Hi, folks! Thanks for allowing me a brief respite from the Spotlight last week. I am back, well rested, and super eager to share the beauties that topped our hot list* this week!
We've got wider-ranging subject matter than usual, which I'm attributing to the fact that we're straddling summer and fall (in the northern hemisphere, anyway) and our next big holiday is still a couple of months away. With so much seasonal ambiguity, it's hard to know where to take our cookie designs, I guess! 
This week, succulents, back-to-school bookworms, a shark-infested set, some sophisticated ladies, a Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #24 entry, and even some Christmas cookies were all fair game! But despite their divergent directions, all are worthy of admiration and extra close inspection. Many have unique techniques and tiny, but impressive details, and others are supplemented with helpful tips in their comments.
So without further ado, let's give a big round of applause to this week's honorees . . .
#1: Baby Shower by judy the bakerist
#2: Sharky 5th Birthday by Cajun Home Sweets
#3: Sophisticated Ladies by The Vintage Cookie Jar
#4: Sophisticated Elegance by The Vintage Cookie Jar [EDITOR'S NOTE: Congrats on a second win of the week! Woo hoo!]
#5: Christmas Baking by littlesugar [EDITOR'S NOTE: It's never too early for a little Christmas sweetness. Special congrats to littlesugar for what I believe is her first appearance in our Spotlight!]
#6: Fencing, Manatee Family, and Purple Dragon by swissophie [EDITOR'S NOTE: Another stunning Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #24 entry by swissophie, who was also spotlighted two weeks ago for her earlier entry! BTW, all, our challenge is open until September 9, so there's still time to enter for a chance to win a surprise prize from yours truly. More challenge details can be found here.]
#7: Back-to-School Vegan Icing and Cookies by Alison Friedli
#8: Succulent Garden by Valeria Bottino [EDITOR'S NOTE: A special shout-out to Valeria who is also joining our Spotlight ranks for the first time this week - and with an incredible 3-D creation, no less!]
#9: For a Little Princess by E. Kiszowara MOJE PIERNIKI
#10: Dragonfly by Ryoko ~Cookie Ave. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Ryoko, one of our Spotlight veterans, gets extra kudos not only for the innovative isomalt-SugarVeil technique on this dragonfly's wings, but also for taking the time to spell out exactly how she made them in the comments under her photo. Do check them out!]
And that's all for this week, everyone. Again, congrats to all of the above cookiers for the wonderful work they posted this week! For those in the US, enjoy your long Labor Day weekend!
P.S. If I failed to acknowledge any other first-time honorees, my sincerest apologies. I see so many gorgeous cookies each day, and each week, that it's tough to keep track of whose cookies have graced this page.
So that no one has an unfair advantage in making it onto a hot list, the algorithm is secret even to site administrators. Only our platform developers know the code, which has been exhaustively tested by those developers and Cookie Connection staff.
All photos shown here are the courtesy (and copyright) of the designers listed.
To check out our other hot lists, at any time of day, visit our Hot Spot, also found in the site's main navigation line.
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