HYDRANGEA FLOWER TUTORIAL

HYDRANGEA FLOWER TUTORIAL

Mar 19, 2020 | Flowers

Author: Katarzyna  Koczorowska

FB: Katarzynka Sztuka Cukrowa

Skill level: BEGINNERS

TIP:

You may find the flower paste a bit sticky. Use corn flour to prevent this.

You will need:

  • Flower paste Saracino – Pasta Bouquet
  • Non stick board with grooves for petals / leaves
  • Florist wires white #28 or #26 and #26 green
  • Florist tape – green
  • Saracino colour gel – green
  • Saracino colour dust – green, pink, red, violet
  • Saracino Liquid Shiny
  • Balling tool
  • Non- stick rolling pin
  • Cutter & veiner hydrangea flower and leaves
  • Foam pad
  • Paint brushes
  • Kitchen paper

Step 1

Thinly roll out white paste – Pasta Bouquet Saracino over the grooves on your rolling board. Cut out petals with the cutter.

Step 2

Move the petal onto a foam pad. Insert a white wire #28 half way.

Step 3

Thin the edges of the petal with your balling tool.

 

Step 4

Make hydrangea imprint with a veiner.

Step 5

Let them dry ideally on a foam mat.

Step 6

Hydrangea has a lot of petals (this one had 32) so make yourself plenty.

Step 7

To make the flower centre bend the end of the flower wire and insert into a teardrop shape piece of paste.

Step 8

Make a cross on top with a jagger cutter.

Step 9

Add a bit of green Gel Colour to white paste. Roll it out over the groove on your rolling board and cut out the leaves.

Step 10

Make imprint with a leaf veiner.

Step 11

Put them on a foam pad to dry.

Step 12

Now for the colouring. Dust the buds with green and pink Saracino powder.

Step 13

Dust the petals with pink powder, add a bit of green. Dust a little violet powder on the edges.

Step 14

Colours combine seamlessly.

Step 15

This hydrangea is autumnal so try to match the leaves to the flower. I added a bit of red and violet to the green dust.

Step 16

Dust the petals and leaves on both sides.

Step 17

Wrap the wire to the leaves with green florist tape.

Step 18

Steam the leaves to make the colour more natural and permanent.

Step 19

Apply Liquid Shiny from Saracino for a natural effect.

Step 20

Wrap the wire to the bud with green florist tape.

Step 21

Add two petals to the bud with green florist tape.

Step 22

Add another two petals on the outside.

Step 23

All four need to be at the same height.

Step 24

Wrap the wire to the end.

Step 25

Make 8 like shown. Each should have 4 petals on each stem.

Step 26

Use three stems to form the centre.

Step 27

Add the remaining stems on the sides. Tape all together.

Step 28

The bouquet is ready.

Step 29

Add the leaves where required with florist tape.

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DAHLIA FLOWER TUTORIAL

DAHLIA FLOWER TUTORIAL

Feb 22, 2019 | Flowers

Author: Katarzyna  Koczorowska

FB: Katarzynka Sztuka Cukrowa

Skill level: BEGINNERS

TIP:

You may find the flower paste a bit sticky. Use corn flour to prevent this.

You will need:

  • Pasta Bouquet Saracino
  • Powder colours red, orange, yellow and green
  • Gauge wires 20, 26, 28
  • Grooved board
  • Small ball tool
  • Nonstick roller
  • Dahlia cuters and veiners 5cm and 4cm
  • Universal leaf cutter and veiner
  • Flower center veiner
  • Small daisy cutter
  • Green floral tape
  • Foam drying pad

Step 1

Add a bit of yellow powder colour to the paste and mix well.

Step 2

Roll out the paste over the groove on the board. Cut out the petals and squeeze them on the 5cm veiner. Put in the 28 gauge wire. We need ten of them, then they need to dry on the spoons. Put leftover paste in a plastic bag to prevent drying out.

Step 3

You can put the wire in the petals much easier if you do it on the board or alternatively you can do it on your hand. .

 

Step 4

Insert the wire half way into the petal.

Step 5

Remember to dry petals with their upper half facing up.

Step 6

Alternatively you can make white petals and dust them with powder afterwards.

Step 7

Use your fingers to squeeze the top of the petal.

Step 8

Cut ten 4cm petals and squeeze them on the veiner. Put in the 28 gauge wire. Dry them on the foam mat.

Step 9

Twist five of the smaller petals at the bottom

Step 10

Do a small loop at the end of the 20 gauge wire and insert into a small ball of paste that has been shaped in flower center former.

TIP: Dip the wire into the glue OR heat it before inserting.

Step 11

Add a bit of green powder colour to a fresh piece of paste.

Step 12

Cut out the leaves and squeeze them on the veiner. Insert the 26 gauge wire. Dry them on the foam board.

Step 13

Mix the colours to add more shades to dust the leaves.

Step 14

Dust the bigger petals with powder. Start from colouring them yellow, make the edges orange and then colour the tip red.

Step 15

Paint smaller petals the same as bigger ones, except add a bit more of red on the edges.

Step 16

Dust flower center green. You can put all petals in one place to make assembling easier.

Step 17

Wrap the flower center wire with green floral tape. You need to strech the tape for it to start adhering.

Step 18

Start adding small twisted petals below the flower center.

Step 19

Put them as close to the green center as possible.

Step 20

Add the remainder of the small petals below the twisted ones.

Step 21

Add all the big petals, they too need to be placed as high as possible.

TIP: Keep your florist tape as tight as possible.

Step 22

Arrange all petals evenly.

Step 23

Cut out small daisy using the green coloured paste. This is to form the calyx. Shape it with the small ball tool. Glue it with water to the bottom of the flower.

Step 24

Wrap the leaf wires with green tape, about 2 cm down the wire.

Step 25

Attach first leaf to the flower stem.

Step 26

Add the rest of the leaves.

Step 27

Finished dahlia made with Pasta Bouquet Saracino.

Step 28

Saracino Paste can be rolled out very thin, to the point that you can read through it. That feature is very helpful, especially when creating delicate roses.

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CREATING VARIOUS COLOURS with SUGARWHIZZ

CREATING VARIOUS COLOURS with SUGARWHIZZ

Feb 1, 2019 | Modelling, Painting

Author: Lynsey Wilton-Eddleston

FB: SUGARWHIZZ

Skill level: BEGINNERS

FROM LYNSEY:

Never underestimate the power of colour! It’s such an important factor in making your creations beautiful, bold and unique to you. With Saracino gel colours its incredibly easy to create a never-ending range of colours, tints and shades, guaranteed to make your masterpiece stand out from the crowd. There’s a strange phenomenon in cake land that leads you to believe you need to own hundreds of pots of colour in all, shapes, sizes and colours. When the truth is you don’t. You only really need a few basic colours and a little knowledge to set you on your way. 

For this tutorial we’re going to concentrate on Saracino gel colours, however the same principles apply to the dust colours too. I’m going to show you a few basic steps and introduce you to a few colours to start you on your way. 

 

You will need:

  • Saracino Gel Colours:
  • White
  • Yellow
  • Pink
  • Red
  • Violet
  • Orange
  • Green
  • Blue
  • Brown
  • Black
  • Skin Tone

Take the amount of paste you need, knead and soften the paste until it is smooth. Using a clean cocktail stick, apply a small amount of gel colour to the centre of the paste. Fold the paste over so the colour is contained and begin to knead the paste gently. Keep kneading until the colour is unified and streak free. Add more gel colour a little at a time and repeat the kneading process until you reach your desired colour. The more gel colour you add the darker the shade will be.  If the paste becomes too warm during colouring it will appear soft and sticky. Don’t worry this isn’t permanent and can be solved easily by placing the paste in a clean food bag and leaving to cool down for a while. Once cool the paste will firm up again and will be easy to handle. For dark shades it is often best to colour your paste 12 – 24 hours before and leave to settle, the colour will develop more and the paste will be easier to work. For lighter shades you can colour and use immediately.

First up this may seem obvious but the simplest way to gain a variety of tints and shades is by adding different quantities of gel colour to white paste.

It’s impossible to give you the exact quantities needed to achieve each shade as it depends on how much paste you want to colour. Therefore, the easiest way is to experiment, start with a small amount of gel colour to create the lightest shade, increase the amount of gel colour a little at a time to create darker shades until you reach the colour you desire. The more practise you have colouring paste the quicker you learn to judge how much gel colour you need. 

I’ve given you examples of five different shades for each colour obviously there are many more shades depending on the quantity of gel colour you add.

Hard to believe but this cake was made and coloured using only Saracino Gels and dusts.

 

Saracino Gel Colour – RED

Saracino Gel Colour – Yellow

Saracino Gel Colour – Orange

Saracino Gel Colour – Blue

Saracino Gel Colour – Green

Saracino Gel Colour – Pink

Saracino Gel Colour – Violet

Saracino Gel Colour – Flesh

Saracino Gel Colour – Brown

Saracino Gel Colour – Black

For the tutorial I only needed small amounts to demonstrate so used around 2g for A however A can be any quantity, it doesn’t matter how much you have of A the scale is still the same.

B is roughly ½ the quantity of A. 

C is roughly ¼ the quantity of A.

D is roughly 1/8 the quantity of A.

For example, if A was 100g, B would be 50g, C would be 25g and D would be 12.5g .We’ve used these amounts as examples in the mixing guide that follows.

This should help you in scaling up and down for colouring whatever quantity of paste you need.

TOP TIP – When creating a new shade or colour, start small. Mix the colour you need with just a few grams of paste, keep a note of your combination and quantities. Then when you have the colour you desire, scale up the amounts. This way you wont waste huge amounts of paste if you create the wrong colour. 

Let the mixing begin…

Left to right, top to bottom.

  1. Grey 100g + Blue 25g 
  2. Blue 100g + Black 12.5g 
  3. Blue 100g + Black 12.5g + Violet 12.5g
  4. Blue 100g + Black 50g + Violet 50g

Left to right, top to bottom.

  1. Blue 100g + Green 50g 
  2. Green 100g + Black 50g 
  3. Green 100g + Yellow 12.5g + Violet 12.5g
  4. Flesh 100g + Green 50g + Black 12.5g

Left to right, top to bottom.

  1. Yellow 100g + Blue 12.5g 
  2. Yellow 100g + Blue 50g
  3. Yellow 100g + Green 12.5g + Violet 12.5g
  4. Grey 100g + Green 25g 

Left to right, top to bottom.

  1. Pink 100g + Blue 25g 
  2. Violet 100g + Blue 50g 
  3. Pink 100g + Violet 25g
  4. Violet 100g + Red 50g

Left to right, top to bottom.

  1. Red 100g + Pink 100g 
  2. Red 100g + Violet 12.5g 
  3. Red 100g + Brown 50g 
  4. Red 100g + Black 12.5g 

Left to right, top to bottom.

  1. Orange 100g + Brown 12.5g 
  2. Orange 100g + Blue 50g 
  3. Brown 100g + Red 25g 
  4. Brown 100g + Black 50g 

Left to right, top to bottom.

  1. Grey 100g + Orange 50g
  2. Grey 100g + Brown 25g 
  3. Flesh 100g + Red 12.5g + Black 12.5g
  4. Grey 100g + Brown 50g + Green 12.5g + Red 12.5g + Black 12.5g

Left to right, top to bottom.

  1. Yellow 100g + Orange 12.5g 
  2. Flesh 100g + Yellow 50g + Red 12.5g 
  3. Orange 100g + Red 25g 
  4. Orange 100g + Red 100g

Left to right, top to bottom.

  1. Grey 100g + Violet 25g 
  2. Grey 100g + Red 25g 
  3. Grey 100g + Pink 25g 
  4. Grey 100g + Yellow 50g 

Left to right, top to bottom.

  1. Yellow. 100g + Flesh 12.5g 
  2. Flesh 100g + Yellow 12.5g 
  3. Flesh 100g + Pink 12.5g 
  4. Flesh 100g + Blue 12.5g + Brown 12.5g

Now you’ve got a whole palette of colours to play with it’s a good time to point out that just like the original gels these new colours can by multiplied into many different, tints, shades and tones.

Tint – A tint is created by adding more white paste to your colour making it lighter.

Shade – A shade is created by adding more black paste to your colour making it darker

Tone – A tone is created by adding grey, or both black and white to your colour.

Last but not least is this little beauty… Saracino White gel colour. Which can be used for lightening colours. However, I usually just use white paste and I save this for magical things, like mixing it with a small amount of clear alcohol (or cool boiled water) and painting details such as the whites of eyes, highlighting and shading my creations, or simply painting patterns onto sugar work! The only limit on this one is your imagination.

Of course, this also applies to the full range of Saracino gel and dust colours. You can mix them individually with a small amount of clear alcohol or water or combine the gel and dust colours together to create endless new colours. All of which can then be used to paint and shade your creations, here are some of my favourite examples…

The most important thing to remember is to be brave, experiment and have fun! 

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