The origins of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act 2008 are played out in videos dating from 2007 as the bill was first introduced in Congress and hashed out with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The CPSIA was passed by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush in August 2008.

However, the true and devastating impact of the CPSIA was not realized by even a small fraction of those who would be affected until November/December 2008. As the effective date of February 10, 2009 drew closer, a handful of individuals began a grassroots effort to bring the need to amend the CPSIA to the attention of lawmakers and into the public eye. A wide range of US businesses that make or sell children's products from cottage handcrafters to thrift stores, libraries to kids' minibikes and ATVs came together to petition the Consumer Product Safety Commission who has since mandated stays of enforcement for the time being.

But, without significant amendment to this over reaching law, come February 10, 2010, we will see the demise of more small businesses, children's educational, homeschool educational, consignment and thrift stores, children's books printed before 1985 in our libararies and cottage handcrafters as a result of cost prohibitive lead testing mandated by the CPSIA.

Twitter's @cmmjaime is blogging about each CPSIA video at http://www.clcandcpsia.blogspot.com

Handcrafted and specialty items make up a vital portion of the US market from apparel to toys. Folks in the handmade industry have long been proponents of child safety and have been the leaders in using organic and nontoxic components.

It's sad to think the very people who had a pulse on child safety will be the ones driven out of business by excessive, often unnecessary and costly lead tests mandated by the CPSIA.

It's also sad to think some of these children's items, made with an extra dose of love, will no longer be available for our kids to enjoy.

Handcrafters featured on etsy.com's YouTube channel. Etsy.com is a platform for handcrafters to sell their goods to a worldwide audience.

Some of these handcrafters make items specifically for children age 12 and under, and will no doubt be affected by the CPSIA.

I have included videos of other handcrafters to show the importance of the handmade cottage industry not only in the United States, but around the globe.