Social Networking - Too many choices

Dear Blog,

Happy Friday to everybody!

Well, now i'm getting on the roll of all these social networking sites, and if you have not noticed , they are bunches of them so it seems that is not enough time to keep them updated.

Yesterday, I started to talk about Twitter as one of the popular sites, as you probably know Facebook and Myspace are very popular too. So the question remains, how do I keep up with all these stuff?

The answer is fairly simple, Facebook and MySpace have what they call applications, so you can add Twitter as I did and then everytime you post something on Twitter will get broadcasted to Facebook and Myspace. That's neat!

I actually discovered this by mistake but that is a different story!

See you soon,

Patricia

Social Networking - Tweet or Not Tweet?

Dear Blog,


It looks like these days if you do not get into the social networking/ viral stuff you are living in the stone age. You can use these venues for personal and/or business whatever you are up to.

One of the sites that is becoming extremely popular is Twitter and you can see I'm on that , just look at the right hand side of my blog page. You can follow me if you are inclined to do so.

I had been experimenting with it and still am but one question most people ask is: What is Twitter?

The short answer to that question is Twitter is like mini blogging, so everytime you post something is like a little blog post. You can update it as many times as you want, actually they are not rules.

You can reply to your Twitter buddies or just read their posts, check their links, post your links to whatever interest you, anything really....the sky is the limit.

Just give it a try, you may find out that you love it!

I keep reading articles on how to use it so I will be posting some of my ideas in future posts.

Bye for now,

Patricia

Work in Progress

Dear Blog,

Here is new type of work in progress. Little crocheted hats for wedding/bridal shower favor, they can be pinned to a guest with a corsage pin. They are around 3 inches in diameter and the ribbon an flower can be different colors. Here are a few pictures of the prototypes completely white.

Tell me what you think!

Patricia

CPSIA - Well, February 10th has passed

Dear Blog,

This is a sort of re-blog of this article from Etsy which I suggest you read:

http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/cpsia-its-february-10th-so-now-what-3413/


So it looks like that some materials are exempt.....

The following materials are known by the CPSC to be inherently lead-free or are exempt, and can be used in their untreated/unpainted state without any risk of sanction or penalties by the Commission.

• Precious gemstones: diamond, ruby, sapphire or emeralds
• Semiprecious stones provided that the mineral or material is not based on lead and is not associated with any mineral based on lead
• Natural or cultured pearls
• Wood
• Other natural materials including coral, amber, feathers, fur, and untreated leather
• Surgical steel
• Gold, of at least 10 karats
• Silver, at least 925/1000 pure
• Platinum, palladium, rhodium, osmium, iridium, and ruthenium
• Yarn, dyed or undyed
• Dyed or undyed textiles (cotton, wool, hemp, nylon, etc.), including children’s fabric products, such as baby blankets, and non‐metallic thread and trim. This does not include products that have rhinestones or other ornaments that may contain lead or that have fasteners with possible lead content (such as buttons, metal snaps, zippers or grommets).
• Children’s books printed after 1985 that are conventionally printed and intended to be read, as opposed to used for play
• Certain educational materials, such as chemistry sets

The Commission has also provided limited exclusions for products containing component parts that contain lead in excess of the 600ppm limit, specifically:

• Components that are not accessible, that is cannot be reached by a small child’s finger or tongue. Paint and other coatings or electroplating are not considered barriers that make a component inaccessible.
• Components of electronics devices intended for children that cannot be made inaccessible and cannot currently be made with a lead level that meets the limit.
  

So some of us will be ok after all, what it is not clear to me if this must be added into the law or not. Next step it seems to be to contact the manufacturer of the stuff, in my case, yarn and go from there. I had been reading Etsy forums on the matter and some sellers have concerns because the yarn manufacturers are not responding or they said that they will not be testing.

Oh well! Still very confusing. We will figure this out.

Bye,

Patricia

P.S.: My next post will be about something else, I need a new tune.

CPSIA - We need help!

Dear Blog,

Today I received this email from the Handmade Toy Alliance:


"Thank you for your continued support to Save Small Business from the CPSIA. It has been an active week. A stay of enforcement was issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on Friday, January 30th. Although it has stayed enforcement of many provisions of the law, the CPSC has made it clear that they lack authority to fully correct the CPSIA. Urge Congress to provide the CPSC with guidance that will protect toymakers, thrift resellers, publishers, and clothing manufacturers from the unintended consequences of the CPSIA. A technical amendment, the CPSIA Regulatory Relief Bill, will be introduced on the Senate floor soon. It is important that we gain Senate support for this necessary legislation. Here's what you can do:

1. Call your Senator (switchboard: 202-224-3121).
2. Identify yourself as a constituent and ask to speak with the Senator or the staff assistant who follows Commerce issues.
3. Ask him/her to co-sponsor the CPSIA Regulatory Relief Legislation, and tell them if they have questions about the legislation they can contact Tom Jones in Senator DeMint’s DC office at 202-224-6121. Tom’s email address is tom_jones@commerce.senate.gov
4. Ask them to vote for the CPSIA Regulatory Relief legislation when it comes to the Senate floor, possibly as an amendment to the stimulus package as has been rumored.
5. Get five friends to do steps 1-4.
   
   We need to show strong support of this amendment in order to get the Senate to pass it. To read the specifics of the amendment, go to:
   http://demint.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=JimsJournal.Detail&Blog_ID=295d58b2-b6fe-c446-1432-24b6199424ed
   

We have also made strides in our intiative at change.org. We are in the final stages of teaming with a non profit agency and going forward with our national campaign to save small businesses. There is a new petition that you can sign and send a letter to Congress. To see the petition, go to: http://www.change.org/ideas/4203/view_action/tell_congress_to_save_small_business. Our blog posts have also begun. View these at: http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia .

Thank you again for your support. Our grassroots campaign would never have gotten as far as it has without the support of people like you.

www.handmadetoyalliance.org

"

In addition to this, Etsy posted a similar article yesterday. You can find it at:

http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/message-from-senator-demint-call-your-senators-about-the-cps-3370/


I was going to call, however I decide to try an email first. The senator for Texas is John Cornyn

I went to Contact and sne t an email, I will wait a few days and then call if I do not get any response.

Bye for now,

Patricia