Arty: “If you’ve been lucky enough to meet Jennifer in person, you’ll know she is one of the sweetest cookiers around! I had met her several times and always enjoyed the heck out of her. I kept hearing about how UNBELIEVABLY delicious her cookies were: extra-thick, extra delicious and I was DYING to try one. Lo and behold she gave one to me a couple of CookieCons back and I was beyond excited! I tucked it away so I could savor the lusciousness when I had a chance to sit and give it my attention and fully appreciate it. I finally got a moment and went to grab my highly anticipated snack and… it was GONE! “Where did the cookie go that was in this bag?!” I asked in a panicked voice. IT. WAS. EATEN! by a so-called “friend”! The outrage! The horror!
My “friend” told me how good the cookie was, but that did not ease my anguish and I never spoke to him again. I’m just kidding. He had no idea I was hoarding that cookie and he felt bad. But, I did have to wait until the next CookieCon to actually have a real Blue Bonnet Bake Shoppe cookie. And… holy cow, it was worth the wait! Meet the lovely Jennifer who is currently traveling across the US with her husband in an RV and not taking orders for her delicious cookies. The anticipation is going to be hard, but be patient!
It was both fun and reeeeeallly scary to be asked to do a page in the CookieCon calendar. I almost said no, because I often feel unworthy talent-wise when comparing my simple designs to other incredible cookie artists. But then I stopped and told myself for the billionth time…don’t compare and just go for it. I’m really glad that I listened this time.
The teddy bear picnic idea popped into my mind because summer is picnic season. I also knew it had to be packed with fun details like a Where’s Waldo photo. So I did the eyes in the trees and blueberries on the bushes, the different types of leaves, the bees, the bears, and tons of little flowers….even Bun-Bun fit in there. And then to be chosen for the cover too was just plain, over-the-top incredible. Thanks again to Mike and Karen for reaching out to me. This was definitely a high, if the not the HIGHEST, honor of my 12-year cookie career. Moral of the story….don’t compare, and just do you.