Oh Sharon, that's a gorgeous cake!!

That is absolutely flawless, what a gorgeous cake!

Great cake! Wow...

Sharon - Oh Wow! Those bows are exquisite!!!!! I just ordered the mats on Tuesday and can hardly wait to use them.

In the meantime I used straight Knoxx gelatin according the the recipe and painted on the back of a carry-out container from Pei Wei restaurant which had a beautiful design on it. Waited until the next morning and heard a cracking sound. My puppy kept running around the table barking and we couldn't figure out what the problem was. Then it dawn on us, she heard the cracking/popping sounds and thougt it was a bug/bee/wasp etc. It was such a funny moment - you really had to be here to appreciate it.

Hainge said all that - yes, they actually do release themselves from the mats sometimes. Anxious to try the SF jello for color and flavor. Thanks to all of you for adding your comments - this is so BEAUTIFUL!

Sharon, that's absolutely beautiful! How did you attach the ribbon part that goes down the sides?

So, do you need to use SF jello? Or can you just use regular jello?

They said you can't use the regular because sugar would make it...sticky? I think that's right.

I did my experiment on wax paper in a cookie sheet and on top of a cutting board lightly greased. It's not as pretty as the others but it let me play around with it. I don't have any impression mats and no easy access to a cake supply store So I bought some shelf liner after reading that a previous poster used some to make a beautiful bow. Haven't had time to use it yet. I'm going to have to learn how to make a bow! I've never had a reason before but I certainly do now!

Thanks everyone! I am beginning to wonder if I'll ever make a fondant bow again!
I used some buttercream at the ends of the ribbon to attach it to the cake. I had tried just water and that didn't work. Next time I'll try some gum glue. But for now, at least I know the buttercream works.

I was thinking that instead of the sugar free Jello, perhaps you could try this with LorAnn oil flavorings, sugar substitute (NutraSweet, Splenda, Sweet 'n Low), and coloring. That way you could make any color and flavor combo, and maybe it will dry faster due to not having other ingredients that are in the Jello. One of those sweeteners might work better than another in terms of drying.

Please let us know if you experiment!

The sub sweetners just might do the trick.

I don't know if this would help or not, but I am making lego jello from molds right now. In the instructions they mention grinding up a vitamin C tablet and adding it, alternately they mention purchasing ascorbic acid. The recipe i made uses 1 regular jello pkg and 3 pkg of gelatin and makes about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of hard flexible jello like gummy bears. It is not rigid like you are talking about. Anyone think it would be worth while addig vitamin c tablet for taste or would that be worrysome if some ate it and you didn't tell them there was vitamin C in it?
Let me know how it goes. I have been really interested in what everyone is trying as it is helping me with my jello molds-skimming off the top has been very useful in getting a clear product. thanks everyone.

I am so tickled thta everyine is having so much fun with this!!! I don't know about the vitamin c thing, doesn't that just make it taste sour? (like those sour patch kid things) I tried just the lorann, that made it smell good, but still didn't taste good. I am going to try the artificial sweetner with the lorann next.

The experiment I did a couple of days ago was to try to make gelatin tiles (like on the challenge cake shoe with the blue tiles) It didn't work out like I expected, the tiles did not dry uniform, I made them too thick, which didn't help - I tried cutting them to make them look unifom - they look ok, but not as nice as I would like. As soon as I have time, I am going to put them on a cake.

I appreciate everyones input here, we are all learning a lot!!!

How about substituting kool-aid or juices for the water? I have used the kool-aid and it set up fine but I didn't taste it. It sure did smell a lot better though.

I'm just going to throw this in: If I'm not mistaken a lot of these questions will be answered in the book that Di and Michaelle are putting out later this summer. They've been playing with this technique for quite some time before it went out onto the market. FYI...

You got us Bob

Sure... we know about the book, but many of us are making things right now with this technique.........so we have to get what help we can now.....not at the end of the summer. I'm sure many of us will buy the book too........we're just helping each other figure it out for now. My cake is due June 14th!

Ah!! Got it! Just wanted you to know (just in case...)

Yup, thanks Bobwonderbuns. Extra info is always better than not enough......

I finally tried this out last night. Somehow I made a big mess of it! I made up the gelatin per the directions and painted it on a mat. The only thing that comes to mind is that I painted the first half of it much thicker than the second? Because when I got up this morning, one half of the rectangular sheet is almost paperlike in texture. Very stiff. The other half is very rubbery with no stiffness at all!

Gelatin doctors, can you give me a diagnosis?

It sounds like you painted one side thicker than the other. I tried 3 times before I got it right!

The things that help are to keep the gelatin warm (I use a coffee mug warmer) and the mat on a heating pad - using those 2 items makes it much easier to keep the gelatin warm and liquid so you can get it on in a nice even coat.

What are the measurements of the impression mats that you ordered from cakeconnections? I just wondered how large they were. Also a thought just popped in my head........I haven't made any of the bows or gelatin yet, but when you paint in on a silpat mat, is it possible to roll over it with an imprinted rolling pin etc, to get an impression?

Bobwonderbuns (love that name, ha, ha) I just received the mat and butterfly one too and tried the butterfly. May I ask if you have made the butterflies yourself, and if so, did you pour into each butterfly or paint each one separately keeping inside the shape. I am having trouble releasing the butterflies. Thanks for your reply!

Yes I did make them myself. I painted onto the mat with the gelatin mixture (not bothering to stay inside the lines as they get trimmed later). Let the gelatin mixture dry overnight (is best) and it releases when it wants to release -- it pulls away from the mat by itself and curls up. At that point trim the edges and gild with disco dust and you're good to go! That's how I did the teal butterflies cake in my pix. Hope that helps!

OK - perhaps I didn't put enough into the butterfly as it didn't release over two days and was extremely thin, brittle and broke when I tried to pry it out of the mold. I'll put more into/onto the mold. Thanks for your input - I just love how the bows turned out and can't wait to have a successful butterfly as well.

You don't want it too thin but you don't want it too thick either -- too thick and the wings will snap, too thin and they will crumble. (Think Goldilocks -- this consistency is just right!)

Ok I just had to tell you guys this. I neglected doing so for about a week.

You know, I was playing with the SF jello recipe. I was chewing on a piece and thinking, "you know, this doesnt taste TOO bad once it starts to dissolve, but man its tough! You could almost wear this stuff, its so strong." Then a bizarre thought popped in my head.

Edible Undies.

You wont believe it but I made an edible thong out of this stuff and its hanging in my bedroom. LOL. I just laugh when I see it. Ill probably toss it eventually. This is what happens when I start thinking too much about something. lol.