Hi all

Where I live there is a lack of any cake decorating classes let alone ones dedicated to sugar flowers. I have had a go at some roses but I'd like to buy some good books and DVDs that give clear instruction. I am trying to learn how to make the most realistic flowers I can. I'd like to learn all aspects of the craft and how to make lots of different flowers. Can you give me some recommendations please? Thanks

A couple of my favorite Books:

Sugar Flowers for Cake Decorating, Alan Dunn
Sugarcraft Flowers, Claire Webb
A Potpourri of Flowers, Nicholas Lodge

I took the Wilton gumpaste flowers class a couple of years ago. It igave me a solid base to venture out on my own. Hope this helps.

Jennifer Dontz has a wonderful DVD which shows you how to make gumpaste roses. It is excellent. And I think she just came out with a new sugar flower DVD. If you go to her website, sugardelities.com you can find it there. Her prices are very resonable and she ships all over the world. Her shipping charges are very good ( I order from Canada ) and she has excellent customer service.

Another one to try is the sugar flower DVD's by Scott Clark Woolley. His website is Cakes by Design. They are also excellent, but kind of pricy. Again, his shipping costs are really good and he also has excellent customer service.

I can't recommend any other DVD's because these are the only ones that I have ordered, but they were well worth it and I am very happy with them.

Also, there are quite a few members on this sites that have some excellent tutorials on YouTube. I have used these as well. There is a sticky on the 1st page of the forum which gives you a link to all kinds of tutorials on the web.

Not sure why the title of the second book is blocked but the author is there. BTW I got all by books from Amazon

Of the many books in my collection, those by Alan Dunn are my favorite. His use of dusts to realistically color them is by far the best I've seen. My next favorite is the book by Scott Clark Woolley.
As for the medium, my favorite is Nicholas Lodge's gum paste. It is the most malleable, which means you can roll it thinner for more realistic flowers, and keeps well if wrapped tightly. I positively love it.
It is really helpful to use nursery catalogs, or even on-line sources for flower colors and arrangement. I have cut up many catalog illustrations to keep with the appropriate cutters for guidance.
I also have assembled a large collection of dusts, (most of them are homemade by rasping pastel chalks against a fine tea strainer.) They are less expensive than purchased petal dusts, so I have been able to assemble quite a palette. There have been several threads here on CC regarding making your own petal dusts.
This might be more info than you are looking for, but I find flowers are becoming quite an obsession with me. There are many more species that I am just dying to try my hand at.
Good luck to you.

Jan