Made this for a man's birthday. Featuring a wack load of new (to me) techniques including: hexagons applied with Jessica Harris wax paper transfer method, crackled fondant created with a kitchen torch as per Liz Marek's free online tutorial, and orchids/looped leaves/rocks created with a James Rosselle Craftsy class. Also, the borders were made with Wilton sugar sheets and a fancy punch, method learned from Jessica Harris on Craftsy.

Overall I like the look of the cake but was disappointed with my orchids and leaves. The James Rosselle class was super frustrating since he never answered a single of my questions, his material list was impossible to fully source out in Canada (and boy, I tried!), and describing the centers as being "blueberry" or "pea" sized was confusing. The Nicholas Lodge Ultimate Rose class was SO detailed, including proper sizing for all components. That should be how the Craftsy classes work.

On the up side, using sugar sheets and fancy punches to create such striking designs is something I can see applying to many a future cake project! Loved how that looks...