Save Handmade, Amend the CPSIA
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which will go into effect on February 10th, 2009, please get involved and help to save handmade!
The following are some good links to blogs and articles where you can learn more about the situation.
Etsy Storque Updates and Calls to Action
Buy Handmade Blog CPSIA Information
Etsy Thread With Draft Letters to Send to Your Congressperson
Filed under Crochet Stuff, Events, Paintings, sewing | Comment (0)
Informed Consumers for a Healthy Future
Hi all, I wrote this blog post for my MySpace page a year or two ago, I am posting it here because I think that it is important to keep in mind, especially during the holiday season, every little change we make impacts the world, lets make that impact a positive one!
Please remember that as consumers we have the power to change the way companies do business. If we will not buy from companies who take part in practices that we do not agree with, they will eventually stop the unwanted practices or go out of business. But in order to make a real impact we must always make the most informed choices we possibly can when making purchases. Please for our world, ourselves and our children, take the time to be informed.
1. Please do not consume without need. Over consumption of any product can have negative ecological results.
2. Please take factors like child labor into consideration when making a purchase. Some of the most inexpensive products you find in stores are produced by means of child and slave labor, please do not support companies who produce in factories who use labor of this kind.
3. Please when given a choice choose products that have been produced using recycled materials. Sometimes these products can be slightly more expensive, but are well worth the extra money, and if more people chose to buy recycled the price will inevitably drop.
4. Please go organic, this choice is healthier on many levels, beginning with the health of yourself and the members of your family, the health of farmers and their families, and reaching as far as the health of our planet and water supply.
5. Please take into account what the products you are buying are made from, do not buy wood products produced from endangered or old growth trees.
6. And lastly please buy from companies and individuals who have concern for the environment and for our health, there are many smaller companies out there who take the time and the money to produce their products in a way that is better for our environment and for our health, sometimes this makes the end cost slightly more, but if we do not support these companies they will go out of business and be replaced by companies who have no concern for their impact on world health.
To your heath, happiness and well being!
Melissa
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Some amigurumi guys
I have some pictures of amigurumi to share! To start out the winter right I am going to start with a snowman.
I made him with the white Lion Brand yarn that has a little bit of sparkle to it, I thought it made him look more like real snow.
This next one is my baby bear cub, he is made out of organic cotton yarn, I think he’s pretty cute. 
And last but not least, my favorite of all, the two aliens!
The blue one is from a drawing that Jason did, and he now belongs to a cute little baby boy. The little yellow alien was made from a pattern from the Lion Brand website and it’s free and you can find it here free amigurumi alien pattern! if you want to make a little alien too! I made mine a little different than the pattern though, I gave him an extra leg, and I made his face different, and made him with a different weight and color of yarn. I like the Vanna’s Choice yarn that the pattern calls for, but for amigurumi I prefer a heavier weight yarn, it makes it go quicker. Vanna’s choice makes a mean pair of wrist warmers though, I will post pictures of some of those a little later.
Filed under Crochet Stuff | Tags: amigurumi, free pattern, yarn | Comment (1)My Sewing Area!
I finally got a photo of my “new” sewing area uploaded! Of course it doesn’t look this clean anymore, now there is felt scraps and thread bits and all kinds of other good signs of happy use all over it, and of course my sewing machine is sitting on top of it now. But anyhow, you get the idea. And this is all courtesy of Jason being a sweetie pie and putting it together for me while I was sick.
I made a bunch of felt stuffies, monsters and bunnies and whatsiewhoosits and took them to the Alternative Art Market last weekend, the store took a bunch of them to sell, so now I need to make more stuff! I am hoping to maybe make some kids clothes or something, I don’t know, but I am sooo excited about the whole idea. If only there were more time in the day, week, month, year (you get the idea)!
