guess it’s time to get back to working…