I just made a batch of sugar veil for the first time.   I followed the directions perfectly.  When I try to remove the lace from the silicone mat, it just cracks and breaks into little pieces.  :(

How can I save it, or is it too late?  I thought it's supposed to be flexible!!!  It's been less than 12 hrs!

  This stuff is too expensive to throw away!

I tried it once and the same thing happened to me. I couldn't use it and haven't tried since, I'm not very patient. I put it down to the fact that I live in a very dry climate. Is Ohio dry too? (Please excuse my ignorance!)
 

With sugarveil you need to be close by as it drys.  If it goes too long it does crack and if it doesn't go long enough it will not come out in one piece.  You can tell when it is ready by folding back a corner.  If the lace in that corner pulls away from the silicone then it is ready to remove.  Follow the instructions for removing so that it does not stretch.  If it is not going to be put on the cake right away, I put it between wax paper and into a zip lock bag or tuperware container.  Once you find the right consistency to pull it from the mold it becomes much easier to work with.  good luck!

Perfectly said, kk - thank you!

In the winter, because furnaces dry out the air, SugarVeil sets in much shorter a time period, and care must be taken to place the set SugarVeil decorations between parchment in a zipped bag as soon as removing from the Confectioners' Mat. 

The "Notes" section of our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/sugarveilicing, has great tips of working with the mats in both dry conditions as well as in humidity.

Sunlover, keep all the leftover bits of SugarVeil decorations - they are great for making a mosaic decorated cake, or for sprinkling onto ice cream (or this time of year, a gingerbread house!).