Quince and Cherry Blossom Tutorial

Aren't the Quince flowers beautiful!   Below I have a tutorial on how to create both the Quince and Cherry Blossoms using Susan's Garden Flowering Quince dies. Susan Tierney-Cockburn not only designed beautiful flower dies which have instructions in each package, she also has step by step videos to help us create very realistic flowers.  Here is the link for the Quince video.

 I am always happy if I can create many different flowers with one set of dies.  With the Susan's Garden  Flowering Quince dies, we can also create pretty Cherry Blossoms.

Before I begin, I want to talk a little about the tools in the Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit. Every thing you need is in this kit.  It contains the shaping mat, leaf shaping pad, non-stick sheet, scissors, self-closing tweezers, and three shaping tools - everything you need to shape and create your beautiful flowers.    The tool on top, in the above picture, is used for creating realistic lines in your  leaves.  I have put a piece of card stock under the tip so you can see the special design. You use this tool on the light green shaping mat that is in the kit. This pad has just the right cushion to create realistic veins on your leaves.   On the other end of this tool is a small stylus. 

The middle tool is one I almost always use to shape petals and leaves.  There is a small loop tool on one end and a larger loop tool on the other end.  The tool on the bottom has a medium and a large stylus end.  These can also be used for shaping or just conditioning the card stock. 

 To create the Quince, I shaded the base of the petals then shaped each one with the small loop tool.  I like to start from the very edge of the petal and pull toward the base, with the petal on the brown shaping mat. If you start just above the petal edge and draw it down, it will kind of curl the edge for a ruffle effect. 

 Here are the shaped pieces for the Quince.  Notice I cut down each leg of the stamen piece to give it a more frilly look.  I used a Copic marker to color the tips.

 The Quince has five petals.  This is a picture of the petals glued to the calyx (base).  Once they are assembled and dried, I like to go back with the small stylus and press down in the center, on the shaping mat,  to help cup (shape) them more. The two flowers on the right side have not been re-shaped.

In this picture I am gluing the stamens in the center of the flowers.  You can also see the nice shape of each flower.

 In the Quince die set,  you will find one petal shaped like this - it looks like two connected petals.  I used this piece to create buds and also used it to add additional petals in the center of the Cherry Blossoms.

 To create the bud, I used three of the "double" petals.  When you use the loop tool, it curls the petal more than if you are using just the stylus.  Draw the loop tool down from the top of each petal a couple of times and it will curl and cup the piece as you can see in the above picture.

 I use The Ultimate Glue to assemble the flowers.  I am working on the non-stick pad that comes in the Susan's Garden Flower Tool Kit.  To create the bud, you will need a piece of wire.  I am using a cloth covered wire you can get at the craft store.  It comes on a spool.

 After the petals were colored, shaped and the stamen is colored and each leg cut, I added glue to the base of each petal and along the bottom of the stamen.  You will need to work quickly, but I found it easier to add the glue to all pieces before I started putting the bud together.  Add a little glue to the tip of the wire and roll the stamen base around it. 

Next start adding the three petals, one at a time around the stamen, alternating the petals. You can form them in closely next to the stamen for a tight bud or more loosely for a slightly open bud.

 Every bud will probably turn out different, but it will look something like this.

Here is a picture of the finished Quince, buds, and leaves that were attached to a  wired sisal rope.  The Wired Sisal Rope was purchased at Hobby Lobby.  The leaves are from the Susan's Garden, Garden Leaves Dies.

 To create a Cherry Blossom, I created the flower just like the Quince using five petals. To shade the base of each petal, I used Susan's Garden Bright Pink Pan Pastel.   It is a more frilly flower than the Quince.   To create this fullness,  I shaped two of the "double leaf" die cut petals and added them to the center of the flower.

 I alternated the petals that were added in the center.

 For the stamen, I cut down each leg of the die cut rolled it and added Susan's Garden Pollen to the tips. 

I hope this information will help you create your Quince, Cherry Blossoms, and buds for both the Quince and Cherry Blossom.  Be sure to watch Susan's video for more information on how to create the Quince.

All these products can be purchased from Ellen Hutson, LLC:

Susan's Garden, Flowering Quince Dies

Susan's Garden, Flower Tool Kit

Susan's Garden, Pan Pastels

Susan's Garden, Pink Pollen

Susan's Garden, 13 piece Garden Leaves

Ultimate Glue

Memory Box, Dainty Corner Die

 

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