2 Methods of Making Rainbow/ Split Cakes

OK as asked; this is the 2 ways I make them, if I am making a bunch and not just gouging out chunks from my existing cakes for a small split pot!

METHOD 1 - for fat rainbows etc to be used with sponges & big brushes


I sort out & de-pot the colours I want to use - I stick to 1 brand/ type in the hope they will 'wear' evenly. Eg if I did Snaz with 1 sparkle colour in, which is usually softer/ wears faster, it might suck as that colour would disappear from the rainbow. In this case it is all matt Grimas cakes and it is a rainbow cake.


I use a big palette knife and make sure I have a wipeable surface - its messy! As I usually do this in HK I have never had to heat the cakes, or anything like that, to make them soft. Even in the uk a bit of squishing in a plastic bag in your hand heats it enough to mould wee lumps to shape.


I chop the cake into equal slices - this may mean thinner slices in the wider centre to make them equal. If they will need shaping to fit the new pots in the correct order, i use a plastic bag or bit of cling film to try to keep myhands clean and roll it/ squish it.


repeat with the next colour, fitting each into place in the new pots in order - its easier working from the edge accross the pot. Be aware that in round pots (or square!) the edge colours often get used less as the lip sort of protects them, so I tend to make them a little wider.


Continue until you finish. It should be reasonably level on the surface, but don't worry about cracks between colours or lumps - the 1st few times you use a sponge on it, it all smooths together.

BTW DO NOT SPRAY THE CAKE WITH WATER. If you do it pools in any dips and you end up with a murky puddle that messes up your beautiful colours. Spray your sponge or wet your brush. You may need it slightly wetter than the norm.
and rainbow cats, unicorns, dogs, etc

METHOD 2 - for thinner stripes when I want rainbows etc to use with a small fan brush...

No pics yet!
1) I take the cakes/ lumps and roller them flat and thin like pancakes, to the length of the new pot, approx.

2) Stack the colour 'pancakes' in the order you want, and press lightly on the top layer with something flat to make them stick together a bit and to fit the thickness you want to fit the width of your new pot.

3) Slice down through the stack making the width of the slice equal to the depth of your new pot.

4)Turn that slice on its side so you can see the stripes of colour, pop into the new pot.
Ta dah-much straighter, finer stripes this way as in teeny tiny rainbow butterflies - again can't find a pic but imagine these were rainbow....think these were actually orange/red/yellow

Those are great tips as I make rainbow cakes the same way except that I use an exacto knife for sharp cuts and the point prys out the paint nicely. The plastic that covers the new cakes I cut up levels the new rainbow cake nicely and keeps the fingers clean.
And I LOVE your second method because I had a hard time fitting them into the smaller Metina box. Your method is SO much neater.
I added black to some of my Artsy Brush sorta colors but a really thin strip of it, much less than she uses. I only half fill the box sections with rainbow cakes and use the box partition to lean my brush against as I stroke across the colors so only the brush edge picks up a bit of the black, just enuf to finish (outline) the design but not so overpowering as some of Artsy's designs.
I used to mist the paints alot and use a damp brush, so I will try wetting the brush more instead of the paints to see how it comes out ; )
Special thanks for the marvelously helpful tips,
Susan
Fantasy Faces For You!
www.SusanLeeBillings.com

BTW: I adore your tigers!!! Realisticly awesome work!! I loved parusing your website for inspiration!!!!!!!
Thanks for Sharing,
Susan

I found a photo that shows the small box's colors and the thin stripe of black with my foliage greens combo. The other dark colors in the others are blue & purple.


Special thanks Metina, for sharing your idea of the small box!!! I have two more awaiting more split colors, using the new method of stacking ; ) Can't have too many split cakes!!!
Susan

Thank you thank you thank you!

I love that rainbow butterfly...how totally cute!!

OMG...I was trying to envision how to put paint brushes in a water bottle ice cube maker and duh...a picture is a thousand words....

I kept thinking they'd be too short to store them in and how do you keep them from falling out in your bag? Hehe...brain not functioning! So yes, for a painting set up it obviously works beautifully! Damn..I think I threw away one of those a few years ago!

I have a tall tote and the brush holder with brushes goes in a similar shaped strong cardboard box so I can put the basket on top of it without smooshing the brushes. Shame you got rid of that ice tube tray, as its sturdy wont fall over because it sits on the blue bottom and takes the beating of being put/pulled out of the tote that carrys everything I need to a gig ; )

Cheers,
Susan

Is my current split-cake boxes; I like adding black or white to the edges too, but sometimes find it muddies the colours in 1 stroke so add them after!

My big split/ rainbow cakes are in normal sized f-p pots -4! Oh dear, addict...

Cat x

Oh and here are some mini rainbow butteflies, found em!
Cat x

Wow, I recgonize those boxes...just like the big daily pill dispenser and tiny bead boxes! Got those too! Those boxes look like they are clear hard plastic. My small one isnt but I like the small box because the single lid comes off and all colors are exposed for client's choosing ; ) I carved off the box's hinges so I can stow the lid and doesnt take up table space.

Cat you are a STAR!

Have some of those pill boxes too (in different sizes). Use them for lipstick and false eyelashed. Tried with loose eyeshadow and glitter - since I got a lot of samples - but they are not good for that. Unless they don't get turned upside down.
But I must try them for splitcake =)

Ah yes I had those pill boxes and they leaked.
I got these as they were different- craft bead boxes that lock. I tried fairly watery paint in and they didn't leak when upside down like the others, so I have switched to these. They are much bigger than those pill boxes too, this is the smallest craftbox I have.

Yes, they hold most things, but not glitter and loose eye shadow.

I sometimes cut cakes that are in my kit. I cut along the outer edge and then smoosh the cake to fill in the hole. Some colors I put the refrig first so they are not so messy to handle. I also use a bead container. My sponge and the one stroke #12 brush fit perfectly. I love using snaz sparkle colors. Customers are so impressed by the colors and the quickness of the designs using these rainbow pots.

Cat, how do you deal with certain colors that are hard and crumbly? That's the problem I had making rainbows. Some colors were soft and pliable while others were hard and crumbly. I made the cakes and they worked fine, they just didn't look very good.

Who cares how they look as long as they work?? As long as your kit is clean and tidy... why does it matter?

Some of the Snaz colours are hard to cut without it crumbling, I just stick the bit in the hole add a drop of water and shape it, then add the next colour... once I've got all the colours in I'll use my metal palette knife to push the edges as straight as I can, but I'm not going to worry about it if the edges are rough, then cover with a bit of plastic and press it all flat as I can to compress the cake and get rid of "air pockets."

I want them to look good, because I was hoping to sell them. I'm wondering how other vendors get them to look so nice.

I have heard lots of practice, gloves and continually cleaning your tools. Learning which colors work better at room temperature and which need to go in the freezer for a few minutes. I have found that even colors within brands react differently.

Once I crack the code I will be willing to share. One thing is after you have got what will be a well functioning cake, try taking a paper towel and place it on the cake. Use a spoon to equally level out the cake by smooshing down. Don't let the paper towel move. This will level it, fill in the gaps and put a nice design from the paper towel in the paint making it look new.

I would try it on your own cakes first to see what I mean. But be careful as the make-up will react differently since yours has been wet before, but it gives you some practice.

Metina

When I tried it in the past, the yellow was hard as a rock. I'm wondering if there is anything you can do about that, or do you just have the wait for a pliable yellow?

How about heating the knife that you are using a bit so it is more melting than cutting. Freeze the yellow and take a lighter to an exacto knife. This is just an idea and you would have to experiment.

Nuke 'em I say!! Whahahahahahaaaa ack hack cough...

The rainbow cakes I have that I got from FacepaintUK were made from Grimas only, by cutting the cakes, then kneading the lumps into logs, that were then shaped into the right size to be placed in the rectangular containers. Those cakes are very inform and neat. Here's a link to their how to page about using rainbow cakes

http://www.facepaint-uk.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=341&Itemid=77

and it shows the cakes too.

They are a nice size. I cut up some cheap washing up sponges into squares that fit the container - very easy to load and use.

BTW... Kryolan cuts well. Better than Snaz which varies so much from colour to colour.

WB or DFX - Nuke for a few seconds and it will soften.

Shannon, speaking of cutting up sponges, I just happened to find the right density sponges at the dollar store! Thick ones for getting the paint on and thin ones to cut up to make stamps! The sponges come eight to ten per pack and a few made all the sponge sizes I need to fit my pallet! Amazing where bargin FP supplies turn up!
Cheers,
Susan

My husband also suggested nuking them. Hmmmm.

I found that some Kryolan was like what we call here play dough or putty. It was easy to work into the rainbow cake. The ones that were a bit more chalky I dripped water onto them til they got to that consistency. Should I have done that??? Anyway it seems to have been ok as it works great.

Glenda