Member Benefits 026-3: Course Feedback

Hello Cindy, early this year I decided to have a go at playing with polymer clay, just for fun. So I purchased your Polymer Clay Beginners Course. Previously I’d made and sold jewellery made from paper and semi-precious stones. NOW I am making and selling my polymer clay jewellery!!!! Without subscribing to your course it would never have happened. I make and sell my polyclay jewellery to raise funds for charity. Without your help, tutelage and inspiration that too would not have happened. So…. THANK YOU, THANK Y0U, THANK YOU!!!!! Sincerest thanks to you. ~Elizabeth-C >> This comment was originally posted here: Faux Agate Video Tutorial

I’ve only been making beads out of clay for a couple of months, but I feel the videos in your Polymer Clay Beginners Course where just great for someone breaking into the craft. Some of the topics I had already gleaned from the Internet from various sources but it REALLY helped to have a high quality video to SHOW you up close and personal about the topics you discussed. I definitely feel the series is a bargain and would recommend it. I subscribed to your weekly videos and have made beads from many of the tutorials. I look forward to the new video that comes out each week. I’m just beginning to experiment with mixing colors, so I believe the recipe cards will come in really handy as well. Keep up the fantastic work! ~June-W >> This comment was originally posted here: Polymer Clay Beads

Hi Cindy, Your “Polymer Clay Bead Making for Beginners Course” is exceptional. I can’t agree more with all those who have said what a great teacher you are. And the presentation of the material you cover is easy to understand. The lighting in your studio is beyond professional. I have tried to learn another subject through TV video and the quality you have just wasn’t there. So I have an experience to compare to and you have it all. I have learned so much and now the fun begins to be able to play with the clay and make things happen. Of course I will need to refer to the tuts and their being available 24/7 is such a plus, no waiting for the class to begin, it is only a click away.  Also, your video library has so much more and I’m excited about trying out the recipe cards. It is difficult at times to come away from your blog. All these artists who willingly share their talents also are wonderful. Its like an extended family in the clay world. Sometime I hope to be able to contribute an experience but for now I will be there with questions as I share this experience with my twin granddaughters who will spend their summer vacation here in sunny Florida. Thank you, Cindy. ~Joyce-M >> This comment was originally posted here: Polymer Clay Bead Making

Hi Cindy –  I just wanted to say that I would have never even started polymer claying if I hadn’t taken your beginning Tutorial class. I had no idea where to start. The price was incredibly low! Michael’s offers no classes in my area (suburban Chicago, IL) and even if they did, they would not begin to include all the information you teach in your Tutorials. I learned everything I needed to know to get started. Then I wasn’t afraid to dig in and GO! The videos are very clear and concise and you presented them so well that I know exactly what to do. I have since purchased many books (second hand from Amazon marketplace) and their instructions are very unclear, although I have been able to learn and see many new things from them. But your instructions are A#1! And your price is unbelievable! Thank you Cindy, for providing such wonderful tutorials!  I learned so much and I have since purchased almost all of the back issues of the library videos and have joined the club too! I continue to learn everyday and play with the clay almost every day. ~Coberue-D >> This comment was originally posted here: Polymer Clay Tutorials

Sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you. The course is brilliant, I don’t see how you could make it better. I feel I have my own private tutor in the room with me. Your instructions are clear and concise. Thank god for the day I found your site. Thanks for your support. ~Josie-T >> This comment was originally posted here: Faux Raku Beads

Hi Cindy! Taking your course definitely showed me how much I don’t know about polymer clay. Being a complete newbie, I found every video extremely helpful. Before I had no idea about different brands, how to make even size beads, how to not get fingerprints, I didn’t even know beads needed to be sanded and finished. Until I get further into my bead making, I can’t think of a thing to add… Except I am anxiously waiting for your cane making video series! ~Joyce-R >> This comment was originally posted here: Polymer Clay Color Recipes

Cindy – It took me awhile to go through all of the many videos in your beginners course, and I found them very helpful. I know I shall go back to it frequently to refresh my memory. It does really help to see exactly how things are done. Thank you. ~Christine-L >> This comment was originally posted here: Polymer Clay Beads

I’d like to share my thoughts about the Beginners Course. Bear in mind I haven’t actually done anything with the clay yet. Firstly, the videos got me really excited about polymer clay, in a way that the books I have, never did. Secondly, I wish I’d seen your videos before I purchased all of the Sculpey I have lying around from years past. I had some Premo but a lot more Sculpey. Also, I liked your tip about buying just a few colors and mixing my own, since space is at a premium in my studio. The video tips have allowed me to purchase just what I need to get started, without wasting a lot of time and money on trying various products for myself. I like your emphasis on a quality product. I think that’s what’s been missing from the experience I’ve had with polymer clay, whether in books or pieces I’ve seen. I have high standards for my jewelry and I think that the lengthy sanding is where most people don’t seem to go. ~Carole-C >> This comment was originally posted here: Mixing Polymer Clay Colors

Cindy, I have enjoyed all your bead making beginners course and the subsequent videos on sanding and sharpening of blades. I like your info so much I signed up today for your Polymer Clay Tutor Library. ~Carolyn-C >> This comment was originally posted here: Polymer Clay Canes

Well, I got 8 out of 10. I missed knowing who was the first to invent polymer clay, and I forgot that it is Premo, not Fimo who basis their colors on traditional artist pigments. Well, I know I will always remember this things from now on!!! I feel good knowing that I remembered everything about which clays work best for what:) Good test, Cindy. I think I’ll go back and watch your Bead Making Basics Course again! I haven’t watched it for a little while, and I obviously need a tune up! ~Cindy-E >> This comment was originally posted here: How To Make Beads

May I say how very much I like your videos. Your style of explaining and the speed at which you explain is perfect for me. So, as a “newbie” and having recently watch the beginner’s course, I think that it is just right. ~Doug-K >> This comment was originally posted here: Polymer Clay Bead Ideas

Cindy when I first got interested in polymer clay I saw a Carol Duvall show on TV with Donna Kato. I was so in love with that show. I bought a bunch of clay on Ebay and a few tools and a pasta machine. I knew I had to have the machine because of my hand and wrists. I got everything ready and I was like a deer in headlights. Left it out for a week then put it up and did not get it out again for over a year. Now that is just plain silly. At the time I had been working with wood and found my comfort zone so that is what I returned to. Then I came across Polymer Cafe magazine and started watching Carol Duvall again and just jumped in. Was it great no. But my grandkids loved it so I stuck with it and fell more and more in love each day. I can truly say I didn’t get comfortable with it till I joined your sight and bought the beginners course and all the back Videos. I go through what most everyone else does every time I make something. There is no worse critic for your own work then yourself. But I have learned perfect or not I am having way too much fun and that is what the most important thing is for me. I learn more everyday with your videos and blog. I read and reread, I watch and re watch and learn something new every time. I am totally mesmerized with your talent and you. Once again Thank you for being YOU!!!!!!!! ~Peggy-B >> This comment was originally posted here: Polymer Clay

Having a box load of any type of art collected or made over the years is a treasure, like finding great sea glass on a beach and adding it to the jar. For me, the best thing about this site has been that it’s provoked me to “start over” and relearn skills and tasks. The tutorials and sites here have been incredibly informative and well worth the cost. Taking the bead making course from scratch, then, forcing myself to use the new methods Cindy demonstrates and not revert back has been a challenge and has dramatically increased my enjoyment of the process as well as seeing a lot of progress in my capabilities. So many times we can get “locked in” to where we are, and forget that lot’s of life is about the achievement of positive change.  My Dad grew tired of my petulance in childhood, and began responding simply, “then, change it.” (or shut UP, lol). It instilled a deep “can do” attitude, that I think Cindy exemplifies perfectly. ~Jocelyn-C >> This comment was originally posted here: Polymer Clay Learning

Hi Cindy, I just wanted to say I am so glad I decided to buy your beginners course. I love modeling flowers and had bought some clay and made a few beads myself before I signed up with you. I learned so much from the videos each week but I found that I needed to get to the basics. There was so much I did not know. I could have experimented and found out a few things after the mistakes but this saved me time and clay. I learned about storing clay correctly and rolling perfectly round beads. A friend of mine commented on how nice and round my beads were! The video on making holes and enlarging holes was priceless because I had a problem with that I’m not perfect yet but I now know I’m doing it right. I can also make holes after the bead is baked which I did not know before. I enjoyed the cane videos – the bulls eye and jelly roll and checkerboard. I also learned how to make a nice beveled edge pendant; I had made a flat pendant and rolled it up because I was not satisfied with the edge. So thank you for all those wonderful videos too and sharing all of your knowledge. You are just awesome! I hope you will continue having those videos coming for a long, long while. I look forward to them all. PS: Thank you for the bonus videos too. ~Cheryl-H >> This comment was originally posted here: Kaleidoscope Canes

Hi Cindy, Your video polymer clay basics course is extremely helpful – it’s one thing to read instructions (via magazines and books, and from various web sites), but it’s another thing to actually have a kind voice (especially another Canadian!) walking you through the steps. I’m an “in-your-face” kind of person – so learning comes so much easier when I’m able to see what needs to be done, to see the finished product, and hear suggestions along the way. I don’t use a laptop, but I make notes – each and every video has given me a piece of information that I didn’t know (who would have thought to use crayons for colouring! – yes, colouring with a ‘u’ even though my spellchecker doesn’t like it)! I’ve tried my hand at many various crafts over the years – from painting children’s clothes, teaching ceramics in Ottawa, selling my wheat weaving at the Kitchener Farmer’s Market, woodcarving (whoops – arthritis in the hands – couldn’t do that one for long), chainmail jewelry (hands didn’t like that one either) – but when I was introduced to polymer clay, my creative juices began to flow – the sky’s the limit with this product and with you putting me on the right path with your videos, I can see endless possibilities (silly thing to say, but I never even contemplated making buttons!) So, in a nutshell – yes, this is a very beneficial video course! I thank my lucky stars for the day that I happened onto your site! Keep up the Great Work! ~Gail-G >> This comment was originally posted here: Making Polymer Clay Buttons

Hi Cindy, Your lessons in the Polymer Clay Beginners Course have inspired me to try something totally new. Yes, I have been a beginner all the way. And you have walked me through with your lessons and I’m thankful you have made this all possible. I think the short video classes give the brain enough time to load up and try it out. I would highly recommend these classes to others so they can make beads instead of trying to learn by mistakes. Keep on, keeping on. Thank You! ~Holly-A >> This comment was originally posted here: Polymer Clay Bead Giveaway Contest

Cindy, Your polymer clay fundamentals course was well worth the price. I got some good ideas… like the saran wrap for making beveled edges. This improved my polymer clay buttons immensely! I loved the bonus videos. And I also liked you’re info on mixing colors. Very interesting how different brands mix differently. I’m always trying to think of new ideas, no matter what materials. I found these really striking fabrics and I wanted a way to make them look different from other pillows. Here’s some photos of my work. Thanks. ~Joan-D >> This comment was originally posted here: Polymer Clay Buttons

Wanted to let you know that your Polymer Clay Beginners Course is very informative… a lot is basics but still those basics are very important to get a product that is a lasting one. As with all your videos, very concise with no frills and time consuming talk that is just not necessary. I do love your videos. ~Cherie-S >> This comment was originally posted here: Polymer Clay Library

Great idea Peggy! I belong to the NYC Polymer Clay Guild and at last month’s meeting, I talked about Cindy and her Polymer Clay Tutor. As a matter of fact, another guild member also subscribes to this website. It is so easy to promote Cindy. Her course is extremely informative and her weekly newsletters are chock full of great ideas and tips! Like I always say when I get together with my girlfriends “Happy Happy Joy Joy”!!!! Thanks again Cindy! ~Hobokenmary >> This comment was originally posted here: Leopard and Zebra Canes

Dear Cindy, Just want to say that I found your  beginners clay course to be not only be helpful, but quite encouraging as well. I really just need someone to show me and let me try for myself. I like that I can go back and review anytime, day or night. I also like the idea of a library. Thanks for the opportunity to learn polymer clay! ~Laurie-W >> This comment was originally posted here: Polymer Clay Video Library

REGULAR COLOR RECIPE (A): Horsetail ** B-SERIES COLOR RECIPE (B): Prairie Grasses > Polymer Clay Tutorials Guest List VIDEO: A Fast, Simple and Easy Technique for Making Faux Dichroic Glass