My Pièce de Résistance for the Cake Decorating Class Finals

I didn't have much time this week to plan the design for my final cake. As usual, I had barely enough time to bake the cake, let it cool down, half it, frost it. Frosting the cake is usually the challenge for me since I don't like to have any cake crumbs on my frosting (which is almost impossible) plus I don't like to use the ready-made Wilton buttercream icing, which means I'd always have to make the buttercream icing from scratch. Someday, I'll learn to frost a cake perfectly. Someday.
Anyway, since there weren't any plans, I made several batches of icing in various colors so that I could bring to the last class, just to be safe. I figured I'd be inspired by the time I get there!
I did get some sort of inspiration somehow. Just wanted to incorporate everything that I had learnt in the class into that one little 8" round-barely 2.5" tall cake: piped roses, shell borders,

pressed flowers,

letterings and stencils. By the way, it was a Spice cake (Sylvia Weinstock's recipe) with apricot preserve filling and creamcheese frosting. The cake smelled heavenly when it was baking in the oven but to tell you the truth, for the sake of preserving my "art piece" for photograph taking plus the love for my niece, Nicole - she loves cakes and would be thrilled to get to cut a whole cake, I haven't even had the chance to cut into the cake till now.
I'm so proud of myself! Yeah, yeah, there're some flaws if you look close enough but to paraphrase my Cake Decorating instructor "don't worry about each individual piece, just step back and look at all the decorations on the cake as a whole. In unity, in concert, together - they make a beautiful cake!" And it is a beautiful cake to me! I will get my certificate soon. Ooh, so thrilled! Tell me what you think!