Tuesday, May 1, 2012

A new beginning....and a BIG thank you!

*Clears throat and taps microphone*... Is this thing on????

      Oh, HI there! Been a long time! How've you all been? Did ya miss me? Even a little? I've missed you all! I had the best of intentions to really have my blog take off like gangbusters in 2011. We all know where the road paved with good intentions leads us though, right?
     Well, this past year has been interesting to say the least. And in my absence from the blogosphere, I started a cake Page on Crack..... I mean FACEbook, making new friends, and networking in the caking world. What a wild ride it's been! :)
     In the little over a year since I started that Page, I've seen some amazing talent, and connected more with some cake and cookie artists that I absolutely adore. (I've also seen some pretty reprehensible behavior. But we won't talk about that here! :-x )
     I'm very grateful for the small, loyal following I've had here in Blog Land...and now the growing following on Facebook. It's time I show some love back!!

Yes, ladies and gents....I'm happy to announce, my very first giveaway!!

First up, while out shopping one weekend, I found these. Are they not the cutest EVER set of measuring cups? Snatched 'em right up, just for YOU. A fun little reminder in the kitchen to keep life sweet every day.

     Next up....a dozen cookies, decorated by yours truly. I've had such fun growing as a cookier in the past year or so. There's SO much inspiration and support to be found on the interwebz, it's catching! I need and really WANT to be a better, more prolific cookier. So, I'm sharing the fruits of that inspiration with you, too!

     Finally, I'm also throwing into the mix a $30 Gift Certificate to GlobalSugarArt.com . They are one of my favorite sources for all things cake and cookie decorating and sugar art. They have an amazing selection of baking/caking/cookie-ing "toys", and great customer service! Please visit their website and see what I mean. Make sure to have a towel handy, because I guarantee you're going to DROOL! ;) And by chance, if you yourself are NOT a baker/decorator of any kind...I'm sure you know someone who IS.

*** CONTEST CLOSED ***
Now for the boring (but easy) part...the rules.
1.) Please share something sweet in a comment. (One comment only, please. Multiple entries will be disqualified) A silly joke, anecdote, what inspires you, what your favorite sweet indulgence
is...whatever you'd like to share that might bring a smile. This enquiring mind wants to know!
(And PLEASE share your email, so I can contact you if you win!)
2.) Contest open to residents of the U.S. only. I do apologize for that, but it's the only way I can control with some certainty that prizes will get to you.
3.) Cookie design and delivery will be at my discretion, and subject to my caking schedule, to be
delivered/mailed within 90 days of the close of the contest.
                   
4.) Contest closes at 6pm Pacific Time, Friday May 11, 2012.
5.) Winner will be chosen using a random number generator at psychicscience.org.
                   
6.) Prizes supplied by myself. This is not a sponsored post/giveaway.
7.) This giveaway is in no way associated with, nor endorse by Facebook.
8.) Please share this post with friends. No, it doesn't get you another entry, but sharing
the sweetness is really what this post is all about :)
     Again, I want to thank each and every one you for joining me on this journey, and sharing in the love and fun of all things sweet! There's more to come...please stay tuned! :)
Sweetest Regards, and Happy Baking to you! ~Scott

74 comments:

  1. Share something sweet... I am sweet ;-p haha
    I am inspired by people like you, Scott, who have a passion for the things they create. I am inspired by children as I think some adults need to remember what it was like to be a kid & have more fun in life.
    My favorite indulgences are ice cream, cookies, brownies, cheesecake, chocolate...... Oh, was I supposed to pick only one?

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  2. Hello i am Cristina. A 22 year old mother of a 8month baby... i didn't grow up with my birth father i have a step dad thr i love dearly, we recently found out he has a brain tumor results aren't looking so good... but n e ways he is a cook n i feel like wen i cook n he judges my food it brings us closer! we can argue but wen i cook n he tries my foid he'll be all no this is too salty ir too dry ill walk away n he says can i have more?.. hahaha thts how i know he liked it ah i love my dad... then u can hear my mom shout i thought u didn't like it! haha!!

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  3. Hi Scott, I think it is 'sweet' that you are doing this 'sweet' contest. All of your work is super 'sweet', and I aspire to some 'sweet' day to be as 'sweet' as you! (well you said say something sweet) lol Cheri DeVries ilufwolves@yahoo.com. It sure would be 'sweet' if I won!!!!

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  4. Here I am to share something sweet..... ME!! LOL Just kidding! Ok, ok, seriously though....I would like to give props to one of the few things that actually helped me to survive my 7years in Graduate school...Cake decorating!!! How you ask? Well I was in desperate need of something to act as a stress reliever during the difficult times of experimental failure. I had never really done any decorating before but my co worker wanted to take the Wilton Classes and I decided why not...That started a new passion and hobby of mine! While not nearly as experienced as many I have gone from hardly being able to decorate at all to having done many cakes and even competing. Where oh where would I be without the wonderful world of caking...not to mention all of the super fantastic AND SWEET people I have met through my new passion!!!! They really are some of the best people I have met in a long time :-)

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  5. Ooooooh, Scott! I love it and I love all the Sweet tidbits you're about to share with some lucky person :) You know I have a love/stress relationship with caking, ha! But I always love being a cookier <3 and learning everyday!

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  6. What a sweet person to do a giveaway!! I'm a "beginner" as well in the cake world and I am constantly learning. My sweetest advice is patience. :o) Ya'll can check out out my cake blog at apoundofcake.blogspot.com (I think my personal blog is linked to my name.. but you are MORE than welcome to come visit me!) You can email me at kpound66@gmail.com.. and even if I don't win.. maybe you can share the source of those measuring cakes :o)

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  7. Yvette Cake Chica RomeroMay 1, 2012 at 3:39 PM

    Scott, you are amazing and the sweet thing I am sharing is YOU with 148 other Cakesters! <3 Wishing you nothing but the best & more success than you can handle! ~ The Cake Chica <3

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  8. Hi Scott, I believe we met at the last DOS in Tigard. It is so great that you're sharing your cake and cookie knowledge with the rest of us. I always learn something new! Thank you and keep up the great work! marrsmck@aol.com

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  9. Hi Scott! Getting to know you has been SWEEEEET!!! What keeps inspiring me, is wonderful, supportive friends like you! Whenever I have had a question you all have been there to help me. I am so happy for you and this achievement and sending you wishes of even more success!!!

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  10. What I consider to be "Truly SWEET" is for you to go out of your way to help sick kids and bring a smile to their face. For you to bring cookies to the hospital to a sick teenage girl and her mother who you have never met, something to shine a little bit of light into their darkness. "Sweet" is for my daughter to tell you "hi" when she nor I know it's her last day here on Earth. To hear of her passing away the next day and take on the honor of making the cake she would be so proud of for her memorial service, and attend the service for her. Not only are you an amazing baker, you are sweeter than anything you could ever create. The sweetest thing is gaining a new friend in you, you have touched our lives as I truly hope Breonia has touched yours. For you to make her little brother's cake in June is very sweet--he is very excited! The most important sweetness is the generosity and big hearts of people going out of their way to bring happiness to others, most of all sick kids. I wish Breonia would have seen her cake, she would have loved it. We all miss her terribly. Breonia wanted to be a cook or baker when she grew up more. She loved baking, and always made the perfect cookies. She was so detail oriented, she would have done an amazing job doing what you do. I am just glad you got to see her, if only for a brief moment. Just thank you again.

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  11. How exciting!!!! He is back!!! Hurray! Scott it has been such a joy to see you grow this year. You are an amazing decorator and amazing person- you inspire me! One of my favorite memories as a child was making cutout cookies with my aunt audrey and my brother Timmy. She let us do whatever we wanted including piling on the icing. Cookies are in my blood!! I look forward to your next post Scott! Your friend, Colleen aka MrsD2@mac.com

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  12. Hello my name is Joy and I love to bake, always have, but recently (thanks mostly to Colleen) I have learned that I can fill cakes, and decorating them with my own hand made decorations. My cakes and cookies are alot more fun they they used to be. jmthomas4505@gmail.com

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  13. Hello Scott, my name is Regina Kolaja. I missed a chance at meeting you in Tucson last Feb. when I was visiting my mom there. My sweet mom is my cake decorating inspiration. She was a single mom and raised extra money baking and decorating cakes (all self taught) With any extra monies at the end of the week, she would buy a new tip or pan; whatever she could afford. I now have her thirty-some year old collection and have sweet memories of my upbringing and where I got my talent from everytime I use them with pride.

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  14. Hi Scott! The sweet thing here is that now I know about your blog!

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  15. Lets see. To me sweet is the smell of cake baking in my oven. Then after a bazillion hours of work on a cake, flour in my face, fat ankles from standing so long, seeing the smile on a childs face when they see their cake for the first time, that my friend is SWEET! <3

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  16. Wow Scott, I didn't even know you had a blog! So happy to have discovered yet another of the many talented bakers out there in blog-land! What a lovely giveaway! As for what inspires me...hmmm...mostly people's personalities. I like to bake things that I know they truly enjoy and love. If someone is a "floral" person, I love doing a bouquet of floral cookies. If a child is into baseball, I love doing sports themed cookies! I like to match my baking to people's passions. Again, glad to have discovered your blog! Melody
    mjames72@sbcglobal.net

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  17. YOU are sweet, Scott! (does that win me anything, lol) Seriously, you are one of the people I really look up to in the cake world. So talented, sweet, friendly, and always making the world a better place <3 Just go ahead and disqualify me from the drawing bc people will think I just kissed your butt if I happened to win. But it was worth it to be able to publicly tell the world what I think of you! Good man, good cakes, good friend! Muaahhhh!

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  18. Sweet = Colleen who let me know about your sweet blog! Scott, you are amazing! arhodes27@yahoo.com

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  19. the cake world is blessed to have your talent! and imagination!
    valerie

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  20. Im so glad to have met you on Facebook.
    People like you give people like me insane and AMZING inspiration to want to continue on in the cake world.
    Thank you for being an inspiration!

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  21. YAY Scott!!! So happy things are going so well for you! You should know how to get a hold of me if I win;) Always happy to get a sweet treat from you! I hope I win the cookies!!!!! I have some sweet ideas for you too, but mostly I just want to say how proud and happy I am for you! You, my dear, are all the sweet we need! Keep sharing all your edible art! ---Xan

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  22. I love watching my daughter develop her baking skills and finding new things for her to try.

    DianeScraps @ Gmail DOT Com

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  23. Thanks for hosting the giveaway! Many of my inspirations are found online. You are one of them! What would I do without my computer???

    trinettechow@gmail.com

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  24. I think cakes are a work of art &of course must be sweet & yummy! Looking forward to reading about all you do...sure would love to win &the see your handy work 1st hand.
    Allabouthim72@msn.com

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  25. Well this just happened last week and I have told it a lot because it makes me smile. I have a nearly 100 lb. Golden Retriever, Duchess who was very sick at the Vet from surgery complications. However, there was a tiny ting dog there and it was shaking scared and she literally hugged it with her head and gave it a bath and cuddle. Sweetest thing ever from the sweetest Retriever ever :)

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  26. What a fun giveaway thank you. Baking is apasion a joy a strew relief for me. Thefriuts of my laborious bring joy and happiness to others. Nothing is better than working all hours of the night and the customer picking the cake up and having a look of shock and awe.

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  27. The sweetest thing in my life right now are my two new grandbabiest & I can't wait for them to be big enough to eat the extra special cookies I 'm gonna make for them!

    JoAnn DeNitto

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  28. Hello, Chef Scott! My name is Jaime and I am so inspired by people like you! People with fun and creative ideas...You really get my creative juices flowing. My dream since I was a teenager is to have my own little bakery cafe. I'm 35 now but I have never stopped believing. Next month I am doing my first show at a local fundraiser and I will be selling and displaying my yummy treats. I am so excited! I am even considering going to Culinary School later this year...something I always regretted not going through with after high school.
    Thanks for inspiring me and so many others!

    jaime_celebratinghome@yahoo.com

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  29. Very sweet treat and personally think it is awesome to see a guy out there! (Hubby is a chef)

    What's sweet for me? Well, everything. It's why I do what I do. Making sweet memories, especially with my kids. Between the hubby and I, we are raising a household of foodies. Funny thing though - Baby like plating, older boy loves baking and it is our daughter that loves being out on the grill.

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  30. I've recently started heavily crafting for almost a year now but after all I've tried, I always go back to my number one love which is cake decorating. I'm trying to teach myself the fundamentals. I still would like to try my hand at cookie decorating too! Thank you for sharing your creations that inspire me to me a better decorator. Those measuring cups are insanely adorable!!

    Beki

    beheeka@hotmail.com

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  31. Glad that I have stumbled upon you! I am a mother of 5 girls and we LOVE to bake. I adore seeing your work( as well as others) and cant wait to see more.
    Heathandkathy@sbcglobal.net

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  32. Hello Scott! i'm new here, Sugarbelle sent me!! Thanks for sharing your love of sweets with us!!

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  33. Love your character modeling skills! You must do some tutorials!

    sweetandcraftyadventures@gmail.com

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  34. Hey Scott!!! Way to GO!! So something sweet hmmm, lets see My 2 year old loves baking cookies and she is actually really good at mixing the dough herself. She loves looking through cook books and picking a new picture to try and make. I think we have a mini baker on our hands ;-) You are awesome and we miss you.

    Lindsay at Sun Connections dot com (sorry spelled it for you to prevent spammers)

    Lindsay Thurlow
    Travel Agent Extraordinaire

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  35. Winning something as cute as those measuring cups would be ultra SWEET!
    Inez Baked4U@aol.com

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  36. My inspiration is my kids and my sweet indulgence are COOKIES :

    kmurphy29@wi.rr.com

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  37. You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose but you can't pick your friends' nose! hehehe best quote ever

    meek_heidi@yahoo.com

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  38. Here's something sweet....... This summer I will be participating in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. I made a team for my nephew Anthony. He has down syndrome and was diagnosed with leukemia in october 2011. We have been raising funds for the past few months. At the relay I will be selling cupcakes and all the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society.

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  39. Hello Scott! I am new to your facebook page and your blog. I used to work for Great American Cookie and had never decorated a cake in my life when they handed me an icing bag and said "decorate". I was scared to death because I am a perfectionist! I just knew that I wasn't going to get the job because I had never done anything like that before. Granted, it is nothing like what you do! However, I did pretty good because I was hired as the Manager! Can you believe that!? :)

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  40. I hope that in this next year I'm able to bake more and explore more to learn my own abilities in baking. Thank you for being a support system and source of inspiration for me :) love you!

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  41. It is so "sweet" of you to have a giveaway. Came over from Sugarbelle's. Will be anxious to see your giveaway treat even if I don't win. Please post! --Katy

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  42. Hello Scott. I am so happy for your page and I love your work. I saw your comments frequently on Sugarbelle's FB page and that's how I discovered you. Now you are on your own showcasing your beautiful work. THank you for your generous giveaway and congratulations. Lorraine @ Lorraines Cookies

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  43. I enjoy baking with my children, (especially my 3 yr old) and treasure the time spent with them.


    Lisa
    witchway947@gmail.com

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  44. Sweet is the mini-Avengers cakes I'm baking right now for my husband's birthday tomorrow!

    pegandcrew@yahoo.com

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  45. What a great giveaway...I found you via a share from Sugarbelle...glad she shared...totally loving your style...me...I am a cookie gal...cakes scare the heck out of me...and those measuring cups...I want to know where you found them...I just love cupcakes!

    Now...what inspires me...people like you do...people who are passionate about what they do....people who have a great sense of humor..people who like meeting new people online, who share their shared passion.

    Looking forward to totally stalking you in the future...but not in a creepy way, in a "Hey,I love your work" way
    Kim
    The Cookie Puzzle
    thecookiepuzzle@gmail.com

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  46. Something Sweet? I eat chocolate at least three times a day and have been knoe to hide it everywhere! Distracteddebra@gmail.com

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  47. i love baking blogs.. i learn so much from all of you!!! my favorite thing to make is***drum roll*** Cookies!!!


    jennyfur1980@yahoo.co

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  48. What a great giveaway and so sweet of you. Thanks! I love to bake and love to eat what I bake! Oftentimes I'll send most of it with my hubby to take to work. Look forward to to keeping up with your blog.

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  49. Thank you for sharing this sweet giveaway. I love that you share your ideas and cookies with us.
    therannj@sbcglobal.net

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  50. What a great giveaway.. I'm so glad I found you (thanks to a post by SugarBelle). I'm pretty new to the cookie decorating (like nov 2011 was my very first try).. I just think its fun its a nice crafty outlet that tastes good ;). I am as I type this baking cookies for my SIL's surprise grad party (yes it is 11:52pm and I'm not even close to half way done for the party taking place this friday). I love to find cookie artists (as I like to call them) and follow to see what cool things they make. I know I'm not that good and probably won't be but I love to try :D And I love ideas from people such as yourself I can't wait to see what sweet things you cook up in the future!
    -Jamie
    babyblueangel_30@yahoo.com

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  51. One of my favorite quotes, seems appropriate for you today... Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you. ~Oprah Winfrey

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  52. Hi Scott! Something sweet? I am addicted to cake! I could eat tit every day and nevr get sick of it!!! Thanks for what you do!!!

    ppawluch@msn.com

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  53. Thanks for hosting a give away! The measuring cups remind me of my two little girls, and how much time I will be spending with them in the kitchen teaching them to bake!

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  54. Hi Scott!!!! Sweet Sugar Belle mentioned that we come over and check out your blog:). I've been making dozens and dozens of cookies for teacher appreciation at my twins' school over the past week. The teachers all enjoyed them, and I loved making them! Our teachers are important...so let's share some SWEETS with them:)

    Katedanko@gmail.com

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  55. Good morning!! So happy to have found your blog. I love to bake cookies and cupcakes!! My cookie decorating skills are coming along quite nicely thanks to people like you who share there talents and tricks via the Internet. My passion is baking. It's a world I can get lost in that helps this world make better sense to me. gongawaresheri@gmail.com

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  56. I found you through Sugarbelle's post on FB. I am an avid baker, cookie decorator and knitter. I have learned much from Sweet Sugarbelle's blog, and I look forward to reading yours. My current project is special cookies for my brother's 40th birthday -a combination of Star Wars and Muppets -because you don't really ever have to grow up if you don't want to. :o) Good luck with the new blog!

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  57. Well my cookie experience starts off with just loving cookies and the way it's just the perfect way to start-live-end my day. I used to use the break n bakes cause I didn't know how to bake cookies. THANK GOD for Youtube. :) and watching little bits and pieces of ways people bake ANYTHING. Then I found sugarbelle. She inspired this stay at home mom by letting her know that people don't mind sharing their secrets in full detail online. Especially to a stranger. :) I learned that even I could decorate a cookie. That is how I found your blog through her. And I love how I can sit all day just staring at your blog and actually read your passion. :) That and the infornation that comes with it...and lastly what makes me love baking is more because this way I can be a part of my husbands job too. He is a Marine Corps Recruiter and I bake him a batch of cookies and decorate them so he could give them to the school teachers and administrators. :) everyone loves cookies and people bond over them so it helps him get to know his community on a delicious playing field. Thank you for sharing your love with us. :)
    TF.JJUN@Gmail.com

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  58. I was reading a book with my 3 yo son and it talked about best friends and my son looked at me and said "Mommy, you're my best friend."


    nicolelynadams [at] yahoo.com

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  59. Hi, Scott. SugarBelle sent me your way! She's so sweet! I have a new grandgirl who is just the sweetest thing this side of the Mississippi River!

    Cheryl

    flowers1915888@hotmail.com

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  60. okay, i LOVE the measuring scoops! super cute.. and super sweet & would look super amazing in my kitchen!! can't wait to see what your treat looks like! i will most def be a new follower :))))

    Heather Rice
    www.wild-flourcakes@hotmail.com

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  61. What a sweet giveaway. I started decorating last year and it has been so much fun and I look to you and others for awesome "sweet" inspiration. Thanks so much.
    Natalie
    npuikkonen@gmail.com
    sweethobbynatalie.blogspot.com

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  62. I just became a grandma in December (Christmas Eve) to a beautiful little girl. Since both grandmas have similar first names and we both want to be called Grandma, yours truly has been dubbed "Grandma Cupcake" because, well, you can probably guess...

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  63. Hello Scott!!! I found you through SSB and I am so glad she shared your giveaway so I can see all the awesome work you do. I am in love with the monkey sitting on the banana!!! Way to cute!!!!! Thanks for doing this giveaway and I hope I win!!! kimberly@sweetcreationscookies.com

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  64. My favorite sweet is ice cream!!! I try not to buy it for the house because I will eat it every night until it's all gone :) I love your work!!!

    rightshoe_75482@yahoo.com

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  65. Oooh, I want to say I love your work! It’s fun to look at what you're doing. I'm still waiting for you to offer some classes on modeling. It was great to meet you at the day of sharing in March. Thanks for the bunny! He's proudly sitting in my living room keeping tabs on everything.

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  66. Happy to find you! Haven't decorated a cookie yet but I am sure your "sweetness" will inspire me to take the plunge.
    Roberta
    roberta.transfer@gmail.com

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  67. Hi! I got sent your way by Sugarbelle. Looks like a sweet giveaway here! I don't make many cakes, but I just make wedding cake sugar cookies for my friend's wedding. I can think of several things I could get with that giftcard. I'm looking forward to seeing more things from you!

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  68. I am truly in awe of the designs I see online. You all inspire me!

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  69. Hi scott! I found you through Sugarbelle! I've never ordered anything from global sugar art but I see some fun things I'd like to order!

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  70. I just started cookie decorating early this year. I am now obsessed and all I ever think and dream about is making and decorating cookies. My kids are always eager to see what will I be decorating next....they are my inspiration and seeing the look on their faces when they get to see the final product is PRICELESS!

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  71. I love cookie-ing and love cake-ing....I love it when someone can take it to the next level like you have!! I think it's wonderful that youre always pleasant positive in your FB posts and in the off chance that youre not, yoy make me laugh ;) keep it up :)

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  72. I have become just a little addicted to creating baked stuff. Something I thought would make you smile is something my husband said, it still makes me laugh.He was talking back to the TV Commericial. Diamonds for mother's day? What do they know? Not my wife, or any of her friends. Cookie racks, PME tips, fenton cake stands...Diamonds? who this guy fooling...Thanks for the cool giveaway.

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  73. Scott I am in total awe by your talent & your willingness to help others. I hope one day to have the talent that you have

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  74. Greetings from your fellow cake-group buddy! Wow Scott, I don't think I knew you had a blog!
    There are so many things that inspire me, but for one, I am inspired by people who persevere when the odds are against them; be it the soldier maimed in a war, the single parent doing their level best to raise upstanding citizens, or the person who started with nothing and scratched out a business of their own-people that show a sense of heroism in the simplest of ways...

    twocans1@hotmail.com

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