My wonderful mother and I work on cakes together. We created this for a 1st birthday for a family member. The back of the topper is made using fondant of one whole piece cut to shape from the stencil - this is always your first step. The front of the topper is then cut from colored fondant using individual pieces of the same stencel that is made from a coloring page and enlarged or downsized as needed. The cut pieces are etched with a tip of a sharp blade to show depth on the image and/or colored with edible ink pens. The pieces are then attached with water to the backing piece, covered and set aside to dry and harden for several days. A few days later, we also attach a bamboo scewer to the back of the topper that is covered in the same color as the backing fondant and let dry. The cake is an 8 inch., triple layer, iced in buttercream icing with all Fondant/Gumpaste characters. The cake board is two 12 inch cake circles covered in white fondant with black fondant "cow spots" attached with water on top (this board has been set aside to dry before use). (The two tiny characters in front are miniature toys). It is tedious work, but so worth it in the end. I hope this helps answer any questions. If not, feel free to send me a message. All the other characters on the cake are done using the same stencil method, except they do not need any backing support or skewer and are attached to the cake using piping gel..