DIY Happy Collage Postcard with a kitchy twist
I’ve started making happy collage postcards for the DIY Postcard Swap that I host. I opened it up so that you can join last week, and a lot of people have already signed up. A lot! It is thrilling to see so many returning participants each year, especially since making 10 postcards on a deadline can be a bit of a challenge, and it’s a big commitment. But I know it is doable because collectivly we create hundreds of postcards in this swap every time, and they’re all amazing.
If you’re someone who has been thinking about joining for the first time but still aren’t sure, or maybe you’re curious about the swap, feel free to read about it, browse my blog for some happy postcard inspiration. You can ask me specific questions via e-mail or in the comments below, or just check the FAQ – and then decide if this is something you’d interested in joining. I recommend starting to make the postcards, and then signing up in April if you feel you’re going to finish 10 postcards on time.
This year I’m going with collage postcards myself. Yum!
There is plenty of time until we’ve got to be finished with 10 postcards, but I’ve already started. So I’m just sharing my first (almost) finished postcard today. I’m going to try to infuse my postcards with happiness and a little bit of humor. I will also be using lots of flower imagery - because well, flowers are always so lovely, and I long for spring oh so much…
I am going to do something new-to-me with my handmade Postcards this time. It’s always great fun to let the postcards be an experiment of style and imagery. I want something a bit kitschy and colorful, a bit influenced by that kind of bought birthday postcards that has one big kitten on them, or iconography. Both styles has a focal image that feels rather regal because it is so in center and important looking.
I used some of the one-sided pretty papers from my stash as background. I buy paper pads with patterned paper cheap at TGR. They’re thin enough to glue down and use in my art journals or collage work.
I decided to use a few as simple backgrounds for my figures, to let the focal image stand out as much as possible. For this one I picked a koala as the focal image. It’s not a bear, I just learned, but a marsupial. Did you know this? Anyways, I think he is so cute.
I feel so happy to finally be able to use some of these papers that have been laying around for a few years, waiting for the perfect spot.
Here’s the almost finished postcard for now:
I might be adding a quote, a saying or a pun later, but for now, I’m happy with this koala collage postcard.
What do you think of my first Happy Collage Postcard?
I love your koala bear postcard, it’s so cute! The purple flowers are wonderfully springy!
This card is cute, kitschy and cheerful! Perfect for spring. I love the cut out flowers, especially. And I recognize one of my scraps of gel print paper! 😃😃😃😃😊😘
Hi Sarah, I adore all the little scraps you sent me! Did you see the little notebook I made (posted on instagram recently), I think all of the scraps were from you. They’re so precious I wanted to keep them on the cover so I see them often when I flip through my Travler’s Notebook! :-)
Your flowery koala is adorable! Thank you for sharing! I’ve been slowly working on my postcards the past couple weeks. This year I won’t have time to spend an entire weekend creating all in one go, so I’ve been sneaking in 15 minutes here and 30 minutes there, slowly building happy postcards I’m eager to send on their journies to make people smile! Thank you for sharing your gorgeous in-process photos! It’s almost like creating side by side!
I love this card. I take bits and pieces from old magazines and use in my cards. I especially love the catchy sayings in the advertisements. I haven’t joined in a few years, but I did this year!! Can’t wait to see what makes its way to my mailbox.
Hey girl, so glad you decided to join in again. I’m sure this will be a super duper round of postcards. I so hope everyone will get their 10 postcards too.