Catherine Pooler's New Foundations Box Blog Hop

    
Hi Folks! I know many of you are avid stampers and may have been doing this for quite awhile. If not, you're at least very crafty and are passionate about making things for yourself and others. Once you start sending your amazing handmade cards in the mail, after your recipients finish gushing over them, I'm sure many of them ask you how they can get started themselves. Without spending a fortune. (ahem)

Well, good news is here! Catherine Pooler Designs has just released a Foundations Box which contains everything one would need to create dozens of gorgeous cards. Five ink pads (more about these later!), three stamps sets, scored note cards, and an acrylic block. It's all available for $67.

 
Not only that, but it comes in the cutest little blue box you ever did see. Talk about gift-giving made easy ... you don't even have to wrap the darn present!!

PS. This also makes a fabulous gift for yourself! Go ahead : )

Enough chatting, let's take these goodies out for a test drive ...

  

These first few cards are all one layer, and are made using ONLY the supplies included in the box. This birthday card uses a post-it note (or a piece of paper will work too) as a mask to blend the blue ink on the bottom of the card. There is also a mask over the red circle to make the card look like it has a few layers. No actual layers here! Just a little pre-planning.

I was so delighted making this card when I saw how BEAUTIFULLY the ink blends! Catherine's been working on a brand new formula for these inks, which you can't buy anywhere else. They are foam pads, like the old pigment inks, but they are still dye-based inks. There's a video that explains these. They are so darn JUICY, the ink is plentiful, and coverage is a dream. I honestly prefer using these inks to blend more than the distress inks now. They are just that good.

 
The day I got my package in the mail I tore it open and sat down to create this card, accepting Catherine's challenge to keep the card one layer and not use any other supplies. The oval mask is actually the shape of the ink pads! I just traced it on a sheet of copy paper, cut it out, and then started stamping flowers and leaves around the outside edges to get that framed look. Seriously love the orange, green and blue color combo.

   
 

This card has a lot going on but is still very flat for mailing. I used the same post-it note from the first card to make a icy blue ground for my tree to grow out of. The tree is inked completely in green and then before stamping it I dipped the top and bottom sections in the blue ink. Second generation stamping comes into play to give dimension to the snowflakes falling, as well as some added glitter from my kids' art bin.



Another take on a holiday card, with the sentiment topping the tree, and a festive ground from overlapping the diagonal stripe ribbon stamp.



Finally, remember how I said I loved using these inks more than distress inks for blending? Exhibit A right here. Can you believe these stripes are just from blending the ink, using post-it notes for masking?! Crazy! Incredible!! AND, let's talk about coverage when stamping solid images. Those large black flowers ... ONE stamp and done. No white spots, no lighter spots, just an even sea of black ink. Gah! The other benefit? As much as I love my MISTI, I didn't need it! Just good old fashioned taping the stamp in ink and putting it on paper. I seriously couldn't believe it. Each time I use these inks I feel like I'm cheating. No banging the stamps into the ink pads 10 times, no using super-human strength pressing the stamp into the paper, AND the images turn out amazingly well. There are only two drawbacks: 1) your fingers get messy and you have to make sure that doesn't transfer to the card you're making, and 2) your stamps get stained using the red and black inks. I absolutely can live with that. I honestly get so much joy using these inks. I was working on another project yesterday and got very annoyed at my old inks. Can you tell how much I love these inks?! Hahaha ...
 
   
 OK, want to win a box? All you need to do is comment on the posts in this hop, and in yesterday's hop. A box will be given away for both days, with the winners announced the next day.
  

You're next stop is the lovely Lisa Harrolle.

Here's the complete blog hop list for today:

Catherine Pooler

Kristie Goulet

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Laurel Beard  

Kelly Griglione <-you're here!

Lisa Harrolle

Deepti Stephens

Melissa Miller  

Thanks so much for stopping by!
-Kelly