As you may or may not know, I’ve been designing cookie stencils for about a year and a half now with the help of my design and manufacturing partner, Confection Couture Stencils, formerly Stencil Ease. In addition to my Prettier Plaques stencil series, which was my first line at launch, I’ve now got a second line called Dynamic Duos. Both lines involve multi-stencil sets that allow cookiers to create luscious layered looks, but they’re different in some key ways. Each Prettier Plaques set consists of five elements (stencils and masking pieces) that basically allow you to create one layered - and gorgeous - message cookie design. By contrast, each Duos monthly release consists of two coordinated multi-stencil sets (one with background stencils and the other with messages and frames) that, taken together, allow you to create myriad layered designs with multiple messages and backgrounds. My goal with this new line was to give my customers as much design flexibility as possible, all in two small packages each month! And, I dare say, I think I’ve done that!

Anywho, I’ve been releasing lots of Duos sets lately, and wanted to share those designs with you, just in case you missed them when first announced. What follows is a quick pictorial overview of recent releases, all of which have a definite spring-y flair . . .

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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 obsessive-compulsive impulse upon “landing” was to tend to the many home projects that have been calling out for attention for months - like taming the dust bunnies bouncing in every corner and the honeysuckle that’s choking my backyard. Alas, I couldn’t muster the strength. My next impulse was to start my equally large number of neglected work projects - instructional videos, assorted TV pitches, a new book proposal . . . the list goes on. Yet again, no taste for this stuff. I waffled for a while with no sense of purpose. Then I did what I rarely do . . .

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