Join a new eclectic Coterie!

An eclectic Coterie

coterie(noun) co·ter·ie [koh-tuh-ree]
an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose

COME JOIN THIS STAMPENDOUS PARTY!

We are very excited about this new promotion. We are bundling the newest Bee Happy and Changito stamps by Stampendous.....BUT hurry because this offer will expire on November 12th. Just in time for holiday gift giving for special friends or treat yourself.

The Details
Purchase all six(6) new stamps for $43.94(plus shipping).

Bee Happy: Three(3) new bee stamps.
Changito: Three (3) new monkey stamps.

Additional FUN Details
If we sell 50 bundles, everyone who purchased the Stampendous bundle will receive a free co-ordinating word stamp, Secret Admirer($5.19 value), absolutely free!


If we sell 100 bundles, everyone who purchased the Stampendous bundle will receive both Secret Admirer AND Crazy About You($5.79 value) free.

That's right....the more people at our eP Coterie, the more free stuff you will get with your bundle purchase. We'll keep you posted on the eP blog as to how many more people we need to invite in order to add free stamps to your packages.

So your mission is to share this offer and enable all your friends. The more people who join this coterie, the more Stampendous stamps we all add to your collection. eP will offer this bundle for this limited time only.

eclectic Paperie is making this exclusive offer through our blog and weekly newsletter. This eP Stampendous bundle will not ship until the eclectic Coterie is over.

Offer Expires: This offer is only good from October 31st to November 12th. Stampendous bundles will not ship until mid-November.

Be Happy!
Daisy & Joy

PS. We wish you and your families a fun & safe Halloween!

A Fiery Night - as told by Mr. Sparks

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!! again for all your comments, emails, thoughts and prayers. They have been a comfort over the last couple days.

I wanted to share David's(my hubby) narration in the midst of the firestorm as it made it's way through our neighborhood. Go to our FAMILY BLOG and you can see a good map, too, to get an idea of where we were at in comparison to the actual fire line. The first comment in there is a good link for a video of what the neighborhood went through. You will see my neighbors Al and Cor on that video link. David is MY HERO!

Here's is a photo of what it looked like yesterday morning at around noon from my driveway.

Here are some more dramatic photos that my friends from Portola Hills shared with me as they also went through a similar frightening experience Tuesday night as the Santiago fire made it's way across the canyon(Whiting Ranch) to their community. These are photos of the fire coming from that canyon and travelling up to the Portola Hills homes.





Here are some photos of the devastation to Whiting Ranch in the aftermath of the fire.


The Santiago fire still burns and has now claimed some homes and structures in neighboring Modjeska Canyon. It's a little more rural there. The developers of Foothill Ranch and Portola Hills really knew what they were doing in terms of building a community prepared for a potential fire disaster. There are natural firebreaks/walls that were designed to protect the homes. Our homes were good barriers for the firefighters, too, as they were able to gain access to fight the fires. There are lots of cacti planted around the homes. Praise God for not one single home in Foothill Ranch or Portola hills was lost....and our communities are very dense with homes. I feel for the folks down in the affected San Diego areas. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers, too.

School remains closed Thursday as the air is even worse now after several days of smoke. My neighbor works in a doctor's office and she was kind enough to get some face masks and gave them to us this evening as they are much in demand and you can't go anywhere around here to buy one.

We can still the see the fire burning tonight over the hill from my daughter's bedroom. The air just reeks with the smell of the fire. The good news is that the weather is better Thursday and no more winds. They have been running water-dropping aircrafts all day and more tomorrow.

With much appreciation,
The Sparks Family

Fire Update: We survived!

Happy, happy day! I just got back home to all the firetrucks are still parked in front of the house. What a wonderful sight to see. DH looks tired but he made it through the very tense night. The smell left behind a fire that ravaged the foothills will remain for a couple days. There are ashes everywhere. Here are some dramatic photos taken by David in the midst of all the chaos last night. We kept in touch all night(thank goodness for cell phones).

This happened about 8pm last night as the fire moved from the foothills to make its way around the corner and into the canyons that are right behind the homes of my neighbors across the street. David helped them out across the way as the fire crept all the way to about 30 feet from the homes. He said is like an inferno witnessing the whole scene. One of the neighbors said it felt like Armageddon with the intense heat, crackling sounds and winds just fanning the flames. There was also scare around 130am as a flare up ooccurred and shot embers like raining fire hail throughout the neighborhood.

These next photos is the sight that I came home to early this morning. It was a comforting to see all the firetrucks in front of my home and along strewn along the corner and up and down the street.

It is still windy here so they are just keeping a close eye. The fire crews you see here are from other cities like Huntington Beach, Fullerton and Anaheim. David fed them some breakfast bars and they have been coming into the house to use the facilities as they pack up to be deployed somewhere else. God bless these emergency crews!

We'll have to to recuperate and get back in the house today. We packed our treasured memories yesterday so we'll be happy to move those back into our home. eP survived as well so orders will resume by tomorrow.

Thank you! Thank you! for all your thoughts and prayers. You'll never how much it touched our hearts.

With much gratitude!
Daisy, David, Samantha and Sarah Sparks

eclectic Paperie Shipping Update: Fire alert

As you watch the news tonight, you see that SoCal is on fire. Foothill Ranch happens to be the home of eclectic Paperie so when they refer to the Irvine/Santiago Fires....that would be where we are at. The air is thick with smoke and embers are raining everywhere. With the air quality as poor as it is and my kids freaking out at as they look outside the windows to see the bellowing smoke, I have to prepare to evacuate voluntarily for our sanity. The firefighters are doing a great job up here and the neighborhoods are all working together. The flames have come as close to 50 feet to homes yet not one house has been touched by these fires and hope none will. We all are prepared for living in a high fire zone but it is definitely scary and things can change very fast.

Shipping and processing of orders will have to cease for another day or two as the winds are expected to still linger within the next couple of days. The air quality is so poor that you can smell the smoke and fires inside the house. I will try to do my best to get out what I can given the circumstances. You have already been so patient with me.

My family and I appreciate all your calls, emails, and prayers. It has touched my heart knowing that the stamping/scrapbook community is so giving and unselfish in times of a personal crisis.

God Bless,
Daisy

Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers: Part 1 (What makes them special?)

I was lucky enough to be a Teacher's Assistant at CKU Anaheim(Creating Keepsakes University) this past June. When they said, "you want to help out with Ranger Industries?"...of course I said "YES!" Who else was teaching those classes but Tim Holtz! How fabulous was that to be helping out Tim Holtz with his class? He taught two different classes where I was able to also pick up some tips and tricks. He was working with the Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers so I got to learn everything there was to know about these very versatile and cool paints.

I learned a lot of things so I will share a little at a time over the next week. This first entry will be an introduction to the Paint Dabbers so you can get an idea of what makes them different from other acrylic paint out there.

First, Ranger Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers are very easy to use. You don't need a paint/foam brush nor do you need a special "plate" to squeeze the paint out. The "dabbers" have a built in foam cap that you leave on and that is the "brush". There is also a removable plastic lid so you can just cap it when you are done and that will prevent it from drying. You only squeeze what you need so you don't waste and throw away any unused paint.

Getting Started
So here are a couple tips I learned about using them from Tim Holtz. When you first get it and are ready to use, shake it up; remove the small clear plastic cap(but don't unscrew the foam top); and "flick it" to get it primed. Invert the bottle upside down now(so the foam top is at the bottom end) and press down so you open the "valve" to get the paint to start flowing. Holding the valve down longer allows more paint to flow. Tapping or banging the dabber really doesn't do anything since it is the valve that has to be open in order for the paint to flow into the foam dabber. You can always dab a little off on your scrap paper before you begin to paint. Now you use the bottle with the foam dabber as your '"brush" and paint away. Hold the valve down again if you need more paint. You can paint directly onto your project. If you do need to get into hard to reach places, you can unscrew the cap and squeeze onto a plate and use your brushes.

36 Colors: Lights, Brights & Earthtones
There are 36 coordinating colors to choose from but you need to know about "Light, Brights & Earthtones" since they all work together.

For example, if you just chose Willow(Light), Citrus(Bright) and Lettuce(Earthtones), than you have enough to create some great projects. Here is an example of how these would work together.

The sample on the right are the 3(Willow, Citrus, Lettuce) working together to create a fun background. This a manila tag that was first covered in the Citrus by swishing and swirling the paint. Using less paint creates a different look and moving it in circular motions creates the dimension. You can see the Willow dots which are lighter and than the darker dots are done with the Lettuce. You can get some great monochromatic looks with just 3 colors. All the paints have a coordinating Light, Bright and Earthtone color. If you just want to get started, use this handy chart to help you choose a group.

Metallic Colors
In addition to the 36 color choices, there are 4 metallic colors that come in Copper, Gold, Silver and Pearl. You can use with the other colors but what is cool about the metallic is what you can do with just a little or a lot of one color. You can create looks of metal with the way you brush on the metallic paints. For example, if you lightly brush some metallic paint on chipboard square, you can get a cool gunmetal look; but if squeeze a lot on a piece of chipboard, dab it and let dry, than you get a whole different look. Here are samples with Copper and than Gold Metallic Dabbers.

Some other things you need to know about the Dabbers:

•	Acid free, non-toxic
•	Individual 1 oz. dabber bottles
•	36 coordinating colors plus black and white
•	Works on multiple surfaces
•	Convenient, mess-free and portable
•	Coordinates with Adirondack Dye Inks

Versatile, not too messy and portable. You can easily carry these to crops. It's hard to decide which colors to choose so good thing they are on sale this weekend at eclectic Paperie.

Come back and read my next entry about how these Dabbers can work with those famous Tim Holtz™ Distress Ink Pads. If you are like me, you have a couple of those Distress Ink pads lying around. Wait till you see how you can create faux wood with a little Distress Ink and some Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers. This technique is really fun and one of my favorite tips that I learned.

Happy Painting!
Daisy

eclectic Coterie: Glimmer Mist Party Update

WOO-HOO!! We see you all had fun telling your friends about the first eclectic Coterie that we hosted. The party was smashing with enough eclectic friends coming to join us that everyone who ordered a Glimmer Mist eP bundle from Sept 18th-Sept 30th WILL receive a free bottle of Patina Glimmer Mist with her order. These should be ready to ship out later next week but we will continue to keep you posted.

Thank you again for coming to our first eclectic Coterie! We had a blast seeing the momentum build and hearing you share the fun with your friends. We will host another eclectic Coterie soon and boy are we planning a good one! It will will knock your socks off so be sure that you are subscribed to our newsletter emails so you will be the first to know.

Happy Monday!

Daisy & Joy