Yankee Girl Yummies here.
I’m thrilled to say that I’m your guest host for this month’s challenge! Yes, it’s true. I promised Rebecca that I would put together an awesome challenge and everyone would "bring it" with their entries. (You guys can do that, right??) I even have a seriously fantastic prize for this month’s winner. So, wanna hear about this challenge??
Your challenge this month is all about TEXTURE.
But it’s not going to be quite that simple. I want you to pull your texture inspiration from this Pinterest board that I’ve put together. This board is made up of photos that I took while traveling in Costa Rica. All of these pictures have one thing in common - texture!
Now according to my dictionary, the definition of texture is "the visual and tactile quality of a surface". Hmmm. What does that mean? It means that I want to know what it feels like to touch your cookies, just by looking at them. I want to see smooth, bumpy, thick, fuzzy, sandy, bristly, wooly . . . Well, you get the idea.
Need an example?
Now, you may have seen this cookie already, but it’s a great example of texture in action on a cookie. I used royal icing and luster dust to recreate the surface of a tree. I wanted it to truly look like bark. For the moss, I used different shades of sanding sugar. And – I hope – that you can imagine what this cookie feels like!
So, now that I’ve made the challenge as clear as mud . . . You like that? Just a little phrase that I’ve picked up here in the south. Been waiting for the perfect moment to use it! 
Anyway, back to the mud.
What I want to see:
- COOKIES – can be just one or a set. They should be new cookies (ones done by you for the first time) that draw inspiration from the Pinterest inspiration board.
- ANY theme.
- ANY color.
- MUST use at least TWO different textures that you’ve pulled from the Pinterest board. To help everyone understand your inspiration, please indicate in the photo caption or first comment under your photo which photos were your inspiration.
Prize:
For this month’s prize, I’m thrilled to announce that Melanie of Killer Zebras has donated four stencils from her new Etsy shop! Love, love, love. And I can't wait to get my hands on some!
To enter:
- Post a picture of your set (or cookie) under the Practice Bakes Perfect clip set. Make sure that you get it posted before October 5, 2014 at 5 pm CST.
- Because the challenges are ongoing, please label your photo “Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #5” in the photo caption. Use the title field to give your cookie set a unique and catchy name. Just because it’s fun.
- Don’t forget to tag your photo and put it in clip sets! It should be tagged “Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #5” as well; plus, you should include any other relevant tags and clip sets that describe your photo.
- Post only one photo of your cookies. Pick the best one and go with it. Otherwise, we’ll be forced to pick one for you!
- You can enter more than once!! More entries, more chances to win the prize. But please make each entry a new idea/cookie.
After the challenge closes on October 5, the Cookie Connection contributors will scour through all the entries. Ooohing and aahhing, we’ll pick our favorites, and they will be showcased in the Saturday Spotlight the following weekend. And, of course, we will have a winner! As always, the prize winner is chosen at random.
I cannot wait to see what you guys come up with! If you need help, please comment here or email me.
And thanks to Rebecca for trusting me with her challenge this month. Let’s make her proud!!
~ Yankee Girl Yummies
Kari Arroyo started decorating cookies in 2011 after deciding to take a break from nursing, and learned the ways of royal icing by reading tutorials and LOTS of trial and error. When she’s not decorating cookies, you can find her chasing after two busy boys! Check her out on Facebook or her site, and email her your cookie questions at yankeegirlyummies@gmail.com.
Photo credit: Kari Arroyo
Note: Practice Bakes Perfect is a monthly Cookie Connection blog feature written by Rebecca Weld that poses inspiration or challenges to get you to stretch as a cookie artist - for practice, for prizes, and for fun! This month, Kari Arroyo, author of Dear Yankee Girl, graciously stands in as host. Practice Bakes Perfect content expresses the views of the author and not necessarily those of this site, its owners, its administrators, or its employees. Catch up on all of Rebecca's past Cookie Connection posts here.
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