Hi all,
Thanks all for the comments on my cake over at the First Time Class Cake gallery!
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-photos_display_86_-87025.html
A few of you have asked how did I make the roses. I think it might be more appropriate to bring the discussion over here because its fairly long. I hope you wont mind. 
As I am a newbie in cake decorating, to make the roses I got a lot of my ideas/techniques from CC and in particular the following discussion regarding Wilton Gum Paste Rose. http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-52018-rose.html .
I would like to thank all those who share their valuable experience on this website. Ive learned so much from all the different discussions.
Below is a summary of the things I did to make my roses:
1. Material I used half MMF and half gumpaste. The MMF recipe that I used is posted in the recipe section of CC http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-1949-21-Marshmallow-Fondant-MMF.html. For the gumpaste, I bought a can of the Wilton Gum Tex from Michaels and used the recipe thats on the container. I let them sat for one day before using.
2. Rose Base I used toothpick to attach the rose base this time. Next time, I will try using wire.
3. Cutters/Tools I bought the Wilton Gumpaste Kit and used the 3 rose petal cutters for cutting out the petals. Then used the little stick 1 to roll the petals thin. At first the cut out petals seemed to be really small but then I discovered they can be rolled really thin and they would become much bigger. I think the photos in the gumpaste kit instruction book are the actual size. Try to roll out the petals to the size thats shown in the book.
4. Shaping the rose - Here is a great tip from ShirleyW on how to shape the roses. Look at a real rose and you will see that the sides of the petal tends to roll under on both sides, leaving almost a point in the cnter of the petal edge. What you can do is make them just as you are doing now, roll the paste a bit thinner, then take your index finger tip, place it behind the petal just in the middle of the petal, pull it gently towards you, then roll the petal back and under just a bit on each side. It gives it a softer, more natural appearance. See link above.
5. Color To do the two-tone effect, do the rose base and first four petals in a darker shade of pink. Then do the next 5 medium petals and 7 large petals with a lighter shad of pink. You can adjust the shade of pink by adding the white MMF/gumpaste to the pink one that youve already made.
6. Glue Water mix with meringue powder. Credit goes to jeking that shared this great tip. See discussion link above.
Lessons learned:
Form the bases for the roses ahead of time and let them dry.
Attach the four small petals, let dry.
Attach the five medium petals, let dry.
Finally attach the seven large petals.
Sometimes you will find it necessary to let the rose dry up side down so the petals will not droop.
Making gumpaste roses are really fun. There is still so much more to learn. I will keep visiting this site for ideas!!
Jen
I loooovvvveeeee your cake.. it is such a sweet color and very
beautifully done... 
very , very nice. 
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