What:

I always have terrible problems with watercolour paper curling up so I bought a couple of pads of different weights to experiment with.

How:

This is a relatively lightweight paper — 190gsm/90lb — so I stretched it on a board first. I started off with plenty of water, a couple of colours of watercolour paint, and then a bit more water to get a blend I was happy with. I dried that and added some spatters of the darker colour over the top. Once it was (mostly) dry I trimmed it down to size and mounted it on black. I backed a piece of grey metallic paper with Stick-It and die-cut the sentiment, butterfly and hearts. Stick It is a wonderful product for attaching delicate die-cuts; no messy glues and it can even be repositioned.

Lessons Learned:

Just because you’ve used a heat tool to dry the watercolour doesn’t mean it’s completely dry. Don’t be impatient or the paper will still curl when you take it off the board.

Supplies:

• dies:
  Clearly Besotted – butterfly duo die collection
  Mama Elephant – hello script
  Lawn Fawn – stitched journalling card (hearts)
• colour:
  Gansai Tambi – watercolour paints – #50, #62
• paper and card:
  Daler Rowney – watercolour paper – medium grain 190gsm
  Paperchase – cropping block – metallic A6
• miscellaneous:
  Stick It – adhesive sheet