Moms...Love....Faith

This is the year of  babies in our family and of my second grandson, Carson Tiberius Day!!!  What a love and joy he is, healthy and strong!!  My mother will have four great grandchildren by the end of 2012!! Praying that each new birth brings forth a healthy child, even though that has not always been the case.

All babies are not born healthy and strong, but all are loves and joys.  Beautiful, innocent little beings who are received into their families' hearts brimming with so much wonder and amazement, that mothers become tigresses ever so protective of their newborn.   Moms are just like that...so soft, sweet and giving to their love ones, stern when need be. But she this gentle mother will change in a heartbeat to do battle against insurmountable odds to help and protect her child.

This is the experience I have had with the Moms in my family...my gram, my mom, my aunts, my sisters, my daughters and my nieces.  This band of women would take on the world for their children, but even better, these wonderful women would don their battle gear and march into the fray for ALL children.

No mother should ever be told her precious three year old will die by the age of 18, there is nothing you can do...take him home and love him!!  I believe  these to be "fighting words"!

This blog/article is what sparked this blog:
http://blogs.du.edu/today/magazine/saving-seph#share

And this blog from an Angel "sister" about another Angel "sister"
http://www.etsyangelsteam.blogspot.com/

These women, this "Angel Team", show the same fierce determination and love for all children (furbabies included) as they would their own .  These are my sister Angels, of which I am very proud!!!

More about the Etsy Angel Team:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Etsy-Angels-Team/124927387540772

Then, she sighed, believing each moment was proof of her favorite scripture—Jeremiah 29:11.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Crocheted Head Wrap or Calorimetry or Panta

Yesterday, while looking online for a new crochet pattern, I came across a picture of a head wrap. I have never seen one of these. It was really cute. But I soon found out there are not many crochet patterns for a head wrap. So, today, I have tried to make one on my own, seeing in my head how I think one can be crocheted.


Please take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think.

Black Friday Sale

Follow the link to some really great Etsy shops participating in an Online Black Friday Sale. From the comfort of your house, you can shop and not have to fight the crowds!!

Indiesmiles directory of participating shops:
www.indiesmiles.com/directory

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Where Has the Time Gone?

Where has the time gone? My son, my youngest turns eighteen the end of this month and then graduates from high school. In the fall he will go away to college. My youngest daughter turned twenty-one earlier this year and may have one more year of college. My middle daughter will turn twenty-five later this year, she has finished college, grad shcool and is out in the world writing for a weekly newspaper. My oldest daughter turned thirty-six this year, and is the mother of my only grandson who by the way turned sixteen already.

Two of my "big girls", the best friends of my middle daughter, have married, and one of them has a beautiful six month old daughter.

RALLY...UNITE...CRY OUT... REPEAL CPSIA

Today, across our nation, the oceans, the Canadian border, the Mexican border and the airwaves, concerned citizens are rallying, uniting and crying out against the injustice of the CPSIA.



These concerned citizens, in many cases are the makers of handmade childrens' clothes, toy, blankets and so much more. These artists, for that is what they are, will have to stop making their beloved items, if this happens, the world as we know it would cease to exist. There would be no more soft cuddly crocheted blankets to wrap your newborn baby in, no more cute hand sewn little girl dresses or no little boys hand carved toy cars, if the CPSIA is not repealed.



Creating handmade "goodies" for children is a passion, a labor of love, the crafting artist expresses with every stitch, every swipe of the sandpaper, or every strung bead.

Handmade childrens' items are made with love not lead!!

links:

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6013238

http://www.littlecrowtradingpost.com/culturalgenocide.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/running_small_business/archives/2009/01/consumer_produc.html

Trying to Understand CPSIA

I understand the intent of this new law and why it is necessary to have laws to proctect our children. I love our children and want them protected. What I do not understand is how a group of seemingly intelligent people, men and women alike , could write and pass a law that is so broad and vague as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, without realizing the far reaching impact it would have on everyone's lives.

I have crocheted for years. I love to make baby items, among other things!! I sell, donate to charities, or give as gifts what I crochet. I can't wait to make baby gifts for all of my girls babies.

I have always trusted the yarn manufacturers that the yarn I buy is safe to use. The government has guidelines, right? Now, a law is passed that says because I make baby items, they have to be tested for lead and other things, this testing documented, or I will be fined. Where did these manufacturing guidelines go?
Why, if I am using a yarn manufactured or approved for sale, in the United States, does my baby blanket have to be tested for lead and other bad things?

If this law is not repealed, it will cause the extiction of handmade items.

I know a few exemptions have been made public, But, it would be best if this law is repealed and a whole new law is made. If a list of exemptions were made, it would always be being added to as new products became available.

This law came from good intentions, but whoever wrote it, did not think of the magnitude of people and businesses this would affect. The far reaching effects of this law could hurt our nations' economy.

Taking into consideration, the affect on the country, I personally am affected. besides having to stop crocheting for babies and children, I know people who crochet, knit, sew, or make items for children 12 and under. I cried today, when I read that an "angel" friend was going to close her online toy shop because, if fined for making beautiful sewn toys, it would hurt not just her but her family.

Crocheting, knitting sewing, and woodworking are a form of art. They are a culture all of their own. Mothers teach daughters and fathers teach sons the hand crafts. Handmade items have always sybolized as coming from the heart. If this law is not repealed, these art forms will be lost. Unique gifts made from hours of labor, usually labors of love, will become extinct.

To some this is not a big deal, but to those of us who create, either by crocheting, knitting, sewing, or woodworking, this is a huge deal!! Crocheting is what I love to do. I do not have to crochet baby items and give them away or sell them, but this is what I choose to do. I love the look in an expectant mother's eyes when she opens her baby gift of a crocheted blanket or towel set. It is a unique gift and she knows that she and her baby are loved.

The making of handmade crafts have been handed down from generation to generation. I crochet because my mom did, as she crocheted because her mom did. I have items that my grandma crocheted put back for my kids so that they will have a piece of their great grandma when they settle and have a home of their own.

Tonight, I gave a present to my "granddaughter" that was made by another "angel", a beautiful handmade sewn bib. I cannot sew. I had to purchase this bib. If this law is not repealed, I cannot buy my little one anymore handmade gifts. She is only three months old. The thought of only being able to give her "store bought" gifts is unfathomable.

Handmade is love. It is a simple as that. HANDMADE = LOVE

Please help to repeal this terrible law.