Day 1 at CookieCon - and what a full day! I started out this morning in Oakland (California) and then flew to Salt Lake City. The trip was not without incident, as I had left one small box at home - a key component of one of my Sugar Show entries! Thanks to the assistance of a nearby friend, that box is being overnighted to me at our hotel - WHEW! [EDITOR'S NOTE: What's with you correspondents all leaving your cookies behind?! 
To those not in the know, Jennifer had a similar incident just yesterday.]
I arrived and got checked in just in time to get to the afternoon session of the design seminar conducted by Rebecca Weld (The Cookie Architect), Kari Arroyo (Yankee Girl Yummies), and Melissa Lacasse (Melissa Joy Cookies), aka Team Cookie. It was so much fun to meet people like Dany Lind, who I know "virtually", like so many others in the community. I felt like I should've brought along an autograph book!
The theme of the seminar was cookie design: how to find inspiration, organize it, collaborate with others, and move through to execution. To illustrate the process, the three instructors worked together to build an inspiration board on Pinterest, and eventually narrowed down their varied ideas to one central theme. They then showed us how they arrived at their own interpretations of that theme, and what they produced. While they are all different in style, you can see the features that are central and common - the color palette and the floral and "little girl" design elements, as well as the basic "be my flower girl" theme.
Rebecca's matryoshka dolls:
Two different interpretations from Kari:
And Melissa's puzzle cookie set:
The class then worked on a collective inspiration board of its own, finding various suitably themed ideas (for a possible SECRET project!).
It was all great fun and very informative. Tomorrow will be the second part of the seminar, where we'll do some hands-on decorating based on a theme that the instructors have devised.
From left to right: Kari, Rebecca, Melissa, and me!
The day ended with a gaggle of cookie friends who headed out to the nearby Blue Iguana for dinner. Another opportunity to connect and have a lot of fun together. Fantastic Day 1!
Barb Florin, aka BAKRGAL, has been interested in both baking and art since she can remember. Barb studied art in college, later graduated from pastry school in San Francisco, and, between jobs in corporate America, dabbled in her own baking business. However, it was only within the last few years that she became involved with decorated cookies. In addition to finally finding a way to combine her art and baking interests in one medium, she's met so many members of the cookie community who share a philosophy of creativity, inspiration, and generosity. In Barb's words: "It’s really a fun and fulfilling thing to be a part of!" While at CookieCon: Barb will be doing a "Day in the Life of Barb" series of blog posts that track her CookieCon fun, starting with the highlights of her pre-CookieCon course with Team Cookie and culminating with a recap of the Sugar Show.
Photo credit: Barb Florin
Note: This article expresses the views of the author, and not necessarily those of this site, its owners, its administrators, or its employees. To read more CookieCon 2015 updates from our special Cookie Connection Correspondents Team, click here, and for CookieCon event photos, click here.
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