This weekend has been a busy one for me with all sugar flowers in the making! I had been busy making filler flowers (learnt from Jacqueline Butler's Craftsy class) and few more flowers (learnt from Wilton's Advanced gumpaste flowers). But one of the flowers apart from this list is the open Peony which I have fallen in love with!
I had been browsing through many online pages trying to find a tutorial for making this gorgeous flower but failed to find an informative one. Deciding to make one on my own, I started observing flowers from various artists online and incorporated some techniques that made it easy for me to make the peony. So here goes the tutorial which I hope will help all those in love with an open peony.
Gum paste (Made pliable by working on it)
Petal craft gum paste cutters - Peony Cutters and Veiners
9" rolling pin
Gum paste storage board
Foam pad
Ball tool
Flower forming cups
26-gauge wire and floral tape
Fuchsia and peach color dusts
Cooling grid (I use this for drying the flowers)
Styrofoam disk
Yellow pointed stamens
1. Use the gum paste of your desired color and work on it to make it really pliable. I found out in my experience that "the more you work on the gum paste, the easier it is to make a realistic flower".
2. Roll out the gum paste on the storage board (on the hard side of the board). Roll it in such a way that the lower portion is thicker. (This enables the wire to be inserted into the petal)
3. Use the peony petal cutter and cut the petal. Note the thickness on the lower side of the petal.
4. Using a foam pad and the peony veiner, press the cut petal onto the veiner so that the veins are imprinted onto the gum paste petal.
5. Insert a 26 gauge wire through the thick lower portion (to almost 1/2" into the petal). Thin the edges of the petal using the ball tool. Make sure the petal looks natural by this process.
Note: I used green wire and green floral tape since I did not have white. White color would be apt in this case for petals.
6. Cup the center of the petal using the ball tool and the foam pad. Let the petal dry overnight on a flower forming cup.
7. Make around 10-15 petals(as in the previous steps and let them dry overnight.
8. Make three carpels (or pistils) in green color and dust them with fuchsia petal dust on the top portion. Dry these on a styrofoam disk.
9. Use the stamens and the dried carpels and wrap the floral tape around all of them to form the center of the flower.
10. Make the first layer of the flower using four petals and wrap all of them using the floral tape.
11. Use the remaining petals to form the next two layers. Make sure you wrap all the petals firmly and let them set for a while. The petals will be brittle and so extreme care is needed while assembling the flower.
Hope this tutorial is clear enough. Please leave your comments/ feedback and any questions.
I had been browsing through many online pages trying to find a tutorial for making this gorgeous flower but failed to find an informative one. Deciding to make one on my own, I started observing flowers from various artists online and incorporated some techniques that made it easy for me to make the peony. So here goes the tutorial which I hope will help all those in love with an open peony.
Necessary Items:
Gum paste (Made pliable by working on it)
Petal craft gum paste cutters - Peony Cutters and Veiners
9" rolling pin
Gum paste storage board
Foam pad
Ball tool
Flower forming cups
26-gauge wire and floral tape
Fuchsia and peach color dusts
Cooling grid (I use this for drying the flowers)
Styrofoam disk
Yellow pointed stamens
Step by step instructions:
1. Use the gum paste of your desired color and work on it to make it really pliable. I found out in my experience that "the more you work on the gum paste, the easier it is to make a realistic flower".
2. Roll out the gum paste on the storage board (on the hard side of the board). Roll it in such a way that the lower portion is thicker. (This enables the wire to be inserted into the petal)
3. Use the peony petal cutter and cut the petal. Note the thickness on the lower side of the petal.
4. Using a foam pad and the peony veiner, press the cut petal onto the veiner so that the veins are imprinted onto the gum paste petal.
5. Insert a 26 gauge wire through the thick lower portion (to almost 1/2" into the petal). Thin the edges of the petal using the ball tool. Make sure the petal looks natural by this process.
Note: I used green wire and green floral tape since I did not have white. White color would be apt in this case for petals.
6. Cup the center of the petal using the ball tool and the foam pad. Let the petal dry overnight on a flower forming cup.
7. Make around 10-15 petals(as in the previous steps and let them dry overnight.
8. Make three carpels (or pistils) in green color and dust them with fuchsia petal dust on the top portion. Dry these on a styrofoam disk.
9. Use the stamens and the dried carpels and wrap the floral tape around all of them to form the center of the flower.
10. Make the first layer of the flower using four petals and wrap all of them using the floral tape.
11. Use the remaining petals to form the next two layers. Make sure you wrap all the petals firmly and let them set for a while. The petals will be brittle and so extreme care is needed while assembling the flower.
The finished flower:
Hope this tutorial is clear enough. Please leave your comments/ feedback and any questions.
