Announcing Our July Live Chat, the Second in Our Cookie Competitor Series

Julia M. UsherFounder and Host, Cookie Connection; Owner, Recipes for a Sweet Life

I can't wait for you to meet Shelby on July 27, 10 am central, as part of our ongoing Cookie Competitor Chat Series! Her chat room is now open (here) to receive your questions in advance.

Shelby is a wonderfully talented young cake decorator who's crossed over into cookies and competitions in just the last two years. And she's done remarkably well with both, as you'll see in her long list of competition wins below (which includes two second-place finishes in my cookie competition when it was held at the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show)!

In this chat, we'll learn how Shelby preps for competitions and juggles the competitive side of decorating with running a full-time cake business. Of course, any other cake or cookie decorating questions are fair game as well. I hope you'll join us for the fun! In the meantime, please read up on Shelby and her many accomplishments (below) and start teeing up your questions for her!

Shelby Bower is a cake designer and sugar artist, who is rapidly rising to the top of her field with her outside-of-the-box designs, gravity-defying structures, and creative textures. Shelby’s work demonstrates that cake design is a beautiful art form with infinite possibilities.

Born in Houston, Texas, Shelby quickly grew to the substantial height of 6 feet tall. Originally following the modeling path, Shelby left that world behind when she decorated her first cake, and hasn’t looked back since. Interning with a small fashion label in Los Angeles where she worked directly with celebrities, Shelby became well versed in the design and creative process. It was around that time that she decided to combine her love of fashion and sculpting with the art of cake decorating.

Throughout her artistic career, Shelby has had the opportunity to attend a multitude of workshops led by cake icons, as well as the University of North Texas for Fashion Design, Animation, and Painting.

For four years, Shelby proudly served as the lead cake designer for a custom wedding cakery, where she specialized in sculpted cakes, sugar art, and handmade sugar flowers. In 2016, she decided to launch her own cake design business, Shelby Elizabeth Cakes. Shortly after opening her own business, she started to teach cake decorating classes and launched a YouTube channel, The Sugar Scoop, to share her craft.

In the short time that Shelby has owned Shelby Elizabeth Cakes, she has become a leader in over-the-top wedding cakes in the Houston market and beyond. Shelby loves traveling for clients to create their ideal cakes.

Since starting to compete in 2017, Shelby has won many awards and honors, including these favorites of hers:

LA CookieCon, 2017, judged by world-renowned baker and reality star Duff Goldman (World Grand Dessert Table Champion)
Julia M. Usher's Cookie Competition, Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show (OSSAS), 2017 (Second Place)
That Takes the Cake, 2018, judged by Nicholas Lodge and Mike McCarey (Best of Show, First Place in Individual Sculpted Cakes, Cake Innovator Award, People's Choice Award, and Second Place in Gravity-Defying Cakes)
Julia M. Usher's Cookie Competition, Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show (OSSAS), 2018 (Second Place)
Food Network Contestant, Halloween Wars, Zesty Zombies, 2018 (Second Place Finalist)
Frosting Creators of San Antonio, 2018 (First Place in Masters Sculpted Cakes)
Big Top Cake Competition, Southern Food & Beverage Museum, 2018 (First Place and Best of Show)
SoFlo Cake and Candy Expo, 2018 (Second Place in Sculpted Cakes)
Sugar Geek Show Booth, SoFlo Cake and Candy Expo, 2018 (Demonstration of sugar showpiece)
Cover cake for American Cake Decorating Magazine, December 2018
Food Network Contestant, Wedding Cake Championship, 2019

And, in case you were wondering, here's a peek at her second-place entry in my 2017 competition: