I'm fairly new at working w/ gumpaste and fondant, and I had to make a gumpaste figure this week. I had trouble hiding the creases from where I had kneaded it. Then as it dried it began to crack. Is there some sort of remedy for these issues?

I am having the same problem! My first time to ever use gumpaste. Mixed it with half fondant and attempted to make a sombrero and marracas. Checked on them this morning and the sombrero was cracking. Also, tried to make some flat cactus that need to stand up and the won't get stiff. What do I do or what should I use?

I would say maybe try adding a bit of shortening/crisco to it while kneading it in. Also, make sure not to have any air blowing on it. THat's all I know! HTH!

Before you shape your gumpaste, you want to start with a ball that has a smooth surface. To get this, you want to roll the fondant/gumpaste in your hand, pressing it between your palms pretty good. If there are any cracks when you start shaping they will just get bigger as it dries.

Also when using gumpaste you do have to work quickly with it. The longer you work with it the more the 'skin' starts to crust over, and then as you mess with that, it will just make cracks or like elephant skin.

I made a large moon/sun a few years ago. I want to say I used mostly fondant, but I coated it with crisco as I was working with it, to help keep it from drying out on me.

With the cactus, how much fondant to gumpaste did you use? What fondant did you use? How have you stored them and how long since you made them? Is it really humid there?

I made some mmf and mixed 50/50 fondant and gumpaste. I rolled the dough out flat and used a pattern to cut out a flat cactus. Needing it to dry so that I can stand it straight up around the outside of cake. I made them yesterday, how long does it take to dry? I know that I should have made them a bit sooner, but wishful thinking! LOL. Any tips on how to dry quickly? I have them sitting under a fan.

Sprinkle some cornstarch on the surface you have them drying on. The fan will help. I've also put them under a desk lamp. I know people have talked about putting them in an oven with just the light on, but I haven't tried that myself for fondant. It scares me, even though I have used it for royal icing with out a problem.

I've never used mmf. Usually for me a blend will dry pretty well in 24ish hours, but if it's been humid that can slow the drying time down.

Does the fondant/gumpaste blend work better? I've never tried that before.

............Does the fondant/gumpaste blend work better.............

For making figures probably. Using fondant slows down the quick drying of the gumpaste allowing one more time to shape the figure.