A friend of mine who attended Nathon's birthday party last weekend asked me to do a guitar cake for her brother's birthday the next weekend. So, I did another electric guitar, but made it sparkly blue this time.
Interestingly, I find that coloring book pages work quite well for this technique because of their generally simple designs and bold lines. I've also downloaded images from the internet, or used the customer's party decorations as a template. You just have to be able to trace the design onto a sheet of wax paper (or regular paper). I usually use pencil and then go over it with clear piping gel. Then, I flip the paper over onto the cake and gently rub it to be certain that the piping gel sticks to the buttercream icing (or fondant, as the case may be). Next, I carefully remove the paper. Now, I'm able to re-trace the outline of the image with colored piping gel or icing and begin filling in the design with stars, just like I would have done if had used the shaped character pan.
... I made this cake for a fellow youth leader's daughter. I still have this pan, though, and I love the plastic Barbie face and bodice that you have to decorate into the cake. I love it because I don't have to worry about making the face look just like Barbie, and wonder if the little girl will recognize who it's supposed to be.
... for another fellow youth leader's daughter. How funny! This was early on in my cake decorating career, before I got really lazy. So yes, I did make all of those roses myself!
... for my cousin's Sweet 16. The top tier was half of the 3-D ball cake pan. I was only slightly lazy at this point - still made the rose myself, but only made one!
... for my Dad's 50th birthday. We had a 50's theme party, so I made this jukebox cake out of an "over the hill" tombstone pan! 
... for my grandmother's 75th celebration. I just loved the color combination on this one.
... for my sister's first baby shower in 1998. It's supposed to look like a mobile, with the letters of her baby's name "C-L-A-Y" dangling from the top tier. Adorable. The top tier was a "dummy" made of styrofoam, because I didn't need that much cake, and I was afraid actual cake wouldn't hold up those sticks.
... for my aunt's co-worker (years ago). I love making the keepsake booties from marshmallows and royal icing. My Aunt Cyndi used to make them for many of her baby shower cakes too. They dry and harden, and they can be kept forever.
...for my other sister's first baby shower in 2000. It was supposed to look like a quilt, but the colors came out much brighter than I had anticipated. I made the little figures on top from candy melts because I hadn't discovered fondant yet.
