Oh my, the year is nearly over! I'm astonished at how quickly 2016 has flown, but I guess that's how things go when you're immersed in something you truly enjoy - in my (and our!) case, cookie decorating! 
Before I introduce our very talented December site artist, let me just say that I am in dire need of January 2017 site art, as well as art for the months of March, April, July, August, September, and December 2017. If you're interested in having your cookie art featured in our 2017 banners and backdrops, then simply follow the guidelines in this post. TIA!
Now, without further ado, allow me to unveil this month's site artist . . . She's none other than Noriko Forster aka @mintlemonade (cookie crumbs), whose cookie art was also featured in September 2016. Click here to see her September art again, and scroll on down to see her wintry art that's decking the Cookie Connection "halls" this month!
Since Noriko's art was featured earlier this year, we won't be conducting another Cookier Close-up with her this month, but please do read her previous Close-up here. You should also check out the chat transcript from her recent live chat and her bio, below!
Noriko Forster (aka mintlemonade) started her cookie decorating journey in spring 2012 when she happened upon a book about cookie decorating in a local shop. She was so intrigued that she decided she would cover a store-bought cake with cookies for her elder daughter's birthday to make the cake extra special for her. Noriko guessed that cookie decorating would be much simpler than making a fancy cake, but she found it actually wasn’t so easy!
Nevertheless, Noriko's decorating skills and reputation for making beautiful colors and flowers grew fast! By the end of 2013, Noriko was teaching cookie decorating classes out of her home, while also editing language-learning books and Japanese translations of English books as her primary job. Last year, however, Noriko's cookie class work ended up occupying more time than her book editing job. She taught six classes a month on average (!), which she admits was a bit too much for her. In 2016, she's had more book work than cookie classes, which feels like a better balance for her.
On a more personal note, Noriko lives in Tokyo, is married to an Aussie, and is the mother of two girls, ages 10 and 12. She studied modern American literature at university and, upon graduation, worked for a book editing company and then a publisher. After becoming a mother, she began editing as a freelancer. She enjoys being a stay-at-home mom, working at home when her schedule permits, and reading British and American novels when she's not decorating cookies.
Photo credit: mintlemonade
* P.S. Our 2016 featured site artists were all winners of our Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #13, which you can read more about here. Again, if you would like your own cookie art to be considered for use on the site after our challenge winners have run their course (by January 2017), I would love to see it at any time. Guidelines for submitting cookie art can be found here.
