Watercolor birthday wishes

Hi friends!

It has been forever since I've posted...but I took some time to craft today and I'm finally posting a new card. Here's my card:

I LOVE this die from Memory Box! It's called Lunette and the butterfly is just stunning! It's so intricate...and yes, it's a bit time-consuming to pop out all those little holes on the butterfly's wing but it is so worth it!

I knew I wanted to make a watercolor background for this beauty. For the background, I used my distress ink pads and smeared the colors on the craft mat. Then, I spritzed the mat and smushed the watercolor paper onto the mat. I wanted there to be at least 2 layers of color so I heat dried the first later and then dipped the paper into the inky water again. For some added interest, I stamped a handwriting stamp on top of the background, too. I layered the paper onto brown cardstock and then added the sentiment (Hero Arts). I wanted to give the butterfly a bit of extra shine, too, so I used my Wink of Stella on the edges of the butterfly. It looks lovely in real life.

I'll be entering the card in a couple different website challenges.
Simon Says Stamp--anything goes!
Word Art Wednesday--anything goes!

Stay cool and have a great week!
Pat