Oh. My. Goodness. I can't believe that yesterday even happened! I finished an entire topsy-turvy cake in mmmm....probably 8sih hours. All at one sitting. Okay well except for the baking, carving, and icing part. But that's the easy portion! I don't even really know where to begin. I don't have as many construction pictures as I expected, so I guess you'll just have to read what happened.
I guess I'll start off by saying that once you read this, your thoughts of topsy cakes will change if you didn't already know the trick. Part of me is hesitant to share because I know that it will ruin the illusion (especially because I haven't perfected it yet...seeing as I've only done it once haha), but I know I must so that you guys may try if you like :)
I should also say that I tend to watch a lot of caking shows (go figure), and I've seen them do it wrong. I will probably talk about it once I get to that part. Okay. Ready? Here goes nothin!

Topsy-turvy cakes are an illusion. There is a trick to doing them. If you look at the top layer of my cake you can see a carving error that will give this illusion away. The cakes actually all sit on a flat surface. A shelf is carved into each cake that the next is to sit INto (not onto) so that the cake looks precarious, but is actually very stable. I got this pretty well on the first two layers, but the top layer looks like it's falling into the cake instead of sliding off. This is because unlike the other two tiers, the top tier is only one layer of cake (with cake paste, a mixture of buttercream and cake crumbs, on top...not done on purpose) and it is carved inward. This angle is completely wrong, but oh well. A learn for next time! Now I have seen some professionals either choose not to use this construction tip or just not know how to do it, because they try to actually stack the cakes on the angles. This will either end in one of two ways (both of which I've seen). 1: The cake really will slide off. It will break if you try to do it without wooden dowels...which leads me to scenario number two. 2: In order to keep a cake that is actually sitting on angles upright, you have to dowel it. A LOT. Meaning, over 50 dowels in just a 3 tier cake. So essentially you are delivering a wood-filled cake. Might as well be a dummy cake. As I'm sure you can tell, I'm not a fan. If the shelves are done correctly, the client won't be able to see your secret...unless they do a full deconstruction which, let's face it, is unlikely.  SO. Shelf the cake!
This is the cakes chilling in my freezer before I covered them. You can see the shelf carved into the first and second tiers.
So now that you know the trick I can tell you how my day went. I started off covering the cakes in my fondant. This was frustrating. The odd shapes (especially the tapered top tier) were causing lots of wrinkles. I'm tellin ya, covering is the hardest part I think. Once I got them all covered I had to dowel the bottom tier (new for me) and then I got to airbrush! (Also new for me) Here is my homemade airbrushing center:
Yes, that is an airbrush HOLDER duct taped to the box (no I would NEVER but duct tape on my shiny airbrush!), yes, the turntable has room to spin, and yes, I am very proud of it :)
I did learn very quickly that I need a mask. I ended up using a bandanna...and then was called the "cake bandit" by loving family all day. Charming.
Once all the tiers were airbrushed, I got to stack. I then hand-painted the leopard print, made stripes with my ribbon cutter (don't but the wilton one. It doesn't work wet well), painted and glued those on (with water), and then hand-painted the squares on the top tier. An hour and a half till delivery. You would think at this point I would be early. But no. This is when my fondant decided it had had enough for one day. Once I started making ropes, actually, after I made the bottom one, it all dried out, and no amount of partial remelting would make it pliable enough without cracking. We were able to get out one more rope for the top layer, but no matter how hard we tried the middle one would not come together. It wouldn't even form balls for the wires! So I just had to give up.
Earlier in the week I made the chocolate "16" cake topper. This was easier than I thought guys! I melted down one square of almond bark, and then poured it onto some wax paper. I had tried to make a mold from aluminum foil, but I didn't need it! I was able to manipulate the chocolate with a spoon and a toothpick and form it into a "6". Then a quick freezing and touching up with an xacto knife and it was pretty pretty! Repeat for the "1". I just need to make the toothpicks that stuck into the cake longer, because I ended up having to shove the numbers in a little. I was able to airbrush these no problem, and then stick them in! I made the mistake of trying to put it in before we got there and had to take them out for transport, during which they melted a little, but two minutes in the freezer had them ready to present again. Apparently they didn't cause problems during the party either! Final touch was some curvy cake wires to add more of a whimsical feel to the cake. And tada! So here goes the picture line-up. Some are at my house and a couple are on-site. You can see some fondant blunders and the cracking of the top tier by the numbers, and you can also see that I need to start carrying a white sheet around for picture backgrounds haha. Enjoy...and let me know what you think!
This was right after it was finished. You can see the cake wires well.
Here you can see the swirly pattern on the top that I should have done all around the top tier.
Cake in full minus the wires on site. You can see how much the "16" sunk into the cake.
Cake on site.
Just a fun close-up. You can see some of the fondant bubbles pretty well though.

TA-DA!! =D