Remember that place The Flickr Commons I mentioned- yep I have been browsing there again and found this lovely picture! It has so many things I like- the old house, the folks hanging out on the porch, and the group of boys that I like to think are playing marbles! I heard a quote once that we have to look to the past to know where we are going. I think this picture from the past embraces so much when I think about certain things. I have been pretty quiet about CPSIA for a while but steadily watching what has been happening and well honestly there has not been alot of updates since the stay occurred in February till now- there has been many wonderful folks at the Handmade Toy Alliance board working hard on behalf of toy makers like myself to have a voice at Washington. As you can imagine we are approaching Februrary 2010 when the testing stay was suppose to end with really no resolutions for the craftsman toymaker.
As you may know, natural materials like wood were exempted- but if you add any treatment like watercolors and beeswax, you would have to get it tested which was so expensive. Basically would have meant for a pretty colorless world come February. A recent development, though not "official", just proposed is a possible allowance of component testing which is what I rely on now- I only use AP Certified watercolors- my favorite brand is the German Angora watercolors. Here is the link to view the proposed component option and also a link the the Handmade Toy Alliance blog- always a great spot to stay up on new developments.
I guess this leads me into a good transition to let you know it will be all about marbles this weekend! I got back copies of the second book Elias and the Tree Stairs that I will be putting in the shop tomorrow and also taking to my annual swap with my fantastic friends this weekend. I cut and sanded Elias and another character from the book last night and will also show these tomorrow on the blog. It has been such a fun book to research and put together. It is my mission to secretly revive the beauty and simplicity of playing marbles again! The inspiration for this story came from an fun thing of me finding marbles in and near trees ever since I was little. Hubby reminds me that is because they were probably slingshotted up into the trees, but I knew there was a magical story in me about it! I plan on carrying a pouch of marbles with me to secretly hide in trees and see what magic occurs! Blimey I think I am destined to have those pointy ears yet- ouch maybe not- how about just in essence!
So stay tuned tomorrow I will unveil Elias and some background info on the book. My biggest thanks to all of you for humoring me as I worked through this next book and big thanks to the best illustrator ever- Kylie who did my first book Naming Renick, she has a wonderful style that perfectly matches my stories. Also a big thanks to my wonderful friend Amy for always a loving friendship and beautiful photography!
It also happens to be her birthday today- big happy birthday wishes to her- you should check out her wonderful photography! The above is a picture she took for me of my very first tree marble that I still have.
****UPDATE- I just found out today, the CPSC voted to extend the stay of enforcement for the testing and certification requirements of Sec 102 of the CPSIA for an additional year (through February 10, 2011)- good news!
