Today I decided to make both recipes and let them sit for 24 hrs before playing with them but I think I did something wrong with both of them.
First of all the gumpaste....no way could I get all that sugar kneeded into it. I worked it and worked it but still had some left over...is this normal? Also it was nice and white till I added the gumtex, now it is an off white? Is there a way to make it completely white? It is in a ziplock with all the air I can get out ...out and it is still soft, sort of. I'm hoping this is right. I kept the remaining sugar and thought I would try adding it tomorrow after it has set awhile.
candy clay.....I melted the candy buttons and added the 1/3 cp of clear corn syrup....is it supposed to "suddenly" go quite stiff?? Right now it is in a ziplock and pretty darn hard.....I can't imagine trying to work it with my hands. It feels just like the candy buttons. It too is not white but is a bit more yellowish than the gumpaste.
Is there a way to get either of them a true white?
As I said I hope to get some time tomorrow to play with this stuff, I just wanted to thank you all for the recipes and encouragement. I'll let you know how I make out. 
Gum tex is not white, and there isn't much you can do about it. However, it does dry a bit more white. The gum paste may still be soft, but it should not be sticky. After it cures for a while, it should stiffen. If it is sticky, knead in more sifted sugar. Sifted will avoid lumps in the finished paste.
If the clay is still too hard to knead, you can re warm it either in the microwave-gently, or put it in a double boiler and let the whole mass melt very slowly over NOT boiling water. If it boils, it will overheat the chocolate. Once it is re melted, pour it our onto parchment and let is cool. Some of the fats may float to the top. While the clay is still slightly warm, you can knead this back in, or blot the top just a bit.
Did you get any water in your chocolate? It sounds like it seized up. Don't know how to fix that though. As for the gumpaste, I've never made it from scratch, but I know sometimes you can't always add all of the PS. Wilton makes something that is a whitener. I've also heard of putting a drop of violet in to cancel out the yellow to get white. I'll see if I can find that thread.
Glad you asked this question. I tried to make some candy clay the other day and mine turned very hard. I wasn't making a whole batch so I thought I just messed up on the qty or something so I just through it away! 
Oh well, I will try again.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-18524-violet.html
Here's that thread on adding violet. You could always try with a little bit of the gumpaste and a dot of viloet. Sorry, I'm no help !
When I have made candy clay, it gets harder the more it cools. The instructions I have say to cool the clay until it is cool, but not yet hard (like the buttons you started out with). If it does harden, warm very slightly in the microwave. I have just started kneading my clay to get it pliable and it has always worked for me. The first time I tried making and using the candy clay, I nearly threw it away because I thought I ruined it when it got stiff so quickly.
My candy clay was pretty hard, but I had read that it will soften up, so I broke a chunk off it and worked with it, and sure enough...it was fine. It was off white, which is how most of the melts come. I put some white food coloring powder in it. Made it much whiter.
As for the gumpaste, mine always looks grayish until the next day when I really give it a good kneading. I've heard that making it with tylose instead of gumtex makes for a whiter mixture, but I haven't tried that yet. In any event, mine turned white enough....after kneading on the second day.
Okay you ladies were right 
I cheated last night and took a little of both to play with. Trying to get a piece of the clay was a bit difficult but I broke some off and sure enough as soon as you start playing with it ....it softens right up!! Although I did find that when rolling the small piece I had it would crack. I think I read on here to use a tiny bit of crisco ...is that right?? Cornstarch tends to dry it out???
Now the gumpaste....okay this stuff is awesome!!!!!!! Boy can you roll it out thin! And yes when I worked with the bit last night it did appear to be whiter. My creative juices were having a ball last night playing with this. It really is pretty neat stuff
I gave a small piece of each to my teenage son to get a taste test (I don't eat sweets so I'm not objective in this) and he prefers the candy clay taste.
I think next time I am in town I will pick you some of the wilton whitener just to have on hand. And thank you for the thread about adding violet. I really appreciate it.
I have a cake mix out on the counter now as we speak so I can try MMF (I'm slowly learning the lingo here ) and hopefully some paste/clay flowers. I may even take some of my dragonfly wings (well hidden away!!) and give a try at making one of the dragonflies that I'll use on the wedding cake.
Thanks so much everyone.....I really appreciate the help
Just so you know, gum paste really isn't meant to be eaten. It dries hard, so it really is meant for decorations. It's cool to work with though since you can roll it so thin. Post a pic - I'd love to see how this is all working for you!
I am so excited!!! I thought I had thrown the clay away but I didn't!!! I found it today and I tried the microwave and IT WORKED!!! It just had to be kneaded a little bit and I was able to roll it out!! I was soooo excited!! It seems to harden pretty fast but I just needed it to be rolled out and cut into a police badge. I was very happy! Thanks so much for the info!!
Charlotte
My candy clay was hard and gritty but i broke off a piece and warmed it in my hands and sure enough it works perfect.. i love it much more than gumpaste cuz you can eat it. i did a wedding cupcake tree and made all the roses with the clay.. it was a lot of fun and i didnt have any issues of making sure the roses dried enough to move them or use right away like i do with gumpast.. whenever possible i'll probably use the candy clay over the others..
Well I didn't get a chance today to play with the clay/paste. I did bake the cake and crumb coat then decided I would try the MMF and so I made it. It is now resting till tomorrow. Then I decided to make some "paints"....as I have said before I am more into art than baking. Remember I painted the butterflies on rice paper....since then everyone has suggested I use Vodka to thin the food colouring as it dries quicker. So today I went to the dollar store and bought a bunch of little bottles with screw on lids, then I went to the liguor store and bought some vodka.......I then took all my food colours and made "paints" with them and labelled the jars. Now I am hoping, hahaha, that when I want to paint rice paper, the clay/gumpaste flowers or fondant that this will work. They are sealed with saran wrap before the lids so it shouldn't evaporate. Just wondering your thoughts on this? Hopefully in the next couple of days I will get a chance to try this out. Working tomorrow, then groceries, then an appt.....gee whiz!!! Gotta fit some practice time in here somewhere!
Oh and I had no idea that gumpaste wasn't "really"edible hahaha....I won't tell my son that!!!
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