THE SWEETEST THING

BY ARATI MIRJI

Sweet peas are delicate and, dare we say, sweet additions to your sugar-flower repertoire. Follow along for some new quick techniques for creating these pretty little blooms.

Arati Mirji is a sugar-flower artist from Bengaluru, India. She creates realistic and naturallooking sugar flowers with edible flower paste and has won numerous awards for her work. She also enjoys experimenting with materials, tools, and new techniques. In her studio, she is in in her happiest space, and the joy of re-creating some of nature’s wonders gives her immense pleasure. As a tutor, her practice helps grow this unique craft into an art form and she shares all the skills, old and new techniques, and personal experiences with others.

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LEVEL:

COMPONENTS

Edibles:

Flower or gum paste: white and green Sweet pea flower veiners (Sugar Delites by Robert Haynes) Water (optional) Petal dust colors: buttercup, white, dusty pink, autumn green, and woodland green

Equipment:

White floral wire: 18, 22, 26, and 35 gauge Blunt-nose pliers Scissors Quick Twiddle Tool (Arati Mirji) Foam pad (PME) Paintbrushes Rolling pin Sweet pea cutters (FMM) Petal protector CelStick Needle tool Soft sponge Hockey stick tool Bumpy foam Calyx cutter Dresden tool Veining board Teardrop cutter Sweat pea leaf veiners Green floral tape

WHAT YOU NEED

CREATE THE KEEL PETAL

1. Take a 2-inch section of 22-gauge floral wire and make a hook with blunt-nose pliers. 2. Take a small chickpea-size ball of white flower or gum paste and place the hook into it, making it into a teardrop shape. Secure it to the wire by pinching it at the base. 3. Press the paste into the depression of the sweet pea keel veiner to shape it. Press the top of the veiner onto it.

Cut out any extra paste with scissors.

4. Allow the finished keel petal to dry.

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COVER THE WIRES

1. Take the Quick Twiddle Tool (QTT) with disc number 4 and fill with green flower or gum paste. 2. Holding the tool close to the foam pad, extrude the noodles so that they come out neatly without sticking to each other.

3. Take 1 of the noodles about 2 inches in length and place it right next to the wire to which the keel has been attached. 4. With the heel of your palm, give it a swift push away from you, so that the noodle gets attached to the wire by friction. You should get a neat, uniform, and consistent twiddle in a matter of seconds. If your noodle is a bit dry, you can apply a little water with a brush to the noodle or the wire and then use the same technique.

There is no need to use any glue. 5. Allow the covered wire to dry completely. Repeat this process for as many buds and flowers you decide to make.

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Tip: THIS TWIDDLE IS CALLED THE AQT TECHNIQUE OR ARATI’S QUICK TWIDDLE TECHNIQUE.

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3. Place the thinned-out outer petals into the veiner and press. 4. Repeat the veining with the inner petals as well. 5. Use a needle tool to exaggerate the frills by holding the petal on the bony portion of your index finger and rolling the needle tool back and forth.

6. Snip the inner petal in the middle to separate the 2 petals, ¾ of the length down. 7. Use a soft sponge and a hockey stick tool to curl the edges of the inner petal. 8. Dry the petals on the bumpy foam.

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FORM THE INNER AND OUTER PETALS

1. Using a rolling pin, roll out the white flower or gum paste, not too thinly, and cut out the inner as well as outer petals with the sweet pea cutters.

2. Place them inside a petal protector, dust liberally with cornstarch so that they don’t stick to the plastic, and thin out to extend the petals on all sides except the base with a CelStick.

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BUILD THE FLOWERS

1. Make a stronger glue by mixing a bit of the petal or paste in water to form a gel. 2. Apply the glue to the base of the keel petal and attach the inner petal. 3. Using the glue, attach the

outer petal as well and give it movement.

4. Take some of the green flower paste and roll it onto the second-smallest hole in the

PME foam pad to make a cone shape. 5. Using the cutter, cut out the calyx. 6. Using the broad end of a

Dresden tool, cup the sepals. 7. Using the narrow end of the

Dresden tool, make a central ridge on the sepals. 8. Use the glue and attach the calyx at the base. Let it dry.

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DUST THE FLOWERS

1. Mix buttercup petal dust with some white and apply it to the inner base of the keel, the inner portion of the inner petals, as well as that of the outer petals. Apply some at the base where the calyx meets the flower on the back.

2. Apply a bit of dusty pink petal dust on the outer edge randomly for the keel, inner base, as well as outer petals. 3. Apply autumn green petal dust on the calyx and the stem and highlight with woodland green. You can also highlight with a bit of dusty pink on the sepals and the stem. MAKE THE TENDRILS AND LEAVES

1. Using the QTT extruder, disc number 2, and green flower or gum paste, cover 35-gauge floral wire cut in half with the same AQT technique used to cover the wire with paste for the stems.

2. Using the end of a paintbrush, curl the tendrils randomly. 3. Roll out green flower or gum paste on a veining board. 4. Cut out a leaf with a teardrop cutter, one big and one slightly smaller. Squish the cutter to get a more elongated leaf shape.

5. Using 26-gauge floral wire, insert it into the leaves.

6. Thin out the edges with a

Dresden tool on a foam pad. 7. Press the leaves into the veiners. Dry the leaves on the foam pad. 8. Color the leaves with autumn green and woodland green petal dust.

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Tip: YOU CAN EITHER STEAM OR GLAZE YOUR LEAVES IF YOU WANT.

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ASSEMBLE THE FLOWERS

1. Using green floral tape and 18-gauge floral wire, tape the flowers, buds, and tendrils together. I used 3 to 4 flowers and buds for each stem. Tape the length of the wire a couple of times to thicken the stem.

2. Similarly, tape the leaves, tendrils, and buds. ACD