The Doodle Schmoodle Project - Day 1

I love to doodle so it seemed fitting, meet and right to join in the Betty's Place Doodle Schmoodle Project. Betty's Place is home to all sorts of kitschy buttons and fandangles and is run by my lovely online pal Chantal of Hotdogandme fame. Every day for a month Chantal will post a doodle page for you to print and fill in with your wandering pen.  This is today's ....

And I began rather cheerily....

And realized that that what I would LIKE to look like but not what I actually feel I look like.  So I did another ...

Now I look like a melon-cauliflower.  The words say 'You have too much hair' and I may or may not have added the two tears for dramatic effect.  I wonder if my default state of being is a bit morose.  No wonder I need so many happy, bouncy bunnies in my life!

All my Doodle Schmoodle Days can be seen HERE

Bunny Trouble: A horrible horrible day...

On Monday morning my husband woke up and stretched.  He pulled up the blind in our bedroom and announced 'The bunnies are out in the road!'  WAHHHHHHHHHH!
Spike was on the front lawn - when I say 'lawn' I mean the little semi-circle of grass by our front door.

I hoofed it down the stairs, into the back garden grabbing the plastic carrier thingy and executed a sharp u-turn whilst grabbing the most favoured bunny treats.  Slowing to a remarkably calm walk, I glided out of the front door and gently place the carrier down on the drive.  Spike boinged into it and was 'hutched' pretty sharpish.  So far so good.

There was no sigh of Nosy.  None at all.  I didn't want to call him because I didn't want my eldest son to hear me calling and to find out that he was missing.  The driveways around we empty, the close we live in was empty.  Nothing.  I started to cry.  My son appeared in the front door, 'Mummy, what's happened' he said in alarm.  I cracked and sobbed 'We can't find Nosy'.  My first born boy let out the deepest, most heart-wrenching noise that I have ever heard coming from deep inside him. We clung to each other, me stroking his head, sobbing that it would be okay, and him gasping  'Bunnies, bunnies, bunnies, I love them, Nosy, Nosy, bunnies', over and over.

My husband had rushed round to the neighbours to ask them to help, to see if they had got a small, grey, very nosy rabbit somewhere about their premises.  By now my head was filled with images of endless fields, hedgerows and hills with a small bunny softy hopping his way to danger in a big wide, wild world.  Spike was sitting silently in the run, not knowing what to do without his brother and soul mate.

Twenty long minutes pass as we silently walk around the driveways and front gardens.

"Look!!" shouted my lovely neighbour, pointing to one of the driveways.  Nosy was sitting right in the middle, with his little one up/one down ears.  Everyone rushed on mass towards him.  "NOOOOOOO!" I shouted, 'STOP!".  Running at rabbits means running rabbits.
I walked slowly towards him and he hopped over and right into the carrier I have put nearby.

This is it - the carrier.  It is just an ordinary affair.  My bunnies love it.  It has nothing in it, no food, nothing, yet they can't wait to get into it.  Why is that?

I have to admit that, there and then, with both bunnies safe, I crumpled into a sobbing ball of mixed anguish and relief, my son wrapped around the curve of my back, crying his eyes out.

My son is 11.  He has 42 soft toy bunnies on his bed.  He has always loved rabbits, and it is because of him that I started to make the sock bunnies.  He is part-boy/part-bunny.  It took us the best part of that day to recover, he and I, just talking over the awful feelings we had had and telling the bunnies over and over how much we loved them.  They had wormed their way out of a small space where the hutch run meets the hutch itself.  From now on, they will be closed into that hutch and I will be bringing forward the construction of their new, escape-proof, fox-proof all singing and dancing new home because I never want my boy to feel that pain again.

Sock Bunny Selling at Winchester Handm@de

 Yesterday we all trollied off to Winchester Handm@de to set up the Movable Meadow to find some very excited bunnies new homes.
I have a new top.  It's a very nice top and I have worn it three times.  It is white and linen.  You know what's going to happen.  First wearing, at a lovely summer party, I slopped red wine down it whilst demonstrating how the 'Bucking Sheep' operator was flicking the controls to buck people off.  Second wearing, bolognaise.  Third wearing, yesterday, coffee, all down the front.  It is now my 'Accident Top'.  So, looking stained, I self-consciously worried that people thought I was scummy .
I met lots of nice people who said they knew me 'online'.  I'm terrible with faces and names so I apologise if I had that blank yet flustered look.  Out of my comfort zone and stained does not make for good, confident first impression giving!
I made some carrots....

The Thnakes got accused of being draft excluders. Can you imagine?!  They were very indignant and started to get a bit rude to some customers.  I had to tell them off and tie a couple of their tongues together to stop them hissing (sorry, hithing) at people.

I bought three Bandit Bunnies from Flora's Hen House ...

 ..and sold lots and lots of sock bunnies.  I had a Tub Trug full, now it is half full.
I was also given a very lovely picture, drawn by a very pretty girl in lovely, summery dress. It was the nicest thing.

Due to lots of bunnies sales Widget got to put quite a lot of money into the Rabbit Welfare Association pot - 10% goes to them.  Lots of people picked up leaflets and I met a very nice lady, with her own bunnies, and we had a long chat about bunniness.

All in all I had fun, the snakes sulked (as usual), my top was dirty (again), I mumbled apologies for not recognizing people and my copious hair got in the way (ho hum)  but lots of sock bunnies round new homes, and that, basically is what it is all about.

Sock Bunny News: The Oregon 12.

The largest number of bunnies from The Warren are living in Alaska, 33 in total have winged their way across the Atlantic to live there.  Second to this are the Oregon Bunnies and we have have just had some news in from them! 

 "It has been a long time since the latest bunny arrived here in Oregon, by the little sillies kept hiding the camera! There are now 12, yes 12, bunnies living here full time, with 2 here temporarily before they head off to a new home. There have been 16 little Sock Bunnies through this house now, and the bunch keeps begging me for more of their friends to come to stay. We shall see... their basket is getting full! 

The bunnies all say hi to you and their friends back in the UK. 

Best wishes overseas!"

I'm sure there is a little more room in that basket!  The Bunny Maker has just add some new bunnies to the shop too today .... Have a little visit to the Widget and Friends Sock Bunny Shop. 

Don't forget that the bunnies are on Etsy too, right here >>> Sock Bunnies on Etsy 

New Sock Things: Thnake Eyeball Key Rings?

 I had a wonderful and unusual custom order the other day.  A snake eyeball keyring.  I had to have a good old think about it (nice glass of Rose etc) as the eyeballs were originally just for sewing onto Thnakes and didn't need to be that robust.  How to attach it securely to the keyring was the issue - so it didn't just pull off, or come undone.

It's solved.  I made an inner ball of white sock and sewed webbing all the way around it, having machine sewed a loop into it first.  With that all secure I wrapped more stuffing around the ball and sewed it inside the rainbow sock fabric.

I'm hoping it will hold up.  Now I'm thinking, perhaps I'll have some in the shop.  What do you think?

Sock Bunny News: We love Cosmos!

I have moved! It took a long time but I now live in Scotland near the sea and it is very beautiful! I love going to the beach and helping to collect stuff, the shells are my favourite, they make great sun hats and sunglasses.

Hope you are all well,

Love,

Little Cosmos Sockbunny XO

CE Testing and the 'The Sock Problem': PART TWO

So, continuing the saga - if you haven't read part one click here.

What do I do now?  Its a very good question and it is not good news really either.

SOLUTION 1
I find a sock I like and try and buy as many pairs as I can.  I then have this sock design tested for compliance with the EN71.  I think this is around £80 (please correct me if I am wrong) each for flammability and heavy metals.
PROBLEM:
If I bought 40 pairs of socks the test would put £2.00 onto the cost of each sock.
When have you ever seen 40 pairs of the same sock in a retail shop anyway?  This means I will have issues with the retailer over why I want these socks and what I am doing with them.
Part of the charm of the bunnies is all the different designs.  The test would have to be done for EACH design of sock costing said amount each time.
SOLUTION:
I could contact the retailer (I use Top Shop and Next socks alot) and ask them about their socks and get them to provide me with documentation.
PROBLEM:
Socks do not need to conform to CE testing standards for toys therefore they will not have been tested and there is no documentation.  I know this because I found a sock factory in China to produce the socks and have them made into bunnies for me but they said they could not guarantee that their socks would pass the EN71 test. This is the same with most sock factories because they have nothing to comply too apart from their own self-imposed standards.
SOLUTION:
Find a factory that does know about their socks and know that they pass the test.

SOLUTION 2:
I have the bunnies mass-produced.  This would change the way I sell them and I would be attending trade fairs to take wholesale orders from retailers.  I have looked into this last year and found a factory who would make them and the CE testing would be done by them.  I would be selling them at a wholesale price and the RRP would have to be a much lower price point than they are already because they lose their handmade appeal.  I needed to get the cost down another £1.00 but the factory could not make their price any lower and it is now on the back-burner.  I also needed to buy 3,000 bunnies as a minimum.  Luckily I have a contact who has a good relationship with the factory and they agreed to produce 3 different designs, 1,000 of each.  It is still a whole loada bunnies.
WHY NOT:
They won't be handmade and there are only three designs.  I don't have the money to pay for 3,000 bunnies.  To make it achievable I would have to have sold a chunk of the bunnies, from working samples, whilst the 3,000 are in production so I know I have money to pay for them.  3,000 bunnies in my garage, unsold, is very, very scary indeed.  I would need to pay around £2500 to attend a trade fair such as Top Drawer.
This ties in with me expanding Widget and Friends too.  I have reached a time when I need to expand 'off the kitchen table' but no retailer will buy my bunnies wholesale because they do not conform with the CE mark and they, themselves, could face a fine for selling them.  Dead end.
The above changes Widget and Friends totally and I am unsure of the appeal of a mass-produced sock bunny - hence the back-burner status.

SOLUTION 3:
I have my own socks manufactured that conform to the EN71 tests.
As it stands I am in talks with a UK sock manufacturer (yay uk!) who is looking into the situation for me. Their minimum is 600 pairs in my design.  That's pretty exciting but still a whole lot of socks/money.
PROBLEM:
They think flammability is a problem as fabrics are usually pretreated and socks aren't.  I still don't have the money for 600 pairs. That's 1200 socks and I use one sock per bunny.  Which design do I choose? I would need THE most appealing design - but which is it?
Even if the socks conform I will still have to have a made up (1200 sewn by me GULP) bunny CE tested and the stitching etc many not stand up to their rhino-pulling techniques.  By nature socks are stretchy and the sewing threads don't stretch as far as the sock fibres - therefore 'riiiiiiip'.

SOLUTION 4:
I start a company supplying EN71 conforming socks to everyone who makes toys from them.
PROBLEM:
Its a great idea but ..... money/knowledge/blahblah and the rest of it.  There are not really enough people out there to buy them to really make much money.

AS IT STANDS:
I should not be selling the sock bunnies at all nor anyone else be selling toys made from socks either for that matter - but because I'm selling small numbers (relative to the volume toy market) it is not a 'remove those from the market now' situation.  The Trading Standards officer said that I must state 'Not for anyone under the age of 14' as a temporary statement whilst I sort out what to do for the long term.  I am now a 'reference number' with Trading Standards which means it is documented that I am selling 'non-conformist bunnies'.  I have had to be removed from one website that was selling the bunnies (amicably of course!) - the rest will follow eventually.  Boooo.

Some interesting reading The Laboratory at The Birmingham Assay Office.

For now ........

CE Testing and 'The Sock Problem' - PART ONE

Its a problem indeed and one that A LOT of you are asking about.  Could this be curtains for the bunnies?  The best way to answer all these things is to do a blog post - otherwise i'm typing the same thing 84 times whenever anyone asks!
I'm going to do a two-parter - otherwise it's too long.

So.  I will mush it all down here - in layman's terms- so don't expect any technical terms - but, who needs those anyway - that's why everyone is confused in the first place!
The following is how I understand it - Please, if I have got it wrong, or you have any other insights, please let me know, I'm still finding out about it all and need all the information I can get.

PART ONE:  SORTING OUT THE INFORMATION

The Sock Bunnies are toys.  I cannot call them 'Collectables'. Well, I can, but it won't hold much truck.  You cannot omit the title 'toy' or get away with refuting the title 'toy' if the item is displayed with, tagged or associated with toys. If you make an item that is appealing to children the it is a 'toy' and needs to be tested. Period.  Listing it under 'Accessories' on Folksy won't do either!

Stating they are 'Not suitable for children under 36 months' doesn't cover it either.  That statement is for toys that have passed the test but may have small parts which come with it.  EG. You make a teddy bear who wears a waistcoat with buttons.  The teddy passes the CE test but to cover themselves the company might choose to state - 'Please remove the waistcoat before giving to children under 36 months.'  Or they can just say 'Not suitable for under 36 months due to small parts).  The crux is that the toy still passed the test.

To sell toys, handmade or otherwise, in the UK they, legally, need to comply to DTI Production Standards UK Toys (safety) Regulations 1995 and  and pass the CE test.  This is changing in 2011 but remains pretty much the same really,

The test is pretty much as follows: Pulling all seams and bits to see if they come off. (Mechanical/physical properties).  Burning it to see if it ..er .. burns (flammawotsit test) and lastly (the problem for socks) testing it for heavy metals in the dyes.

 Hold still Widget!

 Before I carry on I need to interject; You can self-certify your toys.  To do this you need to keep a record of where all the parts of that toy have come from.  Take a photo of the label that came with the toy filling, for example.
Toy filling already complies, so you are off to a good start.
Toy fabric manufacturers tend to test their fabrics so you will be able to get documentation. Keep a record of where you sourced your fabrics from, contact the company to ask them for any documentation showing that it is safe.
A fire test certificate from a fabric manufacturer will not do as flammawotsit can also depend on the shape of the toy.  You will need to have it tested (yup you have to sacrifice a toy up for burning). Ouch!

Widget, that is NOT what I had in mind.  Put that match away!

Now, this is important:  You cannot self-certify a toy made from a sock that you have bought from a retailer - and, come on, Top Shop do have some great designs!
BECAUSE: Socks do not have to conform to any safety standards, even children's socks, because they are just that, socks. Socks are for feet and not for making into things to play with.
The sock bunnies: I can safely say that the stuffing is safe because it says so on the bag.  I cannot, however, safely say that the socks are safe.  Most high-street bought socks are manufactured abroad and the factory/company do not need to comply with toy safety regulations. The socks are probably safe but that is not enough, you need a piece of paper saying so.  Damnations.

Now is a good time to call your local Trading Standards office.  They are astoundingly helpful.  Just google your local council and there will be a link there.  Find the phone number and give them a call.
The one problem I now have is that I have 'A reference number'.  I am documented as selling un-safe rabbit.
THE PROBLEM:  The nice TS officer was relieved to hear that I wasn't shifting thousands of unsafe bunny toys.  He said that it was something I will have to sort out for the long term but for now I need to say 'Not suitable for anyone under the age of 14 years'.  This is a short-term safeguard that will not hold a lot of water in court but is better than nothing whilst I 'sort out what to do'.  The long and short of it is, if I want to sell these bunnies they are going to have to pass the CE test.
 

WHAT CAN I DO NOW?  Read Part two of my CE nightmare

The Rabbit Welfare Assocation.

Today is Bunny Maker's Son Number One's birthday.  It is his fault that all this started, all this bunniness business.  So today, Midsummer, Summer Solstice, the Longest Day of the Year, marks the day when we going to help make lives better for bunnies by donating a percentage of all Widget and Friends bunny sales to the Rabbit Welfare Association.

A rabbit is the third most popular pet in Britain, and one of the most neglected. In 40% of cases of rabbits being given up for re-homing it is after only 6 months of ownership.

"Mummy, can we have a dog?"
"No, it's too much work and I'll end up doing all the walking and cleaning up after it."
"But I want a pet!"
"Okay, we'll get something else instead."
"Can I have a wabbit? I love bunnies, they're soooo cute!"
"Yes, we'll got to the pet store at the weekend, but you will have to promise to look after it, do all the feeding and cleaning..."
"Of course I will, Mummy!"

At the pet store you buy a hutch.  It's not very big but you accept that that is a good size for a rabbit if that is what is for sale.  You also buy a big bag of 'Rabbit Food'.  It's pelleted and has interesting raisony bits in it.  Mmm tasty for my wabbit!  You also buy wood shavings and some hay.  If you had been reading a bit you might also pick up some colourful treats. You spend a lot.  You take a shivering, terrified but cute, fluffy bunny rabbit home in a cardboard carrier.
Back at home you open the carrier and pull out your rabbit for a cuddle.  It wiggles, struggles and tries to escape so you quickly put it into its hutch and shut the door to let it 'get used to it's new home'.

The 'cuddly fluffy bunny' you bought for your child didn't turn out to like being picked up very much and, perhaps, he gave your child a nip as he/she reached in to pull it out from under its hiding place.  Hi hutch needed cleaning every day and a total clean out and disinfection once a week.
"Go and clean the bunny out", was a constant nag.
Because the bunny didn't respond in the assumed manner, and didn't really want to be lifted up, interest soon waned.  The hutch only got cleaned once a week and certainly not disinfected.

The hutch has a small run underneath it, so the bunny could come down the ramp to the grass.  It is tiny.  He is getting bigger and can't stand up on his hind legs without bumping its head.  Two long hops and he's across the length of it.  He's very bored, and cramped.  Sometimes you get him out and put him into a lawn run your bought, but that isn't much taller and he just flops and snoozes in it in the day anyway, so he's obviously not needing anymore space, right?

You feed him pellets and give him extra lettuce and carrots, which he isn't that interested in because you have given him too many pellets and he's full.  He quite enjoys being petted, and will come onto your lap to eat, but he really hates being lifted up.

He also needs jabs of Myxomatosis, and VHD and at 5 months he needs to be neutered.  A female rabbit needs to be spayed - 80% of rabbits who do not have this procedure will die of ovarian cancer.  He needs the jabs every six months.  He also needs to be treated for Fly Strike, every two weeks throughout the summer, and you find that a treatment pack isn't cheap either.  Suddenly you have a burden.

After a while your child grows tired of the bunny.  Yes, he's cute and he will eat lettuce from you hand but the novelty has worn off.  You feel sorry for the poor thing but you really can't, and don't, want to have to feed and clean it every day, after all, you only got it on the condition that your child looked after it.
You are stuck with a rabbit, in a hutch that is too small, eating the wrong type of foods, getting no mental stimulation or company.  His cramped conditions and bad diet could lead to expensive vet bills

You have no choice but to take him to a shelter so someone else can give him a home.

Organizations such as The Rabbit Welfare Association works to improve the lives of domestic rabbits across the UK through education and communication of what a rabbit needs to become a happy, healthy animal and a rewarding pet.
You can join at www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk or help a little buy buying a Widget and Friends bunny, where 10% will be donated directly to the fund.

Please take proper care of us.

The Rabbit Welfare Association

Today is Bunny Maker's Son Number One's birthday.  It is his fault that all this started, all this bunniness business.  So today, Midsummer, Summer Solstice, the Longest Day of the Year, marks the day when we going to help make lives better for bunnies by donating a percentage of all Widget and Friends bunny sales to the Rabbit Welfare Association.

A rabbit is the third most popular pet in Britain, and one of the most neglected. In 40% of cases of rabbits being given up for re-homing it is after only 6 months of ownership.

"Mummy, can we have a dog?"
"No, it's too much work and I'll end up doing all the walking and cleaning up after it."
"But I want a pet!"
"Okay, we'll get something else instead."
"Can I have a wabbit? I love bunnies, they're soooo cute!"
"Yes, we'll got to the pet store at the weekend, but you will have to promise to look after it, do all the feeding and cleaning..."
"Of course I will, Mummy!"

At the pet store you buy a hutch.  It's not very big but you accept that that is a good size for a rabbit if that is what is for sale.  You also buy a big bag of 'Rabbit Food'.  It's pelleted and has interesting raisony bits in it.  You also buy wood shavings and some hay.  If you had been reading a bit you might also pick up some colourful treats. You spend a lot.  You take a shivering, terrified but cute, fluffy bunny rabbit home in a cardboard carrier.
Back at home you open the carrier and pull out your rabbit for a cuddle.  It wiggles, struggles and tries to escape so you quickly put it into its hutch and shut the door to let it 'get used to it's new home'.

The 'cuddly fluffy bunny' you bought for your child didn't turn out to like being picked up very much and, perhaps, he gave your child a nip as he/she reached in to pull it out from under its hiding place.  Hi hutch needed cleaning every day and a total clean out and disinfection once a week.
"Go and clean the bunny out", was a constant nag.
Because the bunny didn't respond in the assumed manner, and didn't really want to be lifted up, interest soon waned.  The hutch only got cleaned once a week and certainly not disinfected.

The hutch has a small run underneath it, so the bunny could come down the ramp to the grass.  It is tiny.  He is getting bigger and can't stand up on his hind legs without bumping its head.  Two long hops and he's across the length of it.  He's very bored, and cramped.  Sometimes you get him out and put him into a lawn run your bought, but that isn't much taller and he just flops and snoozes in it in the day anyway, so he's obviously not needing anymore space, right?

You feed him pellets and give him extra lettuce and carrots, which he isn't that interested in because you have given him too many pellets and he's full.  He quite enjoys being petted, and will come onto your lap to eat, but he really hates being lifted up.

He also needs jabs of Myxomatosis, and VHD and at 5 months he needs to be neutered.  A female rabbit needs to be spayed - 80% of rabbits who do not have this procedure will die of ovarian cancer.  He needs the jabs every six months.  He also needs to be treated for Fly Strike, every two weeks throughout the summer, and you find that a treatment pack isn't cheap either.  Suddenly you have a burden.

After a while your child grows tired of the bunny.  Yes, he's cute and he will eat lettuce from you hand but the novelty has worn off.  You feel sorry for the poor thing but you really can't, and don't, want to have to feed and clean it every day, after all, you only got it on the condition that your child looked after it.
You are stuck with a rabbit, in a hutch that is too small, eating the wrong type of foods, getting no mental stimulation or company.  His cramped conditions and bad diet could lead to expensive vet bills

You have no choice but to take him to a shelter so someone else can give him a home.

Organizations such as The Rabbit Welfare Association works to improve the lives of domestic rabbits across the UK through education and communication of what a rabbit needs to become a happy, healthy animal and a rewarding pet.
You can join at www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk or help a little buy buying a Widget and Friends bunny, where 10% will be donated directly to the fund.

Please take proper care of us.

MYTH: Bunnies are nice and cheap to keep.

In the 2 month I have had my two rabbits I have spent:

Hutch: £200.00

Runs: £300.00 (I had one custom made because I could not find one large enough and bought two of another type to join together for the lawn.?

Jabs: £60

Neutering: £128.00

Carrier for traveling: £30.00

Xenex (for Fly Strike): £17.00

Insurance: £22.00 per month

In 4 months time I will have to repeat their jabs and will have paid £132.00 in insurance. This is on top of hay, litter, willow toys, fresh herbs and greens, dried grasses and other food for them as I have chosen not to pellet feed them.