To be honest, I use 2 bags of marshmellows, 3TBS of water, and only one bag of powdered sugar. I find this way to be easier, it doesn't dry out when kneading. I also never use shortening, I can have a great day, until I use the shortening. Makes mine rip and sticky and fall apart. HTH

I use Rhonda's Ultimate and never have any issues. I'm not sure why you keep adding water to it because that won't help anything. Sounds like pre-made fondant is the way to go until you get the hang of it. I use Crisco roll it to 1/8" and have no issues with it.

Are you rolling the fondant onto your rolling pin before transferring it to your cake? You need to do this with all types of fondant or it will tear/stretch while transporting it.

I always roll it out on my countertop although some buy cheap vinyl at Walmart and roll it on that then transfer the entire thing over to the cake and flip it on.

There's an excellent thread for MMF....

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-521083-mmf.html

I made MMF for my cake for my girl scout troop and it was almost a disaster. It was just way to soft and no matter how thick I rolled it out, i had probs lifting it and getting it on the cake. As soon as I have it uploaded I will post a pic. I liked the taste, but it was horrible. I tried two different recipes (one with marshallows and one with fluff) on Sunday and waited until the afternoon on Memorial day to work with it. How do you successfull MMF wizards do it? what is the trick?