I am a married empty-nester, with a grown up son (33 y.o.) and daughter (28 y.o.), and two beautiful granddaughters (4 and 1).

As a child, if I wasn't outside playing in the So. California sunshine and dirt, and exploring nature and the world of bugs and growing things, I was either making doll furniture out of cardboard, cutting up pieces of felt to make doll clothes, or else sitting in a quiet spot in my room, drawing and painting pictures. In high school I discovered my love for drawing portraits. Falling in love in my early 20's, getting married, and becoming a mommy sidelined my art for about 15 years, as my children became my main focus.

Somehow I fell into a freelance window painting gig for local businesses, which tested my skills and made me think and work on a bigger scale than I had to with any of my former artistic endeavors. Slowly, the inner artist in me began to reawaken and evolve. In the last 10 years, I have rediscovered my portrait art and mural art. And now, baking and sugar art. 

When my daughter asked me to create cupcakes for her May 2010 wedding, I spent 6 months researching the sugar medium, since I had never done anything like that on such a large scale. When the cupcakes and cake were a HUGE hit, and I had had so much fun with the whole process, I started up a small one-woman cupcake business from my home, It never made me any money to speak of, but it built up my confidence in my baking and decorating skills, and awakened an artistic passion I did not previously realize was there. Cookieing went along with that business, since many of my customers also wanted decorated theme cookies for their events. Now the business is closed, but I still do baking for a small number of former customers who will settle for nothing less than my sweets.

Cookieing has taken me over in the last 6 months. Thanks to sites like YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest, and to the extremely generous and giving cookie community out there, I am learning more and more about sugar as a medium for creativity and yummyness. Now, if I could only make some money at it. :-)

Due to circumstances in my life for the last 18 months, dreaming up new cookies to create for friends and family has practically been my sanity saver. It's been a wonderful outlet for my hyperactive creative juices, and has given me something to focus on that is fun, beautiful, makes people smile, creates a feeling in me of contributing something memorable, and delicious. 

I live in the Tacoma, WA, area, where for some inexplicable reason there is pretty much an absence of local cookie resources, events, or classes (other than the generic offerings of Joann or Michael's). I am looking forward to seeing where this site leads my creative passions, and also connects me with the good people of the cookie world. :-)