I making a wedding cake with chocolate shells down it. How do I get the shells to stand out more and shine like a real shell? Do I need to luster dust them with a dry brush? Would that even work, or is there a better way?

I dry dusted mine with luster dust (see my photos to see how they came out, and see if that's what you're going for). I also swirled a couple different colors of chocolate in some of them (white, pale peach, etc.) The dry dusting worked well.

HTH!

Thanks! I like the way yours look. I just need to buy luster dust now from CC and pray that they turn out okay.

I used gumpaste in my mold (be sure to sprinkle with cornstarch to make it easy to remove from mold). I used luster dust I got from CC. There is different colors in the brown/copper family. That gives them different shading. I did a wedding cake using them. See pic.

I used Grape vine covered in white chocolate and then super pearl dust to make the coral. Next time I am going to get the coral color dust and try.

Once again Janette, your cakes amaze me. Beautiful work! how did you get the water on the bottom tier to look so good?

I used an air brush. I have a cake like that to do in July but they want all three layers with the water on the sides. That works for me becuause I won't have frosting to smooth.

lucky dog, you don't have to worry about smoothing it. I wish I had an airbrush!

If you get one I think you will have fun with it. I thought it would be so hard to direct the color where you want it. I was suprised it's really easy to use.

Now, you've made me want to go make a cake. But, can't family coming for a cook-out.

Hope your cook-out went well. Thanks everyone for all of your help.