Our March 2024 Artist is Here . . .

. . . and I am sure you recognized her work at first glance! If you've been on Cookie Connection for any amount of time, this month's banner and backdrop should be immediately recognizable as the expert craftsmanship of Evelin Milanesi, aka @Evelindecora! As noted in Evelin's February 2022 forum intro, when she was also a featured site artist, she's been a longtime site fave, best known for her always impeccable and intricately piped and painted work. She was also the first Cookie Connection member to reach 100,000 activity points because of her active posting and commenting on others' posts in the site's early years. (Pssst . . . If you don't know what activity points are, read this post. They are still in place, and you can find your tally on your member profile.)

This month, our Site Art Stylist Gabi, aka @Icingsugarkeks, combined two of Evelin's previous cookie masterpieces, a Paris set and a cookie puzzle for the month of March, into one cohesive banner-backdrop display, shown in the photos below (and on the site right now). Well done, Gabi! And, of course, thank you to Evelin for so consistently and beautifully contributing to our site over her many years as a member.

As you may know, Evelin was the subject of a Cookier Close-up interview way back in 2014 when she was a featured site artist for the very first time. That interview is definitely worth a read, as you'll get a glimpse into Evelin's early years as a cookie artist. For a more current look at Evelin's cookie path, please also read her 2022 interview update and her bio and social media links below.

Thanks again, Evelin, for allowing us to feature your work. It's an honor and a pleasure to do so, just as it was in 2014 and 2022! ❤️

@Evelindecora, aka Evelin Milanesi, lives in Milan, Italy, and she is 50 years old. After 25 years of painting on canvas and working on huge mural decorations, she started her sweet cookie journey in 2012. Julia Usher’s and SweetAmbs’ amazing cookies have been and still are a true inspiration to her, a goal of perfection to reach. In the beginning, cookies were just a whim and a hobby for Evelin, but, in a few months, they became a new way of life and source of work. Evelin decided not to sell cookies, but to create new designs and themed cookie sets in order to teach cookie art. She teaches both in person (when possible) and online, covering the A to Zs of decorating cookies with royal icing. Her teaching aim is to explain all of cookie decorating's hidden secrets and provide as many tricks as possible so that students can achieve the best possible results in the shortest period of time. Her signature painting and piping skills can be seen in cookies of all styles, from modern to romantic, and from miniatures to huge cookie scenes. For Evelin, royal icing is a magical medium, always new and always challenging, and it's one that she's clearly mastered as her many awards attest.

To learn more about Evelin's work, please visit her Cookie Connection portfolio or Instagram page.

All cookies and photos by Evelin Milanesi.

Last but not least, for those of you who are wondering how to get featured, it's easy! Simply read these posts here and here. Remember: Site artists not only get their work featured prominently for a full month, but they also get profiled in a forum post like this one and in an in-depth Cookier Close-up interview. All considered, it's a lot of great free PR in exchange for photo sharing! When preparing your site art, please bear in mind that I already have artwork through all of 2024, thanks to @Icingsugarkeks, but she is currently at work on material for 2025. So don't hesitate to submit your cookies at any time. Please also remember that Icingsugarkeks is available to help you get your photos in the right format, so feel free to contact her if you need assistance! You can send her a PM right here on Cookie Connection by clicking on her name (in pink) above.