Catherine Pooler Crush

 

I fell in love with a new (to me) stamp company recently. Catherine Pooler. It all began with color. In the same way that Lori Holt's Bee in My Bonnet designs always featured "happy colors", the Catherine Pooler creations were all so happy!

Her colors are so happy!

I decided that I really needed some full sized ink pads again. I have all the minis from Papertrey Ink, and all the minis from Concord and 9th. And while I like C and 9th inks (foam, good coverage), they only have 22 colors and have not mentioned introducing any more one year later.

Catherine Pooler inks have a lot of good reviews from fellow crafters. Foam pads, juicy, crisp stamping, and a big line of colors to choose from. And sometimes you really need a full size pad, especially for big background stamps.

A Cherry On Top had a sale last weekend for National Scrapbooking Day, and I decided to order some full size ink pads. I had bonus cherry points rewards, too, so I think the pads were somewhere around $5 each. A good price for a full size pad, I think. 

They do not disappoint!

I swatched them all out yesterday.

And as long as I was purchasing new ink pads, I had to try some new stamps, too! I sold some stuff from my collection (still selling lots! Look at my Spring Cleaning post and make me an offer!) to help finance my new stuff.

These little birds were stamped on watercolor paper with CP Midnight archival ink. A note about this ink pad: it is super black, and super crisp, and you can use markers and watercolors and it will not bleed. Awesome!

Warning: It will stain your stamps. So if you are super picky about that, you may not like it. Personally, I will probably use it mostly for line art stamps like these birds, and it does not bother me. It actually makes them a little more "visible" when stamping, as you can see the outline now that it is black and no longer clear.

With the colored ink pads, you can gently squeeze the lid and transfer some ink there to use with a water brush for painting. If you have Stampin' Ups foam ink pads, these are probably very similar in that regard.

I really love the simplicity of Catherine Pooler's designs, many of which are just stamping and layering. I think I am more of a Clean and Simple stamper. While I like the finished product of some really intricate and fussy cards (The Greetery, I'm talkin' to you!), I don't think I actually enjoy the process. Live and learn!

So there you have it. My new Catherine Pooler crush! You will probably see more CP  creations here at the café in the days ahead, so stop back and get a refill!