Join the Hand Made Toy Allience

Blessed Nest is a proud member of the Hand Made Toy Alliance

     Supporting small batch children's apparel, toy, and accessory makers

Back in 2008, after learning that the future of handmade children's products was threatened by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), we reached out to you as fellow citizens. It was our hope that if enough people became aware of the situation, together we could keep handmade toys, clothing, and other wonderful products for children legal, and available in the United States. About 15,000 people signed our petition, and many of you have worked hard to spread the word. Thanks to you, Congress has heard loud and clear that Americans do not want our crafters and cottage industries to disappear!

We represent ALL small batch children's product manufacturers--not just toys. If you are a business owner who makes, imports, or sells small-batch children's items including toys, clothing, books, or baby care goods, we urge you to join us! We are a 501(c)(6) Business Association. Membership dues may be deductible as a business expense.

With Membership there are many benefits as well as allowing us to continue to keep wonderful toys in the hands of kids! Some of the benefits include:

READ MORE and JOIN HERE

Love To the moon and back,

Heather and Donna

Heather In The News

Here To Stay..the latest on CPSIA

Here To Stay
Not that we were going anywhere but we did think our marketing strategy would have to change asap. Our Nesting Pillow is know to be "Truly a pillow that is as natural & beautiful as breastfeeding itself."
quote from Hazelwood children ( xoxo)

Yet, with the CPSIA law we were headed down the road of pushing our pillows for your pup ( our kitty). It is also the best pregnancy body pillow and I use my Nesting Pillow to rest my weary head at the end of the day.What about your Lap Top? Do you use your Nesting Pillow for a Lap Tap top table while sitting comfortably on the couch? I do~

Well as of 2/8/09 we can take a deep *sigh *of relief and continue to market our pillows for our sweet mommas to use while nurturing their sweet babies!
A Stay ( a hold on the CPSIA Law) was implemented until 2/10/2010.
Read the details here


The even better news: Quote from CPSIA guidlines-
"Manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers should also be aware that CPSC will:

Not impose Penalties against anyone for making, importing, distributing, or selling a children's product to the extent that it is made of certain natural materials (pdf), such as wood, cotton,wool, or certain metals and alloys which the Commission has recognized rarely, if ever, contain lead;

Link to law guidelines here: CPSC Spells Out Enforcement Policy For New Lead Limits In Children's Products Effective February 10

The reason we are safe under the existing CPSIA law is because we are 100% sure we are safe and lead free! We always have been!

Real concerns and real actions.....HSLDA

Read complete article from the meeting with CPSC

I have spoken to the HSLDA ( Home School Legal Defense Association) they met with the CPSC on 2/4/09

Quote from the HSDLA Meeting with CPSC:

"Last Friday, the CPSC declared numerous changes in their regulations, including the following exemptions that correspond with requests made by HSLDA in our meeting with Commissioner Moore:

An exemption for certain natural materials such as wood, cotton, wool, and certain metals and alloys that rarely contain lead; An exemption for ordinary children's books printed after 1985;* An exemption for textiles, dyed or undyed (not including leather, vinyl, or PVC) and non-metallic thread and trim used in children's apparel and other fabric products, such as baby blankets."

*Watching and waiting: All though the HSLDA is happy with the meeting results, they continue to watch and wait as Senator DeMint proposses legislation to amend the CPSIA

**Proposed legislation to amend the CPSIA by Senator DeMint of South Carolina

If you have any questions about the HSLDA's involvment in the CPSIA law, please e-mail me at Donna@blessednest.com
I will be glad to clarify and answer any questions you might have. Please forward this e-mail to your manufacturers who are Organic so we can clear up some confusion that has been put out there on the internet. We thank you and appreciate that we all can work together to keep our children safe as well as our businesses!

xoxo
Donna

stay with us, here...

Great news, if only temporarily... but truly not what I had even expected. (although I am still just a little afraid to get too excited, since nothing they say seems to really mean anything)

According to a press release from the CPSIA, they have voted to grant a STAY (a hold) on the Feb. 10, 2009 compliance deadline, and extend it to Feb. 10, 2010. (I love that their "unanimous" vote was 2-0... scary)

Hopefully this will give them time to get their acts together, in light of their realization that we are not a bunch of ding-dongs that have no idea what's going on (regardless of how much like that we may be starting to feel!).

It's important to keep in mind, though, that this really just means that we have time to make our voices heard, not that it's time to ease up. But at least we can do it without screaming.

More soon... we all deserve a weekend off. Sweet dreams.

Will New Consumer Product Regulations Affect Your Business?

Note that they are concerned about small family businesses not just curriculum. It would be wonderful to see all small businesses supporting them. A lot of home school moms have small businesses so that they can stay home with their children & support & encourage other parent owned businesses. I am one of those moms!

From the Desk of J. Michael Smith

Will New Consumer Product Regulations Affect Your Business? Dear HSLDA Members, Help Us Protect You If new consumer product regulations will harm your business, tell us so we can tell federal officials. Contact HSLDA’s Federal Relations Department at 540-338-5600 or federalrelations@hslda.org. Many of you have contacted us with your concerns regarding the impact of the federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), and the forthcoming regulations. We have addressed some of these concerns in the online analysis, “Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.” However, we are concerned about the effect that this legislation and the proposed regulations will have on small family businesses. It appears that many of these vital businesses could be forced to close due to the high cost of compliance with the CPSIA. HSLDA is trying to help protect such family businesses, as well as the homeschooling families who may purchase educational items from such a family business. We will be meeting with the commissioners of the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Wednesday, February 4. It would help our efforts if we had actual accounts from family business owners who will have to go out of business, or make drastic cutbacks, as a result of this legislation and the proposed regulations. If you are interested in having us use your family business as an example, please send us your contact information and a one- or two-page summary of your family business, the impact of the CPSIA, and what the likely harm to you will be. You may send this information to Eric Lansing at federalrelations@hslda.org. You may reach Eric and the rest of the HSLDA Federal Relations staff at 540-338-5600, if you have additional questions. We will only share your first name, name of your business, and your state of residence with the CPSC. Thank you for your help. We are committed to doing all we can to protect family businesses, and are ready to begin lobbying Congress for an exemption to the CPSIA, if the commissioners are unhelpful to our cause. Sincerely, Mike Smith HSLDA President