Eclatante Boutique and some of the other very cool shops here on Liberties Walk have joined up to give you a Valentine’s Day shopping experience like none other. Every day from February 8th through Valentine’s Day (which is Sunday, February 14th), each of our friends is offering you something a little different.

This postcard and poster will give you the details about what we’re all doing!

For our part, Eclatante Boutique will be offering free, beautiful Valentine’s Day cards and wrapping paper with every $15 purchase made every day during the Romancing The Walk event.  Plus, we’ll be offering fun chocolate stuff and yummy bubbly all along the way.

And a really great part of this is that every participating shop will offering you the opportunity to enter a great raffle to benefit the American Heart Association’s GO RED FOR WOMEN CAMPAIGN.  (it is HEART month y, know!)

Your raffle ticket only costs $5 (which you can get that back when you shop at Eclatante Boutique or at any of our friend’s shops).   You will not only be contributing to the American Heart Association – a great organization that has done so much to educate women about taking care of themselves and protecting their hearts – you will have a chance to win a grand prize which includes some pretty incredible gifts from our friends’ shops AND a romantic night’s stay at the very very chic new boutique hotel,  the Hotel Palomar in Philadelphia. All for $5 which you can get back!   How amazing is that?

If you haven’t made it down to Liberties Walk yet, this is the perfect reason to come down.   Talk about falling in love!!!!

Eclatante was honored to be asked by the amazing Sarah Lockard of AroundMainLine.com to design and help plan AML’s annual sensational and sophisticated Valentine’s-themed party.  AroundMainline.com is the SUPER successful and culturally rich online magazine that addresses all things hip around the Philadelphia area, so we were thrilled Sarah thought of us to help her put this great party together!

More importantly, this party will be nothing short of fabulous!   And, although it may very well be be the greatest thing this winter for mingling and having a great time, the best part is that it benefits Philadoptables (philadoptables.org) a wonderful, hardworking charity that addresses the overwhelming needs of Philadelphia Animal Control.  Philadoptables’ goal is to bring awareness and funding for the 34,000 animals a year who are brought to Philadelphia Animal Control.

This is going to be a great party — We really hope to see you!

Here are the specifics:

Place

Spamps Restaurant, Conshohocken, 16 East First Avenue (spampsrestaurant.com)

Date and Time

Thursday, February 4, 2010 from 6 p.m. – 10 p.m.

Yummies

Weyerbacher Brewery is the official craft beer sponsor of Be Mine. Spamps will be offering specials on bottles of Merry Monks’ and Hops Infusion, two of Weyerbacher’s most popular ales. In addition, fun and delicious champagne cocktails will be served with Verdi Spumante sparkling champagne, a major event sponsor

Spamps will be offering a special discounted menu for all guests. A complimentary gourmet cupcake table will be there for you to enjoy courtesy of Cakes & Candies by MaryEllen.

At the Door

RSVP

While not required, your RSVP is certainly encourage.   We’d so love to see you there – shoot a quick email to rsvp@aroundmainline.com.

If you’d like even more information about this great party, please read Sarah’s article.

Oh, by the way — I just ADORE the logo Two Paper Dolls created for this party, don’t you?   Absolutely perfect — as usual!!!

This holiday season, like none other, we are struck by what it means to care about other people.   Our industry is fun, energetic and all about celebrating the best days of people’s lives!   But we also recognize that all that merry-making can stand in stark contrast to the effect the economy is having on people who aren’t exactly partying their way through the holidays. 

Eclatante (and many others, we hear!) has come up with a whole set of ideas for how to care about others as we celebrate with our own…

Holiday open houses, company parties, even small dinner parties are the perfect opportunity to extend the spirit of giving.   Small hostess gifts and guest favors can, this year, be small donations to charities.   Guests can arrive with toys or canned goods to give to homeless shelters.   Even presents to adults in your family (who really have it all anyway!) can be much-needed donation to charities who are really suffering in this economic downturn.   Here are a few of our favorites:

Helpusadopt.org –  dedicated to people trying to overcome the seemingly insurmountable financial challenges associated with adoption and to the thousands of birth parents selfless enough to let loving people adopt their children. P.O. Box 20435 – New York, NY 1002  Phone:  917.684.5484

The Support Center for Child Advocates – is the country’s oldest and largest pro bono legal and social services agency for children. The Support Center’s mission is to advocate for abused and neglected children in Philadelphia, with the goal of securing a permanent, nurturing environment for every child.  1900 Cherry Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 Phone:  267.546.9200 

The Philadelphia Council of Navy League – The Navy League is a civilian organization that supports active duty sailors, Marines and Coast Guard and their families.   We think there is no better time to reach out to the deployed and their family than over the holiday which can be so hard for them.   5344 Walden Way, Doylestown, PA 18901  Phone: 215.345.7596   

Or another great option is to give a charitable gift certificate at your company party gift exchange, as guest favors at your Holiday Open House or low-key dinner party or as a very sweet hostess gift.   Go to www.justgive.org where you can purchase a gift certificate for any amount and the receiver can choose their favorite charity.

just sayin’….

WISHING YOU AND YOURS AN EXTRAORDINARY HOLIDAY SEASON!   

We’re very excited that the Philadelphia area is taking notice of Eclatante’s Kindness Blooms project. We’re very proud of the results thus far. But, of course, we need more volunteers willing to help us out after celebrations are over to take the flowers to local organizations. So, the more exposure Kindness Blooms receives, the better!

THANK YOU Main Line Today for this wonderful feature on Kindness Bloom in the September issue of this must-read mag!

And… We’re very exited about this great shout-out about Kindness Bloom from Philadelphia Magazine’s “Daily Examiner.”

We’ve been getting tons of emails and phone calls expressing praise and interest in this endeavor. So we hope that all of Philly will continue to Spread the Word so that not only can we increase the number of volunteers (we do need lots of those!) but people will be inspired to donate the flowers from their events. Which is a very good thing!

Take a look at one of the opportunities we had this summer to pass along the joy of a wonderful wedding to a group of very very nice people who could really enjoy them for many days to come.

Absolutely stunning ceremony arrangements created by Evantine Design from a great wedding at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts were picked up and delivered to Shipley Manor, a retirement home in Wilmington, Delaware. Our Kindness Blooms team arrived with the flowers a bit late in the evening, but we found one wakeful resident who just couldn’t believe what she saw walking in the door!

Without Kindness Blooms coming to the rescue of these beautiful flowers, their fate was a City dumpster!

Please contact Kindness Bloom to donate just a few hours here & there to help us do what we do!!!  To be part of this extraordinary project, please email KindnessBlooms@eclatantedesign.com or call 610.565.9977.

We wanted to share a couple photos from the Abington Arts Center “Inspired Flora” event this weekend. It was such an honor to be asked to participate. Here’s a little explanation: We were asked to choose a painting from the Abington Art Center’s exhibit entitled “Metamorphosis” that would serve as the inspiration for a floral piece designed and created for this weekend’s event (hence, the event name, “Inspired Flora.”). The painting we chose was “Vernal Pools.” It looked to us to be a stunning representation of half of a butterfly:

So, we thought the idea of creating the other half of the butterfly in flowers would generate a very interesting image of a full butterfly. Because the image we had created was actually the reverse of the painting that was the source of our inspiration, we entitled our creation, “Flutterby.” What do you think?

We want to thank Bill, Maya, Eileen and Donna of Beautiful Blooms for all their work in implementing this design. And thank you’s go to Chris and Vanessa at Two Paper Dolls for coming up with the paper blueprint from nothing but a bunch of crazy thoughts coming out of my head. As always, all of you read my mind, came through for me and did a fantastic job!

April 11-13 — INSPIRED FLORA

Eclatante (along with nineteen other of region’s top designers) is exhibiting a design inspired by one of the many extraordinary paintings that are all part of Abington Art Center’s exhibition: “Metamorphosis.”

This first Annual Inspired Flora will feature floral arrangements by prominent designers, to interpret and complement the museum’s Spring exhibition of moth and butterfly imagery – fleeting, beautiful, transforming, cyclical, captivating.

Behind-the-Scenes Preview Morning
 April 11 • 10am-12pm • $25/$20 for AAC members
It’s your opportunity to meet the designers and chat with them as they install their floral designs. Includes continental breakfast. Limited Tickets. Reservations Required – call 215-887-4882 NOW there are only a few tickets left.

Gala Event
 April 11 • 7-11pm • $250 per couple; $150 per peron; $125 for AAC members
Join us for a fun evening of artistic floral designs, mouth-watering dishes from Jeffrey Miller Catering, music with Denise King Jazz and dancing. Black Tie optional. Advanced reservations only.

Inspired Flora Weekend
 April 12 • 10am-5pm admission $10 public, $7.50 AAC members & $5 children
• April 13 • 10am-3pm admission $10 public, $7.50 AAC members & $5 children. 
Attend this Event. Buy Your Tickets Online.

EUREKA! Family Workshops April 12 • anytime between 11am & 3pm • FREE with admission to Inspired Flora
Each month Abington Art Center presents fun workshops for families of any size, shape and artistic ability. This month is no exception. We’ll make twisted wire sculptures with flower embellishments and natural mrials.

Afternoon Tea
 April 13 • 3-5pm • $40 per person; $35 AAC members; Champagne $5
Sunday afternoon it’s tea time. Luxuriate in aromatic teas and classic cream tea favorites while enjoying music by Ken Ulansey. Advanced reservations only.

We are honored to have been asked by the Abington Arts Center to design and create an exhibit. AAC is truly a beautiful cultural and arts education center that benefits everyone and is dependent solely on contributions for support.

Please come see us and feast your eyes on some of the most innovative and creative work that can be found in the Philadelphia area.