CookieCruise 2015 took place last month, Jan 22-26, 2015.
It was the very first event of it's kind......and boy, was it unique and wonderful! :)
Ginny & Doug Levack of CreativeCookie.com created this one-and-only event
involving cookiers boarding a cruise ship and cookie-ing together on the open seas.
The event was a smashing success....with lots of great cookie techniques shared
and rich sweet relationships cultivated for a lifetime.
Since there's no cookie supply store found on a cruise ship,
the idea of bringing everything-but-the-kitchen-sink for cookie decorating was quite a task!
But Doug, Ginny, and their awesome partners Todd & Tammy Colitti (2TsStencils)
along with a huge support team took on the task and conquered the "beast" called CookieCruise.
Take a look at those five carts of boxes loaded with cookies, icing, supplies, and prizes
unloaded at the dock preparing to be wheeled onto the cruise ship.
Doug was the mastermind behind all the organization......and he was a well-oiled machine.
The support team wheeled those carts through the processes, waited long periods of time standing in line, unpacked and re-packed everything through customs,
and managed to make it through everything without too much blood, sweat, and tears. haha
and managed to make it through everything without too much blood, sweat, and tears. haha
Once we had boarded the ship, the carts were pushed into a corner until our rooms were ready.
And once all the supplies were safely tucked away,
we could begin to explore the cruise ship and enjoy all the sights. :)
I had the distinct pleasure of rooming with Cristin, of Cristin's Cookies during the cruise.
We were a perfect match......and enjoyed our home-away-from-home with delight.
It was dreary, rainy, cold day in Galveston when we set sail.
But there was too much excitement to let the weather get us down....
It was fun to see all those towel animals I've always heard about.
Here is the London Dining Room......but for CookieCruise, it was our classroom.
The setting was unique, but we found you can cookie anywhere and have a great time!
On Friday morning, the cookiecruise staff got up bright and early and started setting up
the cookie classroom at 6 AM for Julia Usher's day-long class starting at 8 AM.
Julia taught us multiple techniques leading to an incredible cookie heart box.
After several hours of amazing instruction, we set out to explore the ship.
Here's the 12th floor on the front of the ship, looking down onto the pool and open food court area.
Getting together with everyone during meals and "play time" was super fun.
We had plenty of time for getting to know each other on a much deeper level than online time allows.
Friday evening was the cookie exchange.
All participants were invited to bring some cookies to exchange with others.
Oh, the cookie designs that we had the pleasure of seeing.....and for some......keeping.
Each evening, Monica Holbert (CookieCowgirl) taught a night owl cookie painting class.
Since I'm not a night owl, I missed all the fun......but here's some of Monica's photos of her class.
On Saturday, participants could opt to disembark to Cozumel, Mexico for a few hours
or stay on ship and enjoy open-cookie-decorating with Ginny & Tammy.
I had the pleasure of seeing beautiful Cozumel with friends.
We shopped for yummy Mexican vanilla and other souvenirs and then stopped
to enjoy some delicious food and drink.
The water was gorgeous.....such a pretty blue-green color. :)
Back on the ship,
Cristin and I managed to cover nearly ever part it.....
including going up front and seeing the spectacular view.
Participants had the opportunity to decorate their doors for prizes.
Becky and Robin won 2nd place.
Here's the first place winner for CookieCruise door decorations.
This is all made of cookie (except for the hooks and ribbon, of course).....amazing!
Made by Lynne and Sally of Rocking Horse Sugar Decor.
On Sunday morning, it was time to prepare for my glaze class.
I had lots of help from Cristin to get the glaze just the right consistency.
And Doug was my muscles to help empty the very, very thick pre-made glaze we brought from home
into the mixer bowl to thin it out.
While many of us were preparing for the glaze class,
Shannon Heupel (Artfully Designed Creations) provided an airbrush demonstration.
From that demo, we moved back to the London Dining Room for the glaze class.
Everyone had the opportunity to use wet-on-wet technique with glaze to decorate cookie quilt blocks.
And then we fit them all together to make a gigantic cookie quilt!
Our "closing ceremonies" included LOTS and LOTS of wonderful prizes given.
Nicole won the brand new 8 qt mixer!!
Lots of memories were made........
L to R: Cristin, Julia, Tammy, Pam, Monica, and Ginny
And here's the entire 2015 Cookie Cruise group.
What a wonderful event it was!
Thank you Ginny for pursuing your dreams and providing us with this awesome opportunity! ♥
Cookiers stay tuned HERE.
CookieCruise 2016 could be in our future. :)
Here's the awesome sponsors of CookieCruise 2015.
Thank you for all your generous contributions to make the event as spectacular as it was!