Is my gumpaste going to get gummy if I try to use gel color? The photo the customer gave me shows real red roses, still party in bud, so they're really dark red - should I add some black to the red to get them dark? Will they bleed all over the white cake once I attach them? Should I try to use powder color instead of gel? Will that make the gumpaste too dry? Help!! Any suggestions would be appreciated. TIA!

You can color your gumpaste with gel or paste color in just a light shade of red, kind of a Salmon maybe, and then use other things to get a final dark red. You can make your roses, dry them and then spray with an airbrush in Super Red airbrush color. Or, you can mix Super Red airbrush color with alcohol, I think about 2 parts color to 1 part alcohol, pour it into a deep cup or bowl with a wide enough brim to hold a full rose. Dry your gumpaste rose (wired with floral wire) hold it upside down by the wire and dip the entire flower into the liquid color, spin the wire in your hands just above the color to remove excess liquid, turn the flower over and check to see the color has gone into all the areas, you may need to dab some of the color onto lighter areas with a small artist paint brush. Stick the wired flower into a block of styrofoam to dry. These take much longer to dry this way, maybe 2 days. They will appear sticky at first but will dry and the color deepens as they dry. they wll also be a bit shiny.

You can also make your rose of light colored red gumpaste, dry and then color by mixing dry petal dusts until you acheive the shade you are looking for. Maybe Poppy Red and a bit of black for a deep red color. Just brush onto the flower with a dry paintbrush and use a rubbing motion for good coverage. Don't forget to do the backs of the petals as well. Shake or gently tap the flower upside down to remove excess dust and then steam over boiling water to set the color so it doesn't flake off on your iced cake. Stick flower into styrofoam to air dry and don't touch the colored areas until it is completely dry or it will remove the color and leave light colored spots.

Shirley - what great ideas! Thank you so so much!!

Your welcome. Be sure and post pictures so we can see the finished flowers. Good luck.