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dogwood flower

Gum Paste Dogwood Branch Tutorial: Part Two

June 17, 2020 By Ashley 1 Comment

Here we are at part two of the dogwood branch tutorial. In part one, I covered how to make the dogwood bracts, centers, leaves and small buds. This second, and final part of the tutorial will cover making the blooming buds, dusting the flowers, buds and leaves, then compiling the arrangement along with some final touches. You can find part one of the dogwood branch tutorial here.

Dogwood Branch Tutorial

Make the blooming dogwood buds:

1. Make a cone shape with a small piece of white gum paste. Place the tapered end into the second smallest hole of a foam pad with holes (Mexican Hat method).

2. Roll the paste thinly over the hole. Carefully remove the paste from the hole and place flat side down, stem side up. Center a 4 petal cutter over the stem of the paste. Cut out the flower. Remove any stray pieces of paste by running your finger along the edge of the cutter.

3. Place the flower stem back into the second smallest hole of the foam pad. Use a ball tool to elongate and cup of each petals.

4. Remove the flower from the pad. Brush a small amount of sugar glue in the center and bottom edges of each petal. Insert the wire of a dogwood center through the center of the flower, taking care to guide the wire down through the stem.

5. Cup the tightly petals around the center.

6. Hang the buds upside down to dry completely.

Dogwood Branch Tutorial

Dust the dogwood centers:

1. Dust the centers liberally with moss green petal dust.

2. With a small bit of burgundy, lightly dust a few areas of the center to give it a bit more of a realistic look and a bit more depth.

Dust the dogwood bracts:

*Be sure to apply dust sparingly as you dust the bracts. The goal is to build and layer color. This is how you make sugar flowers look more real. You can add more color, but you cannot remove it once it is on.

1. Lightly dust the center edge (the indentation we made) of the bracts with moss green.

2. Lightly dust very edge of the indentation with the brown dust, right over the edge of the moss green. The color should look gradient with a fine brown edge that continues to moss green.

3. Along the edges of the bract, with the exception of the center indented edge, and about a third of the way down the sides of the bract, very lightly dust with the dusty pink. Brush from the edges towards the center so that the color tapers off. The edges should be where the majority of color is. You’re going to be inclined to be a bit heavy handed here, but don’t. Less is more.

Dogwood Branch Tutorial

Dust the blooming dogwood buds:

1.Liberally dust the gum paste “stem” of the bud, tapering the color upwards, about halfway up the flower. You want the color to be darkest at the base of the flower nearest the wire.

2. Dust the base of the flower nearest the wire with brown, about 1/4″ up from the bottom of the bud.

3. Lightly dust the edges of the flower bud with dusty pink, dusting downwards to create a gradient of color, about 1/4″ down.

4. Just the very edges with moss green to mute the pink and give it more of blooming appearance.

Dust the small buds:

1. Liberally dust the small buds with moss green dust.

2. At the base of the buds, near the stem, liberally dust with brown dust about 3/4 of the way up from the bottom.

Dogwood Branch Tutorial

Dust the leaves and tape the wires:

1. Liberally dust front and back of the leaves with rose leaf green.

2. Activate the glue of the moss green tape by stretching the tape. Tightly tape the wires of the blooming buds, and larger leaves with the tape, finishing about halfway down the wire.

3. Tape a small leaf beside each small bud, taping about halfway down the wires.

Compile the dogwood flower:

1. Place the bracts two at a time, opposite each other, underneath a dogwood center, and tape with moss green floral tape. Place the remaining two bracts underneath and on opposite sides of the first two, and tape all the way down the wire. If you are using two different size bracts, place the larger ones first, opposite each other. Then place the smaller two opposite each other, underneath the larger two.

Dogwood Branch Tutorial

Create the individual stems of the branch:

1.For the first stem, tape together two of the small buds, staggering them so they’re not too close together, with the twig brown tape.

2. Tape two leaves onto the stem, also staggering them.

3. Finish the stem by taping on one of the dogwood flowers. Continue to tape all the way down the stem. Set aside.

4. For the second stem, tape a blooming bud to a small bud, staggering them so they’re not too close together.

5. Tape two leaves to the stem, opposite each other and slightly staggered, followed by an additional leaf. Tape all the way down the stem. Set aside.

6. Create the main branch by taping together a blooming bud with a leaf, staggering them.

7. Add another leaf to the stem. About 2″ down from the leaf, add the second stem ( the stem with the small and blooming bud).

8. Tape the stem with the flower to the main branch, about 3″ down.

9. Tape a 20 gauge wire to the branch, just below the flower. This will reinforce the branch and keep the branch from toppling over.

10.Tape an additional flower to the branch, followed by a leaf.

11. Add the third and final flower to the branch, taping all the way down the wires. Cut off any excess wire. You want to leave about 5″-6″ inches of stem to be able to insert the arrangement into a cake.

Dogwood Branch Tutorial

Final touches and finishing the arrangement:

12. Dust the branch with a combination of the leaf green, and brown dusts to blend the areas where the two different color tapes meet. This will make the colors look gradient and the branch more realistic.

13. Use a travel steamer or a tea kettle to *carefully* steam the arrangement to set the color. Be careful not to burn your fingers in the steam. Just carefully wave the arrangement through the steam to remove the chalky appearance. You don’t want the arrangement to look wet – you just need minimal steam. Let the arrangement dry completely.

Many of the techniques shared in this tutorial can apply to many other flowers and flower arrangements. For more tutorials and resources, check out these posts:

Essential Tools for Making Sugar Flowers

Gum Paste Peony Tutorial

Gum Paste Blackberries, Leaves and Blossoms Tutorial

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Sugar Flower Tutorials Tagged With: dogwood flower, flower, gum paste, gum paste flowers, gum paste leaves, gumpaste, sugar flower tutorial, sugar flowers

Gum Paste Dogwood Branch Tutorial: Part One

June 17, 2020 By Ashley 3 Comments

When the flowering dogwood trees start blooming, it’s a sign that Spring has sprung. These beauties are mostly seen as white, or white with tinges of pink, but they also can be found in light pink, bright pink and rarely, yellow shades. For this dogwood branch tutorial, I’ve made my favorite color dogwood flower – white with a touch of pink. In this tutorial, I’ll take you through how to make the dogwood flower centers, and bracts (petals), two different stages of buds and some leaves to create a beautiful,  multi-stemmed dogwood branch.

Dogwood Branch Tutorial

The cutters, veiners and center molds are from Sweet Art Master, and they are absolutely fabulous to work with. The bract cutters make super clean cuts, and the veiners are botanically correct and super detailed. I’ve purchased many veiners over the years that are subpar – whether the paste sticks to them, the veining impression is too light or the veining is not very detailed. The veiners from Sugar Art Master work perfectly. The center moulds are not only time savers, but they are detailed, botanically correct and easy to use.

Supplies:

Gum Paste – white, light avocado green, leaf green

Floral Wire – gauges 22, 26, 20 (cut into thirds) – white is recommended for the flowers, but for the other components, green or white will work

1/4″ Floral Tape – moss green, twig brown

Cutters: Sweet Art dogwood petal cutters , Sweet Art Master dogwood leaf cutters, small olive or ruscus leaf cutter (3/4-1″), 4-petal flower cutter (I used a hydrangea cutter)

Veiners: Sweet Art Master dogwood petal veiner, Sweet Art Master dogwood leaf veiners

Molds: Sweet Art Master dogwood center mold

Petal Dusts: moss green, burgundy, dusty pink, brown, rose leaf green

Sugar Glue

Cornstarch

Groove Board

Firm Foam Pad (with holes)

Rolling Pin

Ball Tool

Dresden Tool

Bumpy foam

Firm foam, for drying

Brushes, for dusting

Make the dogwood flower centers:

1. Fill the two cavities of mold with the avocado green paste, using a dresden tool to push in the paste, making sure to completely fill all of the mold.

2. Make a hook at the end of two pieces of 22-gauge floral wire. Dip each of the hooked wires in sugar glue, wiping off any excess glue. Insert the hooked wires into each of the centers.

3. Use a dresden tool to push the paste around the wire, covering up the wire insertion point and cleaning up any paste overflowing the mold cavities.

4. Place the mold in the freezer for 25-30 minutes to firm up the paste. This is necessary to be able to successfully remove the center from the mold.

5. Remove the paste from the mold by peeling the mold away from the wired center and removing carefully. Set the centers in  foam to dry overnight. You will need 6 centers total for this arrangement.

Dogwood Branch Tutorial

Make the dogwood flower bracts:

1.  Roll white paste over a groove on a groove board. You should be able to just start to see the line through the paste. You don’t want the bracts to be too thin.

2. Remove the paste from the groove board and flip the paste over so that it is groove side up. Center the bract cutter over the groove and press firmly to cut out the bract. Remove any stray pieces of paste from the cutter by running your finger along the edge of the cutter.

3. Dip a piece of 26 gauge floral wire into sugar glue, wiping off any excess. Insert the wire into the groove of the bract.

4. Groove side down on the foam pad, use a ball tool to thin the edges of the bract.

5. Place the bract into the bottom (green) part of the veiner. Place the yellow part of the veiner on top and press firmly to vein.

6. Lay the bract on the foam pad. Using the thick side of a dresden tool, push the tool into to the top/center of the bract to create an indentation. Place the dresden tool on the edge of the indentation and lightly scrape some of the paste away. This gives the bracts more of an aged and realistic look.

7. Place the bract over some bumpy foam to dry. Place some bracts curved in, some peeled back, some more flat, depending on the stages of bloom you want your flowers to be in. I made one flower with bracts more peeled away to represent more of an over bloomed flower, one flower with bracts more flat, with only a slight curve at the edges of the bract, and one flower with curved in petals to make a newly blooming flower. You will need 4 bracts for each flower (12 total for this arrangement). Let the bracts dry completely on the foam.

*You can make all of your bracts the same size using just one cutter, or you can use 2 different sized cutters (one larger, one smaller) to make a slightly offset flower. I used the smaller cutter to make 2 bracts, and the larger cutter to make 2 bracts for each flower.*

Dogwood Branch Tutorial

Make the leaves:

1. Roll out a piece of leaf green paste over the groove on a groove board. Remove the paste and lay the paste groove side up on the board.

2. Center the dogwood leaf cutter over the center of the groove and cut out the leaf. Remove any stray pieces of paste by running your finger along the edge of the cutter.

3. Dip a piece of 26 gauge floral wire into sugar glue, wiping off any excess. Insert the wire into the groove of the leaf.

4. Place the leaf into the bottom (green) part of the veiner. Place the yellow part of the veiner on top and press firmly to vein.

5. Lay the leaves on bumpy foam to dry, shaping them with a little bit of curve to make them look a bit more realistic.

*You can make a variety of both small and larger leaves, or all one size. You will need 8-9 leaves. I made 3 larger leaves, and 5 smaller.

Dogwood Branch Tutorial

Make the small buds:

1.Make a hook at the end of a piece of 26 gauge floral wire. Using the avocado green paste, roll a small piece into a cone shape. Dip the hooked wire into sugar glue, wiping off excess.

2.Insert the wire into the larger end of the cone shape. Work the paste onto the wire so that it is firmly adhered. Leave a little bit of the paste tapered off the bottom of the bud.

3. Shape the bud by tapering off the end to a dull point. Slightly bend the tip of the buds over so it looks like they’re leaning just a little. Set aside in foam to dry completely.

*Make a variety of sizes from super small to a bit larger, but keep them smaller than 5/8″. You will need 3 small buds total.

4. Repeat steps 1-5 of making the leaves, using the small leaf cutter (1″) to create the small leaves of the buds. You will need 3 small leaves total.

*PART TWO: LARGER BUDS, DUSTING, AND COMPILING THE ARRANGEMENT*

For other sugar flower tutorials, check out these posts:

Gum Paste Peony

Gum Paste Blackberries, Leaves and Blossoms

Gum Paste Olive Branch

 

 

 

Filed Under: Sugar Flower Tutorials Tagged With: dogwood flower, flower, gumpaste, gumpaste flowers, gumpaste leaves, sugar flower tutorial, sugar flowers

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Hi, I’m Ashley! Welcome to the Little Vintage Baking blog – where you will find recipes, tutorials, resources and more for bakers and cake decorators.
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