Okay, I got my cutter today! YEAH!!!! I had some fondant, so I rolled it out and gave it a try. The instructions were easy to understand, but man oh man!!!! It was like hanging wallpaper!!! I felt like I needed 5 or 6 more fingers to do this thing!!!
Of course, I was trying to do in on a toothpick, and I didn't have any gum glue (what the heck is THAT???), just water. I ended up with a decent looking rose, but it was falling apart, and the bottom of it, even though I tried to trim it up, was clumpy and heavy. Oh, and my outer petals were flopping all over the place, too.
Anyone have any foolproof methods of doing this, or is it just practice, practice, practice???
Did you use just straight fondant? If so it does not dry fast enough to hold the shape and the petals will just be floppy. You can add gum tex, tylose, or gum trag to the fondant to help. You can also mix some gumpaste with the fondant. You can do the rose in all gumpaste, but if you are just starting out sometime it is easier to use the fondant mixed with something so it gives you a little more working time.
Gum glue can be made several ways. You can mix desolve gumpaste or tylose with water and use that to 'glue' the petals together. In the Wilton Course 3 when we do the rose we use vanilla to glue the petals. What ever you use you have to make sure you use a small amount to glue it or you will get the fondant/gumpaste too wet and it will start to melt.
Did you make a base for the rose? You can do them on toothpicks or on wire, but you usually let the base dry 24 hours before you add the petals to it.
Like TexasSugar, I think it helps to use a faster drying paste with this cutter.
As I make each layer of petals, I let them dry a bit on home made holders. I make a cone from small paper plates, cut a hole in the center and set that on top of a plastic cup. Cut thin aluminum foil (the precut kind in groceries) into 4, take a piece and set my rose in the middle of the foil. Use the aluminum foil to support the petals and dry them on the cone holders.
You can also water down a piece of fondant until it's a thick liquid to use as glue. I know this will probably sounds crazy, but the thinner you roll a 50/50 or gumpaste the easier it is to form your rose. It firms up quicker so that you don't loose the shape. Just roll until you think it is thin, then roll it alittle more. That's what my teacher taught us. I can usually read through my gumpaste when it is thin enough. I love the 5 petal cutter, for turning out flowers fast. Definately let your cone dry over night, I've had them slide right of the toothpick, along with my half finished flower, if you they're stilll damp. Good luck!
Here's a picture of the holder I use to dry my gumpaste roses. The foil holds the petals in place.
Thanks miriel!! The picture helps a lot. Let me make sure I understand....the flower is on the foil which is on the cut paper plate which is on the cup. The cup and plate are for support and the foil actually helps support and mold individual petals--is that right?
Those cutters sound neat. Can someone show me what the finished product should look like, or direct me to a picture that has some on it. Thanks!!
For any type of flower, gumpaste is the best option because it can be rolled really thin (necessary for flower petals ) & it dries a lot faster than fondant.
Your rose cones need to dry before you use them - makes life a lot easier !!
I just use a little bit of water to stick my petals on because the gp is soft - if you're gluing dry pieces together, then stronger glue like " sugar glue " is needed. ( I have my rose cones on wires but those little holders look great !! )
hope this helps 
Those cutters sound neat. Can someone show me what the finished product should look like, or direct me to a picture that has some on it. Thanks!!
Here's a link to the instructions from FMM (with a picture of the finished rose): http://www.fmmsugarcraft.com/pdf/page10.pdf
The FMM Tutorial is done with a wired center, much easier to work with in my opinion. And I never use fondant for roses, straight gumpaste makes a much more delicate flower because you can roll the petals paper thin, and it dries much faster so your petals shouldn't droop or sag at all. Nic Lodge does something I find really helpful on this type rose. He uses the very thin foam sheets used for packing or wrapping glassware, cuts it into small squares, about 3" square. Hold the foam in the palm of your hand and as you add layers of petals push the wired stem through the center of the foam. The foam gives you a support base to hold things together while you shape or finesse the petals. I make all of my gumpaste cones on a hooked wired dipped in gum glue, dry them overnight and then assemble the rose. You can use a foil support as Miriel mentions or if you want a tighter rose dry them upside down by making a large hook in the end of the wire stem, stick into the top of a block of styrofoam, near the edge, hang the flower upside down, move the styrofoam to the edge of your table or countertop so the flower is suspended in space, not touching anythng. I weigh the foam down with a can of soup of something heavy enough to keep it from tipping over.
If you are using Tylose powder to make your gumpaste it is so easy to make your gum glue at the same time, and it makes enough to last for months, so it is always there when you need it.
1 cup Boiling water
1 heaping teaspoon Tylose powder
Sprinkle Tylose over the water, give it a quick stir. Pour into a clean glass container that can be sealed with a lid. Let set at room temperature overnight. Next day if there are any lumps, remove them and pour the glue into small glass containers such as baby food jars, seal and refrigerate. Keeps about 6 months in the fridge. I buy empty nail polish bottles from the beauty supply, makes a great container for the glue with the built in brush, just the right size for glueing small dabs on your petals.
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