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At Long Last!
Yes, phew! It's been a long time since I last sat down to write. (Excuse: I've been on book tour.) A longer time since I decided to abandon my clunky Constant Contact program in favor of this spiffy new email distribution system. . . and a still longer time since I started this newsletter. I surely hope it gets to you before Easter, but if not, I hope you'll find decorating tips here that are useful the whole year through!
So what's new? In addition to a souped-up newsletter format (which you noticed, right?), I've joined Pinterest, where I've got a cookie decorating contest (a first!) running through April 9. (Just click on my Pinterest link and my Community Cookie Contest board to check it out.) I've also begun in earnest to post cookie decorating tutorials on my site. This issue covers icing needlepoint work, rubber-stamping, and panorama cookie eggs, and I have more tutorials in the works for next time! Last but not least, I've added a full lineup of Cinco de Mayo-themed cookie decorating classes in May. Spring is all about fresh starts - even those that come slowly - wouldn't you say?!
Live sweetly,
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| | | | | |  | | Feature Celebrating the Everyday
OK, so this feature isn't my usual special party, but it is a celebration in its own right - of the smaller things in life that we (or at least, I) too often take for granted. After a whirlwind winter of event-hopping to promote my latest book, I finally returned home earlier this month. My first impulse upon "landing" was to tend to the many home projects that have been calling out for attention for months. . .
» More. Photo by Julia M. Usher | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Cookie Craft Needlepoint Easter Basket Cookies
The delicate needlepoint effect on these baskets is straightforward once you know how, but because the spaces in the grids are so small (approximately 1/16 to 1/8 inch square), you really can’t rush the piping of them. I’ve shortcut the project a bit by using readymade bunnies, roses, and chicks to fill the baskets. But if you’re procrastinating on your spring cleaning or just need some therapeutic cookie decorating time, you can extend the pleasure of this project by piping everything by hand.
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Detailed step-by-step how-to. Photo by Julia M. Usher | |  | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Favorites Springtime Sugars
Wondering where I got the darling do-dads in the baskets pictured in Cookie Craft, above? Well, wonder no more. Fancy Flours, my tour sponsor, came to the rescue yet again! They've also got some sweet bridal and baby shower-themed sugars that are worth a try!
» Shop here. | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Fanfare Mom and Moi Make TV Debut
The highpoint of my East Coast book tour in March had to be my TV debut with my mom - who guided my untrained hands as a tot and is, thus, largely responsible for my cookie decorating madness! After a little R&R in early April, I'm on the road again in May to sunny northern CA!
» Full calendar of events here. | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | |  | | Eye Candy Luscious Lessons
Didn't get your fill of cookie decorating? Check out my other lessons on panorama eggs and rubber-stamping!
» More tutorials. Photo by Julia M. Usher | | | | | | |
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