DIY packaging for my paintings

Over the weekend I sold a bunch of paintings.
Thank you to everyone who made a purchase!
Your new wall art is on the way. 

I thought I’d make a blogpost about how I package up my original paintings since it’s evolved over time. It’s been a while since I’ve written about my process, so here we go..

First thing first..cardboard to sandwich the painting between to protect it while in transit is a must. I could buy flat cardboard for my packaging, but I’d rather recycling and reuse what I already have on hand. I buy most everything online these days, so I have plenty of boxes lying around. I try to do all the cutting ahead of time to save time when I get an order. It’s best to do it whenever I get a box in the mail, so I don’t have to store the box somewhere. I already know the sizes of my paintings, so I know the dimensions to cut. 

Because these boxes come from other companies there is usually print on the box. I don’t really want my paintings going out with another company’s name on them..it might confuse people, so the second thing I do is pretty up the cardboard with some abstracts or flowers..whatever I feel like painting that day. It’s my gift to my buyer – extra paintings that they can keep, and frame, if they’d like. The photo above is an example of some of the cardboard I created on Sunday. 

I then slide the paintings into plastic bags, which helps to protect the acrylic paint while in transit..especially in hot, humid weather. I don’t want the paint to stick to the cardboard. Also, if it’s raining anywhere along the way, it helps protect the painting from getting wet. I’ve had buyers tell me that the plastic bag has saved the day because the outside of their packages were wet, but the painting was dry inside. 

Before packaging the paintings, I scan the painted cardboard, and I make high resolution prints to sell in my Etsy shop. Some of these will be available as prints as soon as I get them edited in Photoshop. 

Aw..look at these babies.
So much more pleasing to the eye than plain old cardboard, eh? 
🙂 

This is what the paintings look like sandwiched between the cardboard. 

Thanks again to everyone who purchased my original paintings. All orders have now been shipped out, and will be arriving soon. xo

PS: When listings expire from my Etsy sale, I’m painting over the art I don’t like. I’ve given the sale a good long run, and it’s time to make some fresh art out of the old stuff. I’m doing the same with my eBay listings. If you’ve had your eye on something at either venue, you should buy it asap because it might not exist soon.