Annie's 13th Birthday Cookie

It's been 3 years since I made my first cookie...

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Today is my cousin Annie's 13th Birthday marking that occasion.
It was for her 10th birthday that I made the Dolphin Cookie 

This cookie was made the day of the party so it wasn't as uniquely designed as that first one, but I still fit her current interests and passions which are strongly geared towards music into the birthday template that I have used in previous cookies like the Girl's Birthday Cookie. 

Annie not only loves being in the band, but she is also into crafts and design just like I was at her age, so I knew she would appreciate all the little details I put into the numbers making that the focus. I really like the choice of colors used in this cookie. The contrast between the different greens in the numbers really emphasizes the detailing on top of the bright green background and makes the detailing and music notes stand out more than the similar design of the pink numbers in the girl's birthday cookie. The background of the numbers is also coated in clear sugar sprinkles making it shimmer and all the details on top pop that much more. 

The music notes are emphasized by blue sugar peals that give a nice texture over the whole cookie. With the title on the top and such an emphasis on the numbers and the horizontal bars with the notes running behind them there was an empty space on the bottom of the cookie that needed some detailing; A simple music note and some white icing and the cookie was brought together nicely without much effort.

To draw attention to that little detail I made the border around it by alternating the two contrasting greens only in that area. The rest of the border that goes around the entire edge is made from alternating blue and white icing to emphasize the focus colors of the greens in the center of the cookie. I really liked this effect of the border and think it worked to bring the cookie to a cohesive design.

Wow! 3 years...here's to many more and many more fun and inventive designs

Mo's 30th Birthday Cookie

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This cookie was done for my sister-in-law's surprise 30th birthday party. I think the biggest surprise to me on that day was how well this cookie turned out. I've never done an image of someone's dog before and I think it turned out extremely well in terms of looking like the actual dog. His name is Rugger, a Bernese Mountain Dog...the shaggy hair is much more forgiving which probably helps, and it doesn't hurt that I know the dog and was therefore able to capture his personality. I think this cookie was the second biggest surprise that night for everyone there especially the birthday girl. The cookie was a huge success, but I'll let you be the judge of how well I captured the dog.

Birthday Girl!!

Cars Birthday Cookie (2)

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The first 'Cars' cookie that I made for my nephew was such a hit that I received another order for a similar cookie from someone who was shown a picture...I would like to thank my sister-in-law for her efforts in getting me orders :)

This cookie was for a little boy who loves 'cars' especially Lightning and Mac so I definitely wanted to include both characters. I kept the design very similar to the last one so I could produce it in time, but I still tried to customize it as much as I could. It was Seiji's 5th birthday so I included 5 balloons with the number 5 and also 5 orange cones to fit into the 'cars' theme...I was told by his mom that even she didn't notice that part, but that Seiji was excitedly counting the cones and balloons when he saw his cookie.

Again, I put his name and 'happy birthday' on a road sign to fit the scene. Although the Lightning character is smaller than the first edition, I think the detail is similar and still looks realistic, but it's the Mac character (the truck in the background) that I think turned out especially well. I think I captured his overall look especially in the face and cab area and the silver edible paint that I used really accentuated his metal parts as well as the design on the trailer (not captured well in the photo).

I really enjoyed making this cookie! I was surprised at how much easier it was the second time around, but I think I was still able to make a unique cookie.

Favorite Things Birthday Cookie

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Most of the cookies I make are well planned ahead of time and drawn out with the knowledge of an upcoming event. This cookie was the opposite of that, but still turned out to be one of my favorite cookies. 

It always helps to know something about the cookie recipient and in this case I simply chose some of my uncle's favorite things and put them together for a great cookie! (Even though my mom and I decided to make the cookie at 10:00pm the night before driving down to their lake house for his impromptu party!!) Luckily, we had everything we needed and we knew what he liked so it was only a matter of putting it all down on a cookie. 

The Red Stripe drinking, Mickey Mantle loving, wishes he could be fishing daily, Yankees fan absolutely loved the cookie, especially since we surprised him by even coming up to the lake to celebrate his 60th birthday. It was a pretty great day, but then again every day spent at the lake is always a little bit better than the average day.

Gymbo Birthday Cookie

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Gymboree is one of my nephews' favorite places to go and play so when I was asked to do a cookie for a party there I was pretty excited to be able to include all the things that make that place so intriguing for the kids. 

The most recognizable thing about Gymboree is Gymbo the clown who I decided to put front and center on the cookie. I tried to add different textures where I could and use Gymboree's bright primary colors as a theme. I included bouncy balls, the big tent that they use in the classes, and tried make it look as though Gymbo was juggling the balls as well as Owen's name. I used sprinkles to make the 2's inside the bouncy balls and sprinkled them all around the outside border as well which all the kids loved. 

The border around the top was a new technique for me but seemed to fit in nicely with the clown theme and added a new texture and depth around the edge. 

This cookie was a lot of fun to make and even more fun to see eaten and enjoyed at the party by all kids and parents alike.

Cars Birthday Cookie

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Ever since Christmas my nephew has been updating me regularly with what he wants on his cookie for his 4th birthday. Luckily, some ideas like having Santa riding in the Lightning car fell by the wayside, but even since December he has wanted a 'Cars' cookie with Lightning McQueen on it and with balloons. 

So I decided to do a track scene with Lighting racing against some other recognizable cars characters. Of course I couldn't forget the balloons which I made look like they were tied to the back of Lightning and each has the number 4 on it. I gave the track some texture by adding silver sprinkles to the gray road which adds a great touch and made the cookie sparkle in the sun. To keep with the race track theme I put the 'happy birthday' and the birthday boy's name on a giant road sign with yellow dots and white sugar peals that make it look like the sign has lights around it. I even finished of the cookie by surrounding the edge with some of Lightning's best quotes. 

The best part of the cookie though, as my nephew will attest to, is the Lightning car (we had to cut out the car just for him to eat). The detail and character that the car has makes it look just like one from the movie making it instantly recognizable with its decals, numbers, and design. 

I was very proud of this cookie and the especially the work I did on the car, but I was most excited that I could make my nephew so happy on his birthday

(had to sneak a taste before everyone else)

Colts Birthday Cookie

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 I would like to thank my former co-worker Jeff for presenting this opportunity to me....this is the first cookie I made for a client. Jeff had seen the Harley cookie that I made for another co-worker's birthday and I was so happy when Jeff asked me to do this for his sister's birthday. 

All Jeff told me was that she loves the Colts...Well, I love the Colt's too so I just went with it. I made the Colts horseshoe the center focus with some nice detail to add texture, but I complimented it by placing it on top of a football field which again adds texture and a new color which helps the overall composition. I used a new technique on this cookie to create the field texture which turned out very well. 

Since this was for a 29 year old girl I decided to add a bit more of the decorative detail on top of the football theme as well as using secondary colors that compliment the Colts blue but also pop against it. 

According to Jeff the whole family loved it and didn't want to cut into the field at first, but then after eating the outside they couldn't help themselves and had to go for seconds and ended up eating the whole cookie. I love to hear that because as nice as the cookies look sometimes they taste even better...so just jump in, cut it up, and enjoy

Harley Cookie

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In an effort to get my name out and introduce people to my cookies I like to make one as a surprise from time to time for someone's special occasion. In this case it was my former supervisor's birthday and I thought that instead of the usual cupcakes the company buys for an employee's birthday I would make a cookie and maybe drum up some business at the same time. 

The design was easy. My supervisor is a HUGE Harley Davidson fan and is also a landscaper who happens to love flowers, so a centrally focused but well executed Harley sign in the center just felt right. After that, I could just fill in the rest here and there with vines, flowers, and texture. 

One thing that this cookie displays well is the impact our hand mixed colors can bring to a design. This wasn't just any orange, I made sure while hand mixing the colors that they were as close they could be to the company's colors. The effect is always noticed and appreciated (which is good because mixing the colors is one of the hardest parts about making these cookies). 

When I had the sign in the center done I was so happy with it that I almost didn't want to put anything else on the cookie, but after I added the flowers I think it brought the whole composition together. 

The design is very specific and doesn't seem to fit together to some people, but for the recipient it was the perfect design encompassing some of her favorite things and she was truly surprised and thrilled to receive it after I had been telling her all about my cookies.

Girl's Birthday Cookie

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It's an ALL PINK party!! 

That's all my Aunt told me when she called to ask me to make a cookie for her to take to her Granddaughter's 2nd birthday party. I don't actually know the birthday girl and only met her parents once or twice so Pink was the only thing I had to work with, but that was OK because I love a challenge and I LOVE designing for little kids especially for a little girl. 

I decided to do a large centrally focused number 2 mostly because I didn't have much to go off of except her age, but with this design I think I found a great template for future birthday orders that are not looking for something very specific or are looking to keep the cost of the cookie down because now that I have made it once I can easily replicate it with different colors and different secondary designs!!! I was pretty excited about that discovery, but the birthday girl's parents and family were just as excited about the cookie itself and I even received a very nice 'thank you' email from them telling me how much they enjoyed my work. 

I think what they and most others who receive a cookie appreciate about them are the level of detail that I put into my work. On this design specifically the 2 is something that is very fun to look at closely and see all the little additions, different colors, and different techniques. There are multiple layers just in the number with the base color, the spirals, the flowers, and the flower center and then I added pink sprinkles on top of the flowers for a little extra touch of pink. The butterflies came to be because I thought they fit in nicely with the flowers that were all around and they add some more depth and texture as they are rather raised in the actual cookie. I also added another layer of pink to the butterflies by accenting them with an edible pink powder that I can paint with. To tie all the elements together I made little action lines for the butterflies that I added white sugar pearls to which I think turned out to look pretty nice. 

I decided not to do a regular border for this one, but to continue the spiral design around the edge and keep it a bit cleaner. For this cookie I think that decision worked out well and I liked the effect.

(Same cookie design different little girl's 5th Birthday party)

 

I added a border this time using all the different pinks from the cookie plus a good sprinkling of pink sparkles all around the edge which added texture and very cute effect for the overall cookie. Who doesn't love sprinkles?

Dolphin Birthday Cookie

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Created for my young cousin's 10th birthday. This was my first attempt at cookie decoration. It turned out much better than I had expected for such an ambitious design. I utilized all new techniques to me from using a wet paint brush to smooth out the icing to using my free hand drawing skills to create a fun water scene.  

My mom was too busy one day to decorate a cookie she had made for my cousin's birthday party so she asked me to do it for her. I decided to take it a little further and make it a truly unique cookie just for my cousin who was a fan of dolphins at the time. It's my first time making a cookie so why not draw a dolphin jumping out of the water, simple right? 

As you will see throughout this blog I love to challenge myself to make the best cookie I can and make it truly unique for those who are going to be enjoying it. My personal challenge usually yields a fantastic cookie for whoever it is that I'm making it for and that's what makes me happy at the end of the day!