Just got my taxes done last night and have a little bit of money coming back to me, so of course I'm thinking - cake stuff!!!

I'm just starting my own business here in my fairly small, somewhat rural area. I don't have any of the "big" tools yet (e.g., airbrush, cricut, agbay, etc.).

Anyway, I'm trying to decide what would benefit me the most - an airbrush or a Cricut? On one hand, I am almost positive I'd be the only one in this area to have a Cricut Cake. However, it's not a hugely wealthy area and so far most people seem to lean towards buttercream and not fondant. I don't believe there are many bakers around here who will deal with fondant.

I'm wondering if an airbrush would be better for right now, and the Cricut could come done the road.

Just looking for opinions here. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Hillary

I have both an airbrush and a Cricut Expression. I would die without the airbrush! I love the Cricut but unless you do a lot of fondant and fondant accents, you may be able to hold off on the Expression IMO. Good luck!

Thanks Tracy! That's pretty much what I was thinking. Was just curious to see if anybody that had both of those items might be able to lend their opinion.

Your welcome. For what it's worth, I have the Copykake airbrush (the red one) and have had no problems with it. Also, I wish I had waited for the Cricut Cake. From what I understand, it cuts cleaner and easier than the Expression. Maybe I will have to upgrade!

I agree with Tracy7953....I have an airbrush and use it for almost every cake even if it is to spray pearl sheen on a cake.I did buy the cricut and found it time consuming to use etc and if you don't do alot of fondant/gumpaste accents (Which I don't) Then it probably won't get used.I sold mine on Kijiji locally and recouped all my money so I didn't lose anything! I like the concept though...

Okay, so now my question is this . . . what kind of supplies are needed with an airbrush? I know colors, of course, but is the pearl sheen what makes everything so shiny (seems like an obvious answer would be yes, but I'm going to ask anyway ) ? Do I need special cleaner? Is there a place to order an airbrush that's better than others? I don't live near anything other than a Michaels (which has almost NOTHING cake wise). The closest Hobby Lobby is 2 1/2 hours away! So, everything I get is shipped.

Thanks in advance for any answers!

I am thinking about buying an airbrucsh...so bump...

I did some internet checking for prices when I bought mine. Sorry I don't remember where now it's been so long. But they had a set of colors, including cleaner where I got it. I still have the set - they last forever and I use them a lot!

Recommendations for air brush systems http://cakecentral.com/cake-de.....aztek.html

I keep trying to go to the link posted above for airbrush systems, and I get an 'error' message every time. argghhh! Anyone know of a working link? I'd love to see it. Thanks.

I have a Kopycake airbrush. It works great. The pearl sheen is what makes alot of cake shiney(pearlized). Kopycake sells a big starter box of colors and a cleaner(liquid) with it. You can also buy the pearl airbrush color. I also recommend the silver and the gold. Amazing how easy to achieve a metallic look with these airbrush colors. Play with it first alot to get comfortable. It can splatter all over a cake if the settings are off or if there is a clog.

Lot of fun and on the plus side, airbrush color can be used to paint directly on cakes(no vodka thinning needed).

Saves me time on alot of stuff(just make things with white fondant and spray different colors). Also works for buttercream. The sheen on my cupcake bouquet was the pearl spray on buttercream.

Have fun!

try this and see if it works http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=608279&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=aztek&&start=0

Yes! That works! Thanks Tiggy!