Hello. My name is Jen, and I am a......

Hello.  My name is Jen, and I am (among other things) a Craftsy junkie.  No, it's true.  So much so, that I recently became a Craftsy affiliate so I could tempt the rest of you to join me.

What does being an affiliate mean exactly?  I am still figuring that out, but I hope that it means that I will be able to share some great deals to you.  A dirty little secret of my Craftsy addiction is that I have managed to take most of the classes without paying full price.  Craftsy has some amazing sales at certain times of the year (coming soon), and I have taken advantage of links provided by other Craftsy affiliates that gave me discounts on a class I was interested in at the time.  Each affiliate seems to have different links to share.  I hope that I will be able to pass along some deals you might be interested in.  Yes, I will get a small commission on any class you sign up for through my links.  I plan to use any money to offset shipping costs, etc. for more giveaways.  I doubt it will be any significant amount of funds, but I believe in transparency here at my blog, so I am telling you this up front, especially since it is about time I start reviewing some of the classes I have taken (which is quite a few at this point).

Like other things on my blog, if I find value in something, I want to share it with you.  My reviews are MY reviews.  Craftsy doesn't tell me what to say or push me to show things in a favorable light.  I pledge to tell you the truth.  At the moment, I haven't taken a bad class.  It might happen one day, and if it does, I will tell you about it.

Why Craftsy?

• It is convenient - classes available 24/7
• Wonderful content - whether you are solely interested in quilting or you also knit, crochet, bake, or sew.  There are all kinds of classes
• FREE content - yep, I said Free!  I've already shown you some of the free patterns I have found on Craftsy (here and here), but there are also free classes!

You just can't beat the convenience of Craftsy classes.  I can watch them for a few minutes before I fall asleep at night, or I can play the videos on my iPad while I sew.  If I have an internet connection, I can be taking a class.  You gotta love that!  And the classes are there for me forever.  I can watch them as many times as my little heart desires.

The classes are excellent.  Since I've had the pleasure of taking a few classes at big quilt shows, I feel I can compare the experiences now.  Of course, for some techniques, having someone stand over you and show you the right way is great, especially if you have trouble with a particular technique.  But for most things, a video is sufficient, and it is not like you don't get any interaction on Craftsy.  If it is a paid class, the instructor will respond to any questions you post to the platform.  In the free classes, your questions/comments are responded to by fellow students.

This past January I took a class at a quilt show from Cindy Needham.  I have also taken her Craftsy class, Design it, Quilt It. (I believe this link gives you 25% off her class).  Both classes are amazing, with similar content, BUT I felt like her Craftsy class actually had more content.  I think this might be because in a video lesson, the instructor doesn't have to stop what he/she is doing to answer questions right then or walk around the room to see what everyone is doing.  YOU can stop the video whenever you wish, rewind, fast forward, etc.  You don't have to wait for the student next to you to "get it" before the class progresses.

If you are looking for a class about Free Motion Quilting that covers everything from the basics, to using stencils, and even some more advanced techniques about layering motifs, this is the class for you.  And there is so much eye candy, it is almost like going to a mini quilt show in each lesson.
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BUT, maybe you aren't interested in paying for online classes right now.  That's cool.  I just want to mention that Craftsy has a LOT of free content too.  Yes, you have to sign up for an account, but that is free too.   Craftsy has free classes as well as a bunch of free patterns that have been uploaded by designers.  One of the best free Craftsy classes I have taken was by Elizabeth Hartman called Creative Quilt Backs.  I have used several of the techniques she discusses in the class to make my quilt backs.

There are also two Block of the Month programs available for FREE!  The 2012 BOM was hosted by Amy Gibson.  The blocks were fabulous and taught me a bunch of new techniques.  We are half way through the 2013 BOM with Laura Nownes, and it is proving to be pretty fabulous too.

Maybe you are a pattern designer and don't know how to get your patterns to other quilters, Craftsy could be great for you!  Unlike some of the other websites out there that allow you to sell things, Craftsy doesn't charge you a commission to list/sell your patterns.  If you are interested in this aspect of Craftsy, go to Craftsy, click on the patterns tab, click on add a pattern, then read what you need to know!  I haven't tried it yet, but I hope to soon.

Now, I don't want you regular readers to worry.  I am not going to plug Craftsy every day.  I have at least 7 classes that I have completed (and about 7 more that I haven't completed) that I would like to write reviews for while I am on vacation in July, and I plan on making a page at the top of the blog to summarize these reviews.  I know there are some fabulous sales coming up soon too, so of course I will let you know about that when it happens.  But, the day to day here on the blog (I almost wrote "here on the farm") won't change.  I still have way too many projects on my "to-do list", and a whole bunch of new things I want to try, and well, life too.

On that note, the Tooth Fairy forgot to come 2 nights in a row.  I don't know what I was thinking (or not thinking).  Thankfully, an email to the Head of Tooth Fairy Relations and a swift reply took care of any hurt feelings.  Evidently the floods in Germany caused their TAFONS (Tooth About to Fall Out Notification System) to be damaged and the poor little fairies are having to do everything manually and are a little behind schedule.  Also, our regular Tooth Fairy, Margaret, was off on a rescue mission to free some fairies that had been trapped by an evil villain.  It's true (almost)!  I have an email to prove it.  Anyway, the intern Tooth Fairy had better get to visiting us tonight, so I will say goodnight.

Thanks for reading,

Jen