New Arrival

Happy day today! May 20th my first little grandchild was born, Avelynn Starr, 9 lbs. 4 oz. She's a beauty. Hope you won't mind future gushing and photos...typical grandmother! Life is good.

It's Spring...and we wish you were here!

As I write this blog, it's an absolutely beautiful day in Door County -- the gardens at Pipka's and around the county are filled with blooming daffodils and tulips, visitors are up for the weekend (the third-annual Door County Half Marathon is this weekend, which will bring over 1,800 runners and their families and friends to the peninsula), and plenty 0f Door County businesses are in the midst of spring cleaning, getting ready for May and the busy season ahead.

We at Pipka's are doing a bit of spring cleaning ourselves -- actually, more of a "reinventing." We've been bringing in new merchandise by the boxful -- new necklaces, bracelets (as pictured at left), and other precious adornments created by Pipka and Cynthia Wolfe; Toyko Milk soaps, lotions, and perfumes; many new original collage pieces; a variety of new cards and stationary (the Papaya Art line is my favorite!), home decor, new books...and of course, Santas!

To help us celebrate the spring season and all that it has to offer, we're inviting you to enter our Wishing Well Santa contest! This is my favorite Santa of the 2010 Collection, and I am giving one away (signed, of course! to one very lucky winner. To enter, just send us $2.00 as well as your name and address to:

Pipka's of Door County
Attention: Wishing Well Santa
PO Box 348
Sister Bay, WI 54234

If you're wondering what the $2.00 is for, it's for a special Habitat for Humanity donation that I'd like to make to the organization at the end of May. Door County's Habitat for Humanity chapter is a wonderful organization that I have supported over the years, and I would love to be able to help provide a home for a Door County resident that is in need of one -- with your help!

We'll draw a winner for the Wishing Well Santa on Friday, May 21 -- which means all entries need to be postmarked by Friday, May 14. After the drawing, we'll reveal the lucky winner in another e-newsletter, and send the personalized and autographed Pipka Santa off to its new owner! It's just our way of saying that we miss you...and we wish you were here!

Pipka's is open Friday and Saturday from 10 am - 5pm for the next few weekends and will open full-time in mid-May. Stop by -- we have MANY new and exciting things to show you!

Love,
Pipka

PS -- After a bit of a hiatus, I am back at my blog and hope to be posting to it frequently, even during the busy summer months! Be sure to check my blog for special sales, events, drawings, and more...it's a great way to keep connected to Pipka's all year-round!

For my wonderful customers...Free Shipping Days!

Pipka's 3rd Annual

ST. NICHOLAS FREE SHIPPING DAYS

Order December 1 through December 6

and receive free shipping*

with beautiful free gift wrapping available upon request

I will also sign each piece for you!

Order online (www.pipkasofdoorcounty.com), by phone (toll-free: 800-829-9235) or in the shop...order December 1 through December 6 to help us celebrate St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6)...we'll ship your order FREE*. If you want, I can personalize my signature to your recipient, and my elves will gift-wrap if you'd like!

Shipping is by UPS ground, so you'll receive your purchases
in plenty of time for Christmas giving!

Thank you for your loyalty...enjoy the holidays!
Love, Pipka

*Free shipping to a single address only, please.

Christmas Present to Myself....Itzy and BJ!

You all know how much I love my Tigger. He's a wonderful companion, but I began to wonder if he wouldn't like some company! I'm at the studio or shop a lot of the day, and he's left to snooze or look at the window all alone.

Recently, someone brought in a young mother-to-be cat to my veterinarian...the cat was almost a kitten herself, no more than 7 or 8 months old, and she gave birth to four adorable kittens! Of course, they had to stay with their mother until they were weaned, but two of them captured my heart the moment I saw them.

This is my first picture with Itzy (a female calico) and BJ (orange male) the day I brought them home! I kept them secluded for a couple of days, but Tigger was eager to see what was behind the door. Gradually, I introduced them to each other, and Tigger got to see the newest members of our family (when they would slow down long enough!). Now they lay next to each other on the couch and there has been some brotherly licking, so I know they'll be the best of friends!

If you can offer a "forever home" to a shelter kitten or older cat, isn't Christmas the time to give yourself and that little creature the best gift of all?

Love, Pipka

How to Run a Kiosk

This year, I wanted to try something that I've always enjoyed seeing: having a kiosk at a mall! I love the way they look at holiday times because they're all themed for the season and have the perfect gifts all ready to go.

My son Jon lives in Milwaukee, which is famous for the Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa (upper west city of the city), so I drove down to check it out. The mall itself is beautiful and has the perfect clientele for my figurines...and they had a kiosk available right by Santa! How perfect is that? I can't be down there all of November and December, of course, so my son and his fiance are going to run the kiosk and oversee some other who will be helping customers.

However, I am planning to be there on November 27 and 28 (Thanksgiving weekend) as well as December 19 and 20, so I hope my friends and collectors will come by and say "hello."

Putting the kiosk together, as you'll see, is quite a production. Here's a photo of Jon and Deb - my sister-in-law who also works at the Door County store - with boxes towering over them! All the merchandise we needed was delivered at the same time, which is how we planned it.

But I must say that I'm very pleased with the kiosk. It's tasteful and showcases the Santas well. Here I am at the cash register just after we finished setting up. We had quite a few people come by this past weekend, including some little ones dressed for Halloween! Santa hasn't set up at the mall yet, but I'm sure he will help bring a lot of attention to Pipka's little kiosk, too.

The mall is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the address is 2500 North Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa, just off State Hwy 45 at Cty Hwy 100. To find my kiosk, go in the Crate & Barrel entrance and Santa and I will be right there!

I did meet some of Santa's helpers, and we posed for this photo. Shopping at a mall at Christmas with the holiday music, the decorations, Santa, and buying gifts for people you love. What could be better than that?

Love,
Pipka

Fall Fest in Sister Bay!

The weekend of October 16-18 was special...as it is every year...because Sister Bay where my little shop is located has a huge festival! All the artists line up their booths on Mill Road, right in front of Pipka's, and there's a steady stream of people in the shop all weekend long.

I made a variety of cakes with aspecial Rehrucken pan (see "Pipka's Kitchen" on my website, pipkasofdoorcounty.com), and here are some happy shoppers with my Elves Deanne (right) and Donette (center) by the tableful of cakes and cookies. An hour later, there were nothing but crumbs! (Luckily, I had many more in the freezer.)

By the end of the weekend, we're all tired...even though we've seen old friends and met new ones. Deanne's husband, Ed, always comes by with a special libation known as a Scarlett O'Hara, (he and Deanne mix them here), and we all toast our success and welcome fall in Door County (from left, Debbie, me, Amy, Deanne, Deanne's granddaughter Ashley, Donette, and Marj).

Love, Pipka

Art...in Southern France!

I'm just a few days back from a whirlwind week in Durfort, a village at the southern tip of France. Our group of artists - from all over the U.S. and from the U.K. - stayed in a three-story home called La Cascade that had three-foot-thick stone walls and big, cozy kitchen (where Nesa, our chef, surprised us all at every meal!). Below, the front door of our home for the week...and a photo of the running stream in the backyard. Nesa is holding a homemade bun with some jam. She never planned our meals - she just used whatever fresh foods were at the market that day!

The two leaders of the workshop were Lynne Perrella and Anne Bagby, renowned artists from the United States. We worked every single day except one! We made the most of it, sightseeing in nearby villages such as Revel, where we found bakeries, bookstores, marketplaces, and antique stores.

As always, I took photos of doors and door knockers. This was an especially beautiful one with the elaborate leaded insert and elegant hand. (Click on any of these photos to see them larger on your screen.)

We had several meals in cafes, including our group out for pizza. There are many wonderful appetizers such as these shrimp with oranges, and figs wrapped in bacon. And, of course, the desserts!

We all learned so much in the class. Here are just a couple of the pieces of art...the wide-eyed woman is by Anne, the
circus girl is Jennifer's, and
the woman with the jester-style hat was Sandy's work.

Lynne coached us in one exercise where we made silhouettes that expressed our work, and then we put them on the windows and doors...the woman's face, below, was mine. Lynne said it represented a mountain of ideas with many more ideas below that will come out in the future. I feel that that's true, and whenever I get together with other artists, I'm more inspired than ever.


I'm going to post even more pictures on my Shutterfly page, so if you want to see more of the countryside and my adventure in Southern France, go to my Shutterfly album on Durfort! (give me a couple of days - I have a LOT of photos!)

Of course, I have to end this blog with a picture of a French chat - there were many friendly cats in our little village.

Love,
Pipka