getting crafty: my first craftsy class

*Indicates an affiliate link. 

I am a part of the Craftsy* affiliate program and I will be reviewing two of their sewing classes in the next few weeks. Craftsy is a website with a ton of classes for all sorts of crafts, from sewing to crochet to cake decorating. They offer some classes for free and the more in-depth classes vary in price from the $20-$60 range. The first class I am reviewing is free for anyone with a Craftsy account! It is a bag making basics class and in it I learned to make a reversible tote bag and a zipper pouch found here: Free Online Sewing Class.*

 The format of the class is awesome. It is a series of videos divided up into lessons and chapters. As the video plays, you can take your own video notes, leave questions for others taking the class, and see questions or comments others have left. You can pause and replay the video in a variety of ways, and the instruction is clear and easy to follow. You also get printable instructions that go along with the projects you are working on.

While in the free classes you do not get to ask questions of the instructor, you can read through all questions asked by those who have taken the class, post new questions, and read through a ton of answers from others in the class. This format was great for me, it was easy to follow along and having the video to help show me some of the more challenging parts of the bag construction was awesome. I am looking forward to taking more class with Craftsy and cannot wait to see what the next class is like.

Obviously, I still have a lot to learn but what I made in this class was way more technical than what I have been learning from just reading blogs. This class helped me solidify a lot of basics and gave me a clearer understanding of what I need to work on while helping me create two super cute projects (there is a very good chance this will be the year everyone gets a tote bag for birthdays and Christmas because it was really fun to make!)

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Have you taken a class with Craftsy? Tell me about it in the comments!

xoxo,
kat

rambling: on blogging and adding affiliate links

If you have ever read my about me page then you might know that I decided to start blogging again to help me stay focused on things I love. I wanted to write about various aspects of my life, share those stories and journeys with others, find community online, and maybe inspire others in the process. I'm a small time blogger and outside of this little internet world, I work in a field I absolutely love passionately. The idea of monetizing my blog seemed wrong to me for a while, I kept thinking that if I did it would send the wrong message or change the focus of the blog.

But the thing is, I am often linking to products and books that I love and use. People often take hobbies and turn them into something more, even if it's just a little bit here and there. Why is blogging any different? Most people monetize their blog in some way or another from the largest million dollar blogs to the smallest every other week blog, it's just makes sense. That is why I decided to become a part of Amazon Associates and begin using affiliate links.

So, you may notice a couple very small changes in the next few weeks. First you'll notice a disclosure on the side bar that also links to a full disclosure page with more information. This is standard practice for anyone choosing to add affiliate links or monetize the blog in any way. Second, you will also notice that now, on some posts, when I link to a product it will be an affiliate link. And that's it. Nothing else really changes. I'll make sure to let you know in the post if there are affiliate links and if you decide to use them, thank you and that's really awesome. If you don't, thank you for reading my blog and that's really awesome.

xoxo,
kat