succulents, cacti, and free shipping from CCC

 Hello my fabulous friends, 

and welcome to all those who are new!

Note: Products were provided by the company, however my opinions remain my own. Affiliate links have been used. This doesn't affect the price you pay, but it does a lot to help me continue bringing you new content. Thank you so much for your support! 

 It's free shipping time! No promo code needed! Just shop as usual over on the Colorado Craft Company website, and you will get free shipping if you are in the US, and discounted shipping international. This deal ends Feb 21st at midnight mountain time.

(and there's a giveaway... details at the end of the post)

Let's take a look at the new collection....

These new succulents and cacti from Kris Lauren are so fun to paint! I absolutely fell in love with this Ready Set Grow succulent the moment I saw it.. I HAD to paint it! 

I love the variety of colors in some succulents! To paint that, I put two colors- Phthalo Green (blue shade), and Quinacridone Rose (both Daniel Smith) on my palette,  I then started mixing those two colors in various ratios to get a beautiful array of colors that went from pink, through purples, blues and turquoise, and ended in greens... each time I picked up more paint with my brush, I grabbed from a different spot on my palette so the colors would mix and flow together. 

This is a fun exercise to do especially if you are still new to color mixing. It helps you get to know just how many variations of colors can be made with just 2 colors.

The pot that the succulent is in, is very detailed... I chose to keep it fairly simple by first adding a super light wash of the succulent colors (to look like a white pot reflecting the colors around it), some simple shadows, and then tracing the lines in gold.  

Colorado Craft Company does a great job of creating their dies to cut very close to the stamped lines- even with sentiments. I was concerned that my sentiment would get a bit lost where it was overlapping the pot, but putting a white die cut over the area looked too harsh... so I stamped on vellum, and used the coordinating die to cut it out. It softens and blurs the image behind the sentiment, while not totally covering it up! I love how it looks! 

 (quick tip: Distress Collage Medium Matte works fabulously for adhering the vellum without showing!)

This next card features 2 of the new sets- Can't Touch This, and Grow Girl. Both are beautiful large stamps, and both cacti are in pots if you use the full image.

There are also dies for Can't Touch This, and Grow Girl.

Again, because Colorado Craft Company creates their dies to so closely line up with their stamps, masking is as quick and easy as die cutting (even with that detailed flower on top)!  If you are stamping with dark lines that will show, you may need to do a little bit of touch up line work since the mask will be slightly larger than the stamp, but it isn't bad, and it is a whole lot easier than hand cutting it!

I like to use Oracle Stencil 813 Film for my masks... it cuts easily, removes cleanly, and because it is vinyl, it can handle being used over and over- even if I use techniques that involve water. You can also easily see through it (even when you stamp light like I do), so it's easy to place. I put mine back on the release paper and store it with my stamp set.

I get mine HERE at Expressions Vinyl... but you could also try Amazon.

No, I'm not an affiliate for Expressions Vinyl, just a long time customer who has always had good experiences when shopping there. 

When painting this image, I used masking fluid to protect the delicate flower petals while painting the cactus in the back. It made the painting process a LOT easier than trying to paint around all of the petals!

My final card for today features Stay Sharp and the Stay Sharp die set

(The heart squares are from Ready Set Grow)

These the same images as the large ones I just shared,  but the are a smaller size. Because of the amount of detail, I decided to stamp these small ones in black and let my painting be a bit loose and messy.

Normally, I do a lot of masking if I want to cluster images so I end up with a one layer panel, however, things don't always go according to plan....

My original design didn't have then clustered, instead they were lined up in a row... but I really didn't like it once I had it colored... So I die cut the pieces and started playing with different arrangements, and ended up really liking the pots all clustered together.   

Don't give up if the first idea doesn't work out as well as you imagined it- it's ok to pivot, to try something different, or go in a different direction than you initially started. Not everyone comes up with a perfect design on the first attempt even if that's what it looks like on YouTube and Instagram. I know I don't!

Now for the give away I promised.. Colorado Craft is generously giving away a stamp set from this release to one of my follower... to enter, leave me a comment here... Also, head over to my Instagram and leave a comment there for a second entry! You have until Feb 23rd (midnight MST) to comment, and the winner will be announced over on the Colorado Craft blog on Feb 25th.

Don't forget to get your Colorado Craft shopping done today or tomorrow so you can get free (or discounted) shipping!

ALSO- if you like the whole release, you can bundle it HERE and save 10% plus get 2 free surprises

If you just want the stamps, you can get that bundle HERE and save 5% and get 1 free surprise!

See you soon!


If you are looking for more inspiration, check out these incredible designers-

Blogs:

Adrienne Kennedy CCC

Emily Midgett

Jennifer Kotas

Kassi Hulet {you are here}

Kelly Griglione 

Kelly Taylor

Nancy Sheads

IG:

Jennifer Gross

Joe Sysivath

Kathy Racoosin

Mansi Bhatia

Traci Jenkins

~Kassi

For more inspiration, follow me on:
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*Affiliate links used when possible. This doesn’t affect the price you pay, it simply allows me to continue bringing you better content. Thank you for your support! :)