Today I spent the morning decorating my mystery shape, learning from others, and talking to vendors. I will not bore you with my cookie. The problem with trying something different is that sometimes you bomb, which is what happened this time, and sometimes you don't. I tried to make SugarVeil® hair, which was a flop. Oh well!
But the good news is: I followed that flop by spending a lot of time working on my SugarVeil® skills during the open decorating session. I think I now have a better understanding of how to tell when the lace is dry and ready to remove from the mat. Pictured below are Arty McGoo (aka Liz Adams, left) and Michele Hester of SugarVeil® at the SugarVeil® Innovation Station. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Two of my favorite sweets people, looking sassy with their red rims! 
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I also heard about a new clip that attaches to pico projectors to hold them securely, which is evidently easier to work with than screwing down the projector on the bottom. It is on Amazon, and I will check it out. I worked with Renshaw fondant, and it was too soft for me, which might have been because of either my hands or the room being too warm.
I had a wonderful talk with Autumn Carpenter, an amazing woman who has achieved a great deal in business. She is only in her early 40s and she owns two successful businesses, Country Kitchen SweetArt and Summit Baking Supplies. The former has been owned and operated by her family since 1964. I enjoyed meeting Sweet Sugarbelle, aka Callye Alvarado, pictured below (right) with my friend Nancy.
Mr. John (Arty McGoo's husband) and I discussed their company (McGoo U), and he gave me a namesake McGoo U t-shirt. Georganne Bell, aka LilaLoa, gave a session on how to photograph cookies. My favorite tip was putting parchment paper over any surface. It will make an interesting background for almost any cookie picture. Below is a picture of Georganne and the students in her class.
Patrice Romzick of Springerle Joy looked exhausted (but joyful!) from the lesson she taught.
And while R&M International packed up, they graciously sold me cookie cutters at a discount.
I tried to ask students about what they learned and their greatest aha moments, but everyone was too tired to talk. I'm hoping that, at the banquet tonight, everyone will get a second wind, and I can share more from the students.
I won't blog about the banquet tonight. It will be late, and I have to get up early for the 10-hour drive home. Instead, I will try to do a retrospective when I get home.
Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed my blogs. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Thank YOU for writing your blogs, and have a safe trip home. In the meantime, we will all eagerly await your retrospective post!]
Kate Sullivan, aka Econlady, is a retired economist who started cookie decorating over a decade ago when her seven-year-old daughter wanted to take a cookie decorating class. While her daughter lost interest, Kate continued to explore cookie decorating, always looking for new ideas and techniques. Kate’s cookies have been featured on a trading card at CookieCon 2015 (pictured left) and also in Cookie Connection’s Practice Bake Perfect Challenge #14. A year ago, Kate took over as Newsletter Editor of the National Cookie Cutter Collectors Club, where her decorated cookies are showcased on the cover of each newsletter. Kate is a long-time veteran of CookieCon, having attended since the very beginning, so she is sure to bring us the up-to-the-minute CookieCon inside scoop.
Photo and cookie credit: Kate Sullivan
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