Open peony, hydrangeas, filler flowers & buds on chocolate cake

I truly love creating life like sugar flowers. I get lost in creating them and it's very therapeutic. This beautiful cake took a week to be finished. It is inspired by my favorite sugar artist Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet. She is amazing! Her beautiful work continue to inspire me everyday.

The sugar flowers took 3 days to make. I created my own gumpaste using Nicholas Lodge's recipe which needed to set, the petals and leaves needed to dry overnight and finally dust/color them individually. I then organize them in groups as shown in the picture to make arranging easier.

Here is a picture of the open peony after assembling the petals.

One of the tips I received from Jacqueline when arranging the flowers is to fill the unsightly gaps with filler flowers and buds. This creates a more tight beautiful arrangement. Unfortunately, I used all of my  filler flowers and buds. So always make a lot more than you think!

This is the most beautiful cake I've created! It's not as neat as I'd like it to be of course. It's my first time arranging sugar flowers on a cake so please excuse the marks on the fondant. But I'm so pleased with the overall look. I honestly couldn't stop admiring my cake!

If you have any questions with how I made these sugar flowers please let me know. I'm far from an expert but I'll try my best to help and answer your questions. Thank you and have a great time making sugar flowers!