squirrel momma

Monterey Mills

Plush Team already loves Monterey Mills, the textile manufacturer based in Wisconsin who donated the fur for our classes at Maker Faire.  But now they've come up with another reason to love them (and wool!).

Pretty amazing, huh?

No Grasshoppers Allowed

While tomorrow, my birthday, shall be celebrated throughout the land by the swilling of beer and the consumption of foods dyed disgusting shades of green, today, I just discovered, is Saint Urho's Day.

 

Saint Urho is reported to have driven the grasshoppers out of Finnland.  I assume we shall celebrate his holiday by swilling green cocktails made with créme de menthe.

 

For 15 Minutes This Morning

Last week I had the amazing good fortune to be interviewed for our local paper by none other than Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood.  Besides being a freelance journalist, Jennifer is the marvel behind the Craft Sanity podcasts, where she interviews such crafting superstars as Alicia Paulson, Amy Karol and Amy Butler.  So this is a woman who knows how to ask questions!

Jennifer did a fabulous job of taking 3 hours of me rambling on about felt (yup, I locked her in my house and wouldn't let her out, just like Kathy Bates in Misery) and condensing it down into an article that actually makes me sound relatively sane.  Hah!  Fooled her! (If you really must you can take a look at her interview over here.)

And after carefully studying paper delivery routes and the Sunday morning habits of those in West Michigan, I believe my 15 minutes of fame will be from 10:02 to 10:17 this morning. At least that's when the paparazzi will show up.

 

I better go change out of my pajamas.

 
 

Save the Boobs!

Now that I have your attention (and probably the attention of a whole slew of bottom dwelling web crawlers--go away! shoo! not that kind of blog!) I want to let you know about the current project of the Etsy Plush Team.

October is breast cancer awareness month and we are holding a fundraiser in the Plush Team store, with 80% of the proceeds from specially created pieces being donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  We chose this charity because so many of our members have been touched by this horrible disease, some losing friends and mothers, while others have battled it themselves.

But of course we're Plush Team, so we chose to fight back with humor.  I created Magda the Harpy, because I like the idea of a woman who isn't afraid to take her shirt off and battle tooth and nail (although I think Magda has more of a goofy grin than a fierce snarl).

 

 

If you want to see the full line-up check out the team blog. Big, little, bouncy, and yes, covered in fur, they're all there. Go look, laugh, and most importantly, talk about it.

Save the boobs!

Public Service Announcement

Just in case you've forgotten that tomorrow you'll have the golden, once in a lifetime, never to be repeated chance to see me make a fool of myself on international webcam.

A Reprieve

Whew! The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has granted a one year stay of testing requirements for certain products, including plush and dolls. Hopefully a sane solution can be found for this tangled up mess of regulation, so that our kids are protected from harmful chemicals, but small businesses can stay in, well, business.

Just one other thing. YesAsia is still offering free international shipping. I must have blacked out or something, because next thing I knew I had ordered a whole bunch of books in this series:

This one is Kurikuri 2, and I think the series goes 1 to 7. Okay, I KNOW the series goes 1 to 7, because I've just ordered the ones I didn't have. When I blacked out. Anyway, they're great little books for inspiration, with lots and lots of pictures of projects and products and crafts. Unfortunately, many of the pictures are tiny, and not of very good quality, but for about $10 USD they provide me with many valuable hours of daydreaming.

...What is the difference between daydreaming and brainstorming, anyway? I suspect there isn't any, except that children and artists call it daydreaming, and people in three piece suits with corner offices call it brainstorming...

CPSIA Blog In

Get out your love beads and bell bottoms, soul sisters, 'cause today we're bringing power to the people and having a sit in. Er, blog in.

 

In case you haven't heard yet, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act is set to go into effect February 10th. The CPSIA is new legislation designed to prevent goods intended for children from being contaminated with lead, phthalates, and other harmful chemicals.

Sounds great, right?  Well, let's read the fine print. Among other things the CPSIA law stipulates that ALL products intended for children under the age of 12 be sent out for testing; this testing costs hundreds to thousands of dollars per item, and destroys the sample. Everything must be tested, in every color and style the manufacturer sells, even if the original components (for instance fabric or wood) are recognized as safe.

But can't Mattel and WalMart afford this testing? Of course! But what about the Etsy seller who makes wooden blocks, or knits baby hats, or, perchance, sews tiny stuffed squirrels? They can't afford the mandatory testing, and will close down rather than face fines of up to $100,000. Without those independent craftspeople, the mega-corporations--who caused the problem to begin with by mass producing cheap toys in China--will be the winners. And those of us who love the handmade, who have made the choice to create and buy unique gifts for our children, will be the losers.

What can you do? Just click on this link to head to the Etsy CPSIA Action Kit.  In it are lots of ways you can get in touch with the Powers That Be, and let them know to change this law before it destroys handmade! 

Rock on, sister.

Did You?

You have power--go use it!