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StoryBlox
25 June 2009 @ 01:07 pm
Find us on Twitter  

We've done a very bad job of keeping our fans and customers updated, and I feel horrible about it.  We're a very small operation and most everything that has to be done is done by me, and I don't find the energy to write blog posts or send out newsletters as often as I'd like to. 

So, I started a twitter feed a while back, and it seems to be working pretty well.  It's much easier to send a one-liner update than it is to log in and write a blog post, or create a newsletter.

So, if you would like to keep up with our latest, your best bet is to follow our tweets here: http://twitter.com/StoryBlox

Since I'm doing our updates on Twitter now, for the most part, I'm going to try to use this blog for more interesting things.  Sometime in the next week or so I'm going to start with a list of (imho) the 10 most essential toys in any childhood.
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StoryBlox
16 March 2009 @ 08:09 pm
Easter Line/Twitter/CPSIA Stuffs  
Easter Egg Spin ToysHappy Easter!!

I've been so busy working on getting our Easter line listed that I completely forgot to come back and post when we made our decision regarding CPSIA legislation and our listings.

Our Easter Line for this year includes everything from bright colored dice and yo-yos to bunny crayons, crayon egg cartons and tri-color easter egg spin toys.  These can be found on our etsy shop in the holiday section.

CPSIA Update:

Since we have 3rd party verification/certification on all of the products we use in the manufacture of our toys, we know that we are able to meet or exceed the requirements in the new CPSIA legislation.  Also, because our paints are certified "lead-free" by our supplier we do not believe we fall under the requirements of the lead-paint testing rule, as it is written in the legislation.  So we will be able to continue selling our toys, at least until the expanded rules and labeling laws go into affect in August and/or the new testing requirements go into effect at the end of the year.  For that reason we have relisted all of our products on our Etsy shop (which is our main shop while our sales site is under renovation).  Our toys (including the painted toys) were relisted after our previous update, I just forgot to blog about it to let everyone know (oops).

New Ways to Follow StoryBlox:

Since I'm pretty bad about remembering to update this blog, send out newsletters, or update our website, I'm trying a couple of new things.  StoryBlox now has a Facebook Page as well as  Twitter Stream.  I will do my best to keep both as up to date as possible. 


Flickr Account Gone:
On another note, our Flickr account was deleted, for reasons that will likely forever remain unknown, so our apologies that the images on the rest of this blog are now broken.  We will do our best not to use 3rd party hosted images in the future.


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StoryBlox
11 February 2009 @ 07:50 am
Painted products under the new CPSIA laws  
In the days leading up to the new CPSIA law going into affect the interpretation of some of those laws has still been hotly debated.

It is still unclear, in our minds, whether paints that have already been certified as lead-free (as all of the paints we use have been from the beginning) fall under the section of the CPSIA law which requires 3rd party testing to ensure painted items meet the new "Lead Paint" limits.

There has been a stay announced allowing an extra year without required 3rd party testing for most items. This stay does not apply to items falling under the 'lead paint' category, and as such we are still unclear whether our painted toys fall under this stay or not.

Accordingly, we have removed all painted toys intended primarily for children under 12 from our main storefront for the time being. Once we have satisfied ourselves that we're safe to relist them under the new regulations we will do so.

In the meantime, if you would like to purchase one of our painted toys, and intend it for use for a child over 12 or an adult, please contact and we'll list the item privately for you.

As a side note, we have determined that all of our other items, including the recycled crayons, DO fall under the new stay, so they are relisted as of this morning. We are confident that none of the products we sell contain phthalates or lead.
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StoryBlox
05 February 2009 @ 02:30 am
Recycled Crayons Sticking Around...?  
The CPSC has granted a one year stay of testing and certification requirements for certain products under the new CPSIA regulations. This means that products will still have to meet the new requirements, but the expensive third-party testing we mentioned in our last post will not yet be required.

Since we're sure that our products are safe, I believe this means we may be able to continue selling our products (including the recycled crayons) after the February 10 deadline mentioned before. We will still have to look into this a bit further, but I believe we will decide to continue selling most if not all of our products at least through the end of the year.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09115.html

There is also new proposed legislation being put forward on this issue, that may help us futher -- I'll post again as I learn more.
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StoryBlox
12 January 2009 @ 12:06 am
More Info on CPSIA - What you can do, etc.  

It just dawned on me that while I posted information on how the new CPSIA legislation will affect us, I forgot to put a link to more information about the legislation itself.  Since new information becomes available day by day, and since the actual bill itself is like reading Greek, I'm going to link for the information page for one of our favorite blogs, Cool Mom Picks.

Clicking on the cute little handmade bear to the right will take you to the page that our friends at CMP have put together with more information about what CPSIA is, what it will change, who it will affect, and how you can get involved. 

Please consider getting involved if you haven't already.  This bill, if left unchanged, will cripple the local and handmade toy industry and will force thrift shops to either shut their doors or stop selling anything for children; IMO without making any significant change in the safety of the toys on our shelves.  The only toys we'll be left with are cookie cutter toys, made almost exclusively overseas by mass manufacturers, who can afford the expensive testing because of the huge number of toys they're turning out -- that and those never cared enough about toy safety to make safe products in the first place, and who will probably still ignore this law like they did the ones that were previously in place.

 		Save Handmade Toys


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StoryBlox
07 January 2009 @ 12:32 pm
How CPSIA will affect StoryBlox - Recycled Crayons Discount  
In February, new CPSIA legislation will go into affect that will force us to either shut down our business, or restructure.  The new legislation does not require any safety standards that our products do not ALREADY meet.  However, the new legislation does require expensive testing that we cannot afford on most products, and is impossible on others.

Under the new law, we would be required to test every single product -- since our products are handmade, no two are alike, and the majority of our sales are for toys that are customized for each order.  This testing is very expensive (I've heard quotes from $400-$4000 per toy) and would only be economical if we switched to manufacturing toys in quantity (probably overseas) so that we could test one product and sell 1000 identical products to make up the cost of testing.

Since we have absolutely no interest in mass-manufacturing our toys overseas, and even if we did we would not have time to arrange this,  we will be forced to restructure or close our business.
  • In February,
    • At this time we may be able to self-certify our products as meeting the new requirements - if we find means to test that we believe meet these new requirements, we will make every effort to keep most of our products in stock between February and August. 
    • Recycled Crayons - though all of the crayons we use have always met the ASTM-D standards, I cannot think of a means to test each and every batch of crayons that we melt down to recycle.  For this reason, I believe we will be forced to stop selling any recycled crayons as of February 10, 2009.
  • In August, if the legislation has not been changed, we will be forced to stop production of any toy for children 12 and under.  At this point we will either close our business, or we will restructure and continue selling promotional products only. 
So, in light of this, we will be offering a 10% discount on all recycled crayons this month (just put CPSIA in the notes and wait for an updated invoice).  If you have been looking at our crayons, you'll want to purchase now, as we will no longer be listing these after February 9.  I'll be adding more crayons over the next couple of days, as well as listing our Easter crayons early for anyone that's wanting to buy this year.

Check our shop for the crayons currently available.
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Current Mood: frustrated
 
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StoryBlox
18 March 2008 @ 07:17 pm
Announcement: Crayon Recycling Program  
We've finally worked out the details, and you can consider this the official kick-off for our crayon recycling program.  We're always in need of new crayons, please feel free to share this with everyone you know :)

5% Off per Pound of Crayons Received (25% Max Discount1)
on Your Next Order of Up to $2002

This means that for each pound of crayons you send to us, you can take 5% off of your next order. We will round your shipment up to the nearest pound, so if you send a handful, you'll still get a 5% discount, if you send 2.5 lbs you'll get a 15% discount. Discounts will apply to your next order of up to $2002, and the maximum discount you can receive is 25%1.  This discount cannot be combined with any other special offers, and must be used within a year of receipt of the crayons.

Crayons can be sent to:
StoryBlox™ Crayon Recycling Program
c/o Customized Data Solutions
P O Box 27
New Vienna, OH 45159
Be sure to include your name, organization name (if applicable), and a number and/or email address you can be reached at so that we can contact you to verify receipt. Crayons sent can be any brand, size, shape, color, or condition. Dirty, broken, labels, no labels... we'll take whatever you have and sort it out later.

1. Special exceptions may be made to the 25% max discount or schools, churches, and other educational organizations. If your organization has more than 5 lbs worth of crayons to send in, please contact us through our website, here, before shipping if you'd like to discuss this possibility.
2. Depending on what you're ordering, orders over $200 may qualify for a wholesale discount, which would probably be better than the recycling discount.  If you place an order of this size after sending your crayons, you can use the discount on your next order under $200, as long as it's used within a year.
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StoryBlox
13 March 2008 @ 07:46 pm
2008 Easter Product Line  

We've been too busy around here to announce anything for quite some time, but I figured I'd add a quick update before our Easter products are all gone. most of our products for Easter have sold already, but we still have Easter egg spin toys, yo-yo's, and several other items available.

 
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StoryBlox
21 September 2007 @ 03:07 pm
Crayon Recycling Program - Coming Soon!  
As you know, StoryBlox makes a lot of recycled crayons, and this requires keeping a lot of used crayons on hand.  Up to now, we've collected crayons from family, friends, and local organizations.  We've long been thinking of doing a crayon recycling program, but since crayons tend to be heavy, and most of our customers are spread out geographically, we hadn't figured out a good way to implement one.

Since we're starting to do more local shows, though, we'll have more opportunity to make this work.  We will be announcing the program in our next newsletter (in the next couple of days, hopefully). 

For large organizations (schools, churches, etc), we will be probably be paying (in product), for crayons by the pound.  For individuals, we are considering discounts or a free spin toy.

I will post full details about the program as soon as they're worked out.  In the meantime, if you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to share :)
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StoryBlox
12 September 2007 @ 12:30 am
** ON VACATION THRU September 18, 2007 **  

StoryBlox staff is on vacation through September 18th.  Our various shops are still taking orders, but nothing will be made or shipped until after the 18th.  

We will be sending out a newletter shortly after our return, to announce a couple of new products and an upcoming sale, so keep an eye out for it.  If you would like to be added to our newsletter, just send an email to storyblox_list-subscribe@mycustomdata.com 

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StoryBlox
02 July 2007 @ 07:17 pm
Offinger's - August 18-19 - Booth 404 - Columbus, OH  

This is the show I'm supposed to do in August, I think I'm nuts.

Offinger's Handcrafted Marketplace - it's a craft fair exclusively for wholesale buyers (every buyer that comes to the show has to be registered and approved). This is where many of the area mom & pop retailers come to stock their stores. EEP!

If you run a store in the area, and want to come check it out, let me know and I can send you a postcard that gets you free parking.

If you're already registered, we'll be in booth 404.

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Current Mood: anxious
 
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StoryBlox
13 June 2007 @ 02:59 pm
Advertising Opportunity  
As always, if you have a great educational product, your children make and sell items online, you write a kid/parent oriented blog, or you have a store that sells educational items, we will place a link for you, for free, on one or more of our links lists, here.

We are also, however, now allowing a *limited number* of banner ads on the bottom of our sales pages. These ads are 468x60 and are rotated randomly. Current ads get about 1000/1200 impressions per month, and our click through rates can reach up to 12% for good banners (this varies based on the appeal of the banner).

We're offering these banner ads at a low cost to anyone who meets our requirements. If you would like one, mention this blog post when you contact us and we'll give you a 20% discount.


For cost, requirements, and more information, please see our main info page, here:
http://storyblox.com/venture/advertise_with_us.php
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StoryBlox
26 May 2007 @ 07:31 pm
Limited eBay Listings  
After a long break from listing StoryBlox™ items on ebay, I've decided to list some again. I will probably keep CRAYO-Names listed on a fairly regular basis, and list some other items here and there.

If you're looking for a good deal keep an eye out for auctions.

My eBay listings can be seen here.
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StoryBlox
03 May 2007 @ 06:56 pm
Crayons Galore  

I spent most of last night working on crayons, I'll be listing some new shapes on both the Etsy shop as well as the main store. Click on the picture to see the flickr notes.

I will be taking most of these to a local flea market I'm planning on setting up at this weekend, but I can always make more if I run out :).

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Current Mood: tired
 
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StoryBlox
23 April 2007 @ 05:05 pm
Etsy Blog Mention  

StoryBlox™ was mentioned on the Etsy blog today. You can check out the article here.



Thanks to Vanessa for contacting me about the Oprah opportunity, and for the write-up.

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Current Mood: happy
Current Music: new mix cd
 
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StoryBlox
18 April 2007 @ 12:37 am
Birth Announcement Blox  

Finally!

I've had these in the works for months and just recently got the prototypes done and finally managed to get some decent photos. These are available in the etsy shop right now and will be added to our main catalog shortly.

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StoryBlox
17 April 2007 @ 03:23 pm
Spring 20/20 Sale  

I just sent a newsletter with this information, so if you're already on the mailing list this will be redundant. I figured I'd post it here as well for those that aren't.

I'm announcing a rarity for StoryBlox™ -- a huge sale!

Save 20% on any orders of $20 or more this spring at StoryBlox™! Just use the code "Spring2020" when you check out from our main site. This offer is good through the end of May.

This discount will also be good on our Etsy shop, to use it there, please enter it in the notes when you check out and wait for an updated invoice before paying.

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StoryBlox
11 April 2007 @ 02:00 pm
Update: Oprah's sticking with cleaning products  
Oprah's people decided to go with eco-friendly cleaning products for the show, so no StoryBlox™ crayons. Now I have an upcoming week in which I don't have to mold 1200 crayons, so I'll have no excuse if I dont' get a lot of other stuff done :)
 
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StoryBlox
10 April 2007 @ 04:21 pm
Recycled Crayons on Oprah!?  

I just sent off a package to the Oprah Winfrey show! I got a message yesterday afternoon from an admin at Etsy asking if I could make 400 crayons to be shipped by today.

After a few phone calls it came down to needing to send samples for a meeting they're having tomorrow. If they decide to use the crayons, I'll need to make 400 sample packs and ship them out for the taping next Wednesday.

I'm currently collecting broken crayons by the pounds, if you live nearby and have any laying around lol

 
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StoryBlox
21 March 2007 @ 02:41 pm
Easter Eggs and Newsletters  
I've been out of commission for way too long...

My arms are finally starting to cooperate on a halfway regular basis, and I've managed to get some new products done for Easter, albeit a bit late.

I'm hoping to get them listed tomorrow, and then I'm hoping to get a newsletter sent out as well. It's been far too long.

I'll put up pictures as soon as I get them ready to list.
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Current Mood: tired
 
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