Blog: Trending Over Last Week

Hello! It's time once again to reveal this week's finalists in our Christmas Countdown Challenge. Reminder: This is no inconsequential contest - $700 in prizes are at stake! Thank you again to our sponsors Designer Stencils, Fancy Flours,...

Hello, everyone! As you may have noticed, this week's Saturday Spotlight is appearing a touch ahead of schedule, because like many Americans, I'm jumping on a plane tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family! (Can't wait!) So . . . it is in the...

'Tis the season for cookie contests! In addition to the Cookie Connection Christmas Countdown Challenge which opens on November 25, Melania Gasión and her editorial team at the lovely Sweet Magazine have just announced another...

So sorry for the delay in posting this week's featured cookies*, but as you may or may not know, last week I was visiting Naples (Florida and Italy), where I enjoyed attractions as incongruous as alligators in the Everglades and flour mills in ancient...

It's that ambiguous time of year when half the leaves are on the trees and half are off . . , when sometimes a jacket isn't enough and other times I can't shed my jacket fast enough . . . when the Halloween candy hasn't been gobbled yet, but in the...

Just two or three weeks ago, I was worried that I might have sprung fall cookies on you too soon. But now I'm wondering if I didn't start early enough! Given the abundant crop of autumn-inspired cookies posted to Cookie Connection in recent weeks, I...

You've probably noticed that most of our Cookier Close-ups have focused on how people got started in cookies and the business of cookie decorating. (And that's because they have!) This is all well and good, perhaps, but I’ve decided to...

Just like last week, I'm loving the eclecticism (and immense skill) displayed in this week's hottest cookies. So much so that I'm honoring those in the big, broad hot list again - as opposed to choosing any special cookie subset. (Though heads up: I...

Cookie Connection has quickly grown into a large and incredibly diverse international community (woo hoo!), and this week's Top 10 cookies truly underscore this point with their wide-ranging styles, techniques, and design perspectives.   The...

Woo hoo! I'm thrilled to announce that Karen Anderson has joined Cookie Connection as a regular featured blogger, with her very own blog category called, "How DID You Do That?" Every few weeks or so, she'll be featuring compelling cookie work...

Picture this: Sunlight sneaking past the umbrella over my head, a gentle breeze tempering those rays, a glass-like expanse of water stretching out before me, and a cup of morning (iced) coffee in hand . . . yippee, it's the first weekend of summer -...

Hi, new and veteran members alike!   This post is an important PSA (public service announcement). PLEASE READ IT! I've been seeing a ton of fabulous photos on the site (amazing and inspired work, indeed)! Thank you all for sharing.   But I'm...

As I alerted you earlier this week, I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with judge and Gold Sponsor Beatriz Muller (aka Cakes by Beatriz/Gingerneers) for a chat about the judging process behind the 2024 Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™...

Hi, cookie and cake artists EVERYWHERE! Today, I’m thrilled to be joined by Mark Smith of the highly regarded Custom Cookie Cutters in Australia. We’re here to give all of you newcomers to my cookie art competition a...

It’s Friday, and I just arrived at SoFlo Cake & Candy Expo where I’ll be presenting at the American Cake Awards on Saturday night. The place is abuzz with...

I am slowly (but surely!) planting my outdoor flower containers. As much as I love the creative process of designing the arrangements, I have to admit, it can be...

So if you missed today's live competition Q&A with me and competition judge/Gold Sponsor Laura Saporiti, no worries! Here you'll find the replay video...

Before we get started, I need to get something out of the way...I can't believe it's the end of January! I have absolutely no idea how...

At long last, we’re catching up in depth with our wonderful July 2023 site artist Lori Todhunter, aka Cookies on Cambridge. (Aside: I always love finding out the real names behind cookies names, don’t you?! They seem so much more personal to me.) As we learned in...

One of the many amazing aspects of Cookie-A-Thon, organized by the wonderful Nancy Westfall, is that sponsors like me get free All-Access Passes to give away. Remember, Cookie-A-Thon (a four-day spree of online cookie decorating classes from November 2 to November 5) is normally free. However, if you want..

At the end of last week's Spotlight, contributor Lisa Foss mentioned feeling a heightened sense of urgency to get cracking on Halloween cookies after seeing the plethora of pumpkins in her local markets. At the time, I was feeling pretty chill about my Halloween decorating so...

In 2018, I bought a pack of 100 sheets of wafer paper to make a teeny tiny greeting card for a Mother’s Day cookie. Since then, I’ve used wafer paper in one other project to make a couple of small oak leaves. Between the two projects, I’ve...

I am so thrilled with the cookies that have been trending on Cookie Connection this week. We have all sorts of celebrations. We also have color, texture, and dimension. Though this may be my personal interpretation, we also have...

Hi, everyone! I'm back from a most delightful trip to Morocco where I saw cookie inspiration absolutely everywhere, but particularly in the...

My husband and I have birthdays just three days apart. While we would be content to share the occasion, my children have always insisted that we...

"Summer! Summer! Summer!" Such was the rallying cry of a recent house guest as he jumped in the pool. Buck naked. To give context...

After a week at my seaside home-away-from-home in Maine (see idyllic scenes of the Penobscot Bay in the post), I had one logical choice for this week's cover image - and that is...

It's hard to believe that we've already conducted three of our new Watch-Learn-Create Challenges. Thanks again to Manu for spearheading this effort and to our esteemed guests Laura Saporiti and Evelindecora who made master class-level videos (each 1 to 2 hours long) to kick off each challenge. I personally...

Spring is definitely in high gear in my neighborhood. The signs are everywhere. It's not just the Easter decorations or the blossoming trees. It's also...

Yes, I’m finally back with another Cookier Close-up, and I’m especially excited about this one with our January 2023 site artist, Katuscya Marchioro, owner of Gina's Cake and Icing Cookies. I know Katuscya only through the brief bio in her recent forum intro and her signature cute-as-can-be doll cookies that she is known for posting to this site. So it’s always a...

One of my sisters and I decided to attempt a new baking project each month. The goal is to try a new technique, flavor profile, cooking method, or some combination of the previously mentioned. This month, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, we're going for...

Questions about competing in my namesake Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™?! Great - ‘cause I’ve got answers! Join me live on my Facebook page on Friday, February 17 (12 pm CT) to air all of your lingering competition questions...

As the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Such has been my judging team-mantra for the last couple of years. In fact, the team of judges for Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™ has been such a well-oiled machine that the last thing I wanted to do this year was to...

As you probably know, Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™ returns to its usual in-person format at That Takes the Cake Show (TTTC) in Round Rock, Texas on March 31, 2023. I am super excited to finally see sponsors and competitors in the flesh! If you read this sponsor shout-out from me last year, what follows will feel a lot like...

Boo! I'm back with a spooktacular Halloween-and-fall-centric Spotlight, with a few nods to Thanksgiving and other occasions tossed in! If you're looking for last-minute Halloween cookie inspiration, this post is...

This is the story of a cookie tutorial that was meant to be a 3-D pumpkin cookie project but ended up becoming a dimensional cookie composition that resembles a pumpkin. Three years ago I shared a tutorial featuring royal icing place cards. They were royal icing plaque transfers decorated with three different kinds of...

Hi, competitors! As you know, we’re entering the last week of entry prep for Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™ (how exciting!), so I wanted to leave you with a few reminders to ensure that the entry process goes smoothly for you...

It's that nebulous cookie season between summer and autumn when we don't know quite which cookies we should be making! Doubt me? Read on to see this week's hot list, where the cookies range from summery sea scenes to babies bundled in fall swaddling clothes, with every theme in between...

Hi, all! I'm still in Maine on vacation, tending to some stonework that's being done for me, and also working on digital design boards to help visualize renovated rooms in need of furnishings. In between all of this designing, I took a...

If you've been following this year's cookie art competition, I'm sure you know about the prizes by now. I mean, they're so big (collectively, $19,000 and growing) that they're pretty darn hard to miss! This figure has surpassed last year's number by $5,000 already! Wow! That being said...

Hi, everyone and, in particular, my wonderful Stencil of the Month Club members and stencil customers over time. In case you missed my big announcement in my March 2022 stencil release post, I wanted to repeat it here in plainer view so everyone sees it. So, without further ado, here it is . . .

Hi, everyone! I'm back with a brief update on our new challenges. As you may have read in last month's announcement, the challenges will be taking on a new form under the leadership of @Manu. (Congrats again, Manu!) The changes to the challenges were...

Spring continues springing up here on Cookie Connection! After a robust list of springtime and Easter cookies in last week's Spotlight, you all have outdone yourselves again. This week's hot list presents...

Hi! I’m back with a great interview with our resident fondant queen and December 2021 site artist Lorena Rodríguez! You are going to love it because we are going to really dive deep into her fondant kit business...

Whether for a belated Valentine's Day celebration or any other day of the year, my February 2022 Dynamic Duos™ release is the perfect way to tell your loved one (or secret crush) that you care! With charming clover and bee background designs and messages such as...

It’s so exciting for me to see this new series of 3-D cookie courses from Japan Salonaise Association (aka JSA) unfold! As you may remember from one of my recent posts, I’ve had the...

Hi, cookie competitors and sponsors! As you may have already heard, the That Takes the Cake (TTTC) Show in Austin, where my competition was slated to be hosted on February 26-27, canceled yesterday amidst growing concerns about the Omicron variant, people's safety, and diminished attendance at the physical show. While this announcement is extremely disappointing to me, you, and so many others...