Thursday, January 29, 2009

Pocket Diapers & Recycled Wool

I want to welcome two new members to our team: Little Footprint and Gently Made.

Monica is the work-at-home mom behind Little Footprint, she makes pocket diapers out of PUL and suedecloth. This one features a cute geometric print on the PUL. She says she sews a lot of diapers but admits that most of them end up in her own stash! Hopefully soon we'll see more diapers make their way to her shop.







Gently Made is another great addition to our team. Her shop is filled with oodles and oodles of recycled wool covers. You will find longies and soakers made from cast-off sweaters. She also has some adorable plaid pants made from recycled wool skirts, that's something you don't see every day.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

CPSIA Article featuring Monkey Bunns

Monkey Bunns was featured in an article in the Standard Examiner:
http://www.standard.net/live/news/162611/

Leaving the Lead Out / New consumer safety law protects children, but could hurt many businesses


Stay-at-home entrepreneur and new mom Ashley Barrett makes reusable diapers and baby leggings that range from stately argyle to shocking pink.

At about $5 a pop, selling those items on the Internet supplements her income while her husband attends Weber State University and works full time.

Barrett is about to become a criminal or be put out of business when a new federal law takes effect next month.

Her Web site, www.monkeybunns.com, and millions of microproducers like her are getting pinched by a new requirement that each product intended for children must be tested for lead content prior to sale.

"The testing is going to be anywhere from $75 to $300 per color, per thing on it. A onesie -- the collar is a different fabric than the main part -- and each snap also needs to be tested," Barrett said.

"It's a chemical test, so the item is destroyed in the process, so it's really hard for businesses that make one-of-a-kind items, which I make a lot of."

This catastrophe for microproducers is scheduled to hit the nation Feb. 10, a day some activists have dubbed Bankruptcy Day.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act was passed by Congress last summer, though many say they hadn't heard about it until recently.

Written in response to the 2007 scandals related to lead-containing toy imports by big corporations, the CPSIA has no exceptions for Barrett or anyone else. On Feb. 10, all sellers of goods intended for children must comply.

That same law is responsible for other financial hardships.

Secondhand children's clothing may become scarce. Ogden Rescue Mission Bargain Mart thrift store, for example, is liquidating its children's products.

"Our intention is, we're going to eliminate the children's departments until we get a clarification," said mission executive director Gary Doud.

"It's the corner they've backed us into. What else can we do?"

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the agency tasked with interpreting and enforcing the law, issued a news release Jan. 9 that said resellers such as thrift stores are exempt from the testing requirements.

However, that same release threatens resellers with criminal or civil penalties if they sell a lead-containing item, a risk Ogden Rescue Mission officials are not willing to take.

"We can't look at a button on one shirt and a button on another and know which one is safe and which one is not," said store manager Carla Hall.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, owner of Deseret Industries thrift stores, says no changes are planned for D.I., but they're watching the law closely.

Unrealistic law?

The Jan. 9 clarification did calm some resellers.

Buck Elton owns a franchise of Kid to Kid stores in Bountiful, Layton and Riverdale, which primarily sells used children's items.

"We're moving forward with the belief that it is just unrealistic" and either will be amended or not enforced, Elton said.

"I can't believe that our government is that dumb (to let the law go into effect). I know they are politicians -- they are nuts, I know that -- but I can't believe this is what they intended."

For now, Kid to Kid's strategy will be to compare incoming inventory against government lists of recalled items, though Elton admits that task is "almost impossible" to do perfectly.

If the item is not one of roughly 1,700 kid-related recalled products, it will be sold, Elton said.

That strategy doesn't work for the Ogden Rescue Mission. Screening each kid product would be too expensive, Hall said.

Elton has something neither the Ogden Rescue Mission nor microproducers like Barrett has: a corporate umbrella. The Kid to Kid corporation has lawyers who could defend a penalized franchisee.

What microproducers lack in terms of formal power with lobbyists and lawyers, they may overcome with online organization.

In addition to her own site, Barrett also sells her products at Etsy.com, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based online shop with more than 200,000 active sellers and 2 million members. In 2008, the site sold $88 million worth of handmade crafts like Barrett's.

"As soon as we heard about it once or twice and looked into it more, we thought, 'This will have drastic implica-tions,' " said Adam Brown, Etsy spokesman. "So that's when we mobilized."

Etsy joined with competitors to form the Handmade Consortium, a group devoted to changing the law before Feb. 10. They and similar groups that have emerged enlisted their Web-connected sellers nationwide to call their congressmen and demand action.

The consortium is not celebrating yet, but some successes have resulted from its actions.

The CPSIA issue recently took sixth place in President Obama's Ideas for Change in America Competition, which solicited online votes for issues that need urgent action.

Delay sought

Some congressmen have asked for delayed implementation of the law, but nothing has been promised by committee chairmen, who are busy discussing Obama's economic recovery plan.

Top of Utah lawmakers in Washington say they support delaying implementation and amending the law.

"This probably illustrates why Congress sometimes needs to take more time to react and interview real people to see how our proposed laws impact them," Rep. Rob Bishop says in a written statement.

Officials in Sen. Bob Bennett's office said he's concerned about the impact on business.

"(Bennett) has spoken with Nancy Nord, acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and asked her to meet with him next week for further discussion on this issue," his office wrote in a statement.

Sen. Orrin Hatch's office said he is very busy and does not sit on any committees relevant to the issue.

ALL Monkey Bunns products have been verified by an XRF gun or by 3rd party certificates. I will continue to sell cloth diapers until they are sold out (I'm busy sewing tons more up before February 9th). I am hoping I will be able to continue to sell diapers but if the law doesn't change I will be featuring non-baby related items. Please contact your state representatives in Washington DC about this important matter! Visit my shop at www.monkeybunns.etsy.com

Friday, January 23, 2009

Team Promotion for CPSIA Awareness

January 23rd - February 10th

Due to the uncertain future of all handmade children's items, many members of our team are offering promotions & sales in their shops. Many of us are planning to close up shop or drop all child-related inventory. Others of us are waiting with fingers crossed to see if the law will be altered or repealed before the February 10th deadline. None of us can possibly afford to pay for end-unit testing or risk getting hit with fines. Meanwhile, you can take advantage of cloth diapers and accessories at discount prices. You'll find all kinds of discounts and offers ranging from free shipping to 50% off all inventory.

Here is a list of participating shops:

Suzanne's Special Kids: 30%-40% off + Free Shipping
Purple Ducks: 25% off all diapers
Dutch Baby Dudz: 50% off everything
Lil' Bees: Selected Items 10-30% off
Treebottom Wool: 25% off everything
Bare Bottoms Boutique: Selected Items on Sale (planning on closing shop)
Simply Sunny: 10% off, low flat-rate shipping
Laina's Laundry: Discounts & free shipping
Bundles of Joy: Free Shipping + Free Gifts with purchase
Simply Sanity Creations: Free Shipping + Free Gift with Purchase
Wild Onez Diaperz: 50% off everything, possibly closing shop
Our Lady of the Snows: New Lower Prices

To find out more about the CPSIA and what you can do about it, please click the link on the right.

Click here to see a similar promotion run by the EtsyKids and EtsyBaby Teams.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

New Simply Sanity Creations

Just in time for valentines day, 2 new covers in the same One-Size-Fits-Most design as I have been listing.
and



I also have 2 pocket AIO's in the same print that I should be stocking tomorrow. I am also planning on stocking a lot more often. Coming Soon: Doll Mei Tai carriers.

New Diapers @ Erika's Chiquis

Ducky Diaper



MR. Cotton's Pirate Parrot


Guys and Dolls M & Ms


Dinosaurs



STEAMPUNK

I've been trying to put up at least 6 NEW Diapers up each week.
So far I've done it for two weeks.

More coming this week.
I've got more Pirate, Girly and even some Stretch Terry Cloth diapers coming up soon.

Check it out here
www.erikaschiquis.etsy.com

Monday, January 19, 2009

"I ♥ Diapers" (our Valentines Theme!)

Officially Participating Shops:





♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥


and a few listings from team members who are not officially signed up for the theme, but still have applicable items!




Friday, January 16, 2009

Laina's Laundry Huge CPSIA Blowout Sale

Because I don't know if I'll be able to sell my items on Etsy once the CPSIA goes into effect on Feb 10, I'm holding a huge inventory reduction sale at Laina's Laundry! I have embellished prefolds for $6.50 each, leggings as low as $5 a pair, and organic bamboo washie sets for $8!!! PLUS, buy one item, get free shipping on all additional items!!! Here are just a few samples. Click the pictures to go to the listings.


Sunday, January 11, 2009

Theme Stocking--It's a Snow Day!

The holiday season may be behind us, but winter is still here, so why not enjoy it with diapers in pretty winter colors and prints?! (click any picture to go directly to the listing)

SimplySunny is offering 10% off any purchase of $30 or more (check out her envelope diapers and covers!)

LilBees is offering a BOGO sale--buy one item from the theme of the month section, get another item at 25% off (featuring fitteds and AIOs)

Here are a few other wintery items from our team members:




We only have a couple of participants who officially signed up for the theme of the month this month, but obviously there are many team members with awesome items in stock! And lookout, lots of members are gearing up for our valentines theme of "I ♥ Diapers" which begins in just a couple of weeks (so you can order early and have your diapers before Feb 14!)

To see what themes we're planning for future months, check out our sidebar on the right!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

WAHM Cloth Diapers = Endangered Species

This issue has not come up yet on this blog, so I thought I would post about it today. Hopefully you have heard this already, but in case you have not, please pay attention!
Save Handmade Toys
Recent legislation (the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act or CPSIA) is about to put us all out of business. The legislation requires all products for children under 12 to undergo rigorous and expensive third-party testing before it can be sold in the US. Diapers are obviously a children's product, and Etsy's business license is in the US, so this means us. As of February 10, 2009, every one of us will have to stop selling cloth diapers unless we can get this legislation changed. Any and all second-hand sales will also be illegal (no more recycled longies, no more selling your stash!)

As both a seller and a buyer of cloth diapers, I have written to my senators and representatives asking them to work for change in this legislation. I beg you to do the same.

For more information you can refer to my posts about the CPSIA on my personal blog--they include additional information about the reprecussions of this legislation, petitions you can sign, direct links for how to easily contact your congressmen and women, and even sample letters to help you get started.

This cannot be ignored.
This cannot be set aside for later.
We must act if we want to protect our right to buy, sell, and use WAHM-made cloth diapers!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Yummy Recycled Wool at YumYuc

Another new etsy seller has joined the cloth diaper team and I am loving her shop! I admit I have a special place in my heart for recycled wool, but her creations are really something special. Here is a matching set including longies, soaker, and hat:

Look closely and you'll see that these are not just your average recycled soakers (click on the photo to see more views). These are specially crafted with a unique design to create a great fit and eye-pleasing cuteness! And I just love that yellow, it makes me wish I had a newborn again so I would have a reason to buy that set.

And check out this wool skirty with matching headband:

How many ways can I say cute?

I'm looking forward to seeing some more great creations from this seller. And hopefully she'll stock some larger sizes soon that will fit my almost 2-year old daughter (hint hint).

Visit this new shop at YumYuc.etsy.com
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