...with rounded edges and 'lumpy' sides on my fondant-covered tiers! I tried everyone's suggestions of letting the cakes "settle" for a while and then trimming the edges like Sharon does in her dvd. I was really excited to do another cake because I was SURE it would be perfect. What am I still doing wrong? Am I using too much buttercream underneath the fondant? Is my fondant too thick? Not thick enough? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

do you chill your cake before covering? it contributes to crisper edges.

don't give up! you'll get it eventually, it takes a lot of practice.

I am by no means an expert, but from your last photo I'd say you might be putting too much frosting on the sides. I tend to load up the frosting on the top and go a little thin on the sides. Make sure that you don't have too much frosting in between layers when you torte too. Be sure that your buttercream is really smooth (straight as you can get on the edges and sides. Don't worry too much about the tops because they are normally covered by something!) Then I stick mine in the freezer for about half an hour to firm up. Take it out, let the moisture condensate so the fondant will stick, then apply the fondant.

If I couldn't get the edges as straight as I would like then I smooth them when I take it out of the freezer.

Hope this helps...

. . . there are a couple of tutorials around . . . this one from Edna . . .

. . . (Sharon's is just a preview of her fabulous DVD, you may want to invest in it too) . . . HTH