Happy birthday to Sky Pie Apparel!!!

Today marks our One Year Anniversary!!!

They say that most businesses don’t last more than their first year, so I’m happy and proud to say we are still in business! We lasted longer than Kim Kardashian’s marriage! (Sorry. We love you Kim!)

Starting any company is filled with ups and downs, excitement and slow times, happiness and times you wonder why you didn’t use all your money to buy a year’s supply of Twinkies, but I definitely feel like our first year was a success!

With the launch of Sky Pie Apparel, I was trying to do something fun and something that could make a difference.

One year ago today, I launched the website which is our main way of being accessible to the public. Shortly after that we were able to sponsor the Hope in the City fashion show. This year had our First Annual Spring Launch Sky Pie and Tee Party which was a delight. We were able to add new shirts, especially for the Men. Also, we had our first photo shoot which gave us stunning photos for the website.

I’m even more excited about what the future holds! I have a ton of more fun ideas! We have just started pre-ordering a hilarious, new shirt which you get a discount on for pre-ordering. (For more info on that, talk to me or sign up on the website for our email news letter.)

I want to personally thank everyone of you who helped us in some way. Whether it was helping with the website or photos, buying a shirt, liking us on Facebook, or just saying, “that’s cool” when you heard my ideas. I’m glad we launched right around Thanksgiving. It really helps me to keep things in perspective and be thankful. I couldn’t do this without you guys!

As well as Thanksgiving, I find it kind of ironic that our one year anniversary falls on the new “Cyber Monday” (the equivalent of Black Friday for the internet). Christmas is coming up and you can buy a Sky Pie shirt for a loved one right from the comfort of your own home! We need your support! Not only that, but you can tell them part of the proceeds went to stop human trafficking as well! Go now!

We hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, we are thankful for our One Year Anniversary, and we hope that we will be able to serve you for many more years to come!!

Skyler Payne
Creator

Thanksgiving

Another Good Year

We thank you, Lord, for food and friends
And for all of the joy this holiday lends;
It’s Thanksgiving Day and we can see
The blessings you’ve provided our family.
Thanks to you, Lord, for another good year;
When you watch over us, there’s nothing to fear.

By Karl Fuchs

T-shirt Flow Chart

I thought our friends would enjoy this. Not exactly sure where it originated, but thank you whoever you are!!! Click on the pic to make it bigger!

What's New, Suzy Q?

There is more new with our website and products than meets the eye!

The most obvious is our new shirt designs. The Tough Respect design shows people you aren’t joking around when it comes to respecting women and others. Respect is what people should have and you’re there to say it! It is in a women’s fitted shirt in Paratrooper Green and a Unisex shirt in Airstrike Green.

The Unisex Keeper shirt says that you are a keeper but you are hard to catch! It is available in Storm Cloud Gray and Texas Sunset Orange. These shirts have the logo stylishly displayed on the sleeve.

Also new, Unisex shirts!! For men and women! Men, you’ve been asking for shirts and these are wonderfully fit for a man. Women, you have been asking for shirts that aren’t too snug and these are perfect for you!

Sizes!! Most of our shirts are now available in 2XL or even 3XL sizes!

New colors! The Women’s Keeper is now also available in a beautiful Twilight Purple!
A lot of people requested green. We have two different shades in the Tough Respect shirt: Paratrooper Green and Airstrike Green!

Come see what’s new! Our summer sale is almost over!

www.SkyPieApparel.com

UPDATE!!!

It’s finally here!! We’ve had our first official Sky Pie photo shoot and we’ve updated the website!!!

See all of our shirts in living color!

To celebrate we are having a SUMMER SALE!! All our shirts, including the new ones, are on sale for a very limited time, so snatch some up now before they go back to regular price!! Every shirt is now $20 and part of that money goes to stop human trafficking!

SkyPieApparel.com

Let us know what you think!!

True Independence and Freedom!

Hi there! I hope you had a wonderful weekend celebrating our nations independence! (Or just enjoying life for those fans not in this country.) I had an amazing Fourth of July weekend. One that started as possibly one of the toughest in my life and ended as one of the best!

Sky Pie Apparel’s tagline is “Clothing that Gives Life”. I was so encouraged by this weekend and found it so life giving, that I am willing to allow you to peer into a nice sized window of my soul. I don’t know what your background or beliefs are, but I hope it blesses you no matter where you are on your journey.

If you’ve ever found yourself frustrated with life, or striving for the approval of others, or just wondering what it’s all about, take a gander at the Note I wrote:
FREEDOM!

1st Annual Spring Launch Sky Pie and Tee Party!!!

Thank you so much to those who came out to support the 1st Annual Spring Launch Sky Pie and Tee Party!!! What a great success!
There were a lot of laughs to be had and delicious food with more pie than you could toss at the faces of the Ringling Brothers' clowns!

Sky Pie revealed their new spring shirts: a tough looking “Respect Women” shirt in a unisex straight shape for men and women in Air Strike Green as well as in a women’s fitted Paratrooper Green



A unisex version of “I’m a Keeper but can you Catch Me?” in Storm Cloud Gray and Texas Sunset Orange

And the women’s fitted “Keeper” shirt in Twilight Purple.

These shirts will be available on the website soon! The women’s fitted Paratrooper Green “Respect” shirt was a huge hit and many took advantage of the special pricing at the party. See an awesome pic of it on Sky Monkey April on the Facebook page!

Shirley Till was at the party sharing information about Nightlight International, an organization that helps stop human trafficking. Part of the party’s proceeds and sales of Sky Pie Apparel merchandise in general goes to Nightlight in hopes that we can rid the world of human slavery!

A special congratulations goes to the winners of the raffle: Dany Paragouteva (Sweet tea and fun travel cup and straw), Laura Pinho (Special gift bag), April Vanderwal (Special gift bag), and Amanda Sackett (Sky Pie shirt of her choice)!




Thank you again to everyone who helped make the 1st Annual Spring Launch Sky Pie and Tee Party a success! A special thank you to everyone who brought great food and an extra special thank you to Sky Monkey Laura P for helping work the booth!

To see more pics of the festivities Click Here !

1st Annual Spring Launch Sky Pie and Tee Party!!!

You are invited!!

Saturday, May 14th, 2011
11:00AM - 2:00PM

Ten reasons you should come:

1. See brand new, original, limited shirts!! Our new unisex shirts for men and women!
2. Get over 40% off every shirt!
3. A portion of your proceeds go to charity!
4. Hear from Nightlight International about how we can stop human trafficking!
5. Eat delicious pie!
6. Get an additional $1 off any purchase if you bring a dessert or hors d'oeuvres!
7. Drink yummy tea! Hot or iced! Sweet or Non!
8. Hear plans for the future and have say in what Sky Pie Apparel produces!
9. Possibly win a raffle!
10. Make new friends! Meet other Sky Monkeys!


Sky Casa
2149 W. 81st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90047
(plenty of safe, convenient parking)


Please R.S.V.P. if possible

Desserts and tea will be served.
If you desire to buy merchandise, please bring cash or check.

Thank you!!

We truly hope to see you!

FLESH

It boggles my mind to think of how blessed we are to live in America: to enjoy a walk in the park on a sunny afternoon, take a nice country drive, or eat ice cream while watching Seinfeld reruns. Even more so, it amazes me how we can be so cushioned by these nice things that we don’t realize that others have incredibly harder lives which are filled with atrocities.

Sure, we think someone “over there” in a foreign country is hungry or in the midst of war, which is horrible, but we don’t often think of the word “atrocities” being used for dealings in our neighborhood, on our own street, or maybe even right next door.

A personal friend of mine, Kristin Ross Lauterbach, has created a documentary called FLESH: Bought and Sold in the U.S. which looks at human trafficking and prostitution. Did you know the average age a young girl is forced into prostitution is twelve to fourteen? And that is in the U.S.! The time these young girls should be enjoying life, school dances, and spending time with friends.

FLESH calls into question our definitions of slavery, human trafficking, and prostitution in the United States. This is a story told by girls who have escaped and by those still enslaved, by former and current pimps, the abolitionists of today, including numerous directors of non-profit organizations, a former U.S. Ambassador, LAPD vice, and the L.A. City Task Force on Human Trafficking.

One of the non-profit organizations is Nightlight International which part of Sky Pie Apparel proceeds go to.

The film is showing at Awareness Film Festival on Saturday, May 7th, at 9PM. For more information and to buy tickets go to: Heal One World

Spring has Sprung!

It's that time of year when I start kicking off my down comforter in the middle of the night and give up my flannel pj's for underroos and a comfy tee. It's spring!

And to celebrate this wonderful time of year we are gearing up for the
1st Annual Spring Sky Pie and Tee Party!!

It'll be a wonderful time of eating pie, drinking tea, and seeing our new unisex shirts for men and women!

We are working out the details now and want your feedback and help. What would you like to see and do at this party? Let us know! Anything that comes to mind, smallest detail to the most outlandish idea!

Leave comments here or on our Facebook! www.facebook.com/SkyPieApparel

Hope In The City Fashion Show

Thank you to everyone who helped to make the Hope in the City fashion show a smashing success! Hundreds of people showed up to enjoy to live music, art, dance, and, of course, fashion! Not to mention we raised a woman’s hoop skirt full of money to support the wonderful Downtown Women’s Center charity!

Congrats to those people who won Sky Pie Apparel designer shirts! If you get the chance we’d love to hear from you!

For more pics go to our Facebook page! www.facebook.com/SkyPieApparel

Hope In The City

Sky Pie Apparel will be joining the “Hope In The City” fashion show and will be a proud sponsor on March 14th at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles!!!

Hope In The City is the premiere charity fashion event and community for the city of Los Angeles. Organized by Mosaic, Hope In The City creates a space for fashion designers, fashion enthusiasts, models, hair & make-up artists, photographers, and all to come together and use their unique gifts to serve the city and connect with one another to build a community of hope.

Proceeds from the event will be going to the Downtown Women’s Center.

The mission of the Downtown Women’s Center is to provide permanent supportive housing and a safe and healthy community fostering dignity, respect, and personal stability, and to advocate ending homelessness for women.

Sky Pie will be donating some of their limited shirts to help benefit this cause. Come on over and have a great time with us! For more info go to www.Hopeinthecity.info

Where are the men? Where are the men's shirts?

Who in your life would you consider to be a real man? What are the characteristics of a real man?

I’ve found that often a woman is attracted to a man by how he makes her feel. If she feels excited, loved, or safe around him, there is a good chance she will feel attraction. These are great emotions, but can be very deceptive. We’ve all known the woman who was deeply in love with someone we could obviously see was going to be bad for her and end up in heartache.

What is your definition of a real man? For me, the definition is someone who does the right thing at the right time. “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.” Everyone is going to make mistakes but is he going to be there when the times get tough? Does he treat the people around him, especially his family, with respect even when he doesn’t feel like it? How does he treat the waitress that waits on you?

Look at the men in your life. Do they match up with what it means to be a man or are you “in love” and hope that he’ll change for the better?

I was excited and a little pleasantly surprised when we first opened our doors not too long ago and I got an email from a man wondering if we had men’s shirts, specifically the “Respect Women” shirt. (At this time we just have women’s.)

Shortly after that, one female customer said she wore her Respect shirt in the mall. She was only there 30 minutes, but within those thirty minutes, she received two compliments… and both of them were from men!

I’m happy to say we do have men’s shirts on the way, so think about who in your life might like one. They are in manly colors “Paratrooper Green” , “Texas Sunset”, and “Storm Cloud Gray”.

A good man is hard to find, but it looks like they’re out there!

Time for a Change

Today is #1! (Holding a foam hand #1) Today is #1! Today is 1-1-11!! Happy New Year!!

I love New Year’s. What a great time to reflect, plan out goals, and think of how you can change for the better. It’s so fresh and nice, especially when it’s normally so hard to change. You can see how hard by checking out how crowded a gym is in January versus how less crowded it is just two months later.

Sky Pie Apparel is all about change. We want to change the world in a positive way and strongly support anyone trying to make a change for the better.

But what about the people, other than ourselves, we want, or even NEED, to change?

Someone very close to me is going through a trial separation from her husband. Being the typical “deadbeat dad” he is financially irresponsible (buying a $500 gun when he says he doesn’t have money to buy groceries), unsupportive (coming home late in the night and sleeping most of the day when not at work), and emotionally abusive (making her feel like thing’s are her fault). It got so stressful, she had to leave.

Since she has left, he hasn’t shown much change. He’s gone to church a couple of times but nothing more. I asked him if he wanted to talk, but got no response. Now, there is a video on the internet showing that he is getting back into drugs which he had quit before.

I know the easy way out is just to say to leave him, and maybe ultimately she should, but love is something worth fighting for and there are children who need a good father. She loves him and knows he has good qualities deep down.

To the observer, he obviously needs to change; otherwise, he will lose his family and possibly his house and job.

Apart from going Michael Westen on his behind and hanging him out a window blind folded, what can we do to encourage change or help him to see that he needs to change? Feel free to comment.