Hello World! Today is World Card Making Day, and what better way to kick off the day than with the Hello World Blog Hop with 22 designers all coming together for one purpose – to inspire you by creating cards using a brand new special stamp & die set designed for a great cause! The best part is that we have a little giving back going on this entire week. AND…guess what – you can participate too!

My good friend Catherine Pooler, Founder of StampNation – a world wide community of crafters & Catherine Pooler Designs, has been wanting to give back from her business for a while now. But there are so many great organizations and causes – where do you start?

Well, one day this past August, one of her crafty friends (who happens to be a rockin’ stamp designer – that would be Chaitali Narla) contacted her to come together and do a little good in the world. The very next day Catherine saw another crafty friend, Jennifer Ingle,  post about a little cause she and her husband Sean were trying to raise funds for….and the idea for Hello World was born!

Sean Ingle teaches Civics & Government, Geography and Debate to kids in grades 6-8 in the Boston area. Their school does not have the funds for computers, a computer lab or in a library. So these kids, who don’t have computers at home either (they are all on a free or reduced lunch program), don’t get to learn the way most kids do today. Let’s be honest – most kids are exposed to computers from a very young age. Can you imagine not having that exposure for basic life skills as a young teen?

Sean’s goals are to raise enough money to have Chrome notebooks for the classroom so two students can share and get the exposure they need in the classroom setting. Wouldn’t it be great if we could raise enough so that all students had one?!!

So Catherine and the team at Catherine Pooler Designs put their heads together and came up with the stamp set Hello World. Chaitali’s favorite sentiment is Hello or Hi, so this set is illustrated by her, and says Hello or Hi in various languages from around the world. It has great sentiments to go along with that making it a more versatile set. All the profits from this stamp and matching die set from today October 1st through Friday October 7th will be donated to purchase Computers and other supplies in Sean’s classroom in Boston. Now that’s a worthy cause!

Here are the two sets that are giving back:

• Hello World Stamp Set
• Hello World Dies

Be sure to stop by Catherine’s Blog at the beginning of the hop (link below) to get her full story, and if you’d like to donate directly to Click Here for the Go Fund me page – Chromebooks for Urban Education.

Now for a little creative inspiration using the Hello World Stamps & Dies….

Hello World Project Tutorials: 

#1 – Wordy Hello

This clean and simple card is pretty easy to put together. You’ll want to line up several of the sentiments from the Hello World Stamp set. I first lined them up with the hello, then removed it to ink and stamp it separately. I wanted to have an ombre feel to it, do I inked it up in light from the middle outward in the following colors: Soft Sky, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy – all by Stampin’ Up!.

For a darker result, ink up the hello in versamark first, then directly into Midnight Muse by Stampin’ Up!.  Heat set it with clear embossing powder for an added effect. Matte your card front with your darkest shade – here in Midnight Muse.

I wanted the background to show all the fun dots from the new CP Designs stamp set YAY Stripes! For a fun look, ink up the bottom of the dotted stripe in a lighter shade, and the top in a darker one. That way when you stack them – you have dark/light contrasts in color. It helps to make it stand out a little more. I layered mine three times.

A few fun little orange hearts from the Lovely Flowers Stamp Set and some white twine up top and you’re all set!

#2 Elegant Hello

For my second project today, I wanted to do another clean and simple card, but a little elegant – enter embossing! Start out by embossing the solid stripe from YAY Stripes in Black on Black card stock. I LOVE that look!

For a complete contrast, emboss the butterfly from Butterfly Notes by Catherine Pooler Designs in Gilded Gold by Brutus Monroe. I love this butterfly – the detail on the wing and the outline are different and unique. It looks so pretty embossed – almost foiled!

Continue to add some golden touches by dragging your Versamark pad along the edges of your card front and emboss in Guilded Gold. Emboss the Hello greeting from Hello World in gold on black and cut out using the Hello World dies. Adhere to your card front, put your card together and add some sequins – that’s it!

#3 Hello World Word Cluster

This last project is my favorite. I love word clusters, and this set is PERFECT for this technique. Word clusters is simply that – clusters of words. Arrange them first, then drop your acrylic block or Misti on them to secure them.

Here’s the biggest TIP to help you with word clusters – stamp them first on a piece of copy paper and keep as a guide. This way, if you mess anything up, you can easily and quickly re-assemble them and move on.

To create this cluster, I removed the large hello, stamped the cluster in Soft Sky by Stampin’ Up!, added the Hello, stamped in Soft Suede, cut out with the Hello World Dies & popped it up for drama. The little word world never made my master – my master was always just the hello greetings. I stamped that in the open space after.

Matte your white card front so you have a 1/16″ border of Soft Sky on the top and bottom. Stamp the bold stripe stamp from YAY Stripes top and bottom so that you have a little peeking out. Adhere together and add a little Brown Bakers Twine up top with a bow – super simple and easy! This is a GREAT mass produced card. Just stamp all your pieces out at once and assemble factory line style.

So what did you think? I know they are easy for me, I was in a Clean and Simple mood the past few days. I have more coming this week with this stamp set, so be sure to stop back by!

Here’s the list of all 22 Hello World Designers to inspire you today. Be sure to stop by everyone’s blog. If you would like to purchase the Hello World Stamp Set & Hello World Die set, please visit the Store over at Catherine Pooler Designs. Here’s a link. Remember that all the profits from this stamp and dies set this entire week are going to fund this classroom – wouldn’t it be great if we could blast through the goal!  And if you want to directly donate, please click here.

Happy Hopping!!

• Catherine Pooler
• Maureen Merritt
• Amy Kolling
• Laurel Beard
• Miriam Prantner
• Kristie Goulet
• Amy Sheffer
• Heather North
• Donna Mikasa
• Allison Cope
• Amy Tsuruta
• Lisa Harrolle
• Kelly Griglione
• Kimberly Wiener
• Chrissie Tobas
• Ingrid Blackburn <– You are here!
• Michele Kovack  Click Here Next!!!
• Stephanie Klauck
• Chaitali Narla
• Dana Joy
• Jessica Frost-Ballas
• Laura Bassen
• Jennifer Ingle 

Have a great creative World Card Making Day!!!

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