Why Catherine Pooler inks?

The Little Paper Tree is proud and excited to have stocked Catherine Pooler ink pads & refills since 2018.

We have been stampers card makers for over 20 years combined, and have used many different brands of ink. This is the definitive post to tell you why these inks are so great and all the uses you can have from these inks!  Catherine Pooler ink pads and refills have their own section in the shop.  Read on for all the reason you want to introduce CP inks into your craft room.  If you already love CP inks, read on to refresh your memory on all the fabulous ways to use these premium dye inks.

How many ways can I use these ink pads and refills?

We have a YouTube playlist full of ways to use the Catherine Pooler Designs ink pads and refills. From straight-up stamping, to using them for watercolouring and direct to paper and heat embossing.  Don’t forget you can search the tutorial blog for more inspiration using Catherine Pooler Designs ink colours too.

Eleven Ink Collections

Catherine Pooler ink colours are designed in collections – Party and Spa.  Each colour works well within its collection but you can also mix and match colours between the Party colours and Spa colours.

We sell each colour individually as ink pad only, refill only and as a bundle of ink pad and refill. For new colour releases we offer one click bundles for all ink pads and refills – making it quicker for you to grab all the new colours!  We also stock all the CP Minis currently available.

Party Collection

The Party Collection of inks are vibrant and highly saturated colours. From primary colours in the Foundation collection to colours that make you want to party in Life of the Party collection and Carnivale collection.  Spring Fling collection are softer pastel shades, and perfect for lighter tones with multi-step stamping.  Date Night collection (for me) are colours between Life of the Party and Carnivale.  The Party collection is complete with new Luxe collection of deep rich shades. 

• Foundation ink pad and refill collection
• CP Mini Foundation ink collection
• Life Of The Party ink pad and refill  
• CP Mini Life of The Party ink collection
• Spring Fling ink pad and refill collection
• CP Mini Spring Fling ink collection
• Carnivale ink pad and refill collection
• CP Mini Carnivale ink collection
• Luxe ink pad and refill collection
• Date Night ink pad and refill collection

(The Carnivale colours are also available as Color Burst powders by Ken Oliver!)

All Catherine Pooler ink colour names relate to the collection they are in. The Party collection have party themed names – Party Dress, Mardi Gras, Garden Party, Catching Rays – to make finding the colours easier to find.   The Spa collection have names that will remind of a day relaxing either at the spa, the beach or just at home – Peppermint Scrub, Green Tea, Hot Tub, Pink Champagne, Clay Mask, Tranquil. And they all coordinate together!

Spa Collection

The Spa collection of inks are softer, lower saturated and more muted shades that you would think you were going to spend a day at the spa. From softer muted shades in Zen Garden to deeper warmer colours in Paradise Found. The Spa collection is rounded out with the colours in Urban Oasis and Beach Retreat.

• Zen Garden ink pad and refill collection
• CP Mini Zen Garden ink collection
• Paradise Found ink pad and refill collection
• CP Mini Paradise Found ink collection
• Urban Oasis ink pad and refill collection
• CP Mini Urban Oasis ink collection
• Beach Retreat ink pad and refill collection

Neutral Collection

No ink collection is truly complete without a Neutral collection of basic blacks, greys and browns.  From a true black – Midnight to the lightest grey in Twilight. With your kraft brown colour needs covered with the three Kraft shades Sand Castle, Over Coffee and Icing on the Cake. Midnight and Icing on the Cake are also available in mini ink pad form.

• Twilight ink pad and refill
• Black Jack ink pad and refill
• Midnight ink pad and refill (archival)
• CP Mini Midnight ink pad
• Sand Castle ink pad and refill
• Over Coffee ink pad and refill
• Icing on The Cake ink pad and refill
• CP Mini Icing on the Cake ink pad

Inside The Ink Pad

Catherine Pooler ink pads are stackable and easy to label at the base of the lid, either with the Side Label stickers or handmade labels.  What makes these ink pads different from other ink pads is they are on foam pads.  Normally foam ink pads are used for pigment ink – these inks are premium dye-based inks. Foam pads release ink very easily. All you need is two or three “love taps” to get a fully inked stamp. 

A fully inked stamp leads to a fully stamped image!  You may need to practice a few times to make sure you don’t flood your stamp and get an inky mess.  And don’t push down too hard when inking up with Midnight. You may end up with inky fingers – but inky fingers mean a happy stamper! And the inks wash off easily.  Remember your new mantra – “Little Love Tap”.

Since these are foam ink pads they may run out of ink quicker than a felt pad.  Catherine Pooler Designs recommends getting ink refills at the same time as the ink pad.  Especially if you use techniques – such as direct to paper, ink blending/sponging or smooshing.  And refills are great for other techniques too! If you do just ‘regular’ stamping you should be okay for a while.

The Little Paper Tree have all the Catherine Pooler ink colours available to purchase in three options – ink pad only, refill only, and as a bundle of ink pad and refill, and stock the CP Minis.

Why do crafters love these inks?

Choosing Colours

• Colour coordination is so easy! Both collections are made to work together – the Party Collection and the Spa collection.  No more guessing which colours will work with which
• No more splotchy images or half stamped images! Two or three gentle LOVE TAPS are all that are needed to get full coverage on your stamps.  You may be used to pressing down very hard on your felt or linen ink pads but doing this with foam pads will push ink all over your stamp and make a mess! You may want to practice a bit on scratch paper first. 
• Ink left on your stamps? Not anymore – a fully inked stamp means a fully stamped image on your cardstock.
• No more muddy or dirty stamped images.  Do you spend ages cleaning your stamp and stamping a new colour onto scrap paper first before going to your project?  Not anymore.  These inks are amazing and DO NOT transfer any dark ink residue to a lighter colour.  I stamped the Something Borrowed ink first, wiped my stamp on a dry rag then stamped in Tutti Frutti ink!  See the photograph on Instagram HERE

Blending, Watercolouring & Heat Embossing

• These inks are water-reactive which makes them great for watercolour lovers and water sprayer water drop effects.
• Blending or sponging on your card is easy.  These inks stay wet for a few seconds, so you have time to blend them together for beautiful backgrounds.  Catherine Pooler premium white card was formulated for ink blending with CP inks.
• Also, the inks stay wet for a while, so you can sprinkle on some embossing powder!  Meaning these inks work as coloured embossing ink!  All you need is clear embossing powder!

What colours should I use together?

Catherine Pooler have two colour wheels – one for Party inks and one for Spa inks to help you visually see which ink colours will ‘go’ together.  *Download the colours wheels here (and swatch chart here) from CP’s blog.

Premium Dye Inks and Tips for Midnight

All the Catherine Pooler inks are premium dye inks and are all non-permanent – except for Midnight.  

Midnight ink pad is an archival ink and will stain your stamps! CP suggest cleaning your stamps after stamping to minimise staining.  Remember, all you need is a light ‘love tap’ to prevent ink from getting into the negative spaces of your stamps.

Because Midnight ink pad is archival it is suitable for using with water based markers and watercolouring – and can also be used for alcohol marker colouring (heat setting may be required on non-CP cardstock).

If you use a stamp cleaner other than water – also clean your stamp with water to remove any residue that might cling to your stamp.

Storing these inks are so easy

Catherine Pooler full sized ink pads are stackable (which is always good) with space to add a small label to easily find the colour you are after.  The CP Minis can be stored in the packaging box they arrive in. You don’t need to store these ink pads upside down.  

Foam ink pads have a shelf life of at least two years, but they could last much longer with good care and storage.  It is recommended to store them close to room temperature and out of direct sunlight.

We have shared card tutorials with Catherine Pooler inks so many times since 2016.  The separate playlist – Techniques with Catherine Pooler Inks – on YouTube is full of techniques and ideas. And of course there are many tutorials here on the blog.

Which is your favourite Catherine Pooler ink colour? Can you pick just one? 

Find all Catherine Pooler products in the shop here.