It's nearly February 1, and Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so what better time to insert some love-themed cookies into our site banner and backdrop?! I'm especially fond of these rustic hearts, wreaths, and flower plaques created by the very talented @Former Member, aka Anne Lindemann. Their departure from normal lacy red and pink valentines makes them all the more interesting to me. And the neutral, wood-grain background really makes their foreground elements sing. Thanks so much to Anne for sharing her cookie love with us in this special month of St. Valentine!
You all probably know the drill by now, but in case you don't, I'll be posting an in-depth Cookier Close-up interview with Anne later this month. In the meantime, please take the opportunity to get to know Anne better by reading her brief bio below!
Anne Lindemann, aka @Former Member harks from the north of Germany near the Baltic Sea, and started cookie decorating relatively recently in 2016. She always said she would never do something like cookie decorating, as it is too time consuming for a few bites, but here she is enjoying and sharing her love for the craft! Anne learned cookie decorating mostly on her own with the help of internet tutorials and videos, and primarily works with royal icing.
Anne decorates every now and then to surprise people with gifts for parties, birthdays, or special events. She also enters competitions on occasion to have her work judged and to learn what she can do to improve. As a graphic designer by profession, Anne especially has fun planning and creating sets based on certain designs or themes.
Anne does not sell her cookies, as Germany is very strict with food-related businesses, and she does not teach. Though she might like to give these things a try in the future, cookie decoration is still a niche in Germany, and, for now, she is happy doing simple tutorials every so often with the hope of inspiring others to give royal icing a try.
Photo credits: GinkgoWerkstatt
To learn more about Anne, please visit her portfolio on Cookie Connection, her website (in German only), or her Facebook and Instagram pages.
And, again, an important reminder: As of this post, I'm flush out of art for every other month in 2018. So, unless you want to see my cookies all over the site for the rest of the year (I sure don't!), then I urge you to consider submitting your material. Our submission guidelines can be found here. (They're pretty straightforward, but, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.) 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! Woo hoo!
