Memorial Day in U.S. ,Cherry Blossoms & Japanese History

I took artistic liberty ( no pun intended,really) by putting cherries on my trees for this project even though there are no cherries on the Japanese Ornamental trees in D C. I've posted some interesting facts about cherry trees & U.S. history.
Maybe we should pay it forward & give the Japanese some trees as a gift to help them rebuild after the tsunami:

In 1912, the people of Japan sent 3,020 cherry trees to the United States as a gift of friendship. First Lady Taft and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador, planted the first two cherry trees on the northern bank of the Tidal Basin. These two original trees are still standing today near the John Paul Jones statue at the south end of 17th Street. Workmen planted the remainder of the trees around the Tidal Basin and East Potomac Park.

George Washington and the Cherry Tree Story

When George was about six years old (1738 , he was made the wealthy master of a hatchet of which, like most little boys, he was extremely fond. He went about chopping everything that came his way.

One day, as he wandered about the garden amusing himself by hacking his mother's pea sticks, he found a beautiful, young English cherry tree, of which his father was most proud. He tried the edge of his hatchet on the trunk of the tree and barked it so that it died.

Some time after this, his father discovered what had happened to his favorite tree. He came into the house in great anger, and demanded to know who the mischievous person was who had cut away the bark. Nobody could tell him anything about it.

Just then George, with his little hatchet, came into the room.

"George,'' said his father, "do you know who has killed my beautiful little cherry tree yonder in the garden? I would not have taken five guineas for it!''

This was a hard question to answer, and for a moment George was staggered by it, but quickly recovering himself he cried:

"I cannot tell a lie, father, you know I cannot tell a lie! I did cut it with my little hatchet.''

The anger died out of his father's face, and taking the boy tenderly in his arms, he said:

"My son, that you should not be afraid to tell the truth is more to me than a thousand trees! Yes - though they were blossomed with silver and had leaves of the purest gold!''

I cheated a bit on this project.  I printed a picture of the Jefferson Memorial, I cut out the building on SCAL with a file I created.  I put foam tape on the dome and the steps to give it dimension.  I cut out branches from one of my files. I glued Michael's dollar bin flowers on top of which I glued pink Flower Soft to create centers.  I used a free file called Sweet Treats cherries from SVG Cuts to cut out the cherries and stems.  I put Triple Thick on the cherries and let dry over night. The leaves are my file. I cut two size leaves in two shades. The bushes have a pastel green Flower Soft with darker green card stock as the base.
I think that's it. 

If you would like the SVG file for the Jefferson  Memorial let me know in the comment section below.
The branches are in this post as well as the files from last week.

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND I ENJOY HEARING FROM YOU!

Below are the SVG's  for last weeks post.
     Leafy Plant Vertical SVG       Store Front with Awning and Sign Post SVG 
Branch SVG