Blog: Trending Over Last Week

Hello, everyone! As you may have heard, I have decided to take my cookie art competition fully virtual this year. When the That Takes the Cake show was canceled in February due to the pandemic, I knew my show had to go on, and...

Valentine's Day has got to be one of the greatest cookie holidays (if not THE greatest), so I suppose it should come as no surprise that there are still a lot of heart-shaped and love-themed cookies hitting this week's hot list. Our Spotlight also has...

I mean, honestly, what else could I feature on this eve before Valentine's Day but hearts, roses, and chocolate?! Nothing, right?! That being said, tonight's hot list showcases...

Well, from all appearances, you folks are still reveling in the magic of Christmas and perhaps approaching 2021 with a little hesitation? Could I possibly be right about that? Only two cookies...

It's almost that time to ring in the New Year, and I have the perfect celebratory drink for you! A dessert cocktail! Yes, these scrumptious delights by Artisan Craft Cocktails are...

Yeah, yeah, I know, it's not even Christmas yet, but here in cookie stencil-designing land, I'm already gearing up for the next best cookie holiday - Valentine's Day! Or wait - maybe Valentine's Day IS the...

Hello, everyone! I have bittersweet news for you. I'll cut to the chase...

Our homes have never been more important than in this unprecedented year. They've not only been the roofs over our heads, under which we routinely take shelter to eat and sleep; they've also been our workplaces, the schools for our kids, and the sanctuaries sought...

Woo hoo! I've got a first-of-its-kind cookie event to share with you, and, if you jump on the waitlist now, you'll be at the top of the list for VIP status and other special perks...

Seeing as it's the Fourth of July, I thought it only appropriate to feature the ten top-trending patriotic cookies on the site this week. Naturally, there's lots of red, white, and blue depicted in our...

If you've been a member of my Stencil of the Month Club or following my stencil journey for the last year or so, then you'll probably remember my Bridal Party Dynamic Duos™ release, which was designed specifically for brides and bridesmaids. Judging from its sales, you guys really liked it, making it a no-brainer to...

Ooh, this is an ultra exciting Spotlight , as (I think) we have five newcomers to our weekly hot list! Special congrats to...

Hi, all! As you hopefully know by now, Sugar Dot Cookies (Dotty Raleigh) is hosting a redux of her first very helpful "Cookiers Helping Cookiers" live chat. This time, it's occurring on Zoom, on May 30 (10 am central time, CT), so we'll all finally have the chance to see AND hear each other! I can't wait! You can...

Hi, I'm back after a weekend off from Spotlights. Thanks for your patience as I pushed through some other work deadlines last week. Shhh! I am developing a possible new...

I kid you not, it feels a little frivolous to be promoting stencils right now. But, on the other hand, if they're cheery and bring people joy, especially at this uncertain time, then perhaps it's just fine. The truth is...

Hi, all! I wanted to take a moment to specially thank our Gold Sponsors who stepped up to the highest of levels to support Julia M. Usher's Cookie Art Competition™ at That Takes the Cake Show in Austin, February 22-23, 2020...

Snowflakes are fascinating in their uniqueness. Though all snowflakes have the same structure, no two are alike. This interesting interplay between sameness and uniqueness is the basis for this tutorial. While I use only one cookie shape...

Deck the (Cookie Connection) halls with boughs of holly! Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la! 'Tis the season to be jolly! Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la! I just love-love-love-love all the...

"Hello, are you there? Are you ready to spread royal icing on me or spray me with airbrush coloring yet?" Wait . . . what are you thinking? No, don’t be ridiculous, that's not me talking! It's my new stencil set - "Fall is Calling" - urging you to give it a try! Though once you see it in all of its autumn glory, I doubt you'll need much prodding...

I've just got to preface this week's Spotlight with a huge "OMG"! I'm not sure if you noticed, but we had an unprecedented number (and quality) of last-minute entries into our latest "Inside the Box" Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge. Yes, hard to believe, but...

Hello, everyone! It's that time again - that special moment of the week when we spotlight the ten top-trending cookies on the site! Woo hoo! And, I do mean "woo hoo"! Thanks to a spotty internet connection due to...

Hi, all! Hoop.la (my site tech team) recently upgraded the site, making changes primarily in the areas of forums and member avatars. The forum changes are designed to make it easier to find hot (aka trending) forum topics and to search the forums. HOWEVER, I have NOT...

Hi, everyone! After a whirlwind CookieCon 2019, I'm finally home and (partially) recovered from the overwhelming amount of sweetness encountered in Reno! I'm also bearing a big gift...

Hi, all! I posted to our forums on this topic earlier today, but, since it's an important matter, I thought I'd post here on the blog as well. I've got some bittersweet news to share. After writing on and off for the site since 2014 (!), the crazy-talented...

Hi, all! As I will be away next week on my first (and only) vacation of the year and will be trying desperately not to work, I wanted to alert you early to three upcoming stencil sales...

While the chats in our CookieCon 2018 Speakers Series are now over (our last chat was on November 3 with Katy Metoyer of Sugar Dayne), the in-depth Close-ups continue! (HUGE sigh of relief.) This month, we’ll be tapping the brain of cookier...

Admittedly, it feels a little premature to be posting Christmas and Hanukkah cookies when the mercury climbed to 93°F today! But, I know how we cookiers are - it's almost never too soon to start planning ahead for the year's biggest cookie holidays...

Hi, everyone! I've got an exciting opportunity for those of you who are into competitive cookie decorating, or just generally stretching your sugar arts skills! I am sponsoring and judging a brand new and very special award at the upcoming Show Me Sweets Cake & Candy Convention...

I’m really terrible at piping people. I give them a try every once in a while when I’m inspired by some tutorial or image, but my people never look right. Their eyes might be uneven, their noses too large, or their hands so full of fingers that they look...

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...

It's always a bittersweet time here on Cookie Connection when contributors come and go. A departure usually signals that someone is moving onto bigger and better things (which is GREAT), but...

Today, I’m launching the first in my two-part series of interviews with our 2017 Cookiers’ Choice Awards winners, and we’re kicking off with the amazingly generous and ingenious Cookiers of the Year, Ginny and Doug Levack of Creative Cookier...

Too often in recent weeks, I've been posting our Saturday Spotlights on Sundays and using the "better late than never" excuse. Well, not this week! (Let me pause while everyone breathes a big sigh of relief . . .) Thanks to my husband...

Top o' the evening to you! It's your lucky night, because our "Top 10" hot list* is a veritable pot of gold, loaded to the brim with delicious St. Patrick's Day cookie ideas. (Sorry, I just couldn't pass up the obvious St. Patty's Day metaphors!)...

Hello, everyone! My monthly stencil release is here! As always, I'm working about two months ahead with stencils specially tailored to Mother's Day this time! Among other things, I've got...

Hi, all! Based on some of the questions we received from you about Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #27 (Circles), @Bakerloo Station and I decided to modify two rules. The changes are noted below...

Hi, folks! Phew - it's been one rough week of non-stop cookie class prep, video editing, stencil testing, scheduling the next round of courses . . . I could go on and on. I hope you all had a more leisurely time of it...

My husband served a couple of years in the Navy as a young man, and what remains of that experience is his love for everything maritime and nautical. Our house is littered with little boats, shells, beach pictures, lighthouses, and so on and so forth...

Wow, how time seems to fly, especially now that I'm marking the passing of it with monthly Prettier Plaques stencil releases! This month, I've got three new five-piece stencil sets...

Wow! The coming Easter holiday has certainly made you all even more prolific than you usually are! Given the wealth of bunnies and eggs still hitting the home page feeds (they started earlier than St. Patrick's Day), it's remarkable...

By the time you all read this, I will hopefully be lying on a beach, cerveza in hand, but at this moment, as I write this Spotlight, I can see and think of nothing but lace! As ever, I am extremely impressed...

Well, well . . . Cake Masters Magazine sure did a good job of keeping us all on pins and needles, right? They've been announcing the finalists in their 2016 awards program categories since Monday or Tuesday, and they STILL have a few categories to announce...

Heck, after four straight days of cookie decorating, cookie teaching, and cookie chat in my Ningbo classes, even I wasn't sure I ever wanted to see another cookie again. Especially one of my own designs!

Yes, it's almost Mom's big day, so if you haven't yet come up with a wonderful gift for her, there's no time like the present! If you're ambitious, you'll find plenty of inspiration for wonderful cookie gifts in this week's hot list*...

Judging from your posts this past week, there's been an outbreak of spring fever! And it's a downright epidemic - with spring-y cookies popping up everywhere!

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.)

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...