Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Handcrafted Sugar Flower - Ranunculus and Cymbidium Orchid



Gumpaste flower Ranunculus with purple and green hydrangea



Gumpaste flower cymbidium orchid


 I've been trying to make real good ranunculus gumpaste flower last couple of weeks, but the first 4 weren't very successful. Since ranunculus has many petals, I realized it's quite hard to make a beautiful one like real. This is my 5th one, I know it's still not big enough, but I think it's cute enough :)

And the second flower is a cymbidium orchid, I learned it from James Rossells's onlie class. James is an exceptional teacher who thoroughly explains every detail of the process.

 Happy Halloween!!







Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Handcrafted Sugar Flower, Closed Peony



Handcrafted sugar flower, closed pink peony with filler flowers.
I got inspired by sugar flower artist, Jacquelin Butler and learned how to at Cake Journal, thank you Jackie and Louise!

Stay warm! :)




Michael Massie 50@50





 






 "The ties that bind us"








"Knight owl"









Great artist Michael Massie's 50@50 exhibition cookies.
This project was a great opportunity for me to translate his art pieces on my cookies. It took about 3 days to finish, but it was such an awesome experience :) 

Please visit Here for more information about this exhibition.




Thursday, October 18, 2012

Gumpaste Open Peony and Filler flowers


My first gumpaste open peony with filler flowers!
Here is how to make an open peony, Shiv's Sweet Delight, she kindly explained step by step with photos which is even more awesome. Thank you for a great tutorial, Shiv! :)

And the last photo is my working station. Recently, I've been falling in love with gumpaste flowers. The more I get to know, the more I love it!


This is very nice Nicholas Lodge's GUMPASTE RECIPE I would like to share with you,


4 large fresh egg whites
2 pound bag of powdered sugar 10x
12 level teaspoons tylose powder (you can find this at www.globalsugarart.com)
4 teaspoons vegetable shortening



1. Place the egg whites in a heavy duty mixer bowl fitted with the flat paddle.

2. Turn the mixer on high speed for 10 seconds to break up the egg whites.

3. Reserve 1 cup of the powdered sugar and set aside.

4. Turn the mixer to the lowest speed and slowly add the remaining sugar.

5. Turn up the speed to medium and beat for about 2 minutes. During this time, measure the tylose into a small bowl.

6. Mixture should look thick and shiny, like meringue. If coloring the entire batch, add the color at this stage, making it a shade darker than the desired color.

7. Turn the mixture to slow and sprinkle the tylose in over a 5-second time period. Next, turn the speed up to high for a few seconds.
This will thicken the mixture.

8. Scrape the mixture out of the bowl onto a work surface that has been sprinkled withthe reserved 1 cup of powdered sugar. Place the shortening on your hands and knead the paste, adding enough sugar to form dough that is soft but not sticky. You can check by pinching with your fingers -- they should come away clean. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in resealable bags.

9. Place in the refrigerator for 24 hours if possible before using, to allow paste to mature.

10. Before use, remove from refrigerator and allow the paste to come to room temperature. If needed, take a small amount of shortening on your fingertips and knead into the paste. If you are coloring the paste, add the color at this time.

11. Always store the paste in resealable bags and return to refrigerator when you are not using. Paste will keep under refrigeration for
approximately 6 months. You can keep the paste longer by freezing. If you will be freezing a batch of paste, allow it to mature for 24 hours in the refrigerator first before placing in the freezer.

12. Make approximately 2 pounds of paste.

Good luck!



Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Handcrafted Sugar Flower - Hydrangea and Filler Flowers




My first sugar flower bouquet, hydrangea and filler flowers!
I learned this beautiful sugar flowers from sugar flower artist Jacqueline butler's video class, and I learned alot about sugar flower techniques from this lesson.
I still have to practice alot more, but I love my first sugar flower bouquet.
Next time, I will share how to make this beautiful sugar flowers.




Thursday, October 11, 2012

Halloween Owl Cookie



Halloween is only 3 weeks away!
This is Halloween owl cookies I made today and I love the color contrast of orange and black.
Happy Halloween!

Please visit my Etsy shop :)