I am teaching myself gumpaste flowers. I'm doing pretty good so far getting them on the wire and making small sprays. But I am clueless on the leaves....how do I get them on the wires? They are so thin. Do they go on a wire first and then on a flower former to dry? or can you put them on a wire somehow after they are dry? Please help if you have any idea how to make the gp leaves. TIA!!!

I've seen a few ways to do this. If you have a celboard with grooves in it, you roll out a sausage shape, then insert the wire and roll out the gum paste with the wire in the groove. Or you could do the same without a grooved board, just roll out the paste and leave the center with the wire a little thicker. I hope this makes sense. Here is a link that show leaves being done. (No spaces in the link of course)

www.su gar craftandcakedecorating.com/how-to.php

a celboard is the best way to go, because it is excellent for geting your leaves wired, and doing wired petals. the way i was taught was rolling it out over the groove, cutting the shape, then inserting the wire into the thick bit, holding the gumpaste betwen thumb and first finger.

if you dont have a board, you can just cut your leaf from really thin paste as normal, lie your wire on the pack, and with a bit of edible glue, stick a tiny flat bit of gumpaste on top of the wire and sandwich it in. makes it a bit clumsy looking on the back, but it is really easy.

for drying my wired leaves, i use crumpled up foil or kitchen paper. i pinch them into shape too, and keep an eye on them as they dry.
xx