Life is Kulayful ...

Stamp Vase

Materials:
clear vase
stamps
podgy glue
newspaper

Instructions:

1. Wash and dry your vase thoroughly.

2. Cover your work surface with newspaper.

3. Choose the stamps you want to use. Most of the stamps you will use will be whole stamps but some you will have to cut or overlap. It depends on the look you want for your vase.

4. At the top of the vase you can start with whole stamps. Dip your paintbrush in the podgy and spread a little on the area of the vase where you are going to apply the first stamp. Now use the podgy on your brush to pick up the first stamp you have decided to use. Apply the stamp to the prepared area and spread a thin layer of the podgy over the entire stamp until it is glued down flat to the stamp. If there are ridges in the vase you need to smooth down the stamp into the ridges. It is best to use your finger because the brush won’t make it form to the ridges of the vase the way your finger can. Use whole stamps all the way around the top of the vase below the straight line of the top edge of the vase because it makes it easier to cover the vase evenly. If there is a slight gap in between two of the stamps, cut a piece of another stamp that will overlap both stamps and cover the gap.

5. Now that you have covered the top of the vase you can start varying the angles and positioning of the stamps on the rest of the vase. Glue on the stamps in the same manner as you did the first ones. Fill in the gaps between the full stamps you have used with other stamps you cut to fit the space as well as overlapping the edges of the surrounding stamps. You don’t want to cover the images on the stamps but you want them to blend together. Choose stamps that have similar colors or images that compliment each other.

6. When you reach the bottom glue on the whole stamps the same way you did the first stamps at the top of the vase so you are covering the bottom of the vase evenly. This time you need to use the line of the bottom of the vase as your line to follow when gluing on your stamps. Fill in any gaps between the stamps at the bottom with pieces cut from other stamps if necessary. Once again you need to use your finger to form the stamps to the ridges on the vase. The ridges at the bottom of the vase will be bigger than those at the top so there may be some gapping at the bottom of the stamps but this adds to the character of the vase.

7. Let the podgy glue on the stamps dry before adding a second coat. It dries very quickly if you add only a thin coat of the podgy. Pop any bubbles that occur in the podgy so they won’t show up when the vase is dry. Check over your entire vase to see if any stamps are sticking up slightly or there are little gaps you might still need to cover with a piece of a stamp. Cut a piece of stamp to fit and apply it to the vase immediately.

8. Add a second coat to the entire vase paying particular attention to the areas you previously discovered were sticking up when you checked over the vase. Let the vase dry where it won’t be disturbed.