new year to reflect, looming national day of bankruptcy

You may or may not know about the new CPSIA law that will go into effect on Feb. 10, 2009. This law is in response to all of the lead-in-toys-problems in 2008 and 2007. Congress has passed a sweeping bill that encompasses every aspect of everything pertaining to children under 12 to keep lead out of children's products. While I applaud the idea behind the bill, the actual bill has placed the responsibility of testing on the small manufacture instead of the actual manufacture. What does that mean? Here is my personal example. I make clothing items, stuffed animals and pillows for children under 12. I buy my 100% cotton clothing blanks from a company in the United States. I buy my fabric and thread from my local fabric store. I buy my screen printing inks from a company in the United states that certifies there is no lead present in the ink. Yet I am responsible for testing each and every single one of these items for lead at the price point of approx. $70-$100 dollars per item component. By item component? That means that I must test
a) each dress, t-shirt, onesie
b) the thread on that dress (or clothing item) (although I don't know how that will work since the dresses come already manufactured as dresses.)
c) the tag that has already been sewn in the dress stating the fiber content and washing instructions d) each piece of fabric I applique onto the dress (don't forget at $70-$100 dollars per each different piece of fabric, I usually use three pieces) or use to make a stuffed animal (up to 8 different fabrics for stuffed animals plus the poly fill and embroidery thread)
e) the thread I use to stitch the applique or make a stuffed animal

The items that I purchase have been tested for lead or have no lead present to begin with. However, because I alter these items by printing on them or cutting them up (like with fabric to make stuffed animals or appliques) I have now, under the law, become a manufacture. Because I do not actually manufacture the clothing items, inks or fabric I use, I have no way of knowing if all these items came from one or many batches, that is why I have to test every single component.

That means a dress I have been selling for $20 will now cost me $490-$700 to test. If you have seen any of my dresses, I like to make each design one of a kind. The testing process destroys the item that is being tested. Stuffed animals I sell from $20-$35 will now be $1000, again destroyed in the testing process.

My question is, why are we putting lead into children's products in the first place? Why are the large manufactures not testing before selling to the public? Why is the burden being placed on the crafter who is only altering the items by cutting and sewing? Why are we forced to test items like cotton that obviously have no lead present?

I urge everyone to read about this. It not only effects me as a small business owner, but also charity organizations. We will no longer be able to donate handmade quilts to our local hospitals, no longer be able to donate childrens clothing or toys to local thrift stores, or shop from these stores for items for children under 12, no longer donate coats or shoes to needy children. Also, testing becomes too high for companies making items used in schools such as microscopes. What about your child's sports uniform? That will have to be tested. Children's books? Those too. A bike or tricycle? Yes. Big manufacturing companies can afford to test. Small independent businesses and crafters can not. Please click on the "save handmade" button on the right and/or explore these links for more info.

http://nationalbankruptcyday.com/

http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.html

http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/14/smallbusiness/toy_law_threatens_small_companies.smb/?postversion=2009011509

http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/issues/alert/?alertid=12274476

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation/20081224_ap_hohonotoymakerssayleadlawharmsworkshops.html

http://www.strquality.com/www/strlab/industry_expertise/cpsia_faq_html

http://www.happypandababy.com/blog/2008/12/16/cpsia-testing-research-for-happy-panda/#comment-4262

v.lou textiles in Piper and Chloe Holiday Showcase

Here is a picture from the Piper and Chloe Holiday Showcase. This was one of the cutest and best displayed holiday showcases I have:
a) been in
b) been to
These guys did such a great job with everything! I sincerely hope they raked it in because they really worked hard to make it look so good. Thanks guys for including me.

v.lou textiles at the Women's Art Center Holiday Bazaar

Here is a picture of my little 3ft. set-up at the Women's Art Center Holiday Bazaar last weekend. Notice the cute printed zipper pouches in the front? Those that didn't sell will be going to my etsy shop in the next couple of days.

Piper and Chloe Holiday Showcase

v.lou textiles will be participating in Piper and Chloe's holiday showcase December 5th and 6th. This event takes place in Farmington. I'm really excited to showcase my kid's items there. Unlike the Women's Art Center show where I will have my hand printed bags and pillows, at this show it will be all my kids stuff: onesies, pillows, stuffed animals and dresses. The address for this event is 46 Robyn Way (1195 N) Farmington Ut. I will have a map to list however, I believe if you look at their blog, there will be a map there.

Finally v.lou textiles can be found online

v.lou textiles can now be purchased online. Beyond the Belly Basics has officially launched their site and right now, it's the only place to get v.lou textiles online. They have 5 different styles, "le petit monstre" in pink and blue, "sumo", "skull w/stars" and "owl". Although they don't have "owl" listed on their site. Hopefully, it will show up soon.

This screen capture is pretty small. You can't really see the products, but I promise they are there. Now I just need to get my own shopping cart up and running!

I have just signed on to do the Bird in Hand holiday bazaar for the Women's Art Center. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm not going to do any of the children's items, only bags and pillows. It coincides with a gallery stroll so hopefully *fingers crossed* it will be a lucrative event. It takes place Friday, November 21 6pm - 10pm, which is the gallery stroll night, and Saturday, November 22 9am - 2pm at the Women's Art Center located at 345 Pierpont Ave. SLC. I have to sit with my booth on Friday, so come say hi! I hope to see you there!

featured in your heart out blog!

This pillow was featured in your heart out blog! Thanks! You can view the link here:
http://yourheartout.com/?p=3278 or go to my etsy shop where it is available for purchase. I don't know why I've not noticed this before but, that is not the best picture is it? It looks blurry. I will have to fix that because that is not a true representation of the pillow. Next time I will use my tripod to take the photo!

DIY lightbox

Here is the DIY lightbox I made last night. I found some tutorials online and decided to go for it. I've been thinking about buying a lightbox, however they can be costly. I thought I would go this route first. It was fairly inexpensive, and super easy to make. I'm having a hard time achieving a quality photo though. I'm doing something wrong here, I just can't figure out what it is. My camera doesn't come with too many instructions for different shooting scenarios and I have already had to change the batteries twice due to the flash eating up so much energy. Any suggestions?

UPDATE:

It's a couple of days later and here are some results from the lightbox. I can't get the white background I want on the clothing items I am placing in there. I don't know if I'm using the wrong lights or they are positioned wrong or what. But, when I take close-up photos of my husband's phone, it looks really good.

more live model poses

Here are some more live model pics that Lizzie graciously sent to me of her son modeling some v.lou textiles apparel. I just can't get over how freakin' cute he is! It's actually really great for me to see these pictures because I can see exactly where the design falls on the t-shirt or onesie in relation to where the garment hangs on the child. By that I mean, looking at the picture that has the skull w/stars t-shirt, I can see that the design needs to be printed a little higher up on the garment so the bulk of the design isn't resting on his stomach. That way, if you wanted to tuck in the shirt, or for a onesie that obviously has to tuck into something, more of the design will be visable.

Hiking in Salt Lake and the bad air quality

Amy and I went hiking again yesterday this time in the foothills behind RedButte up to the "livingroom". What I thought was a beautiful sunny blue skies day was really this gross layer of air over the valley that you could chew. It's interesting how hard it is to see sometimes from down below. The second picture is looking at downtown and really, you can't even see it in this picture because of the air. It not the buildings in the foreground, those belong to the campus. Downtown is further out.

what a difference a week makes!

I went hiking with Amy and the dogs yesterday. Even though the weather was good and we hiked in shorts, (unlike last weekend when it snowed!) it's just another reminder that winter is almost here. I was hoping to get more fall colors, however, everything has basically given up the ghost. It was pretty barren and brown. But still really beautiful.

More things for my etsy store

Here are some pillows I am going to put in my etsy shop. I've chatted with a few people in the forums on etsy and it seems people like my bags but are turned off by the fact that I only have 4 styles in my store. As soon as I perfect pictures, I am going to put these in my shop. Except for the big one in the back. That was a special order for someone in Texas.

It snowed and I wasn't prepared.

Remember in an earlier post I commented on my garden as "teeny tiny moments of happiness" or something like that? Well, it snowed last night and I wasn't prepared. The weather report made it sound like the snow wasn't coming until today so I didn't weatherize. Now...it's all lost. Which sucks because the garden still had so much going on. For whatever reason, my garden struggled in the beginning of the summer and was just in the last month really giving my all the fruits of my labors. So sad.

At least someone is happy about the snow! I had to go out with the end of the rake this morning and beat the snow off the trees and bushes. Nothing has dropped its leaves yet and I was afraid the extra weight was going to snap some limbs off.

v.lou textiles screen printed onesies online!

I just sold some screen printed onesies to a new online store called beyond the belly basics. They sell natural and organic products for baby but, they are going to have a locals section which is where you will find my designs. It's not up and running quite yet, they are hoping for the first of November. I'll keep you posted!

v.lou textiles new website?

So, I feel like there is something missing. I've been agonizing over this for days. I've made lots of websites for other people so, I don't know what my problem is here. My husband keeps telling me I should have someone else design it because I'm too close to it. He could be right. What do you think about it?

Finally, a live model!

Can you stand how cute he is?!?!?! Neither can I!

Some stuff!

Here are some little clothes that I made for Lizzie's little boy. (So cute I want to chew on his chubby little legs!!!)

The pants are a work in progress. An idea, if you will, working it's way out. I'm using Jonas as my little test subject. I hope to make them a little more "exciting". I have never drafted a pattern for pants before so I want to see them on him and check the fit before I add some embellishments.

Here is a sweatshirt with my bike (original drawing by the way) screen print. Sweatshirts are also on the menu for winter.
I just finished an order for Babinskis and will be delivering it this afternoon. I added a couple of new animals to the mix this time. Go in and check them out!

A day of rest, the calm before the storm?

Now that the summer market season is fast approaching its end, I would like to say that I will, from now on, be posting only pictures like these:

Close inspection of mutant cucumbers growing in my garden or:

Teeny tiny moments of meditation or:

My cat looks like a drunk loaf of bread or:

Yes, I'm obsessed with this animal.

In reality, I WILL be showing more of those types of pictures but, also I will be showing lots of these types of pictures too:

These are the stuffed animals I made for the Salt Lake Avenues Street Fair last weekend. I'm pleased to say that quite a few of them found nice homes.

Yes, the frenzy has died down considerably and I'm hoping to really dive into some projects I have been tinkering with this summer but haven't had a lot of time to perfect due to time constraints with the market. I have ideas for kids sweatshirts and skirts, pants, dresses, pillows and I want to make some more bags for sure. Right now my first priority is to get my shopping cart up and running on my website. So stay tuned. Hopefully this is only the calm before the storm!

Finally! Some pictures from the market

I finally remembered to take my camera to the market last week. The only problem was that when I remembered that I brought my camera, the market was in full swing and it was hard to get photo's without getting in everyone's way. But...here are a few.


Here is one "wall" of my tent. The lighting isn't so great, it's kind of like a cave in there since I have a booth on each sid of me, but you get the idea.

This is the front corner. My sweet little mannequins. They help a lot don't you think? I was really excited when someone lent them to me for the summer. I was having a hard time finding any mannequins locally, and online they are expensive.


And last but not least, I have some cute shelves to show off my hand screen printed hand sewn pillows and handmade stuffed animals.

I can't believe there are only four more markets left. For me anyway. The market actually runs through the end of September but I'm only going until September 7th. I'm trying to get into the Salt Lake Downtown Farmers' Market. If they have any open spaces, they might be able to squeeze me in. I'm hoping it works out.

My Apologies, it won't happen again

I just looked at my blog and re-read my last post. That was a little negative, I apologize. I don't want to be that person. I think I was just a little down from the market the day before. I certainly don't want to offend anyone, or alienate anyone. I was having a moment and I probably shouldn't share those moments, while in the moment of having a moment. If you know what I mean!

Park Silly Sunday Market and Access Hollywood

So so sorry that I haven't blogged about the market. Yesterday was the 4th week and I keep meaning to bring my camera and always forget. I didn't want to talk about it without pictures but at this rate, the market will be over before I remember to bring my camera.

The market has been interesting. How's that for pc? I've been struggling a bit with this market. I can't figure out the client base here. The Salt Lake Farmers' Market was mostly young and hip. I feel like my style sense worked very well there. Park Silly on the other hand, who are these people? Please don't be offended that I have skulls on t-shirts or that I want to dress your baby in a black onesie. It's all very tasteful. It doesn't help that in Salt Lake I was pretty much the only booth selling baby clothes and in Park City there are like 8 booths selling baby clothes. The women right across from me, Meg and Katherine are selling baby clothes. Their items are different from mine, yes, but I'm sure they are as thrilled as I am every week that we are basically watching eachother make sales that would have, could have been ours alone. It's a good thing that they are super nice so I don't have to hate them!

Then up the way is another woman selling, get this, screen printed onesies! It's a competition! At first our stuff was pretty equally priced. Now, she has lowered her prices. I'm struggling if I should do the same. Across from her is a woman selling onesies with flocked prints. Had I known all this, I wouldn't have even applied for this market. I don't really think its very fair to the vendors who pay a lot for a space each week and drive from the city each week.

My one claim to fame is that Billy Bush, the host of Access Hollywood came into my booth last week and bought a dress for his daughter. Did you know he is a cousin to the current president? He was very nice.

I have been struggling with pricing issues lately. I feel like the average customer doesn't appreciate the time, effort, skill, thought, artistic eye, personal style and God knows what else that goes into making a handmade object. Our current trend of throw away products had made it very hard for people to appreciate something well made and hand made. Look at the WalMart culture for example. It doesn't matter that the shirt you buy was made with crappy inferior fabrics and at that price point it was made in a child labor sweat shop at the price of personal injury, long greuling hours, probably awful and hazardous working conditions. As long as its cheap... And when it falls apart in two washes, you can just run right back and keep the cycle going.

The reason I bring this up is that two really cool things happend to me, yesterday and today. First, I was on etsy chiming in on a thread about not underselling your product just to make a sale. Someone contacted me with good advice and and kind words. I was very grateful to find that email this morning. Then, yesterday as my husband was telling me I should lower my prices, a woman came into my booth, asked about my stuffed animals, who was the artist? she asked my husband. She didn't even flinch at the price, (there only $20 for god's sake) and then she asked me to sign it. So sweet. I can't tell you how the little things can make up for all the other stuff!

Bubble and Bee, my favorite!

So, another one of my favorites is Bubble and Bee. They were our neighbors at the Salt Lake Farmers' Market last summer. All of their products are organic and made locally. I love their stuff! I went to the market last saturday and yes, they are going to be there all summer again this year. I stopped by to say hi to Steph and found out that Whole Foods Market has picked up their entire line of products and will be selling it in all of their Utah stores! How exciting! I'm so happy for them. They have worked so hard over this past year. And really, it couldn't have happened to nicer people.

They also have a very interesting blog that I think everyone should read. It's full of stuff you really should know (maybe don't want to know) about the world of chemicals and beauty products.

v.lou textiles onesies in a blog

So...I was googling myself, I'll admit it and I came across v.lou textiles in another blog. This one is from Babinskis. Babinskis is a baby boutique in Salt Lake City more specifically Foothill Village and they have been buying my onesies since October 2007. They have the most beautiful store filled with all things baby. I have really enjoyed doing business with them as they are so nice and fun. I guess they started a blog, and well, here I am!
On the blog note, I must digress a little from the positive and say something that has been troubling me a little. Well acutally a lot. I love seeing v.lou textiles starting to creep out into the world. I love seeing my labor of love showing up in the community. It's what I've been dreaming about for a couple of years now. I know that doing applique onesie's isn't re-inventing the wheel. It's not a new technique that I discovered myself. I realize this. I do. But what I do think is unique about my product is the fabric that I choose, the way I put things together. I try really hard to have a unique style in the world of over saturated baby items. Well, last week a friend of mine went to the Salt Lake Farmers' Market and called me sort of upset. Apparently someone is there with a booth selling applique baby onesies and they look suspiciously similar in style to mine. And again, I realize that it's an applique. I didn't invent it, I know. But what is so similar is the style of the applique, the fabric all that stuff. So, I've been really upset about this. Why can't people get their own thing going? Why do you have to show up at the Farmers' Market, where I did so well last year and sell what I was selling? Then to make matters worse, Sunday while I was manning my booth at the Park Silly Sunday Market in Park City, Utah, I had a couple of people ask if I was at the Salt Lake market or that my stuff was "like that booth at the Salt Lake market"!!!! I am going to go to the market tomorrow and see for myself. I'm half thinking that maybe I shouldn't because I don't know... what can I do? What should I say if anything? So I guess I will keep you posted. The market is tomorrow. Oh, and sorry for the non-use of paragraphs here. I was on a roll!

So...it's the next day. I went to the Farmers' Market this morning to look at the onesies in question. I was so hoping that a) I didn't know the person who was making them, and b) please don't let them look like mine! Well, she was there and I didn't recognize her. Her stuff is appliqued but in my opnion, not really the same. Although she did have skull t-shirts. What is going on here?!?!?

Elizabeth Terry Jewelry, my favorite!

So my blogography feature today will be of Elizabeth Terry Jewelry. I met Elizabeth last year when we both had booths at the Salt Lake Farmers' Market. She was pregnant, looking in my booth for baby clothes, meanwhile I was in Elizabeth's booth salivating over all of Elizabeth's jewelry, hinting about potential christmas present ideas! (So was my mother-in-law!)

I like Elizabeth's jewelry because it's actual hand-crafted artisan jewelry. You can tell she has thought about each piece. She uses beautiful semi-precious stones, metal work, or an interesting mixture of leather and metal, not just a bunch of beads strung together or a mold to make the same piece over and over again. I like that she offers a wide range of prices too.

Here are a few of my favorite pieces from her website. You can order directly from this site or she will be busy all over Utah this summer doing markets and festivals. She has a list on her website.


I love love love the necklace in the top left corner. Some day I will own that!

Jeff Beck Photography, my favorite!

I have a lot of really creative friends starting their own businesses, some more established than others but, I thought I could do a little blogography over the next couple of days about some of my favorites so you all can see why I think they are so special!

My first favorite is my friend Jeff Beck. He is a photographer, hence the name Jeff Beck Photography duh! He has the most beautiful outdoor landscape photographs. Here are just a few of my favorites from his website:

I used the last one, the snowy river for my christmas cards one year and I have several of his framed photos in my living room. Unfortunately his website hasn't been updated for, ahem, a few years but, you can get a feel for his style and I know he has hundreds of beautiful photos that will surely please everyone! Also, I just found out that he will be at the Salt Lake City Farmers' Market in Pioneer Park every Saturday! Now you can go and see up close and personal how great his stuff is.

Paris

So, I recently went to Paris and just downloaded my photos. These are a couple of my favorites. The first two are obviously the Eiffel Tower. I know I know, how cliche, the Eiffel Tower but I guess it's more what it represents to me which is... being in Paris! The third picture is a random shot of some graves at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery where many many famous people are burried including Chopin, Balzac, Modigliani, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde and of course Jim Morrison just to name a few. I was surprised how incredibly beautiful this cemetery is. I've never seen anything like it. The graves are mostly family crypts and they are styled like little chapels so you can come into them and pray.

soooo cute!

I wanted to try and show scale of this bunny but, this picture only conveys cuteness. The little girl pushing the shopping cart in this photo is about 2 yrs. old. And by the way, she would be the cutest part of this photo if you could see her face!

kid tested, mother approved!

So, here are some "stuffies" I have been working on for the ParkSilly Sunday Market starting June 15th in Park City. I have been drafting and re-drafting this pattern but I think I finally have it the way I want it. Who knew making a stuffed animal pattern would be so difficult? I can see it in my mind, but apparently there's more to it than that! Some had tiny heads and really abnormally long necks, some were so small I couldn't figure out a way to attach the head. Making the head more than just a pancake was slightly challenging when you don't know what you are trying to do. But, in the end I'm really happy with the way it came out. It's pretty much how I envisioned it. I made several dolls and gave them to my friends to give to their children to pre-test them for me! Each one is different in that I change the fabric selections and I am working on different outfits for them as well.