by Noella Noelophile®
This Saturday, May 5, is a magical birthday celebration.
Expect to see real butterflies, amazing crafts, gorgeous flowers and lots of talented artists, if you come to Lomita to celebrate Pipe & Thimble Bookstore’s one-year anniversary!
Pipe & Thimble is unique, as Southern California’s first indie bookstore to stock all-indie-authors’ works!
And It’s been an amazing year, courtesy of proprietors Barbara and Ellie Lieberman, and honorary Pipe & Thimble partner Robin Nieto.
As Robin says, though, this is so much more than a bookstore. The combined talents of Barb, Ellie, Robin and the independent authors they serve has made Pipe&Thimble a magical space, with an exciting creative vibration from the minute visitors approach.
Ellie (pictured above) excels at crafting miniature fairy gardens and fairy houses/doors that will enchant you, through her small business, Acorn Tops.
Her writing is likely to captivate you, as well. Her published works include two novels, a number of anthology selections AND a new book just about to be published. (Got time for only one book? I confess, her Society’s Foundlings is a favorite, for its stark beauty and a warmth that shines through in places where you wouldn’t expect it.)
What can’t Barbara Lieberman do? Her areas of expertise include needlefelting, painting, crafting, general creative work, gardening, AND tempting her readers to read “just one more chapter” in her novels and nonfiction.
(And a very Happy Mother’s Day to this extremely gifted “artrepreneur”/author! Did I mention she’s also Ellie’s mom?)
Every time I see author/artist Robin Nieto, she’s come up with another fantastic handmade gift item or new book. She’s both an artist and author of two series: Tales From Mema’s Garden and The Adventures of Duke & Daisy, with a new Duke & Daisy book forthcoming!
And…she’s a butterfly expert, with live butterflies hatching outside her home, which you can see when you visit Pipe & Thimble! This is every bit as cool as it sounds.
Robin, Barb and Ellie have steered Pipe & Thimble through an incredible inaugural year.
Poetry readings, board game nights, special events and book signings have all been on their calendar. So have live-music performances and themed book-related series like “Dog Days of Summer”, to show young “clients” the magic of reading.
Now, they’re set to embark on another year of magic. On the calendar for Year Two of Pipe & Thimble: meetings of their brand-new Book Club, “Scary Campfire Stories” for Halloween, and authors’ events like “Marketing Your Book on Facebook”.
And they’re waiting to welcome you, as they celebrate a year of supporting indie authors and artists, and look towards a future of reading, creativity and community!
Pipe & Thimble’s “1-Year Anniversary Celebration” runs from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, Saturday, May 5th at 24830 Narbonne Avenue, in the City of Lomita. Admission is free and everyone’s welcome. Come prepared to fall in love with some great new authors and artists!