How to make a ballerina cake

I made this cake for my husbands niece who turned 9 in April 2011.










I made the dress from chocolate cake, which I carved with a small knife to make it look curvy - the gray areas on the illlutration shows where and how I cut the cake. The figurine is done by hand (Wilton Fondant), no moulds used. I had to put some metal wires in the figurine arms to make it dry in this position. Bracelet, earrings and details on the dress is hand painted with edible gold.
The "floor" is made from a thin layer of chocolate cake covered with chocolate buttercream and brown coloured fondant. I used a pencil tool and the small ballling tool to make the "wood"-like impressions. To make the "wood" look mere real, I handpainted it with brown dust colour mixed with alcohol.