What is happening with this Act? Let me give you some background of this pending law. When toys where received from China and the paint was found to have toxic ingredients, that could harm our children, a new law was presented to be passed by the Bush administration and that stated that all "toy" producers were to have all aspects of their products checked from a third party. The problems that we are having as crafters of "dolls" is the interpretation of toy. That would mean that someone like me would have to have every aspect of my creation checked and would end up costing the creator money .....$150 per aspect such as eyes, paint, and anything that could effect general safety of the consumer in fact! The problem is is that my creations I do not consider a "toy" for a child. My creations are for adults and adult use ONLY! Whether you are a doll collector, doll enthusiast, home decorator, or just love handmade items...Those people are the customers I'm targeting with my crafts! I have made it well known by the customer ,that is buying my items, that this is the case with my creations so they are aware of what they are buying and the limitations of my products. The rest is the responsibility of the customer to use my item as intended and to not leave the lamps for "HOURS" unattended and put it where small children can get a hold of its contents and choke or get "sick" on its contents, or to give a doll to a child that doesn't understand its purpose and licks the coffee, cinnamon mixture off its body and also gets sick! Sounds strange but it could happen and is a large concern for creators of toys for children under the age of 12! I may tell customers that my dolls are "ADULT TOYS" but this statement is considered MY INTERPRETATION of what I create and will not hold water in court! (It almost sounds like I'm not favoring safety for children. I am a certified elementary teacher and worked in our schools as a substitute for many years. I had an emphasis on early childhood, was a kindergarten teacher's aide for a year and have a child of my own that now is looking into getting married in June! I love children...I have spent a large part of my life working with young children! I wouldn't want to give my child, or any child, ANYTHING that could harm them or make them sick. I am for safety for youngsters. It's just my items are not intended for the use by children. They are for ADULTS ONLY!)Do I hear an echo in here?LOL
This pending act will be either put into law "as is" or may be amended so that we "adult" doll creators will not be effected. Primitives have NEVER made to be in the hands of children and NEVER WILL! If I HAD said my items can be safely given to children and someone got hurt I could see how it would effect me! The point is I don't claim my items can be for ANYONE but adults ....from dolls to pins and lamps. The adults even have a responsibilty though to keep their items out of their children's hands, as I have warned, and use their items with a responsibility to keep themselves safe and their loved ones safe! The law will be going through on Febuary 10th and will effect many crafts...not just dolls or "toys"! Anything that could harm a young person will be touched by this law if it isn't changed and soon! Crafts "COULD" be changed forever....and so could their forums such as Ebay and Etsy! No one will be able to do craftfairs either, "toys" that are not truly "toys" for children but "ADULT DOLLS" .....that will not harm anyone that follows responsible acts of an adult because they were not intended for children's use in the first place .... will have to close their shops and stop production of their craft by this date!
I am sincerely saddened that this has happened and hope that enough people can get in touch with their senators to stop this act to becoming law! I see that some crafters have put their shop items on "hold" until this law is amended or sent through as intended! Whatever the intentions of the designers of these handmade items the law could remain as it is and will effect those that continue their businesses will fall under this new act "as is" and may be subject to lawsuits, financial penalties, and or jail time for not having their items tested and paying these high prices to have all aspects of their creations tested as stated in the act!
It also could be amended enough to "leave out" those of us that do crafts that can be a danger to youngsters because it falls under the muddled title, like "toys" not specifying if for child use or adult use ONLY, or can be items that , if it does get in the hands of child can suffer because of the paint isn't safe because it is for adult use ONLY, small parts can come off and be swallowed and cause choking because it was home decoration ONLY, or certain aspects of a craft that is intended for adults ONLY gets in the hands of a child and can cause harm in some way!
What will I do? Well I do have until the 10th of Feb. I will keep my shop open in Etsy and will continue with my sale as long as I can. Although it is little help I'll start working on safety rules for my items and print them out to be sent with each item I sell. I'll be listening very closely to other crafters to see what is happening in congress and with the uproar of the concerned ,and highly effected crafters. I have contacted my state senator for answers and to see if I can do anything , as one voice of crafters, to amend this act and make it embrace my craft without penalties. I am saying a small prayer for all of us as creators that we can keep handmade items alive and well! Let's not have to look back on this time and say ,"That is the day homemade items died!" Let's try to keep creations alive and well! It has been a part of our history for YEARS and CENTURIES! I believe in what I do and believe in the imagination and talent of others and their crafts to sit and fight. I will do exactly that! If my shop is suddently gone by Feb. 10th you'll know what happened. I will be here to inform you what has happened and why!
Have a great day all! Enjoy today and come back for updates as they come to me!
ETSY LINK
http://www. willowtreetreasures.etsy.com
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