Julia M. Usher posted:Hi, @Annelise (Le bois meslé)! Welcome! It's me for real this time. (My first post was automated.) What an interesting background! I have always wanted to be an archeologist, and I may indeed still try to pursue it one day. You may find me reaching out to learn more about that!
Regarding posting images privately here, there's no way to do that. But I do concur with @Manu biscotti decorati, @pip and @Econlady . . . though it might seem intimidating to post, the group here is really supportive and comprised of all skill levels. One of the best ways to learn fast is to post stuff and ask others for tips on what to improve. Again, I know that takes courage to do publicly, but you can also reach out to people privately via our "private message" function (under your member avatar).
Also, read all the tutorials here. @Manu biscotti decorati is one of our very amazing tutorialists (site contributors), and she is always willing to share.
Have fun, and don't hesitate to ask me questions at any time. I may take a while to respond, but I try to get to every message that I see. (Tagging helps alert me!)
Thank You @Julia M. Usher, two years ago I surely couldn’t have imagined to become a contributor and to write tutorials for the site!
@Annelise (Le bois meslé), as Julia said, ask others for tips. If there are some cookies posted here that you like particularly and you would like to know about a technique just ask in the comments to that clip. Very often what you are looking for it is already written in the comments. Go explore the site, it is a treasure box of amazing cookies and informations.
As Julia said read all the tutorials here. At the moment you will find mines and those by @Laegwen and @Aproned Artist, but take the time to read also the past tutorials by the awsome cookiers that left their contribution here before us: @Dolce Sentire - Aixa Zunino, @Lucy (Honeycat Cookies), @Yankee Girl Yummies or @Former Member.
Participate to the bimonthly challenges hosted by Christine Donnelly @Bakerloo Station, which are about making a cookie or a set of cookies focusing on a certain technique, or material. During the past two years I’ve learned to pipe roses, use edible lace, molds, stencils, combine colors, I made connections and found cookie friends in the collaboration challenges... and I also learned to “think outside the box” to cite her. You will find the banner in the home page.
Read also the Toolbox talk, by @Liesbet to learn about ingredients and cookie tools all over the world.
You find all this material and more under Blog/Collection.
There are also interesting live chats, Cookier Close-up, and you will find a lot of informations in the forum as Julia build this site to cover everything cookie related, and on top of that she also takes the time to feature 10 cookies every week and reward them with the Cookie Connection badge recognition.