Hooray For Damask

I absolutely love anything with a damask design.
When I was in my early twenties, I would go shopping at a local thrift store on my lunch hour. I found the most gorgeous old damask table cloths in mostly white, but occasionally other colors. I felt like I had found real treasures. Sometimes I would find just a pack of napkins, and I snapped up whatever I could find (and the prices were ridiculously low). If a pack of napkins were a bit too stained for my taste, I'd buy them anyway and dye them with Rit. My two colors then were burgundy and deep gray. I still have them, and we use them quite a bit...even with young kids. The darker colors can hide a lot of Chef Boyardee stains. :D

Before my grandmother passed away, she let me pick out some sumptuous damask tablecloths and napkins that she had either: 1) never used or 2) managed to wash with magic detergent. They were in impeccable condition. One set is golden yellow, one is soft pink, and a pack of napkins are baby blue (or if you think in terms of Stampin' Up! colors, they're So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, and Bashful Blue). I was thrilled to inherit these beauties.

Now, it seems you can find damask designs everywhere: backpacks, pencil cases, post-it notes, folders and binders, tote bags, personal-size calenders and much, much more. I couldn't be happier. Why, even the collapsible containers from the Container Store, in which I store completed cards and cardstock/designer paper scraps, are covered in a chocolate-colored damask design. (swoon)

Which brings me to my card.

I like to take my inspiration from unlikely places, and today's card was inspired by a shirt worn by, I believe, Meredith Vieira of the Today Show. A couple of days ago, I saw her wearing a pink shirt that had a light gray damask design on it. (At least, I think it was her...it could've been elsewhere) Instantly, I thought: CARD!

For as much as I love damask, I really don't have too many stamps like that. This design is a stamp from the "Friends 24-7" set by Stampin' Up!. I used my Stampamajig to help me get an all-over design on the pink card layer. Simple matting in black, pink and white was all that was needed. I did heat emboss the main image with black embossing powder, but you can't see that from the photo.

I used my SU black journaling pen to help draw a frame around the main image, and darn it - it smudged! That's okay...it was a happy accident. :) I wound up covering the corner smudges with silver half pearls.

My envelope, using two grays: Basic Gray and Going Gray, both by SU.

Thanks for joining me today and bearing with me while I spout about damask!

Happy Stamping,
Colleen

Stamps: Friends 24-7
Ink: Going Gray, Basic Gray
Paper: Pixie Pink, Basic Black, Whisper White
Other: black embossing powder, dimensionals, heat tool, silver half pearls, black journaling pen, ruler