Hot Press, Cold Press?

A few weeks ago I received yet another gift in the mail from a blog reader. There are amazing folks out there!!! Linda Carson sent me some "hot press" watercolor paper to try out and compare to "cold press". In this case, it is Arches, 90 lb. Natural White. I used this paper on this card - both for the main image and the saying. I love to watercolor -- and am in the process of teaching myself. It doesn't come naturally to me, but I absolutely love it as I find it so relaxing. I have always used "cold press" 140 lb. watercolor paper, so switching to hot press was fun and educational. So what's the difference? The cold press I've used is much heavier and has a bumpy texture -- not so bumpy as to make stamping impossible, but you can feel the texture. This hot press paper is quite smooth. The hot press is definitely preferable for stamping words, especially the small ones used in this card and for stamping in general. Of course, it is possible to buy heavier weight hot press and lighter weight cold press, but generally, the hot press is smoother, and will buckle more easily than a rougher sheet of cold press watercolor paper. The main image on this card buckled quite a bit, but was very easy to smooth down -- I just used some double sided tape to place it on the red cardstock layer and it behaved quite nicely! It is hard to explain, but the 2 papers "take" the watercolors differently. I used dye reinkers for this card -- I've found this the best way to get an intense color, and I definitely wanted bright, intense colors for this card. I squeeze one drop of reinker onto the inside lid of the same color ink pad and use an aquapainter to pick up the color. The reinker will stay on the inside lid of the ink pad and will be usable for ages! Watercolor paper has a finish that allows the color to float on it until it dries, making blending and removing colors so much easier than on any other type of paper I've tried. The hot press paper absorbed the ink more quickly, making removing ink with a paper towel or sponge more difficult. (Removing color that has just been painted on watercolor paper is a quick way of lightening a section of an image -- just dab a paper towel before the paint or other medium has had a chance to set and voila, you have totally clean watercolor paper.) This technique works -- for me -- better on cold press. However, I've seen a watercolorist use this technique on hot press, so I think it is a question of just getting used to the different paper, and having talent! Thank you Linda! Supplies used on this card: Stamps: "And Everything Nice" and "Dotted Background" by SU; Cuttlebug Slider Die Cut; SU YoYo Yellow, Ballet Blue, and Real Red reinkers; SU Chocolate Brown, Blush, Black and Orange Markers; Memories Black ink and Versamark (on the Dotted Background); SU Real Red brads, Aquapainter, Arches 90 lb. hot press watercolor paper in Natural White, SU YoYo Yellow, Real Red and Bashful Blue cardstock; dotted ribbon (source unknown).