Practice makes Perfect.....Right?

So, I'm practicing making cupcakes and frosting them for my son's wedding. The colors are purple, black and white....the bride and groom wants both white and chocolate cupcakes with a buttercream frosting. Each month on our Playday (my husband and I host Playday with our best friends as well as our son and his fiance)...for Playday, I'm creating cupcakes to taste test for the wedding. Each month I'm making a different flavor of cupcake and a different flavor of frosting. Did I tell you....I'm teaching myself to frost cupcakes, using different designs. Well, I can definitely see improvement each month.....it's not like all I'm doing is trying different techniques every night (I'm not a pro....yet, LOL)....I'm only working on them one night a month, however, I do plan on working on roses this week....I'm really excited to be working on these! Cross your fingers! I will post pics!
So, here is my first ever frosting of cupcakes:

I just pulled out tips and played. I tried a bit of everything. I suppose I should buy or look up some frosting techniques to help me out but I don't usually work that way...I usually just jump in head first and this is no exception! My first try! 

So, the next month I made Sparkling Cider cupcakes with Sparkling Cider frosting. The cupcakes were a hit, the frosting wasn't (it was good, just not too die for good)! But, they looked pretty! LOL Sticking with the purple, I tried my hand at flowers (the roses were pre-made, can't take credit for them). I posted in an earlier post the design choice from this session of cupcake making. I just want to show you my second attempt....here it is: 

I had a great time with the flowers, can't wait to practice more. I'm sure everyone is going to be tired of cupcakes by year end, but hey, I'm having fun! I don't want to make this post too long, don't want to bore anyone so I will post my third try another time. The third attempt was for Valentine's Day.....guess what: they are not purple! LOL