Mochi

My mochi-disastrous-adventure began last week...One thing i ate the most is Mochi, when i was in Japan. This is rice-cake filled with sweet red beans, ice or other delicious sweet stuff. Because i'm in a cook'n bake-mood, i wanted to make my own mochi. I found a lot of recipes and last week I started (feeling really excited) to make one, strictly following the steps mentioned on the recipe website. It really seemed easy to make. Just mix glutinous riceflour with water and sugar and fill it with something you like.......
The result was horrible: the ricepaste felt like sticky, glue-ish, halfslimy wallpaperpaste! After that i tried it again and it came out too hard to eat. Help!!! What went wrong? Why does it get so sticky or hard and inedible! I bought the ingredients, did exactly what i had to do according to these recipes. Who has the answer to make the perfect Mochi????