Nice work and you're right that is very red. If you don't like the red you can always paint over it. Was it a cement dye that you used? First time I used a red dye I didn't use enough and ended up with a sickening pink planter. Using too much can cause your piece to break apart.
Don't worry about getting the real leaves off if this is a fresh piece. After it's cured you can use your water hose to wash off the leaf. Be gentle, I have a nozzle that has several openings and I used the "POWER WASH" setting. I blasted a hole right through a casting. You can use the "power wash" setting just not at full power. You can also use large sewing needles or dental picks to remove bits an pieces. Or just let the real leaf rot away. The "hairy" leaves like squash or dusty miller or lambs ears stick. I remove the real leaf in 8 hours or less. It makes it a lot easier to remove but the "hairy" ones are always a problem. Very large leaves need to setup for 24 hours or more. I've been making small leaves like crazy due to the leaves disappearing with Fall arriving soon. Good Luck! Billie