My Take on These Tutorial Thingys!!!

[Reenie]

I have bought almost all the tutorials here I think and there's alot more that I wanted to buy.
Once I buy 4, I send it off to Lulu to print as I will NOT bring a $1200 laptop on the workbench with me. (Glass pops...etc)
I've done some of the tutorials out. I've tried Lydia's florals (failing so far) Lori's pansy's (failing so far lol) Ocean Bead...Looks good! Annie's tutorials about 4 so far....
But I spent 4 hours reading these tutorials.....jellyfish, eye cane, dragon, squiggly snake, Loco dragon, daisy beads....all of them.
I made a few of the jellyfish beads last night and although the jellyfish aren't perfect...OMG I'm so happy of what I created. The depth of adding layers and layers to a bead just WOW..That's all I can say.

What did these tutorials do for me? Did it teach me how to copy your beads...well yea for the first time, since I took your suggestions on what colors to use. (I went word for word on everything)

But that's not my point:-) What these tutorials did for me was open up my mind. It created an imagination that I never thought possible. I knew the basics, stringers, twisties, and I know how to make all the shapes...I just didn't have any idea on where to start or what to make or anything.
Color combos that Sarah uses, I would have never thought of using.
Teal over turquoise..what is that? OMG What a combo!
Leaky Pen...Who knew it was such a gorgeous color!!!!!
Mary's tenticle cane. OMG...There's so much work involved and how the heck did she figure out it would do what it does?
You all are like inventors. Seriously. You invent products that people want to buy but can't seem to do it themselves. And it's not because they don't want to try. Alot of us (including me) have concepts that we want to try but get frustrated at the mere thought of how do I even attempt this.

Long story short, (Kinda)
Now I want to create again. I want to take what I've learned and start creating my own colors. I want to make layers and layers of colors in an underwater scene that I can call my own. I want to start making murrini now that I can make an eye and I can make tenticles...what else can't I do???

Oh and Annie....your color combos as well as Sarah just pop! Again...I would have never thought of it.
I think I'm afraid to play with color. I'm afraid to mix a few together and I don't know what colors will react when they touch another color because all I do is Basic stuff!

So I thank you all for your wonderful tutorials. please don't stop writing them. Please don't let a few people ruin what it has done for people like me.
I don't want to be a frustrated lampworker anymore. I want to take chances and play.
Mary said it best and I'm going to put it in my signature line because it's one of the best quotes I've heard.
So look down and you'll see it!!!!

Thanks everyone for giving me a chance to get on the torch again. I don't have time to torch with this business so this helps soo much when I'm too tired to even try and think of anything creative~~

Edited to add: For those tutorials that I have not bought yet.....trust me people....There's quite a few that I still want..(Umm color families) and alot more I just figured, gee why am I buying these if I don't even torch? Voila!!! I'll be stalking you all as soon as I have some more personal cash to play with :-)

[Anne Ricketts]

(((((((Reenie)))))))

[debiweiss]

Reenie, I sooooo agree with you all the tutorials that I have purchased have made me a better and more creative beadmaker and yes some of the experiments are not the best but from them I learn and move on. I too thank all of you for taking the time to write and teach what you have taken so long to learn.
Debi

[lampworker1]

Me too, I have not purchased any tutorials but I am going through the index of free tutorials and I am learning so much!!! I have all of the technical skills but the tutorials and information is teaching me how to COMBINE techniques and try something totally out of my box. Thanks all. and thanks for starting this thread!!

[kandice]

what a sweet post. :)

[Moth]

Irene, what a beautiful post and thank you so much for putting a quote from my tutorial in your signature line. I feel like Benjamin Franklin now! (Which ROCKS...I'm a history buff.)

LOL...seriously though, I'm very happy that you are very happy.

I just spent the afternoon watching glass dvd's in Japanese. LOL It struck me as beautiful that like music, glass is a universal language. I understood what was going on, could feel my hands twitch with the movements like a toe taps to a beat.

It's a beautiful thing.

Hugs to you.
~~Mary

[Moth]

Geez, how many times did I have to say 'beautiful'? ](*,)

:lol:
~~Mary

[Janine]

Yup, I totally agree. I think even if I never used the techniques on the torch (someday I will get DH off of it!), the tutorials have given me a depth of understanding of glass that I have never had before.

[beadsoncypress]

And THANKS to every LE'r who has aken the the time to SHARE!!!

[beadmama]

Irene

Wow!!! That was sooo sweet!!! =D>=D>As a novice lampworker I feel exactly the same...I have bought few tuts from several artists here and love them....but I have followed the tut to learn..not to passed on or made exactly the same beads as theirs to sell. But I want more tuts available and don't want it spoiled by a few. Seems that what happens so much in life, I see it with my kids at school there is always a few kids that screw it up for the rest . Unfortuately that is life, a few bad apples but there's whole bunch of us, good ones that really do care. I hope everyone continues to share that I may continue on this wonderful glass journey.

Thanks everyone who has shared either by posts on LE or offered such wonderful tuts!! :love:

[Ever After]

:love::love::love:

you made my heart smile.

[Ashtonjewels]

Reenie, thank you for posting this. . .It's just what I needed to start my day. :love:

[swamper]

Absolutely, my thoughts too. Thanks for posting.

[granny]

Please add me to the ones that appreciate and LOVE all the tutorials
If I could I would buy every single one!!!
I can't begin to tell you how much it helps those of us that want to learn!!!!!

granny

[Carmen Isaacs]

I think they are the best thing since sliced bread.......keep them coming!!

[Shrimp]

Amen. Those are the tutorials from artists that deserve to reap the benefits. Thank you Irene.

[melissabeads]

Thanks Irene.. you said this perfectly!!!!!! I too wish I had every tutorial available!! We are LUCKY for those that are so willing to share their knowledge, skills, and trials with us..

[Beadbug]

Again thanks Irene, you said what I have been thinking since I first purchased the pansie tutiorial. The love and time that the writers put into these truly shows so please don't stop writing and I won't stop purchasing.

[Carlabeads]

Wow Irene - what a sweet post! :) I have been contemplating doing another tutorial and in the past few days have gone back and forth from "NO WAY am I doing another one" to "Maybe..." and after reading this and a few other posts today i'm thinking that I most likely will. :)

[PaulaD]

Very nice post Irene! I bought a few and am looking forward to purchasing many more.
I sincerely hope that our very talented artists tune out all of the scuttlbut and continue to do them. Paula

[Reenie]

Thank you guys. I really, really do appreciate these tutorials. You don't see my face when they arrive all printed and bounded in my own little book. You're lucky you don't see it but it's like a kid on Christmas morning.

I am a relatively normal functioning person. I do every day things like everyone else. I raise 3 kids, I take care of a home, run a business, and go to school full-time. (12-16 units)
My mind HAS to be kept busy. Most of you know I have panic disorder which is why I started the glass business. I couldn't get to work very easily anymore and it was only 4 miles away. I joined this board in Feb 2006 and had a breakdown 6 months later. I didn't leave the house for 3 months! Lampworking saved my life. Literally!
I made it back to work after 4 months but knew it woudn't last. And so here I am with glass selling and all that good stuff.

I still can't leave my town and if you knew my town...you'd see why you'd want to get out for a while:-)
I've missed a few nephew's weddings and they were BIG FAT GREEK WEDDINGS!
I missed a nephew's funeral. I miss family gatherings and worse, I miss the trips my own family takes. Christmas dad and the kids go to Lake tahoe to visit his family and I'm here alone. Literally since my family lives 45 minutes away and I can't drive that far. Thanksgiving sometimes...is the same thing.
Imagine Christmas consisting of a TV dinner with the dog and cat.

This isn't being written for sympathy because I've dealt with it a long time and I've kind of learned to accept it but it shows you that for someone who really wants to learn but can't because she can't take a class...these tutorials and all the DVD's and books that I can get my hands on are the only way I can learn.

And this is why I get so upset over the petty little arguments and issues out here. This is supposed to be a joyous place where lampworkers come together and mingle. A stress free place to go and get away from an overly stressed out world!
There's always going to be someone who steals and others who want more than you can offer and there's always someone who wants something for free.

Just do what's in your heart and block out everything else. I have always believed that your heart will guide you and I still do.

Count your blessings as there are many who don't have a home to live in or food to eat. And here we are complaining about glass lol.
Life is good and I'm content with just waking up in the mornings! Everything else including sales....is just icing on the cake!
Remember what's important!

[*Naos*]

We can ALL learn something new in every one of these tuts. I haven't bought them all (not Miss Money Bags you know - LOL) but the ones I have bought have given me those priceless "AHA!" moments that I can take with me into my work. Well worth the investment in the self and well-worth paying for - to give back to the teacher who worked so hard to come up with the technique or design in the first place and the information that will take my beads to a new level...

[sislonski]

What a lovely post Irene!

I most certainly will continue to publish my tutorials. It brings me so much joy to inspire others.

[valjean]

I am feeling the same way Irene does.

I'm new to lampworking and rely heavily on books, dvds, tutorials, etc.
I bought my first tutorial a couple weeks ago and am really looking forward to trying it, when I get a little better at the basics, LOL.

I took my first class not to long ago, but had to drive 90 miles to get there, so tutorials and the like are all I have.

Thanks for sharing Irene and you teachers PLEASE keep it up.....Valerie

[pipyr]

:love: :kiss: :love:

[simvet02]

Yeah, what she said!!! LOL Irene said it so well, everything that I was thinking. I have them all too and what they have done for me is to open my eye and mind to new techniques and just to try things. Pinch, poke and dab. Go for it and invent your own treasures.
I thank each and every one of you for sharing your imagination, blood, sweat and tears with us.

[Jenfire]

Irene you said that very well!
Just my two cents: I LOVE TUTORIALS! I buy just about everyone. Know why? Because first of all it supports my lampwork family. Second - I ALWAYS learn something new from them. Most of the authors I will never be able to afford a bead or a class from and I so want to absorb some knowledge. Third - inevitably my work improves. Trust me it needs all the improvement it can get! I Loves the tutorials, Please keep sharing them.
Jen

[Teresa justice]

What Irene said.....I really appreciate your coments.
I haven't had time to try but a couple. I can't make copies to take to the Garage to
work from. So I write them all out in pencil sketch it all. It really helps in learning the
process. If I ever get them started.
I think it is a brave thing for these wonderful Bead artist to tell it all.
I know their won't be a lot of copys as their is so much info you can pick and choose
what you want to do and create your own style.
Thanks you Guys
Love ya
Teresa justice

[kandice]

This thread is so happy and sweet I just have to bump it up. It's great to know people feel this way about tutorials. :)

[steph1214]

Oh my gosh, i just love all of them, i love saving them on my computer, printing them out, trying them, and generally i agree. It opens your mind to other possibilities. It gets you out of the rut and the funk and helps your imagination run wild. However, in saying that, if you have A.D.D., which i think i do (ugh), then you get so caught up in trying them that you get overwhelmed and shut down. This has happened to me, so i have to pace myself. I just bought one yesterday and tried one bead and i really want to buy another one, but come on, ONE bead? I need to calm myself down and take it one step at a time. Geez, winter is long!!! Ha! In saying this...

Thanks so much to all of you who have gone this route. It is nice to know that if you cannot travel to a distant part of the country for a class that you might be able to find a small tut from the artist and feel as though you have found gold. thanks again all of you!!!

steph

[theglasszone]

Reenie!!!

What a love you are for putting into words the feelings of so many of us...

I too have purchased many of the tutorials available. I love so much about all of them - but as has been stated here - they are so much more than the product themselves...they create a mental "spring board" from which to launch one's own creativity!!! And even when you find you've hit a bit of a "wall" the tutorials have a way of giving you a groove to work in - keeping you interested and realigning the wheels so to speak - and next thing you know, the ideas just start popping!

Thanks from me to all the tutorial authors as well! You've helped me learn so much!

De