Hello And Gumpaste Flower Suggestions (Among Other Things)

Decorating By SweetDreams98 Updated 11 Jul 2014 , 3:30am by Smckinney07

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SweetDreams98 Posted 9 Jul 2014 , 8:20pm
post #1 of 6

So it's been years since I've been on CC but I have learned an incredible amount from the posts of others.  My cakes have come a long way over the past few years and now we are putting a little more money into my cake obsession (my beautiful Agbay came in the mail Monday, I will be putting her to use tomorrow!) and I'm really trying to step my game up.  Gumpaste flowers are the next big hurdle I've decided to (start) tackling.  I was browsing links that were posted in an old thread for tutorials but many of the websites are no longer in existence. 

 

My question is this:  what are some of your MUST HAVE gumpaste flower tools?  I was going to look into finding a course to take (I'm in the Cleveland area) and I knew that Becky Rink of About the Cake was doing classes for a while but it looks like she sadly got out of cakes?  She is basically the reason I got into cake decorating so I'm sad that there is no contact info for her anymore, when I started up asked her for advice she was very helpful and encouraging. 

 

Any suggestions you can give would be greatly appreciated, I look forward to being more active in the forums when my two boys aren't climbing me like a tree :-D

TIA!

Sarah

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enga Posted 9 Jul 2014 , 8:30pm
post #2 of 6

Welcome back SweetDreams98, I have been dabbling with gum paste too. My must haves are my large and medium ball tools and my JEM pad.

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SweetDreams98 Posted 10 Jul 2014 , 2:44am
post #3 of 6

Thanks Enga, I'll check out the JEM pad!

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Smckinney07 Posted 10 Jul 2014 , 11:01am
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AI'm just delving into sugar flowers myself. There are tons of flowers and different veiners, they can get expensive quickly but I suppose this isn't a cheap hobby.

I'd start with a ball tool, cell pad, foam pad, floral wire and tape, petal dusts and brushes, maybe an all purpose veiner. I'm working on roses and filler flowers, hydrangea and buds. The hydrangea is pretty simple, you basically use the cutter and veiner and have a nice flower for a cupcake. I also prefer the teardrop cutters to the regular rose cutter. It just depends on what you want to start with.

Again, I am still experimenting, hopefully someone with more knowledge will jump in. Magnolias have been very popular here, aside from those, roses, and fantasy flowers I can't be much help.

You should check out Petalsweet's blog, she makes beautiful flowers! There's many tutorials on pinterest and YouTube but a Craftsy class would be a great place to start, maybe Nicholas Lodge's class. The Craftsy classes also have supply lists.

ACakeToRemember blog, also a CC member has some nice molds and I believe a few tutorials on her site as well.

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SweetDreams98 Posted 11 Jul 2014 , 2:57am
post #5 of 6

Thanks!  I'll definitely check out that blog!  I need to get a slotted mat for sure.  Hydrangeas and roses are my next endeavor, I'm the hydrangea queen in the garden so I HAVE to master those! lol  I did a few peonies which are another flower I love!  My MIL just got married over the 4th so I'm making her and her husband a small 6" wedding cake.  I'm doing ruffles and then 3 peonies on top, it's only so fancy because I want to practice using all my new toys lol  So far I really enjoy making the flowers, I'll post the pic of the 2 I've made so far, the 3rd is ivory (I'm doing an ombre ruffle so I thought the 3 different colors would be fun, I'm still not sure if it's going to be overkill with the ruffles AND peonies, oh well!).  

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Smckinney07 Posted 11 Jul 2014 , 3:30am
post #6 of 6

AThose are nice!

I wanted to tell you another thing I do is make them in white if I just want to practice and don't have an order because they last forever if you store them properly. Then you can airbrush/dry dust them when needed. They have mini steamers that are very inexpensive but I use steam from a tea kettle to let the dust setup.

Kara, from that blog I mentioned, A Cake to Remember has an article on storing GP flowers. Her blog is full of great info.

You will also need stamens for some flowers if you're going for realism. Good luck! Looking forward to seeing your work.

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