I would really appreciate some advise on how to get smooth clean edges on characters or anything made out of gumpast/fondant for that matter. I get so frustrated when I'm cutting shapes out (by hand, no cutter) & the edges look frayed. I have such a hard time when I'm making figures for them to stay smooth looking & not dry & cracked. HELP PLease!!

I smooth out any rough edges by putting a little shortening on my fingers and rubbing the area until it is smooth. If your fondant or gumpaste is cracking, it may not have warmed up enough and you may need to knead it more. If that doesn't help, try adding a very small amount of shortening to it. HTH!

Make sure your knife/scalpel is really sharp and clean, and leave your gumpaste or fondant to sit for a few minutes after rolling out before you start cutting it. Sometimes though, you still have you run a finger around the edge of whatever you just cut to get rid of the rough edges. Alternatively, once the piece is really dry, use an emery board to file away the rough bits. (Keep an emery board just for this, don't use the one you use on your nails, ewwwww!)