Today I'm going to talk about my two pre-CookieCon classes and the people I met along the way. This morning I took Arty McGoo's "Steampunk" class, and in the afternoon I attended Autumn Carpenter's "Modern Metallic Easter Egg Cookies" class. Both teachers are beautiful and engaging, and create classes where everyone has a wonderful time. Both encouraged students to see beauty in their mistakes. Also, both found great joy in seeing what students did with what they learned. As with the best laid plans in life, cookie decorating requires flexibility - to adapt to hide flaws and (hopefully) create something you never envisioned!
Liz Adams (aka Arty McGoo) demonstrated how to make some unimaginable cookies. Our cookies had gears, buckles, ruffles, and wings. The cookies were brown, pink, and gold. As always, I came out of Liz's class having experimented with new techniques. The students around me included a beginner (who was better than she realized), intermediate students who were gaining confidence (who were also better than they realized), a professional (who helped others), and our only man taking the class (who should be a professional). When I talked about their likes and dislikes in decorating, I learned that beginners struggle with royal icing, the intermediates with confidence, and the advanced with not enough time.
In the afternoon, Autumn showed us six ways to make Easter eggs. Autumn's goal was to teach us techniques (using cookie decorating tools) to make beautiful cookies with little effort. I learned about different types of metallics and out-of-the-box ways to use them. I know from experience that I will definitely use what l learned in Autumn's class in future cookie designs. Interestingly, I had met four out of the five people at my table through the National Cookie Cutter Club (whose newsletter I write). It was like being with old friends. In our group, we also had one professional who makes a living by selling decorated cookies. She had the steadiest hands and quickly took the designs to another level, while encouraging the others at the table. One woman in the group had taken classes from Autumn, Autumn's mother, and Autumn's grandmother! Everyone followed Autumn's lead, was helpful and happy, and loved their cookies.
Tommorrow I have a class with Chapix Cookies (aka Myri Sanchez) and then CookieCon begins. I'm excited to see my friends, the trading cards, and the opening remarks. The creativity is always invigorating too!
P.S. If you enjoyed the fun buttons at the top of this post, they are designed and made by Diane Mayer who was sharing them with students in Arty McGoo's class.
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
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 2017 updates from our special Cookie Connection Correspondents Team, click here, and for CookieCon event photos, click here.
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