I am a beginner and I want to find a gum paste class in Wisconsin or in a neighboring state. I have wanted to learn the art of gum paste flowers for many years and have decided that now is the time. Any help would be great!

Hi Sandi2009 and welcome to CC.
Have you tried your local craft stores? A lot of them do the Wilton courses and fondant and gum paste is one of them. It will give you the start you need and then you can go from there.

Youtube has a lot of how to tutorials. If it's a particular flower your looking for just google it and you should be able to find something, failing that there is always CC!

If not there's always books (I like Alan Dunn's, Scott Clark Wooley's and Nicolas Lodge's). Scott and Nicolas have dvd's available as well. I have Michele Foster's (aka sugarflowers on CC) Dvd and think it's really good to.

Here's some links:

tonedna's gumpaste tutorial (I know she has Calla Lillies and roses for sure on youtube):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqiNRkSQLf8&feature=channel_page

Michele Foster's websites:
http://www.lickthespoonproductions.com/

To find local Wilton Classes near you:
http://www.wilton.com/classes/local_classes.cfm#method_fondantandgumpaste

Also here is a link for commonly used acronyms on CC:
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-2926.html

Thank You XSTITCHER for the great information. I am brand new to the site and still trying to figure out how all this works. I will try some of the web-site's you suggested and maybe I can order a DVD that will help me. Do you know a good type of equipment to use when doing gum paste flowers or are all the brands basically the same? Thanks again

I think a good beginner class is Wilton. It's held at Michael's or AC Moore and it is very inexpensive. It gives you a good basis for working with gumpaste and fondant.

If you take the Wilton class you will have to purchase a kit and it has some equipment you can use like some flower cutters and a ball tool. If you don't plan on going to the class I would still recommend getting some Wilton products just to get you started. This hobby can get very expensive so I like to buy a little at a time and upgrade as I'm able.

If you do want some Wilton products, these might be a good start for you:
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=93495A5C-423B-522D-F27FD2E8535573B6&killnav=1
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30D6EB-475A-BAC0-5E5EF66C57041711&killnav=1

The flower making set comes with a book showing you how to make the flowers using the cutters provided.

If you go to Michaels/Hobby Lobby/AC Moore/Joanne's or whatever store you have near you find the 40% off coupons (occasionally there are 50% off coupons) and purchase them. You can only use one coupon for one item but I find it's worth it.

Once you get the hang of it and decide that you like working with gp then I would buy things like molds and veiners and better cutters etc.

If you've never worked with fondant I would suggest you pick up a small bag of Wilton's fondant and or gum paste to see what the consistency should be before making your own. Or buy Satin Ice or other fondant. I would not recommend eating Wilton fondant though as I think it tastes yukky.

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.