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If my time and money were unlimited, I’d jump into every craft I see, full force, with all tools, supplies, classes and books.
Unfortunately, my time and money are tightly budgeted.
But I’ve found three good ways to try a craft or skill on for size for little or no money, which lets me get a taste of things so I can decide if it’s something for me or not.
I’m skipping the straight up obvious way of Googling and using YouTube. There’s nothing wrong with going that route, but I’ve found that often gives me conflicting and piecemeal information. I can’t figure out if I don’t like something because it isn’t fun, or if it’s because I’m not getting what I need to be successful at it.
More concentrated instruction is what I’m looking for. Here are my favorite ways to acquire it.
Vendor websites
It’s in their best interest to make sure you are happily invested in the project, so a good vendor will have a blog, videos and freebie worksheets/projects for download. I have to keep my “marketing filter” on, screening out supply lists and multiple purchase suggestions, but it’s worth it. Two vendors in particular who do a great job at this are Tombow and Silhouette. Tombow has a Tips and Projects section with some good step by step projects and free downloads of brush lettering worksheets. Silhouette has a blog with projects, and they have a lot of videos there. More videos are on their YouTube channel. If you search their design store by lowest price to newest, you’ll also find free designs to learn with. The UK version of the blog is also a great tutorial source.
Maker Websites/Courses
Makers in the field who offer classes often go with a model where you get the first class for free (with no obligation – just your email) and then you decide if you wish to continue by purchasing the next class/workbook/etc.
Some creators do a better job of this than others. I get the premise that they are giving you a free trial in hopes of getting you to sign up for the paid version, but some of the free trials just feel like a big commercial – if they say “I’ll show you more of this in the next class” too often it gets to be tedious. I know I’ve hit a winner when I’m into the program and can’t wait to learn more. That’s when they’ve done a good job of showing me that I want to buy the paid version.
My favorite of this genre is The Happy Ever Crafter’s Show Me Your Drills course. It only opens a couple of times a year, but it’s free. You get a download of a workbook, videos, and prompts to post your work on Instagram or Facebook. I’m not a Facebook user, but I’m told she does a great job with live videos, feedback and other group interaction. I’ve really enjoyed this class, and I have purchased each workbook as it’s become available (if you keep on the timeline you get the workbooks for half price, and they aren’t expensive to begin with).
I’m about to start a new workshop series – Love Leigh Loops Faux Calligraphy class starts September 10. It looks similar to the Show Me Your Drills program in that they are rolling out a few letters a day, supporting videos and a Facebook group. It’s free, and I’ll report back on whether I like it at the end of the month.
Paid Instruction
Recently, I treated myself to a birthday present – a premium membership to Skillshare. Basically, Skillshare is like Netflix for tutorials. You pay a monthly fee (or can lump sum it to get a discount) and then you can watch as many courses as you want. Stop and start them at will, and abandon ones that either aren’t done well, aren’t interesting or just aren’t your thing. I thought about signing up for this for about two years, because I didn’t realize that you could try it for two months for free. You need to set up an account with a valid credit card, but you can cancel it anytime up to the two month date (which you could put on a sticky note on your computer or a reminder in your phone) and not get charged.
That was my original plan – I signed up for Skillshare on a rainy Saturday morning and binged watched all weekend. I tried out lettering classes, watercoloring classes, knitting instruction, a little everything. After the third weekend, I took down the sticky note because I knew I was keeping it.
If you sign up through the image below, you’ll get two free months, and I’ll get a small commission (which helps me pay for my months, too!).
