A Snap Decision, continued

After making the decision to not include the brass triggersnaps in the bags, I was then faced with having to do something with the 100 pieces I had.

I thought of the thrift store and would include the Prop. 65 warning - but for some reason, it just didn't feel right.  I guess if I'm including the warning, then it would be up to the buyer to heed that.  But still - that didn't sit quite right with me to dispose of them like that.
EBay occurred to me and if they shipped out-of-state, I wouldn't have to worry about the warning.  But no, that wasn't sitting well with me either.

My dilemma was not that I agreed or disagreed with California's strict regulations - it was my "soul" that it just didn't feel good.
So I thought I would check with returning them to the manufacturer.

I emailed Peter (the representative that I had been corresponding with about the Prop. 65 warning) and informed him that after giving it consideration, I had decided not to include them on my product.
I said that I was wondering if it was possible to return them for full or partial refund.
I also said that I had high regards for the company's customer support and his very quick responses to my questions and wondered if they had any similar product that didn't require the Prop. 65 warning.

His response came within a day and although we would not be able to return them because we had taken them out of the original packaging, the 2nd part of his email (below) put a smile on my face.  I thought that it might do the same for you.

"I can now make it out of a low lead brass which will be ok for cal but the delivery will be about 3 1/2 months.  Eventually we will be replacing our stock with the low lead but its going to take a year or two as i will need to use up all the items we have."

A Snap Decision

I wanted to add more value to my bags and thought that a key holder would be just the right element.
The "key" to this addition was that it would not add a lot more expense or production time to my bags because I did not want to pass a cost increase to my customers.


I knew that I didn't want plastic, so the web search was on to find an affordable, nice-looking attachment.

Voila! The Brass Triggersnap!

I could not have been more pleased.  I anxiously awaited the shipment of 100 to arrive so I could figure out how they would look in my bags and how I would attach them.

I decided to use the same "braided" t-shirt strips as I used for the button closures and sew it securely in the inside seam.

The box arrived and they were PERFECT!!!

Imitating a person that had discovered a treasure chest of gold, I ran my hands through the bag of brass pieces. I was so happy with the purchase and what it was going to add to my bags!

I pulled out the invoice and quickly glanced at it when something caught my eye -

California Proposition 65 Warning:

WARNING: THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS CHEMICALS KNOWN TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO CAUSE CANCER, OR BIRTH DEFECTS OR OTHER REPRODUCTIVE HARM.

What's that? 

I read it again. And again really slow.

Then I went to the sink and washed my hands.

I handed the invoice to my husband to read and then we both just stared at the box of "treasure".

We discussed what to do next.

The decision was to contact the seller and let them know what use I intended for the snaps and ask them what element of the snaps warranted the California Prop. 65 Warning.

They were very nice and prompt with the answer:

"Hi Christine

Re Cal Prop 65

California put in this law about chemicals and other material used in all items sold in Cal.  One of  the many items listed in the proposition is Lead.  Sand cast brass which was used to make the brass items contains lead that is over the California limited listed in in Proposition 65. All sand cast brass is currently over the limit.  So the majority of brass that you will see on products in Cal are over the Prop 65 limit.  We have been advsie that we should put this statement on ever shipment to California to inform the customer, if this is on your product then the customer has been advised and you are ok.  Hope this helps

You can find more info on Prop 65 on the internet.

We have not had any issues from our other California customers to date."

That's simple enough - all I have to do is add the warning to our product.  That seems easy. Customers are advised. I've full-filled my responsibility.

I'm going to tell my California customers, but should I tell all my customers? 

Should I add a warning on my website?

At this point, I'm not feeling at peace with all of this and the more important questions to me are:

Is this something that I want associated with my product?

Do I feel comfortable knowing that this could cause harm to someone?

Can I attach them in good conscience?

It was not a hard decision to make considering that adding the key holder took away from the original idea of my "recycled" bags and added an element that was not environment-friendly but most important - I was not peaceful passing this item that required a "warning" to any of my customers.

Tee-cycle Bags -- still environmental friendly.

Cheers.

http://www.tee-cycle-bags.com/

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It's mine, mine, mine!

The idea, the product, the business license, filing the fictitous name, getting our tax information, pricing, selling, people interested, sewing, sewing, sewing......it all has happened so fast!
I knew what I wanted to create.  The ideas were going like crazy in my head.  My husband Gene, and I were throwing ideas at each other like snowballs - some hit the target, some went whizzing past and exploaded into little flakes and melted away.
Then he started creating the website.  He was very excited and loves to work with html code.  It brought memories of when he did Visual Basic years before we met.  He jumped in with both feet and was as enthusiastic about that as I was about creating/sewing the bags.
What is really beautiful about the Tee-cycle Bags conception is that Gene completely stands behind my idea. He loves that he has a contibuting part in the business that he enjoys, and shows sincere interest each (and every) time I hold up a finished bag and show him each and every detail of what I put into it.
He started showing me the ideas that he had come up with regarding the web layout.  Some I loved; some were not quite the "vision" I had.
Now comes the delicate part.
How do I tell my wonderful, supportive husband who has been encouraging me, that just maybe "that" design/idea/color wasn't "ME"? I mean after all - wasn't it "me" that actually came up with the original idea? Shouldn't it reflect "me" and "my" personality?
This could be a very intense conversation.
I decided it was best to be honest. And honesty was the best policy because it was handled well on both ends. 
OK, maybe it didn't go quite that easily at first, but after some giving and taking on both sides, we have come to agree that both of us have good input and it's actually a fun activity to be open enough to give each other's ideas a chance.
We've grown a lot in that department in that now we have been able to mesh both our ideas into one good one. And if you know us - you know that was is a huge accomplishment in our relationship -- we can both be so stubborn.
Perhaps that was the reason Tee-cycle Bags came to be -- to teach us both a lesson in giving up a little bit of "me, me, me".
In this season of giving, I can happily sign off by saying, "It's ours, ours, ours!"

Giving thanks.

Thanksgiving Day seems like the perfect time to start a blog about my site Tee-cycle Bags.
The feeling that I get with each bag that I create must be what people experience when they "find their passion". It has brought back memories of Home Ec. (Economics) class in high school and the helpful things that I learned there.  It also brought back memories of sewing a beautiful camel-hair coat with delicate peach-colored lining. Wow! Wonder what happened to that coat? (bummer)
I am extremely thankful to God for re-awakening this skill that I had completely tossed aside.
I am thankful to my daughter Christal, who jumped right on to facebook and created a Tee-cycle Bags page while I was describing the bags to her. Was I really ready for all this? Guess she knew me better than I knew myself.  That was July, 2010.
Moments before this happened, my husband Gene also joined the "jumping in" wagon to support me on this adventure.  I owe him many thanks for the massive support he gives me. He got on GoDaddy and set up the website - http://www.tee-cycle-bags.com/ He maintains it, photographs the recycled tees, the finished bags, helps with cutting patterns and does most of the pre-sewing (overcasting to avoid ravelling).
It would be most difficult to "create" while maintaining all that he does.
How it all came to be:   My other daughter Danielle was unknowingly the inspiration for the first bag. She loves "not your run of the mill" graphic tees. I'm always on the lookout for one that she might like. Since she has worked in coffee houses as a barista, the "Darn Good Day" tee was perfect. However it was too large for her and I knew that she probably wouldn't wear it so I bought it anyway and tried to figure out what to do with it.  I thought of framing it but it would just be another thing to haul around. She's got a "wandering soul".  I don't know exactly how the idea of turning the tee into a bag came to mind, but I found a pattern and "created" a bag from a recycled tee that had made it's home to the local community resource center in Encinitas.
                  "Darn Good Day"

I also want to thank my son Charlie who gives me support in everything that I do!  And his girlfriend Jess who supported me by buying a bag and giving me so much praise. They are awesome!

My son-in-law Michael has been behind me on this venture and thinks it's just great.

My grand-daughters Lill and Paige, both picked out tees to have me make custom "book" bags to carry to school instead of backpacks.  They came up with the idea of making an alternative longer handle for the totes for the book bags. Thanks to both of them and their support.

My sister-in-law Melodie, had me make a custom bag to show to her friends in Colorado.

My brother Billy, in Colorado bought one for his girlfriend and is displaying some in his "artist nook" because he is so excited about them that he wants EVERYONE to know about them.

The Bruneau clan - from Oregon to England - who is forever supportive in all that I do from attempting the Italian "dream" of buying and riding a Vespa (what was I thinking?), to my pink hair, to Tee-cycle Bags - Thanks AGAIN.

And last but certainly not least - are thanks to my friends who have massively supported this adventure from the first bag that I showed them!  They have bought bags, promoted them to their friends and just been so super from the begining!  I love them all.

I have so much to be thankful for on this

Thanksgiving Day, 2010.

Cheers.