My apologies, it's now been more than few weeks since the results of my 2020 cookie art competition at That Takes the Cake Show were announced! But, promptly on the heels of that show came CookieCon and then...
Continuing in my tradition of years past, I am about to share, all in one place, ALL of the CookieCon 2020 Sugar Show winners! How fab is that?! First, a huge thanks to Karen and Mike Summers, CookieCon founders and organizers extraordinaire, for helping to make this post happen. Each year, like clockwork, while they're still reeling in the aftermath of the show, they...
I know, I know! It's not even Christmas yet, and I'm already tempting you with Valentine's Day stencils. What can I say?! That's just the way things go here in cookie-stencil land! I always strive to...
What could be more basic than water? On one level, water is so essential that no life would exist without it. And yet, on the other hand, few things are as complex as water. It can be...
Despite my love of Halloween cookies, I absolutely hate horror movies. Jump scares send me flying. Zombies give me nightmares. The screaming, the dark, the blood . . . no, thank you. This is all just to say that I can be...
Evidently, both Manu and I have had beach cabanas on the brain! While her recent cabana cookies were inspired by modern neon-colored huts in a beachfront area of Dubai, mine take after the small time-worn boathouses and lobstering shacks that...
Okay, why is it that fathers are so darn hard to cookie for? Theories, anyone?! All I know is that I usually experience major creative block whenever I start to think about Father's Day cookies, and I suspect I'm not the only one...
Oooh, so exciting! My all-time fave cookie holiday is nearly here, so there's no time like the present to celebrate our top-trending Valentine's Day cookies with another valentine-themed Spotlight...
With one of the year's biggest cookie holidays barely behind us, it's already time to get the creative juices flowing for the next big one - Valentine's Day! Phew! The work of the cookier is never done...
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday and is ready to jump right back into cookies! I took a few days off from decorating cookies myself to...
Ooh, what a perfectly divine confluence of events! Here I am in the midst of one of my favorite cookie seasons of the year, writing about my other favorite cookie time - Valentine's Day! Yes, this month, I'm releasing...
Ooh, I just love this time of year on the site, don't you? I mean, who needs visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads when there are so many glorious Christmas cookies dancing across our screens?! Tonight, I'm featuring this week's top ten cookies, but it should come as no surprise that...
Greetings, world travelers! I hope that all of you have been having wonderful summers. Maybe some of you have even had the chance to travel and see with your own eyes a new and exciting part of the world...
My April stencil release is here, and, as I promised last month, it takes the cake! But don't get me wrong . . . I don't mean this in any self-congratulatory kind of way - I mean this quite literally...
As so many of you know, @Ryoko ~Cookie Ave., aka Ryoko Hayashi, has been a longstanding member of Cookie Connection, a fearless and faithful contributor to our Practice Bakes Perfect challenges, and an artist who consistently delights us with her cookie "storytelling" abilities...
Hi, everyone! Here are my newest stencils, freshly arriving on my partner Confection Couture Stencils' site today! And, as an extra bonus, it looks like spring may also be coming with them - it's almost 60°F here in St. Louis today...
Woo hoo! I'm thrilled to announce that Manu and Laegwen are the latest recipients of our Milestone Award. As a reminder, our Milestone Award is given to...
From time to time, I like to provide Cookie Connection members with more thorough introductions to our site contributors – after all, they give so generously of their talents here, it’s the very least I can do! And – surprise – now is one of those times...
Since 2012, I've had the distinct pleasure of participating in the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show (OSSAS), founded by cake artist extraordinaire and TV personality Kerry Vincent. Whether demoing, judging, sponsoring, or just perusing the edible artwork there, I always walk away from the show feeling excited...
Yay, I can safely say we've left summer and launched the best time of year! There's now a distinct crispness to the morning air; fading flowers are being replaced with glimpses of fiery colors on neighboring trees; and I'm already planning my annual family Thanksgiving gathering up in Maine...
I remember many years ago when my kids were “cute”. We’d walk to school on the first day holding hands, their sweet little cherub faces glowing with the anticipation of a new school year. Now in high school...
It seems we've officially entered that in-between time of year, when spring is turning into summer in some parts of the world, and Mother's Day will soon come and go, leaving no big holiday looming imminently on the horizon...
I don’t know about you, but Mother’s Day is one of my favorite days of the year. Because my mom is just the best, honestly! I love giving her a treat on any day of the year (and I certainly do so), but on that special day, I love giving even more...
Yes, it's mid-March (my, how time flies!) and once again the occasion for the grand reveal of my latest Prettier Plaques stencils. If you haven't yet heard about my new line, introduced at the end of 2016 and designed in partnership with Stencil Ease, you can read all about it here...
I have a cookier confession to make . . . I own not a single food mold. Not a one. And so, it should come as a surprise to no one, that I have also never made a molded cookie...
Have you got a Dad who never expresses a desire for any kind of gift - kind of like the Dad portrayed in one of this week's featured sets? My Dad was that way - selfless, super generous with his kids, never needing or wanting anything from us except our love...
As you may have read in Monday's forum post, the site was down for a short period on Wednesday to allow for a software upgrade, which Hoop.la (my site host) has aptly called "The Proximity Search Release". (You'll see why this is apt in a sec.)
Well, you clearly decorated your hearts out - literally and figuratively - this week! We've had an impressive influx of heart cookies since our last Saturday Spotlight, all in anticipation of Saint Valentine's Day.
You probably know her from her wonderfully detailed puzzle cookies, or her Blythe girls with their mesmerizing eyes . . . or her meticulously painted matryoshka dolls . . . or her interesting use of perspective...
It's about that time, folks, and so naturally we've been inundated with sp-ookies this past week. (BTW, "sp-ookies" is short for spooky cookies, a term conjured up after imbibing too much witches' brew when writing this post. ) While...
Once you decide you want to start selling your cookies, you'll need to start putting a dollar value on them. For many of us, this is the hardest part of being in business. Because we put our hearts and souls into our creations, we sometimes...
Ho, ho, ho! I know many of you are wearing shorts, swimsuits, and sunnies, but here in the Practice Bakes Perfect kitchen, it is Christmastime! Well . . . sort of. You see, for this latest challenge, you will be asked to repurpose your...
Practice Bake Perfect Challenge #10 is officially one for the books. I could not have been more impressed with the depth and overall quality of the entries we received. It is no small feat of planning and execution to produce a dozen...
Since we're headed into a transitional cookie period with the next big cookie holidays (Cinco de Mayo and Mother's Day) not for another month, it seemed like the right time to mix things up with a "Best of Category" Spotlight. Plus, I imagine most of...
As moderator of Cookie Connection , I have the unique vantage point of seeing every cookie photo that hits the site - and that's a lot! Most of the time, it's the season that dictates the dominant cookie subject matter . . . like right now, we've got...
Spring has not yet sprung (at least not where I live), but hopefully it's just around the corner! In anticipation of the arrival of spring, I decided to make a cookie wreath. Now, I've done my fair share of bird-related cookies, but when...
Recently I've been experimenting with my old edible food pens. Many times I need a very fine writer, but I have not come across anything readily available, very fine, and, well, cheap. This solution works very well for me using Wilton FoodWriters and...
Hello, everyone! I've got some good news, and some other news for you today! Other news first: After much reflection, I've decided that these Practice Bakes Perfect challenges are too much of a time commitment for me at...
So back when I gave the Cookie Connection contributors' team the impossible task of selecting the winners in the 2014 Cookiers' Choice Awards , I also gave them the equally impossible exercise of choosing their two favorite cookie photos posted to...
If there’s ever a triple-threat (or quadruple- or quintuple-threat) in the cookie world, it’s Ginny McCormick-Levack, owner of Creative Cookier and subject of this month’s Close-up . She does it all – she decorates,...
I got hooked on the work of Lorena Marin of Au Claire de la Lune when she posted this clip for a Cookie Connection contest well over a year ago. My first impression of that entry was that it seemed to tell a little story. Further...
It's been a while (May, to be exact) since this itinerant cookie decorator hit the streets. But last week I satisfied my growing cookie wanderlust by trekking to São Paulo, Brazil and back for the 1º Encontro de Designers de...
Every time I do one of these challenges I'm not quite sure what to expect. For this one , I just didn't know if people would be interested in taking the time to mix the colors, but I am so glad that so many of you did! What a splendid array of topics...
Little bees everywhere! Pipe them onto almost any cookie, and people will exclaim over them! (Probably to ask why you've piped a bee on top of Olaf's face, but still . . .) In my last tutorial (Part 1), I showed you how to...
Rarely does a cookier make a mark on the cookie kingdom with one set. But when this month’s featured cookier, Stephanie Kappel of The Hungry Hippopotamus , appeared on the scene in 2011 with her Lichtenstein pop art cookies (two photos below),...
At a loss for clever St. Paddy's Day designs? Got angst about coming up empty-handed at next weekend's big céilidh (psst . . . that's pronounced kaylee)? Worry no more - the cookies celebrated in this post could very well be your lucky charm!...
They say “necessity is the mother of invention,” and nothing could better describe the life events of our next Cookier Close-up featured guest - Georganne Bell, creator of the popular blog LilaLoa and CookieCon 2014 presenter. ...
The diary of my Barcelona trip continues . . . Day 3 (February 5), 8:00 am. iPhone alarm sounds off. I reset it for 8:30 am, roll back into bed, and promptly fall back to sleep. Day 3 (February 5), 8:30 am. iPhone alarm...
WARNING: What you are about to read (a daily - or thereabouts - travelogue documenting my cookie teaching trip to Spain and Portugal) may be TMI for many of you. But for those contemplating similar trips, I hope it will serve as a healthy dose of...
And just when you thought all the fun and games were over (I'm referring to our recent Christmas Countdown Challenge), we've got another opportunity to win for you! Yes, you, our Cookie Connection members and cookie-loving public, will be...
