You’ll want to be on your best behavior for these guest posts because they are full of amazing and original ideas! If you’d like to guest post on Damask Love, please contact me with your idea! It’s a great chance for you to reach a new audience and fun way for me show off all the cool creative people that I know!

Substitute Teacher: Taheerah Atchia

Jan
3

I have a special place in my heart for all the international Damask Love readers. Maybe it’s because I’m not a huge traveler, so I get to feel sort of connected through the blog. Taheerah Atchia is definitely one of my favorite international readers. She and I met a few years ago at a papercrafting tradeshow and she’s a sweetheart! Taheerah lives across the pond so it’s only fitting that she share this project with you today.

She’s giving some serious clean & simple style to the Union Jack, with a simple “stamp kissing” technique. Stamp Kissing is something only learned about recently. I’m not a terribly technique-y paper crafter, so I’m not always in the loop. Now without further adieu, let’s see what Taheerah’s got for you today!

Clockwise

1) Stamps of the sentiment and telephone box with acrylic blocks (gridded work best for placement)

2) Ink (Red, Blue & Black)

3) White card base (this one is 3.5″ square)

4) Two-step Union Jack flag stamps

(optional) gridded scratch paper to practice on and to help with alignment

1) Stamp your sentiment in the middle of the card base. NB: The sentiment stamp is made of three parts (crown, and two part sentiment) so use the gridlines on the block to line all the stamps up and test stamp on some scratch paper first to make sure you’re happy with the placement.

2) Ink up the inner part of the flag with red ink. Stamp the telephone box onto the flag stamp to transfer the ink. This is the basic kissing technique.

3) Ink up the outer part of the flag with blue ink. Align the telephone box stamp and stamp onto the flag stamp to transfer the ink. You will now have both colours and images transferred onto the telephone box stamp.

4) Stamp the telephone box onto the card base. You may want to ‘huff’ (breathe) on the stamp beforehand to help the ink transfer.

SUPPLIES

Isn’t this card awesome?! I love the execution and Taheerah’s step-by-step photos are great! Be sure to leave some love here and then visit Taheerah at her own blog for more inspiration!

Today I am off to Newtown, Connecticut to distribute many of the tote bags that I’ve assembled thanks to your generosity and donations. I’ve received a few emails letting me know that Newtown has asked for a temporary halt in all physical donations. I wanted to let you all know that I am aware of this and have made several contacts in Newtown of agencies who would like to accept our donations of art kits for children. Given the influx of donations on this community; however, I do plan to reserve a large amount of supplies, which will be donated throughout 2013 as need arises.

Follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for ongoing updates of our efforts in Connecticut. You all are a huge part of this project and I want you to feel like you’re involved!

Substitute Teacher: Haeley Giambalvo

Dec
11

Good morning Damask Lovers! Andrew and I are back from Arizona and getting back into the swing of city life! To help out with my transition, I’ve got an awesome Substitute Teacher who is going to take over and show you some very fun and thrifty crafting ideas. Her name is Haeley Giambalvo and she blogs at Design Improvised. Haeley is a super creative girl, who loves to create handmade home decor without spending big bucks.I am so excited to welcome Haeley as the first Substitute Teacher, so without any further delay, here we go! Be sure to leave Haeley some love!

Hi, I’m Haeley from Design Improvised and I’m thrilled to be guest blogging on Damask Love today! Some of you may have already hopped over to Design Improvised last week to see Amber’s guest post on her awesome lamp shade turned glittery vase. I am always looking for simple, inexpensive projects that make a big impact in your home, and Amber’s vase definitely fits the bill!

Now I’m here to share another easy decor project with you – a chic holiday tablescape using just a couple packages of paper bows from the dollar store:

The holidays are all about entertaining and I bet you’ll have family or friends over for a special meal over the coming weeks. This centerpiece allows you to dress up your table for literally $5 and 5 minutes to assemble! While I chose a Christmas color palette, you could just as easily use shades of blue for Hanukkah or metallic silver and gold for a New Years Eve dinner.

It is so simple to assemble the centerpiece there really isn’t a tutorial required. All you need to do is scatter a couple packages of paper bows down the middle of your table in a bit of a diagonal wave. I used around 60 bows for mine (two packs of 30 bows for $2.50 each).

For the rest of the table, you can get creative using the pieces you already have. I incorporated my red snowflake placemats from World Market and green goblets from Crate and Barrel.

It’s also nice to leave a little surprise for your guests. I wrapped a tiny present of boxed chocolates for each place setting. To further personalize the presents, try attaching a name tag to the box to have them serve double duty as place cards, or find a different personalized gift for each guest.

The best part about this thrifty tablescape? Once your dinner is over, you can reuse all those bows for your holiday gift wrapping, or even better, why not make a fun wreath? It literally takes 30 minutes to make! Join me over at Design Improvised for a tutorial on creating a paper bow wreath of your own!

PHEW! Three crafts for just a few dollars that can be done in just a few minutes! That’s definitely my kind of crafting! To keep the theme of thrift tablescaping going, I’ve got an exclusive project over on the Damask Love Facebook Page that will add some impressive pizzazz to your holiday table. Here’s a peek: