My first daffodils are up here in Missouri – a telltale sign that I not only need to rake up the residual fall leaves 😊, but I also need to get cranking on prep for the onslaught of spring events that starts at the end of March and continues without break through mid-May. Today I took these cheery harbingers of spring seriously and finally buckled down and recorded my session for Cookie-A-Thon. (See an outtake below.) As a reminder, Cookie-A-Thon is the largest free online cookie decorating event in the world, starting this year on March 30 and running through April 2. If you don’t think you can make it live, you can also purchase an All-Access Pass (here, via my affiliate link), which will allow you to view all of the recordings (over 50!) for up to a year. My session is short, but packed with lots of info about how to hone your airbrushing skills. Anywho, as you can tell, I am pretty excited about the event, and encourage you to check it out.
And how have you been spending your early days of spring? It's pretty clear from this week's hot list* that one of two things have happened: the warmer weather and emerging greenery have either (1) spurred your creativity or (2) lured you away from the kitchen and into the outdoors. We have about an equal mix of brand-new cookies and older (previously posted) cookies, which leads me to believe some of you are playing hooky from cookies! 
No worries, though, as it's always fun to remind ourselves of work on the site that preceded ours!
Special congrats this week to @Elena Di Giacopo and @Maricom, both of whom are making first-time appearances in a Spotlight (if I am not mistaken), and to @coco.icingcookie, whose lovely instrument cookies are listed here for the second week in a row.
Now, let's see who else is trending high, shall we?!
#1: Painting and Having Fun with Evelin by Elena Di Giacopo [EDITOR'S NOTE: Elena made this delightful painted cookie in a private class given by Cookie Connection member @Evelindecora.]
#2: Flowery Easter by Heather Bruce Sosa [EDITOR'S NOTE: This cookie is a lovely, early entry in our Watch-Learn-Create Challenge #53 guided by @Laura Saporiti. There's still plenty of time to enter - and to possibly win a class with Laura - so give it a shot! There's nothing to lose; just tons to learn!]
#3: Hyakunin-Isshu Cookies by Maricom
#4: St. Patrick’s Day with My Gnomies by Cajun Home Sweets [EDITOR'S NOTE: What a cute and timely cover set! Congrats, @Cajun Home Sweets!]
#5: Orchestra Cookies by coco.icingcookie
And, now we begin with cookies posted quite a while ago but which are seeing a sudden resurgence in interest . . .
#6: Fun with Lace by Manu
#7: Wedding Countdown by The Cookie Fantasy
#8: Macaron Cookies by Evelindecora
#9: A Little Afternoon Tea? by kns93
#10: Plaque Designs for a First Birthday by Little-Fancies
And that's a wrap! As a reminder, next week your Spotlight will be delivered by the incomparable @LisaF (aka Lisa Foss), who has volunteered to help me with their writing (a huge relief, especially during super-busy spring event season)! TIA, Lisa! And keep the new cookies coming, everyone!
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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