Coloring Succulents

Today, I want to show you two things - 1) how to color some bunches of succulents, using two different methods and materials, and 2) that succulents can be ANY color that you want them to be!   

 

Just a reminder that I go Live on my Facebook Page every Thursday at 11:00am ET.

 

If you did not catch me live earlier today, you can still watch it on my Demonstrator Page now, OR on YouTube.  If the picture does not appear below, you can click HERE to get to it on YouTube.  I truly do apologize for the length of this week's video....TWO HOURS!  For one thing, I decided to not go in to work, so I wasn't rushing. Secondly, when I do a mainly "coloring" project, it always takes me longer than I expect.  

 

Let's get into these projects!  I'll give you a run-down of what I did, and most importantly (I think) which colors I used.

For the first project, I used the card background die-cut as a stencil.  Before I ran it through my die-cut machine, I attached a piece of Adhesive Transfer Sheet to the back.  The outlines in this die are so thin and delicate, it's hard to get glue on them after.  Adhesive Sheets are your friend!

 

I layed down the die-cut on top of a piece of White cardstock, on my surface.  Then I used my new blending brushes to add colors randomly all over.  I used them in this order (lightest to darkest): Soft Seafoam, Mint Macaron, Balmy Blue, and Highland Heather.  Life the die-cut off (and save it for the third card!), and you get this background.  VERY COOL!

I ink blended some Mint Macaron/Balmy Blue around the edges of the "stenciled" layer before attaching it to the Crumb Cake.

For the succulents and pot, I stamped on White Thick card stock, and then colored in with several shades of Stampin' Blends markers (light and dark for all shades).   Note the purple tips on the largest succulent.  I love that!

 

Stampin Blends Colors for the succulents:  Highland Heather, Purple Posy, Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party, Soft Seafoam, Mint Macaron, Just Jade, Balmy Blue, Seaside Spray. 

Stampin' Blends colors for the clay pot:  Mocha, Bronze, and Cinnamon Cider

Color over the entire succulent bunch with Clear Wink of Stella to give it a nice shimmer.  I know the shimmer doesn't really come through in the picture.  :(

I finished this card off with some of the Opal Rounds.

Next up, I went with Non-Traditional colors!  I say non-traditional, but I want to be clear - succulents come in ALL COLORS.  Some are light, some are more vibrant.  When I was researching, I found so many different sizes, shapes,and colors - they're all so pretty!  Makes me want to try to keep one alive (I have a black thumb, and I did kill a cactus 25 years ago, so not a great track record.)  

 

I'm still using Stampin' Blends to color all of these in.  

 

This time, for the card front, I ran that big die through with some Champagne Foil.  It looks really nice with the Gray Granite card base.  Again, I used Adhesive Sheets on the back of the foil, before I die-cut it.  Makes it SO easy to attach!

 

Here's a close-up of the flowers - 

Colors that I used this time (still used Stampin' Blends): Old Olive, Mango Melody, Calypso Coral, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Magenta Madness, and Flirty Flamingo.  The pot is in Smoky Slate, and Gray Granite.

 

This time I finished the card off with a knot of Gray Granite Shimmer ribbon, and some regular rhinestones.

 

For the last card, I watercolored the succulents and pot.  I stamped on watercolor paper first, and then used my water brushes, ink pads, and clear blocks.  I use the clear blocks as my ink pallettes.  Smash the clear block right in the ink pad, and then pick up the color from there.  I prefer doing this, instead of smashing my ink pad lids and picking up the color there...I feel like I never get enough ink that way.  Using a block...I can choose as big of a block as I want.

 

Notice that I've used the die-cut/stencil that we made for the first card on this one.  I just attached it to a white card base. 

 

In the video, I tried to show two different techniques with watercoloring - wet on wet, and wet on dry.  Wet on dry gives a more concentrated color.   Wet on wet gives you more movement (the color spreads out).   I usually get a softer look with watercoloring, versus using the Stampin' Blends.  They're both beautiful in the end, just different.

 

Notice I did the purple tips on that largest succulent.  I really like that look!  One thing to note is that I did NOT go back and add Clear Wink of Stella to this card.  My pieces were still so wet when I put it together...I didn't want to handle it much more.

 

So there you have it!  Today's cards.  I still can't believe I took 2 hours to show 3 cards - but really, the coloring does take me a long time.  I'm not a total whiz at it, even after all these years.
 

Next Thursday, I'll be using the Gilded Flakes!  That ought to be interesting, considering I've never used them before and still haven't cracked that jar open yet.  :)

Thanks for visiting, and Happy stamping!

Toni

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