saving handmade

as you may already know, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act was signed into law in august of 2008. effective as of february 10, 2009 (that's 2 weeks!), this law redefines the legality of making and/or selling any product relating to children. the standards are high, as they should be. where we in the handmade community take issue is the nondiscrimination between mass-produced or imported goods and those made by hand on an individual basis. this law will require extensive and expensive CPSIA-compliant testing on each individual item, handmade or otherwise, rendering most small-businesses and hand-makers incapable of compliance, therefore out of business. (you can read more about the technicalities of this law here. to read more about how this law will affect all of us in the handmade community, go here.)

we think something needs to be done. the handmade community has grown out of the desire to offer an alternative to mass production. our goods are made with care, attention and mindfulness rarely found within a factory production line. our standards are innately higher than those of our competition, these are standards also shared by the patrons of handmade. by limiting our ability to make and sell, this law is limiting our ability to make conscientious purchases. the handmade community will not stay silent in our protest. many have rallied together in dissent and we've found a few places you can go to help out.

join the handmade toy alliance. they have also gathered ideas for possible solutions.

join the facebook group.

a great place to read about and discuss it is here.

get out there and make your voice heard. we'd also love to hear what you have to say so drop us a line and let us know what you're thinking...