Green And Yellow Birthday Cake

On Saturday I baked a birthday cake for one of my good friends , she wanted Chocolate Cake with Vanilla buttercream filling, she also wanted the cake in green and yellow colors, so I came up with this idea. I made the bow with sugar paste ( I made it from scratch since it is cheaper and nobody is going to eat it any way). I made the bow 3 days in advanced, I got the idea for the cake from my new book Confetti Cakes ( it is the best), I really didn't follow the proper instructions for the bow, instead I made my own thing, it wasn't perfect, but now I know what and how to do it the next time. I hand painted the green bow using luster dust and lemon extract.(see instructions at wilton website)

Here are some details, as you can see I need more practice writing and using a less stiffer royal icing.
This is the cake, I like it and so did my friend.

I learned a few things a long the way:

1-Use good quality brushes ( mine were cheap and left hair all over the place)
2-Don't paint at 12 am in the morning, and if you do, use good lighting, which I didn't have.
3-Make extra bows, I could have use more and I didn't have any left.
4-Color the fondant a day in advance, and make sure you will have enough of the same color in this way you won't be so tired the day you are decorating the cake.
5-Make sure you bake the cake the right size, I baked a 2" cake, but the box she that I wanted to accomplish could have looked way better in a 4" cake.