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?