This cake I stressed over because of both the structure and the leopard print. Luckily I made the curved pieces well in advance and allowed them to dry at least one week so they were very firm. Then I sprayed them with gold lustre and allowed it to dry again another 3 days just to be sure.

Unluckily the cake ended up being about 1/2" shorter than I planned so there is a major gap and the curved pieces had to be supported by a big wad of fondant or else they would not have stayed up. I had to cover that up with some additional pearl detailing but I think it adds to the overall look.

I originally planned to paint the leopard print and stressed because I am a lousy painter but then decided to just freehand cut flat pieces of brown for the inside and handshape pieces of black fondant, which were then flattened, to go around them. I am very proud I pulled it off! I shocked myself lol. TFL.