I don't outline unless I want to do it for definition.. it's not hard.. just make sure you don't go over the edge and don't add too much icing.. make sure you thin it out to a nice consistency (think thin yogurt) and that if you drizzle it on itself that any lines dissapear completely. I like an 1/8-ish inch border of cookie to show. If you are off you can add more to the edge to make it even.. then like Antonia74 says in her tutorial.. use a toothpick to push teh icing around to fill in any gaps or to define a corner. I really like the non-outlining method. Also.. when you do outline.. make sure that your tip doesn't touch the cookie while you are tracing.. it looks neater that way.
I'm certainly no expert, but for me the thing is getting the consistency of my icing just right. I look for the Elmers glue thickness. Then if it is a large cookie, working quickly to fill in.
I also try not to get too close to the edge. Sometimes it doesn't work, but that mainly happens because my icing might be a little off on the consistency.
Hope this helps 
Consistency is the key. While I'm thinning, I drizzle the icing in the bowl with the spoon and see how long it takes to smooth out. If it doesn't really smooth, then I add a bit more water. I don't want it too thin that it will run off the sides, but I want it to smooth itself out fairly quickly.
Another tip is to not put too much icing on the cookie. I usually put the icing on (like they have already mentioned above) but I will leave spaces/holes and I will smooth it out to fill them in with a spatula or a toothpick for smaller spaces.
It ends up being covered nicely with icing, but there's not so much that it runs over the sides.
Hope that makes sense.
I finally got a look at the Cookies By Design cookies that my mom received as a retirement gift over a month ago. She put them in the freezer because she left for a month in Florida a week later and couldn't eat all the cookies before then! LOL!!
Anyway, I kinda like the look that they have. They use a thick icing that doesn't smooth out all the way. I don't know why, but I liked the look of seeing the lines in the icing. It worked for their cookies anyway, not sure I could make mine look good like that. Mine would look messy I'm sure!
So maybe try the thicker icing and see if it works for the cookie you are making.
I use a spoon too but just a regular one. I also use a paint brush (a tip I got from mitsel
. It also depends like others said the consistency. I go for the thickness of glue like cookiemookie. I used to think that was too thick but now I know, it's perfect. Especially for the details.
Another tip is to not put too much icing on the cookie. I usually put the icing on (like they have already mentioned above) but I will leave spaces/holes and I will smooth it out to fill them in with a spatula or a toothpick for smaller spaces.
It ends up being covered nicely with icing, but there's not so much that it runs over the sides.
Hope that makes sense.
I do the same thing.. I leave spaces and use a tooth pick to push the icing around.. it works like a charm.
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