Woo hoo! It is with great pleasure (and deep gratitude) that I announce a brand new addition to our contributors team!
The wonderfully generous @Icingsugarkeks, aka Gabi, has stepped up and volunteered to be our official Site Art Stylist. What does this mean? It means that, if you have cookie art that you'd like to see featured in Cookie Connection's banner and backdrop, but are struggling to get it formatted to the proper specs, Gabi can help you format it. And, for months when no one has contributed cookie photos, Gabi will hunt for suitable art on the site and design banners and backdrops that will blow your socks off (such as the ones she made for this month). This development also means that we'll never again have a shortage of well designed site art, and I'll never again have to rely so heavily on my own work to fill the gaps. After all, this site is all about celebrating you, its members who make it so special!
Again, HUGE thanks to Gabi for being so generous with her time and talents. Please give her a huge round of applause. 
To learn more about Gabi, please also read her bio below (or on the Contributors page) and her recent in-depth Cookier Close-up interview!
FYI: If you are interested in submitting art, we are now well stocked through December 2020. We are, however, seeking submissions for January 2021 and beyond. Remember: Site artists not only get their work featured prominently for a full month, but they also get profiled in a forum post and in an in-depth Cookier Close-up interview. All considered, it's a lot of great free PR in exchange for photo sharing!
Icingsugarkeks, designedbygabi, and Gabi are all synonyms behind which a now very withdrawn person is hiding. (Sorry, no headshot! )
Even in her earliest childhood, Gabi showed respect for others, learning from her wonderful parents who exemplified mutual caring and support. Gabi’s husband, two sons, and parents are her greatest pride and source of encouragement! Having grown up in nature, Gabi developed a great love for animals and plants. She also enjoys many hobbies, including drawing, baking, DIY, photography, and computer work. As Icingsugarkeks, she taught herself how to design 3-D cookie cutters on the PC, and she now quickly designs everything she needs for cookies all by herself. (It is really not that difficult, she says!)
In her previous job as a media and graphic designer, Gabi was involved in image processing, film cutting, television programming, print media, and website design and programming. Gabi never thought that she would love HTML and CSS one day! But she does! All of her websites were very playfully built on it.
Gabi got to know Pinterest and Instagram during a long hospital stay and found there the first pictures from Julia’s Cookie Connection! In that moment, the love of baking and decorating cookies became an addiction. Gabi is amazed at how many like-minded people there are! And what awesome talents! At home in Germany, in the green heart of Thüringen, Gabi (ahem, Icingsugarkeks) now feels like a happy member of this unique, creative, and spectacular website and community!
To learn more about Gabi, please visit her Cookie Connection portfolio and Instagram page.
Cookie and photo credits: Icingsugarkeks, aka Gabi
👏🏻 