Dear Blog,
Are you still there? I seem to be able to make out a thick layer of dust somewhere back in the dim recesses of my mind, but nothing more than a vague shape…
Okay, so it’s been a little while. Maybe a big while. Maybe I have a lot to catch up.
Like, did you know that I live in a different state now? It’s true! We moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the end of August. Brian took a job working for an excellent web design agency here, called “Happy Cog”.
Also, we had Christmas:
Bridget turned two
And, perhaps most exciting of all, we discovered that we should expect a new member added to our family around June 16!
Which means that this is the last Warren family photo with just the three of us!
Exciting times, and not at all a good time to take a several months-long break from blogging! Hopefully this quick update has gotten you mostly caught up on the goings-on in our house.
Fabulous Simple Skirt Tutorial
I started making a skirt this past weekend, hoping it would be ready in time for me to wear it for July 4th festivities. I used a fabric that I’ve had in my stash for awhile, from one of my favorite fabric designers, the Alexander Henry Pink Zinnia, which I think I bought from Sew, Mama, Sew! (they don’t seem to have this one in stock right now).
Anyway, it was a flop. I made a mistake, and was too annoyed and too short on time to fix it to wear the skirt that night. This may have had something to do with the fact that I started the skirt that afternoon :u)
Fortunately, the wonderfully talented and creative Grosgrain has written a wonderfully simple tutorial on sewing a simple skirt that I hope will help me to pull this off the discard pile. I’ll keep you updated, but it would be a shame for this beautiful fabric to languish, don’t you think?
Always My Baby
Bridget turned eighteen months old yesterday. It’s tradition that on half-birthdays (we call them “Appreciation Days”) the celebrated person gets to choose the meal, so I picked some of Bridget’s favorite foods. Thus, she feasted on steamed carrots, rice, a fried egg with the yolk broken, and pizza. She actually only ate a couple bites of the pizza – that was more for Brian and me.
Eighteen months! I can barely wrap my head around that. My baby’s growing up, people! Please let me know if there is anything you’ve found that works to slow it down – nothing I’ve tried seems to make any difference.
She really is turning into quite the little girl. She’s started running, and when we go on walks together she loves to go “FAST!” She got her first skinned knee this morning. She’s had a small scrape on her knee before, but this one needed a band-aid. She was very brave, and let me rinse it and put on the antibiotic ointment without a fuss (after cuddles and kisses of course).
Also, she has recently become oh-so interested in climbing, and can get on and off our ottomans without help, although she appreciates a little help with the couch. One evening we were watching a show on the television and Bridget was puttering around with her toys in same room. Next thing we know, we hear her laughing with great glee from the bedroom. She had pulled herself up onto our bed and was incredibly pleased with herself.
She colors, paints, swings, rocks on her rocking horse, loves to be read to, and is learning her colors and shapes. Also, with some prompting and help, she can count to three (but you have to say “one”; when she decides on her own that she wants to count she does it like this, “two, two, two”).
I’m trying my best to soak her in but these milestones are zooming past us so fast I feel like I’m barely able to keep up myself. She is such a joy and delight, and so sweet and precious I am kept in constant amazement of her. I love you, sweetie!
Etsy Yart Sale 2009
And other exciting things – for instance, I’ve been working on some new items for the shop, and just last night finished the listing process for a new print/painting (praint?) Presenting…dum da da DUM…The Cat And The Fiddle!
ALSO, as if that weren’t enough, I am also participating in the 2009 Etsy Yart Sale ! That means that this painting along with the Cow Jumped Over The Moon art are both listed at 20% off through Sunday only! So if you’d like to take advantage of this great deal you gotta’ jump on it (especially since I’m getting the word out on my involvement a wee bit late).
On the Bridget front, we have been dutifully taking pictures and video footage. She is growing so big and independent and talking a ton.
Greek Dancer
Holding a piece of pita bread and dancing to the music. Maybe not as exotic as my title suggests, but way cuter.
Farm Girls
Bridget and I recently returned from a visit to my parent’s house in Arkansas. My parents both grew up as farm kids in Missouri, and that upbringing/culture still runs strong in their blood. Their house is a paradise for a kid Bridget’s age – like living at a petting zoo! They no longer have any of the larger animals (e.g. goats) that they used to own, but with dogs and cats and chickens, it was more than enough to induce a wide-eyed delight in Bridget’s face.
She’s also been learning this fun dance, which I originally saw on “Sesame Street”. It’s pretty cute to see her do the moves. This is the performance (the best one so far) which she did for her YiaYia (Grandma), and Aunt Grace.
Update!
Hi guys! So sorry for the neglect. I’ve been in a blogging funk. It seems like there’s either nothing to say or, more often, there’s too much to say and my brain “shorts out” from all the options.
ANYway.
Oh! I have an update on the CPSIA law. Actually, why don’t you read about it over at Etsy? They’ve summed it up quite nicely, and I would just be parroting what they already said. The gist of the matter (as I understand it) is the that crafters have a year’s grace in getting everything set up for testing. We’re still liable if anything turns out to contain lead, but aren’t actually required by law to test. Of course, the “end” is still coming, but we have a little breathing room. Whew!
Also, I found this awesome article with a bunch of nifty craft projects – a lot of them fairly cheap – on Etsy.
And Bridget is chatting up a storm! Well, not actually chatting. She uses mostly hand signs or noises to communicate things: cold, hot, drink, hungry, more, nurse, elephant, squirrel, bird, cat, dog, rabbit, sheep, cow, horse, pig, frog, duck…Some of the sounds have more than one meaning, but usually in context I can figure what she means. She actually says, Mama, Dada, “Aaahhhh duh” (all done), , “poop” (I know! Funny, huh? Right up there with mama and dada!), and “ow CH” (what I say when she bites).
So that’s the update for now! ‘Till next time (hopefully won’t be as long).
CPSIA
“Gesundheit!”
Haha! No, I didn’t sneeze. CPSIA stands for “Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act”, a law passed by Congress that is intended to give the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) the authority it needs to prevent dangerous toys from being imported into the US (like the panic over lead in some toys imported from large manufacturers in China last year). This, I think, is a very good goal. I don’t think anyone thinks lead poisoning is a good idea (and if they do, they aren’t speaking up).
However, in addition to providing consumers with protection from large manufacturers, this law also penalizes the smaller manufacturers who have already earned the trust of the public, and has the unintended consequence of putting out of business or at serious financial risk those who already make safe toys. And, might I add, the law applies not just to toys from China, but to all items for children age 12 and under – this would include everything from the natural untreated wooden blocks finished with beeswax (perfectly safe to chew on, unless you’re talking splinters) to the plastic training potty (which I certainly hope parents keep their children from chewing, but not because of any danger of lead poisoning) In the end, the businesses who are left standing are the big manufacturers at whom this law is aimed. Ironic, huh?
But it’s just one law! How is it hurting the “little guy” so much, while leaving large manufacturers virtually unscathed? WELL! The CPSIA (rightly) bans lead and phthalates (coincidentally, another word that sounds like a sneeze) in toys and other children’s products, and (here’s the rub) mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys. This testing is very expensive, to the tune of $300-$4,000 per toy. The way I understand it, this doesn’t mean that I would have to test every single Lovey Doll that I sell, but I would have to shell out the money to get each kind of Lovey tested. One test for the Monkey/Shearling, one test for the Argyle/Furry, and still another for the Monkey/Furry. And if I changed materials (which I might need to or want to someday, depending upon the availability of the fabric) I would have to test them all over again. Yuck! What a headache!
This is much less of a headache for large manufacturers to comply with. They make thousands of units of each toy and thus get much more bang for their testing buck, making the testing more financially feasible.
One other icky glitch is that, because all of those small companies (including my own little business, and those of many others on Etsy) would be put out of business, our fragile economy (yup, I said the “E” word!) would be strained even more. Not really something that needs to happen right now.
Here is a quote from Change.org that nicely summarizes what I think is so frustrating about this law:
There is a clear disconnect between the sweeping nature of this law, and the narrow range of products that were problematic in 2007. The CPSIA applies standards that were put in place in reaction to the sale of toys contaminated with lead paint and toxic plastics. Rather than focus on these materials, this law places a guilty until proven innocent mentality on all children’s product producers by imposing mandatory testing and certification, and in the process will kill an entire industry.
There is hope, though! The law does not take effect until February 10, and until then, crafters and small businesses everywhere are putting up a fight and asking their friends to fight too. Which is what I’m doing.
So, pretty please?
First, go to SaveHandmade at CoolMomPicks. This is where I got the adorable little bear button on my home page, and most of my information (or links to other places with information). They have a good run-down of the situation (much better than my crazy summary), updates, and links to petitions and the like. Read up, and get your very own bear button for your own website if you like (I right-clicked on the bear and saved the image to my desktop, then uploaded it to my blog, although it’s quite possible there is a more elegant way to do it).
Next, go to Change.org.
Not only does this offer another excellent explanation of our predicament (with a video that nicely clarifies things),
Not only does this offer another excellent explanation of our predicament (with a video that nicely clarifies things), If you’ve done those things, and you’re still all riled up, do some of the other suggestions for how to get involved at SaveHandmade. You could write your representative or congressperson (links are provided), sign a petition or email the CPSC directly. Just make sure to keep things cordial – everyone’s intentions were certainly good, and (as the saying goes), you can catch more flies with honey.
Here are some news websites that I thought were especially good:
Etsy – okay, not a news site, but a great article nonetheless
Fox News DigitalJournal – Congressman Weiner speaks out against the CPSIA
USA Today
Okay, that should keep you busy for awhile. You can find those links and more at the SaveHandmade website.
Whew! That was some heavy stuff! Also a lot of it – thanks for wading through it all with me! You guys rock.
How about some Bridget to lighten things up?
Theeere. That feels better already! She looks quite reassuring, don’t you think? And a little bit knowing. And very pink.
Unfinished Business
A Happy New Year to you! I took a rather long Christmas break (longer than anticipated, anyhow), but now I’m back! Yay! Aaaand I have some things to say – things I wanted to say before Christmas, but was a little preoccupied with sanity-keeping.
So here, I’ll dive right in.
Remember Giveaway Day? Was that crazy or what?! Did any of you check out the huge list over at Sew,Mama,Sew? Well, trust me, it was not small. I entered a few of the giveaways, myself (okay, I got all nutty and spent all day glued to my computer screen). The hope was that I would get lucky and somehow my name would get picked for one of them.
And, whaddya know!
The sweetest little birthday banner (or, in this case, a chair fort cover), and an adorable birthday hat, both sure to be in many birthday pictures to come. Both of these items were sent by Meg at UpCountryViews. (Meg even wrote a nifty tutorial on how to make a birthday hat of your very own! Go forth and check it out!)
As if that wasn’t enough, I (that is, Bridget) also won an adorable little outfit from Mandy at MaKC Creations (picture to come). We certainly feel favored around here!
Christmas was amazing – full of wonder and glitter! We stayed up late the night before – me setting out gifts, and Brian putting together any gifts that required assembly. Christmas morning we opened our stockings, and then sat down to a wonderful breakfast of crepes (made by Brian, of course!) before diving into the rest of our gifts. We feel very thankful.
Bridget’s first birthday was a great success, too. She had many small and large guests show up for her party. Her MiMi (Brian’s mom) even came – all the way from Arkansas!
And the carrot in the photo? evidently that day she was more in the mood for carrot than cranberry muffin, cream cheese icing or not! Haha! What a funny, sweet little gal.
I can’t help but get a little pensive over 2008 being gone. 2008 was the year of the baby for me. The snugly little bundle, the toothless grin, the sweet-smelling hair, the first everything, wobbly crawling, first words…ah, it was a good year.
But now! 2009! I’m already excited and a little frightened about this year. Already Bridget has made leaps and bounds. She is communicating a lot now – with some words, but much of it is little signs that we’ve taught her. She’s also making great strides physically. Not walking yet, but soon. And when she does, watch out world! This girl has places to be, things to do! What fun for me to get to be watching her as she has her adventures!
My craft shop, YourNest got off to a good start. It may not have been the roaring overnight success that I rather naively thought it would be, but that is actually kind of a blessing. I have had some wonderful orders from family and some sweet strangers, but otherwise most has been rather quiet on the front. I am in the process of figuring out some kind of once a week babysitting for Bridget, at which point I will look into more ways to market the shop, and search for creative ways to fill it up. I am very excited about the potential, and hopeful that it will be a fun creative outlet for me.
A big Thank You to all of you who read this blog and encourage me. You guys rock, and I appreciate you!
Now, just in case you never learned your animal sounds properly, let’s close with this:
Merry Christmas!
I’m going to take a leetle break this week to celebrate the holidays with the cutest almost-one-year-old ever…
and her amazing daddy
Today marks seven years for us! How it’s flown…
Happy Anniversary, Brian! Every day just gets better.
