Christine Louise Collections, which began in late 2004, is the creator of PetLaps.  Christine Louise Collections originally specialized in remodeling and updating clothing, as well as refashioning heirloom pieces into precious keepsakes.

 

Designing new products came into the business in 2005.  The goal was to provide design excellence that would make life better.

 

Being pet lovers, we understood the importance of the pet/human bond, and the joy of touching and holding that precious pet.  Even though that touch is so important, there is a reality that pet parents face. Pets in our laps sometimes mean painful human skin piercings, snagged clothes and hair everywhere.  It became our goal to make lap time comfortable for both pets and their parents.

 

PetLaps was "born".  PetLaps is one of those great designs that just makes sense.  It's pretty cute, too.  That's important.  We must have cute stuff for our pets.

 

We eliminated closures that could potentially endanger pets and quickly lose functionality.  Ribbons were out because pets could chew on them and face a choking danger.  Buttons could be chewed or lost.  Snaps could visually "get lost" in the cushiness, pull out too easily and might pose a challenge for some as they attempted to fasten the two halves together.  Hook-&-loop tape could gather pet hair and lose its self-stick ability.  We knew if closures for PetLaps were trouble, people would quickly abandon closing PetLaps, an important part of the design.  Fortunately, we finally had a great inspiration - use a self-fabric strap closing, stretchy and short enough to lack chewing interest for most pets. 

 

Some custom PetLaps have outer faux fur that is not washable, so for these we make padded, machine wash/dry liners, which are attached with softest hook-&-loop tape.  We go one step farther and attach the soft, fuzzy half of the hook-&-loop to the removable liner to protect clothes in the wash and to keep the tape clean and functional. 

 

Prints were chosen for the pet side because pets can see color variations better than solid colors.  That makes the pet side more easily identifiable by the pet.

 

Fleece was chosen for the pet side because hair, fur, and other tiny pieces of debris tend to stick to it - yes, that's intentional. 

 

Making PetLaps easy clean (machine wash and dry) was and is important.  Whenever we have a question about how well a fabric will wash, we wash and dry it.  If it fails for some reason, out it goes.  Most of the time those failed fabrics can be returned to the merchant, but there are some that have been declared a loss.  Of course, being crafty design and fabric people, we usually figure out something else creative to do with those failed fabrics.  That's a fun part.

 

Beyond PetLaps - We listen to what people need and then go the design board.  Several creative products are coming up in the near future - for pets and for humans.  Stay "tuned."

 

We work hard, laugh at ourselves and our pets, and love giving you, our VIP customers, products that will make your life just a little better.

 

For all of us who are "card carrying" pet lovers, we've added a photo page of pets on their PetLaps.  Submit your pet's photo from that page.

 

We invite you to join our mailing list for updates on new products.  This list is jealously guarded and we are the only ones who will use it.  You may discontinue at any time, of course. 

 

Recently, we formed PetLaps.org so PetLaps could be given to people in crisis.  We understand how comforting the pet-human relationship is, especially in times of trouble.  We wanted to help people focus on the pet relationships by giving them something to symbolize comfort and to encourage more time with their pets in their laps.  Sometimes it's our pets who will help us make it when we otherwise would have been broken. 

 

This has now expanded to ComfortLaps to be given to people in crisis, with or without pets.  Everyone can benefit by having a comfort symbol.

 

Much of our power lies in giving and serving.