3D Decoupage card tutorial and an Art Deco decoupage birthday step card

Decoupage paper packs are a great way to create stunning 3D effect cards. Docrafts Papermania kits are some of the best. I love their colorful designs, that they're pre-punched, and that there are always several images and papers in each pack, making them very cost effective. This card was created with the Papermania A4 Foiled Decoupage Pack Art Deco Roaring Twenties Piano, for my grandmother's recent 95th birthday. This is the second decoupage card I have made with one of the Art Deco packs (I used one for my grandmother's Mother's Day card earlier this year). These Art Deco packs are retired, but you can still find them on the internet.

These decoupage 3D images are fairly easy to construct – more time consuming than anything else – and you can assemble them as is with good results, but to move from good to wow! you need to take a few extra steps. This tutorial will show you how:

1. When you're punching the different layers out from the paper, turn them over and remove them with the back facing you. You can see the punch lines more clearly this way and ease out or even snip resistant areas so they don't tear.

2. The layers can have little white raised points along the edge where the image separated from the paper (areas circled in photo); lightly file these down with a jewelry file or nail file for a smooth edge. Hold pieces up to the light to spot them.

3. As you can see in the circled areas below, the layer edges are not always as cleanly cut as I would like. Where possible, I cut away excess to have a sharply defined 3D line.

4. So that the white image edges are not so obvious, I lightly go around the edges with the brush end of a Tombow marker. Use a shade several times lighter than your image color. Here I used a light grey on the black hair.

5. I don't always agree with punch line suggestions. In the area circled below, you can see where if I'd followed their punch line, I'd have removed a portion of her arm. I used a craft knife to remove only what I wanted and left her arm whole.

6. For the most part, I use larger strips of 3D foam tape, instead of the little squares. It's faster and less messy. I use the sharp tip of an awl to lift a corner of the tape covering for easy removal. Remove tape backing systemically, working from left to right, or up and down. If you remove here and there, going back over tapes you've already removed, the tape can stick to your fingers as you work, making the process more difficult. 3D foam tape and squares come in various widths. I prefer 1mm. You can vary, using a thicker 2mm or 3mm for the first back layer and then 1mm closer to the top, for more depth. Sometimes I do this, especially if I'm running short on 1mm width, but it's not necessary for good results.

And there you have it, a better constructed, even prettier, decoupage 3D card.

Supply List
Paper – cardstock, docrafts Papermania A4 Decoupage Pack Art Deco Piano (PMA 169079)
Dies – Crafts-too Presscut step card die
Embellishments – buttons, twine, gems

I'm linking up with: Crafting from the Heart #87 – Always Anything Goes, Craft Your Passion #289 – Always Anything Goes, Get Creative Challenges #28 – Birthday, Not Just Cards Challenge #26 Nov. – Always Anything Goes, The Crazy Challenge #211 – Everything Goes, Use Your Stuff #201 – Lots of Layers, and Where The HeART is #3 – Anything Goes