Super HUGE thanks to @Ryoko ~Cookie Ave. for sparing us all the tedium of having to see my stenciled cookies in the banner and backdrop again this month! And for sparing us with such a marvelously whimsical banner in her signature story-telling style . . .
They're an absolutely adorable pair, aren't they?!
As you probably know by now, Ryoko is a veteran site submitter, having already been featured a few times. So in lieu of doing another Cookier Close-up with her this month, I'm directing you to her past Close-up, her recent chat transcript, and her bio below for more info.
Ryoko Hayashi, aka @Ryoko ~Cookie Ave., lives with her husband in Fukuoka, Japan, about 1,100 kilometers (690 miles) southwest of Tokyo. Four years ago, after an early retirement from her own overseas trading and retail company, Ryoko began exploring things she had always wanted to try, including knitting, crocheting, sewing, making bags with paper tape, making beaded accessories and clothes, swimming, and decorating cookies, of course.
Having finally overcome her needle phobia, Ryoko can now sew a button without sweating! 
She also does the crawl stroke, back stroke, breast stroke, and butterfly quite competently. And, having consistently pushed herself in Cookie Connection’s Practice Bakes Perfect challenges, she enjoys regularly decorating cookies for her family and friends. One of her biggest cookie milestones was having a set of her cookies printed in a book about how to make iced cookies.
Looking forward, Ryoko wants to learn how to draw and paint, handle drawing apps with her iPad, do basic embroidery, and make stained glass accessories. She would also like to one day publish children’s story books illustrated with her cookies. As her cookies are distinguished by their attention to detail and often playful storytelling, the latter goal seems well within Ryoko’s reach!
Photo credits: Ryoko ~Cookie Ave.
Thanks again to Ryoko for keeping our site looking beautiful with her work! If you're thinking of submitting our own work for use in our banner/backdrop, but are on the fence for some reason, please feel free to reach out to me or Ryoko to learn more about how and why to submit. In the meantime, our submission guidelines can be found here. And, as a reminder, all contributors will get their work featured prominently in the site's banner and background for a full month, plus the added PR benefits of a forum post like this one and a Cookier Close-up interview! 
