Cowboys and Indians

Wow, how lucky am I this week? I looove making new designs, and this week, the cakes I did were both originals.
The first cake I did was an "Indian" themed cake. Indian as in India, not American Indian. I think this is the most decadent cake that I have done for a 1 year old yet, seeing as it is painted with real gold on every tier. Every time I look at it, the more I adore it.
Anya is one cool mama. She called me months ago to order her daughter's 1st birthday cake. The first time she called, I was unavailable and returned her call ASAP. Which, of course, I got her voice mail. Arrrgh. I hate phone tag! Later that same evening, she called me back and said something like "I'm sorry I missed your call earlier, but I am a police officer in Dallas, and when you called, I was being shot at. So I couldn't really talk about cake." I thought that was the funniest thing-can you imagine being shot at, and then your cake lady happens to call?
Anyway, Anya said that her daughter's room was done in an Indian theme, and she wanted the cake to reflect that. We decided on a 3 tiered cake. The bottom is a hexagon, done in a dark red fondant. It is actually Super Red and Regal Purple mixed together. There are 6 elephants, each with hats (which I trimmed in gold) and blankets (also trimmed in gold). If you look closely, you will see that the eyes are slanted, and the toes are painted. Around the bottom of the tier is braided fondant, also painted in gold.
The middle tier is a petal shape. I chose a mango orange color to fit in with the theme. I piped tiny stars in royal icing, and then after they dried, painted them with the gold. Where each petal indents, I made swirls from gumpaste, which I painted gold.
The top tier is pink. Around the base, I used a lace cutter, painted it gold, and then went over the seam with beads of royal icing which where, you guessed it, painted gold.
The Indian Girl on top was done in gumpaste. She is holding golden coins, some which she dropped, and has on some gorgeous gold chains and a hat/crown.

My other cake this weekend was for a little boy named Asa. Being curious about his name, I looked it up and discovered that it is Japanese and means "Born At Dawn". I love it!
This weekend is Asa's 3rd birthday. His mom wanted a cowboy themed cake, and wanted both tiers to be done in a bandanna print. She also wanted a little cowboy on the top riding a horse.
All the piping on the cake was done in royal icing. Around each tier, I twisted some brown fondant together to make a rope. The cowboy and horse on top are both gumpaste. The cutout letters for the name are also gumpaste.