Tattoos and Drool

Saying goodbye to handmade.

As many of you know or have heard, new legislation that will go into effect on February 10th by the name of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) will force many small businesses, work-at-home-moms and other makers of children’s items to close their doors. Forbes has a great article explaining the whole thing.

I won’t even begin to explain how saddened, outraged, depressed and defeated I feel over this issue. I was a full time WAHM in the past and am a self-proclaimed handmade addict. The thought that I can no longer buy or sell handmade items is just sickening to me. And if you read into it further, you will discover that there is even a possibility that the making of items as gifts could be outlawed. I have no words for that idiocy.

I know that my first question was, “What can I do to help?” So I thought I’d pass along my findings to you. We need all the help we can get to turn this around.

One of the best things you can do is write a letter to your senator and congressman. You can find a sample letter here. Find your senator here and your congressman here. You can also put a button on your blog like I have at the top of this post. Find the code for that at Buy Handmade’s blog.

Another thing I’m trying to do before the dreaded deadline is buy handmade while I still can. I searched around and found several stores with CPSIA specials. Check ‘em out, help ‘em out, show ‘em some support.

Kissing Kumquats – Her adorable skirts are half price, plus many other great deals.

Hair Sprinkles – 25% off her entire stock of custom made hair clippies.

Whimsy Couture – Custom monogrammed onesies on sale for only $8.88.

plainjane – Her entire inventory of custom baby clothing and accessories are marked down.

Tiara’s Boutique – Gorgeous custom tutus. Seriously, these things are adorable!

Baby Brewing – All baby and kids tees are marked down from $16 to just $6. Lots of witty and cute sayings screen-printed onto American Apparel tees.

Peanut and Tommy – Wide selection of knitted and crocheted toys marked down.

There are obviously many more so shop around Etsy and see what treasures you find before it’s too late.

Apple for my teachers

I am continually amazed by the wealth of information, companionship and just plain cool stuff that can be found on the internet. For example, just today I have:

• Learned how to sew a french seam from Stardust Shoes
• Watched videos on Youtube of free motion machine quilting (soon enough I’ll get the courage, i.e. naive ambition, to take the plunge)
• Learned a fabulous way to fold my fabric uniformly from Happy Zombie (which has given me the itch to go out and buy bins and transform the disaster that is my fabric stash)

And of course, the countless quilt patterns and tutorials from crafty bloggers and endless Flickr photo streams of beautiful stitchery that have given me so much inspiration.

When I first began sewing a little over two years ago, it was with a borrowed machine from my mom that was older than me, and I had no clue what I was doing. She showed me how to thread the needle, change a bobbin and turn it on. And from there said, “Sorry honey, all I ever did with it was sew your Girl Scout patches onto your vest!”

No one in my family sews. At least, no one that I lived closer than a thousand miles to growing up that could have taught me. So I was going into it completely blind. I started out by making a patchwork blanket with some scraps of fabric I had left over from a scrapbooking project. And some cut up flannel pajama pants. I was 8 months pregnant and bored out of my mind, and thought I could make a simple blanket. It wasn’t very good, and I didn’t do anything right (it wasn’t quilted or hand-tacked at all, I used the cheap bagged polyester batting and the binding was a mess). But I was so damn proud of that thing.

Since then, my bored curiosity has grown into a profiting business (never mind that all the profit goes to buying more fabric) and a plethora of ideas and inspiration. Seriously, I have more projects on my “some day I’ll make this!” list than I have hairs on my head. It’s been both a blessing and a curse. But a fun curse.

People tell me all the time that I’m “so talented!” and “so creative” and just “so!” But really, if it weren’t for the wonderful and amazing talent of all the crafty goddesses in blog land and beyond, I’d still be cutting squares with a 6×6 piece of plywood as a template, tracing it with a ball-point pen. (Yes, I really did that. Told you I had no idea what I was doing.)

So I guess this is my thanks to all of you who have inspired, taught and amazed me with your awesomeness. There are a handful of sewing blogs in my blogroll on the side bar, but I find new ones every day that I learn something from so I’ll try to post them every now and then to spread the crafty love.

Eventually I’ll start posting my own ideas and techniques, if I can ever get past the fear that no one will like what I have to say or find it useful. I get lots of reassurance in the form of customer satisfaction, but still, the grass is always greener, you know? It’s like high school all over again, trying to get in with the popular girls and hoping they don’t notice that you haven’t started shaving your legs yet and still wear a retainer. At least in this case, the popular girls are willing to share their secrets.

Just another day in paradise

I am slowly making my way through my customs list. Today I finished a scrumptious minkee blankie set for a friend’s son. Tonight I think I’m going to cut squares for a custom quilt and finish a diaper wallet, and tomorrow I’ll embroider a big stack of fleece I have waiting to be made into loveys. Only… 15 left on the list. Gah.

I would have finished more today but Beckett decided he needed to be attached to my hip or he would die. It’s a little difficult to run a sewing machine or a rotary cutter with a 22-pound growth protruding from one’s hip. You know, the whole needing both hands thing. Any time I put him down he’d crawl after me and then do that silent cry with his mouth wide open like I’d told him I was giving him away to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I finally just gave up and help him most of the day.

However, I did manage to get both kids down for naps at the same time without a fuss, so score one for me. When they woke up, I was stir crazy so we headed out to the park across the street. Sawyer picked up some rocks and I let him bring them home. It was so neat to watch how he chose certain ones over others. As soon as I figure out how to do his nature table, I’ll add them to it. I can’t wait for the leaves to start falling so I can let him explore and collect some.

When we came back inside, I was in the office for a couple minutes and heard Sawyer climbing up onto a chair that I had left by the counter. I went out to catch him and was met with him holding an avocado that was missing a chunk, and green slime oozing from his mouth. This is hilarious to me because it opens up a whole new world of ways I can torment my children when they get older. Like spinach inside chocolate cupcakes. Much easier and more effective than Time Out. And funnier.

Since the skin was broken, I had to use the avocado right then, so I mashed some up for Beckett. We started bananas on Monday and he wasn’t crazy about them, so I didn’t have very high hopes for the green fruit. Well, you would have thought I was feeding him foot fungus the way he gagged and choked and spit out every bit of food and saliva from his mouth. After that, he shrieked any time I got the spoon within a foot of him, so I think I have my answer for avocados. We’ll take a solids break tomorrow and this weekend I plan to buy a bunch of produce and cook everything up and freeze it. We can try something else on Saturday and maybe I’ll find something he likes. Sawyer would eat anything, so of course we would get a picky eater this time around. One of them had to take after me.

I used the picture with his eyes closed, even though there were a few others featuring more face contortion. But it seems that DH is not capable of taking a picture without glaring red laser eyes. Speaking of DH, he’s getting more creative. This morning was the next installment of Cheesy Love Notes, following the Starburst Message. When I sat down at my computer, I had ten emails in a row from him.

See?

The funny part was that when I looked in my trash, I could see that it had taken him about 15 tries to get it right. But still. I am spoiled.

He also blogs. You should read his blog. And be nice and comment. Because for every blog comment he gets, I lose an article of clothing. (Okay, not really, but isn’t strip blogging a good idea? Especially since I don’t know how to play poker.)

A few seconds to breathe

Naps have gone considerably better today! The only reason I’m posting is because he’s napping. And my house is clean and ready for guests, thanks to help from the husband. He’s good for something every now and then.

We cheated on the first nap, because DH took him in the car to get the aquarium toy and he fell asleep on the way home. But hey, it was a nap and we took it. I counted two hours from when he woke up from that nap to try again. I had cozied up his crib with the bumpers I sewed months ago, a new mattress cover, fresh sheet, and soft blankie and stuffed animals. Took him in his room and nursed him, then put him in the crib.

He was okay for about ten minutes, babbling and playing with the toys. When his fussing got louder, DH went up to comfort him. He did that three times, laying him back down each time. I really thought he was going to nod off but he ended up getting irate, so I nursed him again and he fell asleep during that. Again, sort of cheating, but it’s a step in the right direction. All in all, it took about an hour, and I felt good about it because we did not allow him to cry at all (fussing and crying are totally different). We kept him in his room the whole time and were persistent that it was nap time, so I think after a few days of this he will get better at it.

I’m now showered and the house is clean (and yeah, the hair sculpture still resides in the drain; told you I was bad about that), I’ve made a big dent in laundry and had lunch. So after Beckett wakes up, I think I’ll nurse him and then make a quick trip to the fabric store before our company gets here. I’ve been obsessed with craft blogs for the past week or so and there are so many things I’m itching to sew up. Bluebirdbaby inspired me to make some corduroy pants for the boys, Not So Fancy Nancy posted a tote bag tutorial I’m dying to try and happythings has much quilty goodness I can’t wait to use my stash up on.

I’m anxious to be able to sew some things for myself and as gifts for a change. For the past couple months, I’ve done nothing but fill orders, and while it’s nice to make money, it can get pretty monotonous. (However, I am only about $400 away from paying off my 24″ iMac that I bought on credit just a month ago, so I can’t complain too much!) I haven’t made anything for my own kids in ages. A couple nights ago, I made a couple sets of coasters to send out as surprises for some friends, and it was so fulfilling. Plus, I got to use scraps! I have piles and piles of scraps just begging to be made beautiful.

And yes, I still keep buying fabric despite the stash I have that is taking over the house. I can’t resist it. It’s textile porn for me. I have a total fiber fetish.

Already wishing it was Friday

I keep thinking Sam is asleep, only to hear him thunder across the floor above my head again. He already emptied his drawers again (!!!), as well as the drawer under his bed, so there isn’t anything left for him to destroy in there. Unless he decides to stack the drawers up and play mountain climber again. I haven’t heard the rumble of them toppling over yet though, so he must be biding his time.

Earlier today I could hear him being too quiet at the top of the stairs, and when I asked him what he was doing I was met with, “Spitting my water.” I marched up and snatched the cup from him, and when I turned around to go back down he said, “You better get a towel.”

“Yes sir, I will get a towel, and you will clean up the mess.”

“No, Mommy. I goin’ in my house. Bye.”

Why didn’t anyone tell me that the attitude starts at two years old? Shouldn’t he still be struggling to form sentences? The teachers at pre-school next year are going to love him.

He went into his Little Tikes house and slammed the door, and when I tried to get him to come out and help me clean up the water, he responded by bellowing “STOP! GET OUT, MOMMY.”

He’s still playing with that dollar I gave him yesterday, too. He has crumpled it up, shoved it in his pocket, teased his brother with it and chewed on it, but has astonishingly left it in one piece. I am considering putting it in his baby book, because this is pretty monumental.

Bex was in true form this morning, wailing like an abandoned kitten and trying to launch himself out of the bouncer every time I tried to put him in it so I could get some orders finished. So in an act of desperation, I slung him on my back in the mei tai and kept on sewing. And let me tell you, I feel like I have discovered a magical power now because he actually let me work like that! He was content with chewing on the strap and I trucked through the rest of my orders in record time.

I took pictures, of course, and I hope no one laughs too hard at my scraggly hair and pajama attire. It was either that or take him out so I could shower, get dressed and fix my hair. Which was just not happening at 8am.

I was even more surprised when I turned my back to the camera to snap a close-up of him and realized that not only was he happy, he was asleep. Sam NEVER fell asleep on my back when he was a baby so I hadn’t even considered that Bex might. And if that wasn’t enough to make me feel like Super Mom — I actually managed to wrangle him off my back and into the crib without waking him up. I barely had time to snap pictures of the orders before he woke up twenty minutes later, but I still felt pretty awesome about it.

Apparently, 20-minute naps are the trend today because he’s already up from his second one and is fussing at me to pick him up. So much for eating lunch after blogging. All I have consumed today are two cupcakes and two Diet Dr. Peppers. I wish I could find the humor in this situation but it’s just not happening today.