I was looking at buying a celboard to make it a little easier to make my flowers and such. But they are kinda expensive. Anybody use a substitute? TIA!
Are you talking about the hard plastic cel board or the cel pad for softening petals?
I have a great non-stick cutting board that I use all the time for cutting out flowers. I got it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I think Target also has them. It was about $7.
For cel pads, I buy the fun foam door hangers from the craft store and use those. They have very tiny holes so they don't leave much of a texture on the back of the gumpaste. They can be washed in the top rack of the dishwasher. They are also great to use when you have several different projects going and need to have a quick, portable drying place for gumpaste figures.
HTH
Michele
You can roll the gumpaste out on alot of things. The pro to the cell board is that on one side they have groves and holes. The groves make thicker areas for you to use to slide your wire into the petal. They aren't a must but they are nice.
I have the smaller board, and I would say if I had to do it again if I was spending the money I'd get the bigger one.
For cel pads, I buy the fun foam door hangers from the craft store and use those. They have very tiny holes so they don't leave much of a texture on the back of the gumpaste. They can be washed in the top rack of the dishwasher. They are also great to use when you have several different projects going and need to have a quick, portable drying place for gumpaste figures.
HTH
Michele
This is a great idea! My cel pads are always getting warped.
Thanks for the replies. I guess I should've explained better. I mean the hard celboard with the grooves to make the leaves and such, where you would insert the wire. Hope that says it better. SO, anyone use an alternative to that? Thanks again!
I took a class once where the instructor (pretty sure it was Elizabeth Parvu) took a tiny bit of gumpaste / fondant and twirled it up on the wire (about the length on the petal or leaf) between her thumb and finger and then placed it to the back of the freshly cut leaf/petal and then would press with the veiner and perfectly attached wires. I find it to be more efffective then the celboard process.
I took a class once where the instructor (pretty sure it was Elizabeth Parvu) took a tiny bit of gumpaste / fondant and twirled it up on the wire (about the length on the petal or leaf) between her thumb and finger and then placed it to the back of the freshly cut leaf/petal and then would press with the veiner and perfectly attached wires. I find it to be more efffective then the celboard process.
This is called the twiddling method and I love it too.
Michele
I was wondering the same thing about the tutorials. I googled it but couldn't come up with anything. Is it used with the two piece hard veiners? Because I only have the softer silicone ones, and I think it wouldn't press the gumpaste together well enough. Any one else want to explain this with a little more details? TIA!
You can roll the gumpaste out on alot of things. The pro to the cell board is that on one side they have groves and holes. The groves make thicker areas for you to use to slide your wire into the petal. They aren't a must but they are nice.
I have the smaller board, and I would say if I had to do it again if I was spending the money I'd get the bigger one.
I agree with you 100% if I could do it over, I'd gotten the bigger one hands down... but I have the small one and I am not about to get another one (for now anyways lol)
I have used both methods and they are both good.. but I usually use my celBoard though... I have been even thinking of ways to do a home-made one cause since I have the little one... for bigger leaves or petals it's kinda hard to get it done...
I took to pieces of those wood plaques you buy at Michael's and put them on a bigger one with a gap in the middle... (to make the big petals) and it worked okay... but I'm still pouting for not getting the bigger celBoard..
If you really enjoy making flowers... I really recommend you get it... it's worth it...
I can't quite visualize the twiddling method. Do you know of any tutorials for it?
The twiddling method is when you roll a very tiny amount of soft, fresh gumpaste on a wire and then press it onto the back of a petal or leaf. If you are using a veiner then pressing the "twiddled" wire onto the petal is very easy and blends in more easily. Using soft, fresh gumpaste will prevent the need for glue which usually won't take color after it dries.
When you twiddle, the amount of gumpaste on the wire is barely noticeable and is usually at least 3/4 the length of the petal/leaf. I love this method for large petals or leaves that need support and the grooved board just isn't long enough. It's not as obvious in white petals either.
I hope I explained this clearly enough. I know how to do it, but I don't always explain things well.
Michele
This technique sounds totally duable. Definitly going to give it a try. Thanks bunches!!!!! I really like the convience of the groove/cel board. However, I found the expensive.
Thank you.
Laura
Get a brand new triangular file from a hardware store. Use that to file grooves into your present hard boards (which for me are scraps of HDPE from restaurant installers). File grooves some distance apart and at different depths. Sanitize the board with bleach/water after you are done filing.
I found the twiddling method, just scroll down and there are 2 videos:
http://cakesandcookiesbyandrea.blogspot.com/2011/03/gumpaste-calla-lily-tutorial-and-soft.html
Hi guys, don't know if you know this but there is a little groove on the back of these for that
I've tried a few different ways of rolling and I decided the CalBoard 2 (the larger one - I actually have both the small and large) works the best for me. The biggest benefit is you can roll up to 5 petals at once - when I'm making a flower like my ruffled peony that has 40-50 wired petals for each flower it drastically cuts down on rolling and cutting time. Yes, I am that insane that I make 50 wired petals for one flower. :D
The cutting surface is also the best for me. I've used exactos and my extremely expensive Shun pairing knife and it's never gouged.
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I know this is an old post, but just in case anyone wants to know. . . I used a $3 cutting board from Walmart, heated a metal skewer, and created my own stem inserts. Works just like the one that was $46 at the local cake supply store.
I agree its an old post but worth bumping up. I did it with metal BBQ skewers on an old board and it works great.
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