My Thoughts on Section 102, Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

I don't know much about this new policy but the little that I have read is quite disconcerting. This new policy isn't just about requiring large manufacturers of children's toys to conducting testing for lead and other harmful chemicals. As I understand it, EVERY manufacturer whether large or small (and yes, "crafters" who create one-of-a-kind items are considered to be manufacturers) who makes an item that is intentionally made for OR which might inevitably come into contact with, a child 12 years of age or under, will be required to conduct testing of each and every single component of which their items are comprised. In an effort to protect myself, I have put disclaimers in my listings that my items are NOT intended for children age 12 or younger. Will this protect me? I'm not sure.

It might be a bit of a bother for larger manufacturers but they will comply and we, as consumers, will bear the costs of this testing by price increases from the manufacturer. For the small business owner, it's a catastrophic. A small seller cannot afford to do this kind of testing - both financially and time-wise, it's virtually impossible.

So much for "One of a Kind", eh?

Strawberry Jam

After crossing the bridge to get into Strawberry, CA, we saw this unfortunate accident:

The vehicle's occupants were fine and made it out of the SUV unscathed. At this point we decided to pull over at the town's ONLY market and purchased snow chains for $119.99!

Breakdown of expenses so far:

• Oil Change (hubby said we HAD to do this for a "long" trip) 50.00
• Snow bib/boot rental 40.00
• One night room rental Strawberry Inn 140.00
• Tire Chains, gloves for all three of us 200.00
  

At this point, we had spent $430 and had yet to touch any snow!

Thirty minutes after what equated to struggling to put chains on the car (hubby had to have custom tires!), we pulled into the snow park.


Admission to Leland snow park - $30/each. Add that to the above cost and we are now at $520 still without touching a drop of snow. Factor in gas and food and we hit about $600 BEFORE we touched a drop of snow.

That cost is kinda hard to swallow, isn't it? Now about the snow park itself. It's a got a nice option where you spend an extra $10 per person (!!) and you get towed up the hill by a simple pulley system. Once you get to the top of the hill, you have to wait in a L-O-N-G line (see above) to get the opportunity to slide down the hill. The ride itself is short, a "little" bit of fun but on the way down, you are CONTINUALLY being yelled at by very questionable looking staff to "USE YOUR FEET". You are required to dig your heels in about half way down in order to slow yourself down.

On the way down, I USED MY FEET so much, that my feet came out of my shoes!

My daughter loved it. She has pleaded with me not to post any pictures of her on the internet anymore and in keeping my word to her, you'll have to take my word how cute she looked with snow in her hair and rosy cheeks.

After 4 or five runs, hubby provided his commentary on the park:

It seems that he too, slid out of his shoes. Plus for us "old, overweight folks", the altitude can really mess with you. Both of us had tight chests and tired easier.

Our daughter continued to tube without her folks. We both planted ourselves in our tubes in the snow and "people-watched".

There was a guy there who had the tightest bibs on ever. Even though I was only able to capture a profile shot, believe me when I tell you that from a front view, one was able to see "the whole shebang". Gross! He does have a face but I decided to anonymize him in order to protect myself from a libel lawsuit his privacy.

I'll finish this post later today as hubby's pancakes are ready! Yum!

I'm back to finish the post and suffice to say, I just don't want to. In a nutshell:

• I don't like snow
• I don't like high altitudes
• It's expensive to go to the snow
• Snow park employees are .....freaky
• I'm glad to be home!!
  

The Many Facets of Crafting

As a crafter, not only do we make our items, we must handle web design (including pesky HTML and now CSS!), photo editing, marketing and networking, sales, accounting, purchasing supplies and most important, finding suitable venues for our items. Don't even get me started on advertising!

I've come to realize that this is a lot of work! 2008 was a great year for Fioresi Designs with respect to sales. It was so busy that in October, we kicked off our work boots, put our tootsies up on the table and took a break for the last two months of the year.

Now it's time to get back to work! I've designed and sold six sets of my "In Full Bloom" greeting cards to aB & M store on the San Francisco Peninsula. These cards were actually designed as thank you cards for our customers. Turns out our customers wanted to know where to purchase these cards. Talk about serendipity!

Tomorrow we are off to the snow for the weekend. Hope it's not TOO cold!