Papercraft Postcard Tutorial

Papercraft Postcard Tutorial

You can see all the handmade papercraft postcards I’ve made over the years here

I’m sure there are many ways to make a papercrafted postcard.  This tutorial is how I make many of mine.

The most important thing in making a papercrafted postcard is to make sure it is sturdy and nothing added to it will come loose in the mail.

I began with a 4”X6” piece of 70lb sketch/drawing papers.  I sprayed them with Distress Oxide Spray then sprayed one of them again through a stencil.  I chose the one on the right to work with this time.

I’ve rubber stamped the words with a waterproof Archival ink and toned down the brightness of the background paint by rubbing the ink over it lightly and darkened the edges.

I’ve used cutting dies to cut flowers and leaves from the same 70lb sketch/drawing paper.

I’ve painted them with watercolors.  (Sometimes you just have to hope your mail won’t get rained on.)

Before gluing the flowers to the postcard, I splattered thinned black acrylic paint to the background.

I use a spray glue to adhere the flowers and leaves to the background.  I then press them down firmly with a Brayer.  When dry, if there are any loose edges, I use a fine tip glue to get underneath the loose area and glue it down firmly.

When my postcard front is finished, I glue it to a heavier paper.  This Canson XL paper is 98lb.  I glue it to a piece larger than my postcard then trim around the postcard.  Set the postcard under a flat weight so that it dries flat.  Check the edges to make sure they are one.  Any loose edges can be glued with a fine tip glue.  If you don’t have a fine tip for your glue, put some on a toothpick to smear where needed.

It is now a sturdy piece of art that will travel through the mail easily and not get caught in any of the postal machines.

Art can sometimes leave the finished piece warped and even messy on the back.  Working on one paper to create your art then adhering it to a clean paper will help to flatten the piece and you don’t have to worry about a messy backside.

The back can be decorated also, just like any other postcard.

Within the United States, a papercrafted postcard can be mailed at the regular postcard rate (unless you’ve added something that will make in non-machinable.  In that case, extra postage is needed.

There are so many different ways to make a papercraft art postcard.  But as I mentioned previously, make sure it is glued and put together well and that it is sturdy enough to withstand the traveling it will do.  

Most of my handmade postcards arrive at their destinations as if they were hand delivered.

If you have any questions at all or need some further detailed info, I am more than happy to help out with both.

Happy Mail Day!

Annie