I am still really new to cake decorating and I really want to learn how to do gum paste flowers. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what kit I get or how I should go about starting out? Also how do you color the flowers?! They all look so beautiful and I really want to try them out!

Wilton has a kit and a very basic instruction book. There are other very technical books. If you can afford it, face-to-face lessons really help.

Also, Nicholas Lodge and others have instruction videos that are excellent.

I've been doing the same thing. I started with the Wilton kit because it's pretty inexpensive and you can learn several flowers. I've also bought a Nicholas Lodge book. Look online at youtube also because there are lots of videos showing how to make flowers and I've learned there are about 100 ways to make gumpaste roses.

These are the cheap ways to get started. I hope to get to take a class with some of the experts at some point when the schedule and budget allow. In the meantime, I'll just practice on my own.

Good Luck!

There are a couple of tools that you will use a lot with gumpaste. The ball tool is used most often and then there is the veining too (it presses lines into the gumpaste). You will also need a softening pad to thin the edges. A cheap and really good alternative to the cel pads are the fun foam door hangers.

If you can find books by Leslie Herbert, Nicholas Lodge, and Alan Dunn then you will be able to learn a lot from them. There are some great DVDs available, even from me.

Good luck. Be sure to post some pictures of your work.

Michele