Been making California poppy and echeveria planters for a little while now.
I first learned how to make echeveria from this wonderful tutorial by Annie Christensen of We Love Miniatures. She uses brushed pastels at the end to tint the leaves. All the succulents in the Argo Wool Works foundation plantings were made using her method.
Lately, I’ve taken to using markers to tint and edge the various shapes punched from cardstock painted with acrylic wash, as seen above.
Also, do you see those footed flat clay planters? They’re from Falcon Miniatures, made in Thailand, and seem no longer available. If any of you know a source, I’d be very stoked :)
This afternoon I was fooling around, searching for some new shapes from the limited punches I have. I covered a bottle brush seed pod with overlapping petal shapes, and set that in a base of cupped leaves. Then I stuffed an emerging flower shape in the apex hole — I really need to look up the correct botanical terms — and… a new, fairly convincing succulent/cactus hybrid variety was born! I’m quite pleased with its appearance and will post a step-by, after I get a manicure :)
This picture of Scarlett nuzzling into Albie expresses my joy. I expect one day to stop posting so very many cat pictures, but she is so stinking cute and delightful…
nancyland.com 
The combination of california poppies and succulents look Great together! :D
Glad you see it too, Elizabeth. The poppies are more seasonal, but they appear together with succulents all the time here.
I like how the marker looks on the edge, I’ll have to try that on my next batch. I’ll keep my eyes open for those pots. I like the cat pics, she is stinking cute :). Glad she’s fitting in well with the others.
I think you’ll be pleased with the marker results, Keli. Thanks for looking out for the pots! I’m thinking I’ll wind up making some from air dry clay, and using terra cotta paint. Not ideal, but it’s such a classic succulent planter.
Looks real! :-)
Isn’t it such a great technique?
The new hybrid is very convincing. I have been coveting those little clay planters and will be on the lookout for them. (You can never have too many cute cat pictures..)
Thanks, BW. I think making the planters ourselves is going to be our only recourse.
Kitty feet are so distracting to me! :D So cute!
The plants look marvelous!
Right, Brae?! The toe stretch makes me grit my teeth.
So glad you like the succulents. I love that they’re so open to interpretation, but still really read as believable plants :)
I was so excited that I had several posts to catch up on! Love the binders and wool sample boards! The poppies and hybrid succulents just pop right out of the scene at you! Wonderful!
And that Scarlett, she’s just something else! I think you need to make and sell calendars of her poses! That’s pure joy 365 days a year!
Aw, thanks, Jodi! Small check-offs on the ToDo list.
Hah. I used to make modern typography calendars, but a kitten one would be fun. Scarletts’s just four months old, so maybe it will have be a partial. Thanks for the nudge :)
Pretty, pretty, so cute and realistic!
Thanks, Bennie. They are very quick and satisfying to make :)