Background first. I offered to bake my nephew's wedding cake. He and his fiance came over the other day to go over the design. Since I am not charging them for the cake (it is our gift for them) they would not ask for anything special. They want it as easy as possible for me to do and even said a small tiered cake and kitchen cakes would be fine, and even silk flowers are fine..they are both very sweet and are very appreciative that the cake is their gift.

I talked to my DH about it, and I have decided that even though they want me to do the easy and cheap way since they are not paying for it, I am not going to. I want it to be very special for them.

OK so does anyone out there have experience with gumpaste poinsettias? She asked for them on the cake. (that is her only request poinsettias) AND how do I get that deep red color in the gumpaste? Her colors are red and silver (December wedding) I have been googling most of the day and my head is spinning. I would really appreciate any advice from those who have made them which cutters/veiners were used etc. Thank you in advance!

I've made them and they aren't hard. I have the written instructions. If you'd like a copy you can pm me your email address and I'll send them too you. I start out with red gumpaste and then dust then with non toxic chalk in a deeper red and finish by steaming them.

Thank you - I sent you a pm.

poinsetta's are not hard to make...just time-consuming. i made pink and red ones last year using the cutters from sunflower (ordered them from GSA). i colored the gumpaste first *then* dusted them with non-toxic chalk, then steamed. the good part about them is that the leaves are more thicker than normal flowers so they are not as fragile!

forgot to add...the cutters came with instructions, easy peasy : )

Thanks dailey - could you help me with one more thing? I have read about the chalks and for the life of me I cannot find them at Michaels. What exactly are they called?

I just bought the cutters and veiner from GSA - so they should be here in a day or so......which color (and brand) did you use to get the nice red?

Thank you both for your help.

The new packaging at Michaels calls them Artists soft pastels. They are a chalk pastel. The new packaging is blue and beige and a box of 48 colors is around 6.99.

i got my chalks from hobby lobby, i would think michaels would have them too though? they are by Gallery and the box says "artist soft pastels". don't let the name fool you though, they have some nice, dark colors in there! lastly, i colored the gumpaste with super red from americolor. i didn't used too much though cause i knew that i would get the rich color from the dust...

Thank you cake cangel! I will pick them up when I go to teach the next class. Do you all just use something like a nutmeg grater to grind the chalk down?

i just used a plain ol knife! i love those little plastic cup and lids from Gordon's, they are perfect for saving the dust.

The suffle cups? Those are great for samples of icing and fillings for those who can't stay for a tasting too! I love it when things can be used for multiple purposes.

Thanks again!

Loucinda, I just emailed you the instructions. As to the chalks, I use a small metal mesh strainer to grind my chalks. Works great.

You all have been great with this - Khoudek - thank you very much for taking the time to email them. I can get busy playing as soon as the cutters arrive (GSA is great about that, I ususally have my items within two days of ordering)

I really want this cake to be something nice. Thank you again!!

I just use a tiny mesh strainer for mine as well or sometimes just swipe a line of it accross white computer paper and use my paint brush to pick it up off the paper. Just depends on how much I need at the time.

That is a great tip too cake angel. I have learned a LOT today from my CC friends!

What is your favorite brushes to use? I have quite a few - but I am thinking with the bracts on this flower, I will need a bigger brush to dust with. (the ones I have that are my old faithfuls now are not very big)

Kiko petal dust makes an awesome rich color.

Jen

It depends on what I am doing. The key for me is that they have very soft flexible bristles because gumpaste is so fragile. I don't want one with stiff bristles that wont flex. You have to break the caoting they put on new brushes to check though. I bought some of the packages at Michael's by the Gallery brand (same brand as the pastels) and found that the golden colored bristles were the most flexible. The white bristles are okay but a little stiffer so my favorites are the golden bristled ones. I also bought one professional artists paint brush from the aisle that reminds me of a blusher brush only not as full. I like that one when I am not trying to get too much definition but an overall general dusting. For flowers I usually use a shade lighter for the centers of the petals and a shade or two darker for around the outer edges of the petals. The brushes I use most are a round (regular) artists brush and one with a squared off top (I am sorry I cannot tell you the proper artists terms for these as I have no painting background other than the watercolors my children use).

That is ok - I don't know the technical terms either. The descriptions you gave me helps alot. I will need to go into work early this week - lots of looking and things I need to get!

Thank you for your help.

You are welcome! Have fun. I would love to see a picture of the finished flowers!

I made some last year. I used leaf cutters that I already had, a simple viener and took parts from several different directions I found online. One was from Nic Lodge, another from Fran Trip.

I colored my gumpaste red, but then airbrushed red over it since it faded when drying. That gave them a deep red color.

You can see the pictures of mine in my photos. And mine were huge, dinner plate size ones.

Have you looked into crystal colors? They had some at the Convention. Beth Pervu's husband blends them and they have some very good very viberant reds if you want to dust the petals.

Thanks TS - for some reason, I didn't see your post until just now. I am doing about the same as you did. I bought small cutters though - she wants the poinsettias to go all around each layer, so I thought the small ones would look nicer. (the 5" ones would bury the cake!) I have the centers for the first one done - used Fran's method. I also have the petals drying too - so however long it takes for them to dry - then I will airbrush them & dust them before assembling. I better get into a production mode though, it took me an hour to just cut all the pieces (6 of each petal) wire and vein them. I did discover that it was easier for me to put the wire in by hand than it was to use the cel board.

Any tricks on wiring them together?? Nic's directions say to do it in 1/3's - how did you do yours?

At least you are planning ahead. I decided on the 23rd I wanted them for Christmas eve.

I actually twisted the wires for a few petals together then attached those to the base. I'm certainly not an expert on wiring flowers though. If I were to do it again I may do it like Ruth Rickey (??) did with the tulips at the convention and attach each petal one at a time.