What's new

It seems that an old and very unpopular notion about women who stay at home is still floating around; that being - that they "don't work". Personally, I don't know of any stay-at-home woman who doesn't work. Whether she's a wife, mother, or a single woman who's done her time in corporate America, I don't know of a single woman who stays home all day swilling champagne and popping bon-bons into her mouth. Not that I might not consider it if someone would kindly do all my shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, organizing and driving people wherever they need to be. And of course, they'll need to work my home-based business.

Being self-employed isn't being unemployed. In fact, I'd argue that as the owner of a home-based business, I probably spend more time working than I did when I commuted 45 minutes to an office where I typically put in 10 hrs a day. On any given evening I'm in front of my laptop working on new designs, improving existing designs, improving my understanding of Photoshop Elements (that's a biggie), blogging, social networking (including tweeting and reading business tweets), researching avenues for greater business exposure, and networking. Anyone who thinks all of that doesn't take time, well, come spend a day with me and see.

So just how have I been spending the past several weeks when I'm not actually making t-shirts and/or onesies? Funny you asked. Just take a look for yourself. And if you happen to see something you like, email me or comment in this blog and let me know. I'm always happy to welcome a new customer to the business.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and check out what's new with La Petite Pilot. Come back soon!

Promises, promises, promises

Okay I'm busted. I promised to post at least once a week. Well what I actually said was that I'd try. But you know how it is, life happens ... and the best laid plans seldom work out as planned.

Take last week for example; I'd wrapped up my last order of the year, and even printed up a couple of Christmas gifts for family friends. My husband had surprised me with an overnight visit to a local resort/spa to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary and I'd managed to enjoy a relatively quiet celebration of my birthday (no, I'm not tellin what number, you can forget that). It was finally time to close my office door and shut down for the Christmas/New Year holiday, it was time to relax and ease out of 2010.

I was even looking forward to a little hit -n- run trip to Texas to visit my BFF when our world got turned upside down by a health crisis for my much loved mother-in-law. After a brief hospital stay she's back on her feet, and is staying at our house for a few days while husband Keith travels to Hong Kong. Ya know, there's just nothing like a family health crisis to make you appreciate your own health, not to mention whatever time you may be blessed to spend with those you love.

It's now 5 days before Christmas. The gifts are wrapped, the stockings are hung, the tree is lit, the manger scene is in place on the mantle, and all the ingredients for the dozens of Christmas cookies I'd planned to bake are sitting in the kitchen. If only I could muster up the energy to actually mix it all up and bake those cookies! It's not as if I haven't tried, I've even managed to put out a couple dozen cookies. Just not the dozens I'd envisioned when I shopped for the mountain of "essentials" two weeks ago. Ah well, there's still time, right?

Well in between cookie recipe's I've been thinking about new products for 2011, and I'm thinking bibs. Baby bibs go with onezies like peanut butter goes with jelly ... they're made for each other. I've found a manufacturer here in the US that produces a nice quality white cotton/terry bib trimmed in colorful fabric piping. They stand up well to color and heat setting, and they wash up really well, something that's probably most important to busy parents.

In addition to the bibs, La Petite Pilot will introduce new t-shirts for toddlers, teens and adults. Our new designs are fun, colorful, sometimes a little irreverant, maybe even border-line suggestive. They get people talking, that's all I know for sure.

And in January, Keith and I will attend both the 2011 Gift Mart, where I hope to meet gift shop buyers from all over the world, as well as ISS, the International Sportswear Show. ISS is the biggest tradeshow out there for our kind of business. We're both so excited to be able to attend this important tradeshow where we look forward to meeting vendors and other decorated apparel producers alike.

The future looks bright and exciting, and La Petite Pilot is poised for even greater success. Stay tuned for more design and product news, as well as new photos! Until then, may your holidays be filled with the laughter and love of friends and family.

From our house to yours,

A Very Merry Christmas!