| p>OK. I have to admit right up front that I teach | | | | students make, but also in eliminating their |
| jewelry making classes. So why would I say to | | | | frustration level of forgetting how to make the |
| you that jewelry making videos are a better | | | | jewelry pieces once they get back home from |
| option than taking classes? | | | | class. |
| I've learned this from my own experience with | | | | What a jewelry making video allows you to do is |
| my students. Some of my students take my | | | | watch every move the teacher makes in close-up |
| jewelry making classes just because they want | | | | detail. But probably more importantly, with a video |
| to spend some time doing something interesting | | | | you can watch the lesson over and over and |
| and enjoy the company of other ladies. They look | | | | over again, anytime you want, in the comfort of |
| at jewelry making as just a hobby, and that's fine. | | | | your own home. It's like being able to retake the |
| But my other students take their jewelry making | | | | class, for free, as many times as you like. This is |
| a little more seriously. They want to make quality | | | | especially important when you haven't made the |
| handmade jewelry for themselves, as gifts for | | | | jewelry piece in a while and you need a refresher. |
| friends and family, or even sell their jewelry for | | | | No need to pay for another class! |
| profit. | | | | And that gets to my second point, why videos |
| If you are like these students then I recommend | | | | are more cost effective than jewelry making |
| jewelry making videos as a more effective | | | | classes. When you take a class, private or group, |
| teaching tool, and also as a more cost effective | | | | you have to pay for the instructor's time. If you |
| option than jewelry making classes. | | | | want to learn to make many different jewelry |
| Why more effective as a teaching tool? It's | | | | pieces, at $20/hr. for group lessons, and upwards |
| pretty simple really. When you learn a new | | | | of $40/hr. for private lessons, the cost can really |
| jewelry pattern in class you probably will have | | | | start to add up. In addition, you are limited to |
| forgotten much of it by the time you get home. | | | | learning whatever it is that the instructor wants |
| That's just how our brains work unfortunately. | | | | to teach you. |
| Even if you take home with you written diagrams | | | | With jewelry making videos, on the other hand, |
| showing the jewelry pattern of the piece you | | | | there is a vast and rapidly growing library of |
| learned in class, many people, myself included, just | | | | lessons available for viewing on the internet or on |
| can't translate a 2-dimensional diagram into a | | | | DVD. The cost for these lessons is very low, |
| 3-dimensional world. | | | | sometimes even free, and you get to own them |
| This can be a very frustrating experience, as I | | | | forever. You never have to pay for them again. |
| have learned with many of my students. To help | | | | If you are, or are thinking you might become, |
| my students overcome this I created jewelry | | | | serious about your jewelry making, I recommend |
| making videos showing step-by-step how to | | | | giving video lessons a shot. |
| create the jewelry pieces we made in class. | | | | Both the playback and the payback are hard to |
| What a difference this has made not only in | | | | beat. |
| improving the quality of the jewelry pieces my | | | | |