“Stitches” Hand-Lettered Thank You Card Tutorial

In last Monday’s TPK newsletter, I requested feedback on what kind of blog posts you’d like to see more of. The majority of readers requested card tutorials — which I’m happy to create! So, for today’s post, I decided to make a thank you card using Stitches Hand Lettering and some gorgeous watercolors. I’ll walk you through how to make this thank you card, and I hope that my instructions inspire you to make your own version of it this weekend!

1. Gather Materials + Draw Guidelines

For this card tutorial — and many of my cards — I used a blank watercolor card. I find these 5″ x 7″ cards to be so convenient because they stand up to any media and are very sturdy! Once you have a blank card, use a pencil and a ruler to draw a set of 2-3 guidelines at the top of your card.

Next, use your pencil and the letters from the Stitches Hand Lettering worksheet to draw “Thank You” within the guidelines you just made.

2. Add Watercolor

Use a size o or 1 brush to blend dark blue and turquoise watercolor in the big strokes that you drew. If you’re curious about how the blending technique works, you can check out my short tutorial video on Instagram!

Here’s what your card will look like once you’ve painted all the letters:

Finally, use the watercolor calligraphy technique to apply dark blue and turquoise watercolors to a dip pen. Draw over your pencil guidelines with your nib! Once you’re finished, don’t forget to apply the signature Stitches Hand Lettering dots to the left of the thick strokes.

3. Add “Gracias” and “Grazie”

Your goal is to fill up the front of this card with eye-catching hand lettering. So, once you’ve written “Thank You”, try writing “Gracias” and “Grazie” under “Thank You”. Justify them to the left, exactly under where the “T” of “Thank You” starts!

Once you’ve drawn your words in pencil, use gold watercolor (such as Finetec) to paint and draw over “Gracias”. Then, blend light brown and dark brown watercolors to fill in “Grazie”!

4. Add “Arigato”

You can write “Arigato”, Japanese for “Thank You”, to the right of the hand-lettering that you just created. Make it the combined height of “Gracias” and “Grazie”, and it will fit beautifully on the card!

5. Add “Obrigada” and “Merci Beaucoup”

You’ll finish up your card by writing “Obrigada” under the second line of hand lettering. I made my “Obrigada” 1-3/8″ (35 mm) tall, and I filled it in with blue.

Next, write “Merci Beaucoup”! My Merci Beaucoup is 5/8″ (16 mm) tall. I didn’t get a photo of it for this step (sorry!), but you can see a photo under step 7.

6. Erase Guidelines

Make sure your watercolor is completely dry, then use an eraser to get rid of all your guidelines!

7. Enjoy!

Once you’ve erased the pencil guidelines, your card is ready to send. Whoever you give it to will appreciate the artistry and playfulness that went into making it!

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I would love to share who I’m sending this card to because that information directly relates to TPK! Next month, I’ll be coming out with an online course to help people drastically improve their handwriting. As part of that, I asked people from my circle of acquaintances who I know to have good handwriting to send me samples! Brandi, who I went to elementary school with, sent me a gorgeous sample of her handwriting:

I think that’s more than deserving of an equally neat thank you card! Keep an eye out for “Improve Your Handwriting: A Comprehensive Online Course” within the next few weeks. In the meantime, pick up the Stitches Hand Lettering Worksheet (there’s a printable version as well as a Procreate version), and try your hand at making this card!

Thanks so much for reading TPK, and have a great weekend!

Warmly,