Hello, crafty friends! Today I’m sharing a colorful thank-you card featuring Altenew’s Build-A-Garden: Harvest Bouquet from the September 2026 subscription. Although the set includes coordinating coloring stencils, I chose to color the beautiful floral image with Copic markers and paired it with a loose, painterly background.
Creating the Background
I scribbled Faber-Castell pigment sticks onto my glass mat, added water, and transferred the diluted colors onto Canson watercolor paper. While the paper was still wet, I splattered the remaining colors over it. The droplets spread into the damp surface, creating the soft, blurred splatters that give the background its dreamy appearance.
Coloring the Flowers
I stamped the large floral cluster and colored it with Copic markers, using bright blue, pink, and soft cream for the flowers, warm yellow for the centers, and several shades of green for the foliage. Instead of using the coordinating stencils, the markers allowed me to add more controlled shading and color variation. Once the coloring was complete, I used the coordinating die to cut out the entire floral cluster.
Adding the Sentiment
The sentiment is also from the Harvest Bouquet stamp set. I die-cut the large script “grateful,” then paired it with the smaller “for all you do” sentiment, heat embossed in white on black cardstock. The bold black-and-white greeting stands out beautifully against the colorful flowers.
Assembling the Card
I trimmed the watercolor background and layered it onto burgundy cardstock before attaching it to a white card base. I added the floral cluster over the background with dimensional adhesive, placed the sentiment across the center, and finished the card with a scattering of gold embellishments.
I love the contrast between the carefully colored floral image and the loose, softly blended background. Adding the splatters while the watercolor paper was still wet created such an interesting effect and made this card feel artistic without becoming overly busy. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I hope this project inspires you to experiment with your pigment sticks and Copic markers!
Hugs,
Jyoti