Coming to a newstand near you

Our very own BuckBoardWoodWorks shared some exciting news today: one of his carvings will be in the next issue of Woodcarving Illustrated! Check out his handiwork in issue #48 or http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/ when the fall issue is released.

Way to go, Frank!

Big CPSIA news

I'm sure many of you have already heard the latest update from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, but I would love to be bearer of good news if you haven't. On January 30, the CPSC granted a one year stay on the lead-testing requirements under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. You can read the full text of the release here. There are a few exceptions, including:

"The stay does not apply to:

Four requirements for third-party testing and certification of certain children’s products subject to:

• The ban on lead in paint and other surface coatings effective for products made after December 21, 2008;
  
• The standards for full-size and non full-size cribs and pacifiers effective for products made after January 20, 2009;
  
• The ban on small parts effective for products made after February 15, 2009; and
  
• The limits on lead content of metal components of children’s jewelry effective for products made after March 23, 2009"

Also, if your product is found to contain lead, then you are still liable. This is still good news for the handmade community. I know the collective hope is that, within a year, the Commission and Congress will take all our concens into consideration and rewrite the law in such a way that it protects all consumers (us, too!) without crippling cottage industries.

In covering this issue, the Tulsa-based Fox affiliate (Fox 23, or channel 5 for those of you with cable) contacted Oklahoma seller Dody, AKA Spazspun, once again for her reaction. Back in December, the same station ran a piece on how CPSIA would prove detrimental to Dody and her husband, who create handmade items from things that naturally cannot contain lead (wool and wood). You can still view the story here on the Web site. I want to commend Dody once again for taking such great initiative on this important issue. She wrote letters, organized other sellers to rail against this law, and has really been a mouthpiece for the handmade community. Way to go, hot mama! Thank you for all you do!

CPSIA in the news

I was excited to see a story in the Tulsa World today on the effect the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act will have on local crafters and small-business owners. You can read the article here.

As much publicity as we can get out of this issue is something to applaud. Once again, I think my biggest contention with CPSIA was missed: that the manufacturers of the lead-laden products, not the consumers of them, should be held responsible. As it is, the changes will punish those of us who buy and use products containing lead instead of the companies who recklessly created them. I'm all for holding manufacturers responsible for poisoning children, but CPSIA doesn't do that. Instead, it insinuates that I should buy a product and pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to test it for lead and phthalates myself. That's just nonsensical.

All the same, any coverage is helpful. Let's keep hoping those in power hear what we're saying.