Ever since the new Stampin’ Up! annual catalog came out, the Over the Moon stamp set was one of my favorites. The cows are just too cute! I had been waffling on the perfect way to use them for the first time and finally decided on creating a cow coffee cup.
If you’ve been thinking about decorating your own coffee cups (or other plain ceramics), I promise that it is much easier than you realize! Below you will find some easy to follow instructions with intermingled trial and error “Pro tips” that I figured out along the way.
#1 – Select your coffee cup (or ceramic item of choice).
**Pro tip: Be sure to look closely at the actual surface of your selected item. If there are uneven spots or it is not a perfectly rounded (or flat) surface, be aware they are a little harder to stamp on evenly. (Not impossible mind you, but definitely can be a bit of a challenge.)
#2 – Clean with soap and water to get off any oils from your hands.
Keep in mind that just because you haven’t handled it much doesn’t mean it’s untouched. You have no idea how many times it was touched from the time it was manufactured until it arrived at your home.
#3 – Select your stamps
#4 – Stamp with Stazon and have cleaner nearby!
**Pro tip: Stazon is great for stamping on already glazed ceramics. If you don’t like the way your stamp came out, simply wipe it off using the Stazon cleaner and try again. This is especially important if you are stamping on an uneven surface.
**Pro tip: For stamping on a rounded surface, start at one edge of the stamp and roll your wrist while stamping for an even application. For example, right handed people should start on the far left of the stamp and roll their wrist toward the right to complete the stamp image.
#5 – Bake and Cool
I used a convection setting (made the oven heat up quickly). I placed the cow coffee cup upside down directly onto the rack for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Once the timer went off, I removed it from the oven and let it cool overnight on a hot pad on the kitchen counter.
#6 – Have fun with colors!
To color the cows, I used the various Stampin’ Blends colors listed below. The key is you need to use alcohol based markers for the ink to stay on the ceramic. The ink in water-based markers just pools and doesn’t dry pretty.
#7 Bake and Cool Round 2
Repeat #5 above to set the marker ink.
++Tested in dishwasher…. The colors stayed!!
