Playing with some watercolours

I recently bought a set of watercolour paints, so yesterday I pulled them out and had a play.  I went through my stash and dug out some paintbrushes (those things have been breeding, I had no idea how many I had!) and a mug of water and a pad of Canson watercolour paper I bought a few weeks ago and just did some experimenting. I cut out a panel of watercolour paper using a "stitched mat" die from Lil' Inkers - (For the second card, I had to extend the die by cutting half, repositioning carefully and cutting the other edge to make a panel the right size.)

And then I did version 2.  More intense colour (especially the blue background) and a different layout.  Which do you prefer?

 I'll be submitting this card to Keep it Simple - Watercolor

and to  Virginia's View Challenge #3 - Stitching.

and to Simon Says Stamp's "Anything Goes" challenge

 Thanks for visiting.