Bible and rosary

A friend of mine ordered a cake which was to be given to a nun for her anniversary (of becoming a nun). His aunt wanted this cake and she's an interior decorator, so she was very specific with the details.

She wanted an open bible, with pale blue roses and a brown rosary. Wordings were to be turquoise. I'm not too sure of the exact shade of turquoise, but I hope I got the greenish-blue correct! :)

So, I started off with a square cake and carved it into the shape of an open book Then I covered it in white fondant and put a brown rope of fondant around the base. I flattened this rope a bit so it could resemble the cover of the bible.

I made the roses free hand, cause I think for small ones, it's easier to do free hand than to use the cutters. I still need practice at that, but I think my roses came out pretty okay for a first timer.

The rosary was the most time consuming. I had to roll out all the small balls and connect them one by one. As for the small cross at the end, I used a real, clean rosary to indent Jesus on the cross. I was sure He wouldn't mind, since this cake was for a sister who devoted her life to Him. :)

On hindsight, I think the 'pages' are too white. I should have used a bit of brown petal dust to create some shading. However, I unfortunately do not own any brown petal dust... next time I shall try using cocoa powder for dusting... I wonder if that would work or would it ruin the whole cake?!!

So anyway, I do like how this cake turned out. But, if you ask me, I still prefer cute and pretty as opposed to realistic. I love cartoony cakes a la Debbie Brown. I think that's my style.