Say Hello to Our December 2022 Site Artist!

First, I am so sorry for posting this announcement so long after its associated art, which first posted to the site banner and background this morning. But . . . I was pretty sure you'd all know the creator instantaneously, as the cookies pictured here clearly bear her trademark details and finesse.

Yes, our December 2022 site artist is none other than @Evelindecora, 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.) Evelin also has the distinction of being the featured guest-instructor in our current Watch-Learn-Create Challenge, which I encourage you to enter before it closes on January 7. Evelin created an amazing free demo for Cookie Connection members to kick off this challenge that is centered around her signature piped crochet technique. Speaking of that technique, you'll see it applied to the red circle cookies in her featured December art, shown here:

How stunning, right?! As always, watch the banner for a bit. The left side gradually darkens, and the "NOEL" sign begins to shimmer with white twinkly lights, thanks to the animation-ingenuity of our Site Art Stylist Gabi aka @Icingsugarkeks! Thank you to both Evelin and Gabi for making our site sparkle with the holiday season this month!

Now, as you may know, Evelin was our February 2022 site artist as well, and, at that time, I caught up with Evelin to update her first-ever 2014 Cookier Close-up interview. If you don't know Evelin or what she's been up to lately, I encourage you to read that updated interview and her bio below, and to view her Watch-Learn-Create Challenge tutorial where you can "meet" her in a recorded live video (the next best thing to meeting her in person)! You'll quickly see that she is a delight and a true gift to our cookie community!

@Evelindecora, aka Evelin Milanesi, lives in Milan, Italy, and she is 48 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 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 April 2023, so I am specifically looking for art for May 2023 and beyond. Please also remember that @Icingsugarkeks, our Site Art Stylist, is available to help you get your photos in the right format, so do not hesitate 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.