Hydrangeas and Filler Flowers

For some time now, I have been following Craftsy, and drooling over all of the different classes they offer; not only in cake decorating, but knitting, crocheting, and even some fun sewing classes.  Every time an interesting class came along, I felt like I didn't have the money, or the time, or both.

Finally, one day, I logged into my email, and there was an offer for a free Craftsy class!  The selection was limited, but gum paste flowers have been on my list of techniques to learn for a very long time, and there was one free gum paste flower class available, so I pounced on it.  

The way Craftsy works, you purchase the course you want, and then you can do it on your own time, and replay it whenever you need to.  That is exactly what I needed, because, although the class was free, time was still an issue; so, the class sat in my account for nearly a month while I finished up some wedding cakes.  Finally, with a 2 month break between cakes, I sat down and started.

The title of the class is "Handcrafted Sugar Flowers."  The instructor covers hydrangeas, their buds, and filler flowers (tiny made up flowers to fill the arrangement) with their buds.

I first sat down to view the introduction and tools needed, and found that there were a few things I needed to buy first.  This turned out to be more of an expense than I would have liked, but because the class was free, I justified the cost.

I moved my laptop to the dining room table, and sat up my "classroom."  Whew!  There was a ton of stuff!

(Believe it or not, there is organization to this madness)

The instructor began with the basics of buds and flower centers.

I did one or two along with the video, and then turned it off and kept practicing.  After that, they sat for a few days until I had the time to sit down again.  

The next step in this class was to make the hydrangea petals, and later the different filler flowers.  She taught several techniques, and I tried them all.  

And no bouquet would be complete without some leaves.

Once everything had dried, I dusted the leaves with different colors and shades of luster dust, (a very finely milled food grade powder) and brushed some of the leaves and buds with confectioner's glaze.  Once that dried, the instructor showed how to arrange everything into a bouquet to go on a cake.

Now, I just need a cake to put them on!