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!

Off to a good start

We've been busy! Busy creating new designs and products. Busy working with new customers. Busy getting ready for the 2011 season of Fly-In's. If you love aviation like our family does, you probably plan at least a few of your family calendars around Fly-In's.

In our house, that means we check www.flyincalendar.com on a regular basis. This well organized website lists events state by state, month by month. We especially look forward to local Fly-In's like the Cactus Fly-In at Casa Grande Airport (http://cactusflyin.org) at which La Petite Pilot baby bodysuits and tee's for all ages will be available.

So what's your favorite pilot wearing this year? La Petite Pilot aviation-themed apparel has introduced several new designs for children and adults. Here are just a few;













You've just seen a few of our new designs, available on baby bodysuits (onezies), and t-shirts (childrens & adults), and NEW for 2011 - BABY BIBS!!! And we've got so many more colorful designs to offer you and your favorite Flyguy or Skygirl. See us at the Cactus Fly-In March 4 and 5 at the Casa Grande Airport in Casa Grande Arizona.

Dress your pilot in style with La Petite Pilot!

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!

Back in the saddle again

Okay yes I admit, it's been a long time since I've posted to the blog, I'm either just busy or perhaps it's been a bit of laziness, I can't decide which. I'm going to try and post at least once a week, I'm one of those people who needs a deadline to motivate me.

It's been crazy busy here at La Petite Pilot as we wrap up our year. We've added more designs, more clients, and more outlets where our items are sold this year, (including our first International pilot shop in Madrid Spain). We've also upgraded our printing process thanks to a September purchase of an AnaJet Sprint direct-to-garment printer which you can see in action here; (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltqgLsWHR0s&feature=related). While the AnaJet's a big investment, it's also a BIG improvement in our production process and the amount of time needed to process an order. An order that once took me 6 days to process can now be completed in 6 hours - or less!

Of course with new technology came learning a new computer program; for me that is Adobe Photoshop Elements 9, and while I'm not ready to proclaim myself an expert just yet, I'm comfortable saying I'm headed in the right direction.

Continuing to change with the needs of our clients, we've also decided to make a change in our choice of fabric used for the baby bodysuits or creepers we use. From day one we've been printing to a 65% poly/35% cotton blend using inks specifically for polyester, but that's not without its challenges. Thanks to a last minute client's request for T-shirts in addition to baby creepers, we're pleased to say we're making the move to an all cotton inventory. Starting in 2011, our baby creepers will be 100% pre-shrunk cotton! Not only do these garments have a soft feel to them, but cotton tends to be more breathable.

As the year draws to a close, it's important to recognize and give thanks to those who've contributed to our success;

A very special thank you to the most supportive spouse a woman could ever ask for; my husband Keith. For his long hours of helping set up the new printer, to helping me keep my cool when frustration set in, Keith's not just my partner, he's my biggest cheerleader and we just happen to be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary later this week. I couldn't have married a better man!

To my National Distributor, Tom Rubin and the team at AeroPhoenix for their continued support of our products; Thank you for believing in La Petite Pilot and for getting the word out.

To our independent clients in Colorado and Arizona; your support makes the long hours worthwhile. We will continue to endeavor to earn your respect and keep your business.

It's been an amazing year for Chez Lamb LLC and La Petite Pilot. We've met some incredible people along our journey, and we've learned a lot. Here's to even greater successes and blessings in the coming year.

From all of us here at La Petite Pilot,

We wish you every blessing and happiness. Merry Christmas!

Lori

Off my feet with time on my hands

Late last month I had occasion to spend a big block of time just sitting around. I had some long anticipated foot surgery that kept me off my feet just long enough for me to get bored ... which lead to a creative spurt. When you're sitting at home and your darling husband's waiting on you hand and foot (no pun intended) and daytime tv is leaving a lot to be desired, what's a girl to do but come up with some new designs for baby bodysuits and toddler t's?

Two of my newest designs "Crawl, Walk, Fly" and "I'm All About Airplanes" have recently been added to the La Petite Pilot family. In fact, one dozen baby bodysuits and two dozen toddler t's were delivered earlier this week to The Bamboo Airstrip, the delightful pilot shop located at Centennial Airport (KAPA) in Colorado.

Both designs are pictured below and are available in baby bodysuits (sizes 0-3 months, 3-6 months, and 6-12 months) or toddler t's (sizes 2T, 3T, 4T and 5T by special order). In addition to these two designs, La Petite Pilot continues to offer both baby bodysuits and toddler t's in "Just Plane Cute", "Daddy's Little Co-Pilot", and "When I grow up I'm gonna fly Helicopters just like my daddy".

Even though I promote La Petite Pilot as a purveyor of aviation-themed decorated apparel, aviation isn't all I do.

I recently made a baby body suit as a baby shower gift for an expectant mom in our family that said; "I didn't do it. No one saw me do it. I wanna talk to my grandma."

If you're looking for something special for a special someone in your life, drop me a line and lets talk about what La Petite Pilot can do for you.

Thanks for stopping by,

Lori