Cardstock and Water - I don't think so :)

I had trouble colouring this with watercolour pencils as I should have realised cardstock and water do not mix very well - what to do? I salvaged it by digitally enhancing the colour.  I'm going to try to fix the original by adding colour, maybe Copics but unsure if the colour may be blotchy where the paper has worn away when I used the water blender - here's hoping :)