ooh, ooh, and I want to try and create the stamp too! A contest, kind of like the picture of the week... get your sketches in by such and such a date, post them on the poll, and then have everyone vote! (I can't help it, I'm excited and I love new opportunities!)

There is a poll on LGG to pick testers.

Um... ? *sigh* Why am I always the last to know? Oh yeah... because I'm not on LGG.

I doubt that GC will let us post a poll over here.

I like this idea as I'm a new vendor, however for the "approved for colonies" and such...most of the stuff I make is smaller scale as I not only create for gliders but for other small animals. So if say, I send in a regular sized pouch, a small/medium hammock, and a corner hammock, do I not get a stamp simply because ten gliders can't fit in/on the bedding at once? I definately think there needs to be some guidelines as far as how many pieces you need to send in (minimum 5 or so and each different, etc) and the focus primarily on safety, not on how many gliders can pile on at one time. I also think the stamps should be personalized so that not anyone can simply save the graphic and put it on their site.

Looking forward to more info.

There's always polldaddy. I've always posted polls that way here and never had a problem. It's free and it works really well.

Why? We've had mods posting on here without saying anything...?

Guess we'd better ask the big dogs first, though. You are right! lol. Ellen? KarenE? Anyone?

And I am technically a member of LGG, but there's no way I'm getting on there to vote, haha. I posted once and got attacked... how many? Four times, was it? Anyone on there that kept count? lol You guys scare me!

Danielle....the focus would be strictly on safety.

Shoot....there are alot of pouches out there now made to make the human happy ...the glider's just humor us with them .

Karin

Re: people stealing the 'stamp'

The approval committe can have a list of approved vendors on a website for people to check to make sure the vendor is actually approved, like the BBB. And there could also be a list of vendors who have been found to use the stamp illegally, to prevent people from stealing it. Would there be a way to take action against someone for using it without approval? Like a copyright infringement type deal?

OR... you could just have a website that states which products have been approved. If you don't see the product on that website, it's not approved. You could even set up a button to lead you to the product from the list. But that's just me being a web designer.

Well, only mods and admins can actually post the polls, and I don't know that they would do that as it would then appear that this was a GC sponsored organization. Just going off past 5 years experience. Also, I didn't do the poll or anything, so you'd all have to talk to Guerita about having it done on polldaddy. That is a really good idea though because then it would be central to all boards and you wouldn't have an issue with double voting.

Exactly. It's I.P. blocked after your first poll so, there wouldn't be any doubles and you can even get peoples names/addresses and such for the people that want to participate. I'll PM her and see what she thinks.

Excuse me - I know I'm not going to be very popular for this, but I have already seen names brought up as testers who:

A) Currently make & sell unsafe products

B) Don't know how to sew (sorry Peggy, you know I love you, but it's true)

C) Have JUST barely started making products

If you guys can't identify safe bedding for yourselves, then how can you possibly decide who the best/safest seamstresses are? Seems like any kind of vote would turn into a popularity contest – now how does that result in safe glider bedding?

Really? Who here makes the unsafe products that we've nominated? PM me if you can't tell us here, because I don't want to buy unsafe ones.

haha, well, if you're speaking from the heart I don't blame you, but I think if we use the tier system we'd be able to overcome those setbacks...

Well, I mean... some of the most popular bedding creations come from the best seamstresses on this site. I don't think it'd be much of a challenge really. I mean, Alicia is amazing with her sissy, no one will argue that, Cheryl and Karin both make AMAZING things that are both safe and cute... I don't know that it WILL be that much of a problem.

I myself wouldn't even put myself in the same category as these women and I'm pretty decent, myself. Of course, I'd also never volunteer when I know there are people out there that are better qulified than me.

In short, people shouldn't volunteer just because they want to play with new bedding for free.

EDIT: Also, Gina, you know I love you. I'm just debating in a friendly way. Don't take it personal.

That is one of the mistruths that I am afraid of...

This is who is being voted on over at LGG.

Suz/Sugarglidersuz
Meredith/Glidinforlove
Cindy/Hollysmom
Alden/Valkyriemome
Kris/Babylovegliders
Peggy/Srlb
Val/Something_to_believe_in
Karin
Lynsie
Robin

I am in complete agreeance with you Gina.

Seems like someone isn't in there that maybe should be.



Really? Well, maybe I'm wrong, but I've seen those girls' work and they're all flawless.

Those all sound great to me! Well, I don't recognize one or two names, but the rest sound good! lol But like I said, no way I'm goin' over there to vote! I'll leave it to the, err... wonderful and kind LGG people.

I don't think the idea was to have every vendor listed, or even a large portion of vendors. It is more a group who know what to look for in safe bedding. I know that I don't sew, but it's only because I don't want to put the time into it. I'd rather just buy the items my gliders need. That doesn't mean that I don't know what to look for, especially after buying items for 5 years and seeing the best of the best from vendors like Karin and Alicia. Also, I know that some people were cut from the list because Nicole only had room for 10 people as choices on the poll.

Wow! I go away for a couple hours and suddely there is a whole new page! :o

Amanda, who's missing? I put together the list yesterday and it was names of all the people that were recommended(and agreed to volunteer their time).

Also, how do I set up a poll with polldaddy? Can you give me a link? I'd much rather give EVERYONE the opporunity to vote rather then just people on LGG. That way it's completely fair.

Although, IMO, Karin and Suz should automatically be selected and then we should vote on the additional "Testers" because Karin is the Bedding Guru and Suz is the Glider Guru.

Sari, I like that idea. Maybe stamps could some at different levels? Level 1-passes the safety inspection, level 2-passes the washing machine test, and level 3-passes the glider approval test.

Make that one I don't know... Took me a sec to realize that you put Val's LGG name.

Same here... I know what to look for, but I'd rather leave it more experienced people, just in case. And luckily, I think that list is full of unbiased people, even though all of them have their own stores to promote as well. I suppose they automatically get the stamp of approval?

It's not about who's not on the list, more about who is...

I'm lost. What's wrong with the people on the list??

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. It's not about trying to include every single vendor out there... it's just about finding a few who can give a stamp of approval with authority.
Geez, you don't have to test a dog food on every dog before you send it to a market, do you? No, of course not... you just test it on the ones in cages in the next room... Okay, animal testing rant...

Told you guys I was ADD...

I see both the good (in theory) and bad with this whole idea. Karin...well...her stuff is just the tops. To even consider that she would need any type of "seal of approval" for her Pillow Pouch is just rediculous. Same with Alicia's Sissy's. Same with Gina's SuggleBunny pouches.

Some of the toys being made, well....I see potential problems with some of them and won't buy them because of it but other's don't see the same safty issues I do.

Sending out new items to be "tested"...well...take my custom sized reptariums. These require me to take them apart and resew them. I am not going to spend $80 to resew a custom sized reptarium to send "for free" to someone to be tested. But you are saying that my product would be less than safe or desireable because it wasn't "tested".

To have the suggestion that they be sent to more than one "tester"... What, is Gina supposed to make and send out "for free" three of her snuggle bunny pouches just so she can have some sort of "approval"? I've bought over 30 of her snuggle bunnies and I would trust anything that Gina makes to be safe.

There are many that use fleece that is substandard and it freys or pills. I personally don't use any fleece that is not anti-pill fleece. The other fleece pills and becomes a danger to gliders, regardless how well it is sewn.

For over 10 years now I've top stitched my corner hammocks and the rims of my pouches. I use tiny stitches and have never had a single problem with the stitching. The fleece wears out long before the stitching does. I don't see a problem with this but others would consider it to be less than safe because the stitching IS on the outside of the hammocks.

I've seen many people make fringe out of fleece. Well, depending on which direction the fleece is cut, it can become very stretched out and stringy and potentially dangerous for gliders. Cut the other way is safe.

And then there are those that may be less than honest that will send only their very best to the testers to get that "seal" only to revert back to sub standard sewing practices for the things they actually sell.

I think the "theory" of this is good but I honestly don't think the pratical part of this is good. Basically you are saying who is approved to make/sell and who isn't. I won't be submitting my reptariums to be tested so I suppose I won't be approved.

polldaddy.com is amazing. You just fill out a little info and you're off. It's REALLY easy. I'm sure with a Monster you won't have any problems using it. LOL

I just feel like maybe there should be a poll first to nominate for different categories, and then an email should be sent to the candidates seeing if they would like to participate, THEN have a poll on what should be checked for. I mean, if it's going to be something this important, I think it should be super-thorough.

I'm not knocking what you're doing at all. I love this idea and I would really like to see a stamp of approval too. I just think it's a larger project than it's become. We all have our ideas of who is safe and who isn't because we all use different vendors, but with everyone's opinions together from ALL the boards, I think it'll be a more complete and unbias list. Two people I don't see on that list are Yourself and Cheryl. I think you are both more of the beautifying girls, but I still think everything that you guys make is safe and you both know what is safe and what isn't. I just was saying... you guys aren't even on the list! How is that possible!?

The point is that if someone "approving" other people's creations can't even make their own stuff safe, then why should they be a tester?

I think she's talking about Cheryl. I think she would have been a great tester because she's a FANTASTIC pouch maker!