Peonie-like kinda flower... 'ish'??!

So I'm trying to make gumpaste flowers now and it's not as easy as it looks on YouTube!! They're so fragile I'm beginning to think they're not worth all the time and effort at all! The smarter solution would be to use fresh flowers, is what methinks!

I tried making this peonie-like flower. I had no idea what cutter to use so I tried heart shape ones. I cut out the petals and veined them, then frilled the edges with a balling tool. I thought of using a deep, rich colour, like dark purple, but it came out more like a brown. Then, when I pieced all the parts together, guess what it looked like? Wood ear fungus!! :)

See for yourself:

*sigh...*

I didn't have much free time, so the flower was still wet cause I brushed it with a damp brush to get rid of the cornstarch. I didn't have time to do the underside (I was already running late for dinner), so the two tones made it resemble the fungus even more!

It was for my sister's birthday cake. I had baked a cheesecake beforehand and covered it with fresh cream. I was afraid the cheesecake was too soft to hold the weight of a full fondant covering. It was rather plain with just the cream, so I stuck a green ribbon around the base of the cake.

Luckily the cheesecake turned out quite yummy, so the 'wood ear fungus flower' could be forgiven! :)

So now, I do not know if I want to waste anymore time with gumpaste flowers, at this rate, I'm gonna need one-on-one classes with Ron Ben-Israel before I can create anything decent!! I really don't think I can afford to allocate so much time to flowers, especially when there are so many gorgeous real flowers which one can use eh??!!