Artsy Craftsy Desginy Vocab

This post is just for fun. There are so many new words to become acquainted with when entering into the world of creating. Especially if you start getting into it while entering the world of blogging and only see these words typed out. Pronunciation is lost, and anyone who knows me, knows that I'm huge on correct pronunciation and that a mispronunciation on my part is as embarrassing to me as involuntarily passing gas in public. So I've decided to compile a list of words in the creating world that at least at one time or another I myself have questioned the pronunciation of, so that you all can learn from my mistakes!

Sepia- (SEE-pee-uh) - the old fashioned looking brown tint to photos. Instead of black and white, it looks brown and white. This has got to be a word that is pronounced every single possible way that could be considered logical (and even some not so logical!).

This is our Christmas 2008 family photo with a sepia finish

Chic- (sheek) Cute, fashionable, high class/fashion. I was really into the Style Network (rest in peace) in high school, and seriously thought that whenever they said chic, that it was spelled like I have it written out for the pronunciation. It wasn't until I was a senior in high school that I finally figured it all out.

Height- (hite) Okay, I threw this one in there because when sewing you use a lot of measurements using height, width, etc. But I have noticed that this word is commonly mispronounced (should I have been an English teacher??). I often hear "heigth", which is incorrect. An easy way to remember is that it is pronounced with the same ending as weight. So next time you're tempted to say Heigth and Width, just think Height and Weight instead.

Damask- (DAM-usk) Type of scrolly pattern as shown below. I totally thought for the longest time this was pronounced da-MASK, until I watched the "Muppet Christmas Carol" where Scrooge talks about his DAM-usk bed curtains. I thought that maybe it was an old English way of pronouncing it, until I finally looked it up. To my surprise Scrooge's way is how it should be pronounced in modern American English as well!

Toile- (twahl) A type of French canvas, these days usually referring to the type of old fashioned scenic print on the canvas as pictured below. I'll be honest, I didn't know how this was pronounced until I wrote this post.

Applique'- (APP-lick-kay) A peice of fabric, usually in the shape of something sewn onto the top of another peice of fabric. I always thought this was how it was pronounced, but didn't look it up until more recent years.

Burp cloths with appliqued polka dots and argyle

Fondant- (FAWN-dunt) Clay-like frosting applied to cakes and cupcakes.

A cake with Fondant frosting

Brocade- (broh-KADE) A raised textured, elaborate fabric. Similar print to damask, but this is more referring to the texture than the design, though the design is usually something fancy like damask. My favorite type of fabric.

The tablecloth pictured is a brocade fabric