Okay, so I designed a few pets, and I REALLY want them, so I figured I'd start a breeding project. Because I've never done anything like this before, and I don't want to waste valuable time and resources, could anyone tell me how to start and successfully get the pets you were trying to breed? :) Thanks!
Here are the pets:

Fairun Zolnixi


Princess Zolnixi


Lotus Flower Aerdini

Pretty designs!

There are two main ways of starting projects: using essences to get your colors and traits, or buying pets with the traits you want and dying the colors to what you want. There are pros and cons of each, it's really up to you!

Note that if your project includes restricted traits (letters in red on the generator - like the wings on your aerdini), you CAN'T generate pets with those traits, so you'll have to buy them.

Either way, it would probably be useful to read some guides around the forums if you haven't already:
All the basics you need, useful pictures!
Very Comprehensive, text-heavy

If you have more specific questions, or those guides don't answer your whole questions, please feel free to ask me anything! :)

How do you get essences or dyes? :S

Essences are found all over the site - you can buy them for diamonds, or on the trade broker for gold. You can also find them (rarely) from mission satchels, defeating wild pets in battle, in Jinxie's Jamboree, or nurturing! If you're in a hurry to get started, I recommend buying the essences from the trade broker or making a thread in Item Auctions stating what you're looking for.

There are 2 kinds of dyes: Greater and Lesser. Greater dyes are more accurate, and can be bought in the diamond shop. Lesser dyes are not as accurate and can be bought for scales in the scale shop! Both can also be found on the trade broker or bought from other players.

Did that answer your questions? :)

Yes, it did! :) Thank you! I'll see if I can find anything. :D

Just wanted to add that with the restricted traits you won't necessarily have to buy a sylesti with that trait, just find one with that trait to breed with on the advanced search. This may or may not be cheaper than buying a pet with that trait. You would still have to dye the resulting baby, but may be a slightly cheaper option.