Pipa has a flair for all things creative. As a child she immediately took to the stage which she always called home. She loves to act and sing, as well as write, and says she would live in a theatre given half the chance!

Read Pipa Gordon's full biography

Go Gadget Go!

I’ve just got back from work having done a QVC Selection hour in which there was an electric sander, which I got very excited about much to my colleagues’ surprise.

Well some of them anyway, as other ones remember me from my early days when I was a guest with a chainsaw in hand (and a bandanna on my head, but I don’t remember that bit, although I do believe it!) Conveniently I don’t have a photo of that.. it was 1998/99 so pre-digital camera ownership!!
 
So, in order to satisfy those of you who giggled at my tales of sanding after bedtime earlier this month, here I am, not only sanding, but may I also point your attention towards my glasses??

The coolest glasses EVER!!! I also got these from QVC - I’m not a glasses wearer so I bought the 0.0 magnification. What is so fabulous about these is that they have LED lights in them and so you become like a walking torch - they are GENIUS!!! I LOVE THEM!!!

Amazing for reading in bed, creeping around at night time without putting lights on, precision sanding, painting, crafting - even cleaning the oven!!!! I use them for EVERYTHING!!!
 
Where would we be without QVC and these fabulous gadgets???

Pipa x

My new puppy!

As many of you know, we got a gorgeous black lab puppy back in May 2007. 8 weeks later Tynor, having been followed by someone in the local park taking photos of what I thought was the children at the time and so rushed home with them quite perturbed, was stolen.

The police informed me that a growing 'trend' is for people to photograph puppies and then literally steal them to order - which was what happened to us. Tynor was lifted from our very dog-proofed garden a couple of days later.

 
Nine months later...

We received a call from the dog warden saying they had found Tynor. He'd accidentally got out of the garden of his new home, was picked up by a passer by and taken to the vet who scanned him - THANK GOODNESS FOR MICROCHIPS!!! Everyone had said to us that the microchip wouldn’t work, it was pointless and that we would never see him again - but it did work and we got him back.

We had actually said that we would leave him where he was as it had been such a long time and we didn’t want anyone else’s hearts broken like ours were if they had bought him unsuspecting of what had happened. However, the warden told us of a rather nasty scuffle between the 'owners' and the vet; they thought it was clear they knew he was stolen property and therefore, we were there in an instant!

A Winter Wondernew Year!

Wow, there goes another year!!
 
I don’t know about you, but Christmas and New Year were exhausting for me this year!! For the first time in about 12 years, I took time off work and silly me, thought it would be restful despite the festivities!!

So, I jam-packed our diary with loads of things to do and have to say we had a whale of a time... despite the fact that I hoped to rest my voice and get over this larynjitis which hit me hard - I am left with quite the croak still, but it has grown on me!!
 
So, firstly we went off to Center Parcs for a few days before Christmas which was just fantastic as the weather had been so frrrrrrreeeezing which meant everything was white, the lakes were frozen over and the trees were glistening - it was absolutely beautiful! It's one of the children’s favourite places to visit and I had promised them that this year we would go, so I managed just about by the skin of my teeth to crow bar it into the diary!
 
On Christmas Eve, as has become a family tradition for us, we went off to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, which gets bigger and better every year!! Now the children are big enough to want to go on rides so Myles and my husband went on the Ghost Train for the first time, and Ophelia and I took the gentle Reindeer Roller Coaster (you won’t get me on anything other than gentle when it comes to rides… I’m the happy coat holder!!)

I was delighted to bump into some QVC customers in the Winter Wonderland queue for the ladies…. certainly made the queue more fun although saying that, it did move quite quickly - I am often tempted to use the blokes’ loo as they are all in and out in a flash!
 

Gordon's tips….

... a little bit of mine and a big bit of Mr Ramsay’s!

Ok, so my birthday has been and gone (thank you so much for all my lovely cards, text messages, facebook messages, twitter messages etc). I’ve replied where possible and if you have sent me a birthday or Christmas card, please include an address then I can send you a Christmas card in return!!!!
 
… anyway, it was indeed a lovely birthday. I got the most amazing jewellery box which I ADORE but there was an absence of Gordon Ramsay’s mixer - so I’ve ordered it today!! I can’t wait for Christmas and am TOTALLY inspired in the kitchen at the moment and so am sneaking myself a present from me - that’s ok isn’t it???
 
Mark Sargeant “Sarge”, as Gordon calls him, joined me for the show and I learned THREE tips which have TRANSFORMED my soups!!! First, sauté 2 onions in (loads of) butter, secondly add a tiny bit of chilli pepper to the onions and finally, add cream (I add low fat crème fraiche) - OH MY WORD - I’m suddenly a soup supremist!!! They are all delicious!!
 

That jumpsuit!

I have to say Dennis Basso and I always have an absolute hoot when on together and last week was no exception!! You should see sometimes what goes on when you’re not looking, it can be quite funny!!

I was wearing the most divine grey jumpsuit and Dennis clearly liked the material and the wide leg design so every time the cameras moved off us, he would stretch and pull the fabric and try to make me fall over - clearly something was in the water, but we had a great night!!
 
Suffice to say, he wasn’t the only one loving the jumpsuit - I certainly did, as did you as I have been inundated with questions ever since!! You will be glad to know that it is from a new range being launched on December 2nd at 7pm called Yong Kim. It is the most fabulous range of chic, high-end boutique wear that is so immensely fashionable, flattering and easy to wear! No flowery bits and no embellishments (that I have seen yet anyway) - so if you like simple and striking, this will certainly be the range for you!!
 
I should warn you not to expect this range to be cheap - it’s a little more than your average fashion range on QVC but the quality really outdoes itself and the designs are timeless. Treat yourself - it will be well worth it! I am adoring it right now!

The range includes obviously the jumpsuit, various dresses, tops, cardigans/jackets - very flowy, great for layering, all natural fabrics and fair trade too. So in a nutshell, this range is for someone who celebrates their individuality, loves style and cares about global issues too - you couldn’t really ask for more!! I love it!

Pipa x
 

My 'School run in a hurry' make-up look

Seeing as we have a Smashbox TSV tomorrow, I thought I’d quickly tell you that their products are fabulous!! I use them daily and took them away with me on holiday too.
 
This is my school run in a hurry face:
 
1. Bare Minerals Foundation or Smashbox Halo Perfecting Powder

2. Laura Geller Blush N Brighten 

3. And eyebrows if time using Redpoint's fab 2-in-1 with highlighter wand
 
Then adding to this for my holiday, keeping my make up bag smallish (for once in my life!!), I also took  Smashbox Reign Eyeshadow Palette (Majesty choice - I love the red!!!), Long Wear Lipgloss and their wonderful Bionic Mascara... oh and also my favourite Sue Devitt Eye Pencils in all colours 
 
I thoroughly recommend the Smashbox TSV as you can not only get some great Christmas looks from it, but it gives you the opportunity to look amazing and feel fabulous - some of the products won’t be launched on the High Street until next year so it’s very exciting to get all the 'hot of the press' pieces before anyone else!
 
It’s all smoke and mirrors ladies, we just need to find the good stuff and I have to say, the QVC Beauty department is the only place I buy mine!
 
See you soon x

An unforgettable fortnight in Canada!!

Wow, I’m back and I feel like I've been living in a movie for the last couple of weeks as we have had the most incredible trip out to Canada!!
 
A few weeks ago, my husband found out who his birth mother is. In Ontario in Canada, the law for adopted children has always been that you can’t find your birth parents, they have to find you. But this law changed on June 1st this year and my husband was allowed to apply for information of his birth parentage. On September 30th, he received a letter telling him the name of his birth mother (no father's name… yet!!).
 
So we immediately embarked upon this search for her and thanks to the internet, found a few family trees totaling about 30,000 entries of families and names related to his birth surname (amazing and true!). We discovered that his birth mother had tragically died aged 28 on Christmas Day - he would have been just 6. So, the hunt continued for any living blood relatives and we took off to Canada to find them!!
 

My favourite Christmas gifts

It’s funny because as my children get older, I see the similarities in the things they hope to get for birthdays and Christmas!! The other day we went to a friend’s house and their daughter had all kinds of treasures in her room - make-up, necklaces, jewellery boxes (all 6-year-old style!!)… and Ophelia was sooooooo inspired!!!!

It took me back to Christmas when I was 7/8 and I DESPERATELY wanted a Girls World!! I loved it - LOVED it!! It was the one where you could pull the middle section of hair up and it would 'grow' (even I at such a tender age wasn’t that impressed with the subsequent unevenness of the hair cut!!).

Anyway, suffice to say, I coloured it every colour under the sun and spent HOURS making her up! I’ve loved make-up for what seems like forever and I get the feeling Ophelia is going to follow suit!!
 
So Santa, beware!! Jewellery boxes, make-up and the like is going to be on her list!!!!
 
… and make-up will ALWAYS be on mine!! Just today for example, I've added these four to my list...

Get gorgeous with my top jewellery picks

Hello ladies,
 
Let's put aside the day to day bits - you know, doing the laundry, paying the bills, the school run, walking the dog, cleaning the loo - you know, the things that make the world go round! When all that is said and done (and sometimes when it’s not done too), then it’s time to GET GORGEOUS!!
 
Get Gorgeous, BE gorgeous!! I don’t know about you but I often find 'me' at the bottom of the long never-ending 'to do list'. Life is for living ladies, not just for cleaning!! So, we’re getting your make-up sorted, your wardrobe beautiful, your skin glowing - and then we're going to pepper it with some uber glamorous jewellery!!

My top picks in our Get Gorgeous Event

1. Murano 9ct Gold Heart Pendant

This is a perfect example of getting gorgeous every day. I fell in love with this necklace as soon as I saw it - easy to wear, low maintenance, lovely hand made quality to it, perfect every time!

School dinners

I don’t know about those of you with kids in school, but I do packed lunches in the summer term for mine and school dinners the rest of the year as it ensures some heat in their tummies in the middle of the day.

It’s a bit of a battle because seemingly packed lunches are more fun but nevertheless I dig my heels in and tell my children they need to have school dinners so that they can eat their vegetables.

So, this is what happened today, pretty similar to most after-school conversations (seriously, my 5-year-old daughter has no moral conscience!!). I picked her up from school today and this is how it went (keep in the back of your mind that from day one of weaning, she has kept her mouth clamped shut and is the fussiest eater ever!!)...
 
Me: “What did you eat for lunch at school today sweetheart”
 
Ophelia:  “Vegetables Mummy”
 
Me thinking: Hmmm