Grand Opening of the Polymer Clay Tutor Library is Finally Here

Polymer Clay Tutor Library OpensHere’s Some Instructions And Information About How Everything Works:

Whooo Hooo! The long anticipated opening of the Polymer Clay Tutor Library is finally here! For those of who have been following this blog for a while now, you will already know that I’ve been working long and hard at setting up a new system for delivering the weekly video newsletter along with printable color mixing recipe cards.

If you are new here or want a refresher on what has been going on, here are links to previous posts that will walk you through everything that lead up to today’s launch:

For a quick recap… ever since April’08, readers who signed up to my Polymer Clay Tutor Guest List were receiving a weekly tutorial video for free, via email. People who were receiving them raved about how much they loved the videos and how easy they were to learn from!

Everything was moving along nicely until there were so many subscribers watching the videos, that the cost of providing them for free, became a significant financial burden for me.

This was scaring me a little because I knew how much people loved getting the video newsletter and how much value there was. But I also knew I couldn’t keep going if it was just costing me money. So after much discussion with my husband Doug and with you my readers, we came up with a solution.

A simple library where, for a small fee of $9.95 every 3 months, you could get your weekly video tutorial plus some printable color recipe cards as well.

I guess time will tell if this very affordable fee will work. If enough of you subscribe then it will. That is my hope.

I also understand there are a few of you on fixed incomes where any extra costs are just not feasible. So for you folks, I have a free membership available where there will be limited access to the weekly video (recipe cards are not included in this free membership level).

This means that if you sign up for the free membership and are quick to watch the video as soon as you receive my email notification, then you should be able to see it before the allotted bandwidth is used up. The limited access keeps me from having to pay too much in bandwidth costs for the free information provided. Hopefully this makes sense to all of you.

For those of you that start out as a free member but find you really would like to have a library of videos and recipes that you can go back to for reference, you can always upgrade your membership to the paid level. I suspect that most of you will want to do that after you see what you are missing.

Any members of the paid library subscription will also have the option of purchasing back issues of the weekly videos. This is kind of exciting because before there was no way of offering the past videos to you if you had missed them. To keep this fair, only people who are paying the $9.95/3month subscription fee will be allowed to purchase the back issues.

And if you become a paid member before the end of October 31, 2008 (the end of the month), you will get a charter member price break to update your personal library to include everything right back to Volume 1, Issue 1.

Now for anyone that is expecting some bonus recipes because of your involvement in my Color Recipe Card Giveaway Offer, be sure to get signed up ASAP as a member at the Polymer Clay Tutor Library. When everyone is signed up I will be emailing all of you further instructions.

The instructions for getting signed up at the new Library are in the last Guest List email you received from me from me earlier today.

When you do sign up and start looking around the site, remember that just like with a magazine subscription, everyone one is starting at the current volume, which in this case is Volume-005. The first 4 volumes are back issues that you will not have access to unless you purchase them (just like you would have to purchase back issues of a magazine if you wanted them).

This explains why many of the Table of Contents links take you to a “404 Oops!” page that says you have clicked on a link that requires a higher level of permission.

Unfortunately it may seem a little confusing at first, but once you’re in and receiving the new videos and recipes each week you are going to love it! I have been feeling a little like a kid myself, today… printing up the recipe cards, cutting them out and making the sample chips for them! Even watched the videos again myself, and it is so handy having them all there in one place… very exciting!!

I hope you all will join me and that this new Polymer Clay Library is going to become a great resource for everyone. Thank you so much for your support and let’s go make some polymer clay beads!

Cindy Lietz SignaturePolymer Clay Tutor


  1. Pamela C, 26 October, 2008

    WOOHOO is right!!!! I have been exploring all over the new library this morning and I must say I am quite impressed!!! You and Doug have done a marvelous job and everything is so user friendly!!!! I am thrilled at this new adventure and look forward to lots of learning and making polymer clay beads!!!

    Huggiez
    Pamela

  2. Cindy Lietz, 26 October, 2008

    Hi Pamela,

    Thank you so much for chiming in here and for letting everyone know how user friendly the new library is. I see that you have upgraded your membership to include all of the content all the way back to Volume 1, Issue 1. In other words you have it all (except of course for the bonus recipes which are only available through special promotions).

    For everyone’s benefit, what this means is that all of the links that Pamela clicks on in the new library, actually “work” for her. I wanted to address this point here, because I’m getting a lot of emails from people wondering why some of the links are not working for them. So here’s another explanation on how the library works:

    The initial PAID membership level grants you access to all of the videos and regular weekly recipes starting with Volume-005 (the October 2008 content). With this level of membership you will also receive all new releases from this point forward for as long as you keep your PAID membership current.

    It’s very similar to how a print magazine subscription works. You pay up front to receive X number of upcoming issues.

    The navigation links that are “not working” or that take you to the “404-OOPS” pages, are actually pointing to back issue videos and recipes in Volumes-001 to 004. They are not automatically added to your personal library account when you become a PAID member.

    Again it’s like with a magazine subscription. When you subscribe to a magazine, they don’t automatically include all of the back issues that were published before you became a subscriber.

    If you would like to have access to everything in the library all the way back to Volume 1 Issue 1 (like what Pamela has chosen to do), there is a Special Charter Member Package available. [This special offer has expired].

    The special Charter Member Package (4 months of back issue videos/recipes for the price of 3), will only be available until the end of October. After that, PAID members in good standing will still be able to purchase back issues, but the price will go back up to the regular amount.

    Hopefully this clears things up about how things work at the brand new, “user-friendly” Polymer Clay Tutor Library :-)

    What would be great is if a few others who have already become PAID members could pipe up below to share your thoughts as well. I would really appreciate it.

  3. Peggy Dieu, 26 October, 2008

    Hi Cindy,
    Thank you so much for explaining this to me. It’s a great offer, and I just paid through paypal for the charter membership. I can’t wait to see all the videos!!! This is so exciting…since I’ve had to learn everything through trial and error. I’m so happy to have found your site, and can’t wait to watch all the videos and Try the color recipes!!!
    Hugs
    Peg :)

  4. Carol Cooper, 26 October, 2008

    Hi Cindy: I jumped into the site last night and stayed up really late, or went to bed really early this morning – one or the other – mixing colours. Yummy! I would love to have a recipe for a really good warm grey. Also, I’ve been trying to play with my extruder – I bought one of the cheap ones and it didn’t work at all – can’t get the clay out with hammering the you-know-what out of it. Do you have any experience with making canes with an extruder? Love, love what you’ve done with the site!

  5. Cindy Lietz, 26 October, 2008

    @Peggy: You’re welcome! I’m excited for you! I think you are really going to enjoy what you see. I also think you are going to love being able to print up the recipe cards and go back to them for reference. I find them really helpful for figuring out which colors go well together too!

    @Carol: That is so fun!! … Don’t forget to eat! I’ll write down warm grey as a color to add in future recipes. Thanks for the suggestion. As far as the extruder, I only use the Makin’s Professional Extruder (green metal one). The cheaper ones are too much of a pain to use. I will be doing a course on extruder canes soon so stay tuned for that.

    ******
    Thanks for your comments girls!! Anyone else want to add a comment about the new library membership? I’d love to hear what you think!

  6. Pamela, 26 October, 2008

    Cindy….I want to say that at first I was a bit confused as I too kept getting the Oopppsss 404 error…..

    I thought…what in the world….then I went back to HOME and started over from there.

    I think my zeal to explore was taking over my brain…not uncommon…but I digress here….I started over and then I realized what a YUMMY deal you have going for Charter members.

    I highly recommend to ALL you who expressed interest in being a CHARTER member to jump in…..NOW….it is AWESOME and you will not be disappointed!!!!

    I jumped at the chance for becoming a “Charter” member….Thankx for the deal by the way….:0)

    I started very slowly exploring first going down the right hand side of the page….clicking on each feature that was there. The only time I received any OOOOPPPSSSS errors was when it came to the “BONUS” recipe cards. After I scrolled back up to the top I re-read what you had written there and it all made sense. The “BONUS” recipe cards are to be for later and all the ones you had up on your site are in my library.

    I am so excited about this new venture and I just love the new format. Makes it so easy to decide what to watch or what you want to explore next!!!

    Come on YALL….the end of October is going to be here before you know it and you don’t want to miss out on this chance to become a “CHARTER” member…:0)

    Happy Claying to everyone!!!

  7. Marsha, 27 October, 2008

    Oh my word! Cindy, the new site is really great! I love how clean it looks and how well organized it is! I just had to have access to all the videos – I couldn’t imagine being able to move forward without them all!! I just redecorated a spare bedroom as my studio where I can work on my jewelry designs and keep learning and improving with polymer clay. Cindy, you have really inspired me! Thanks so much!

  8. Cindy Lietz, 27 October, 2008

    Thank You so much Pamela and Marsha for sharing. The fact of the matter is that nothing I could say is as impactful as what you ladies have said. If other members who have decided to jump in with both feet could leave more comments here, that would be much appreciated.

    Here’s another comment… this one is from Carol Cooper. She originally posted it over at another thread (the link by my name will take you there). I wanted to share it here as well because it describes how paying for a full membership can actually save you money.

    “Hi Cindy: I had to really laugh when I saw this simple, but very clever trick to clean white clay. I can’t tell you how many times, I decided that my white clay was going to have to be mixed with something else because of the colour that was being picked up off of my pasta machine. I’m really glad that I bought my membership, because now that money has saved me much more in white clay.” ~Carol Coooper

  9. Silverleaf, 28 October, 2008

    You know what? Although I’ve said before I can’t really justify the cost of subscription because my jewellery business is so new and I haven’t anywhere near broke even yet, I’m actually really tempted to subscribe now.

    Maybe it can be a birthday present to myself… since my birthday’s in November I can get away with that I think!

    Anna xxx

  10. Cindy Lietz, 28 October, 2008

    That is great Anna! Happy early Birthday by the way! Hope this is the year you start making money with your jewelry!

  11. Lupe Meter, 28 October, 2008

    I just wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying the new website and I am finally getting around all the links with ease, thanks for explaining. I am excited to try out all the new color cards and I will definitely tell all my fellow polymer clay guild people about this website especially because that is the number one problem with so many–colors and mixing. I think I am going to start to finally like my finished products enough to put them on Etsy. Thanks again.

  12. Cindy Lietz, 28 October, 2008

    @Lupe: “…I will definitely tell all my fellow polymer clay guild people about this website…” big smile from me… thanks so much. And about your Etsy store… keep us posted. I am excited for you!

    —————–

    And here’s another comment that I copied from another post which talks about the new library…

    “Cindy, just joined as a paid member for both new and historical information. This site is fantastic and I am thrilled with what I have seen so far. You are an excellent teacher, and some of the follow up suggestions and hints in the comments section from others are equally great.” ~jwc

    Thank you jwc! It’s great to have you as a member.

  13. Diana Souza-Castro, 28 October, 2008

    Cindy!

    Saw your current e-mail on membership, and maybe I’m confused. It gave us an option to signing on by 10/31/08, in order to be eligible for the cards (I think). Anyway, is this set up as of yet? Just wanted to be sure and connect with you prior to your “GRAND OPENING”. Wasn’t sure as to whether or not we could sign on with PayPal, because if there is a way for us to do so “I’m in!”.

    Thanks alot! Sorry, but things sometimes get confusing for me, and this has been a rambuncious one for me. Ha! Ha!

    “Here’s Look’n at Ya Kid!” I’m sure that it will be great — like your other things you have set out for us.

    Sorry, but wanted to be sure that everything was going okay.

    Regards,

    Diana (Queen of Beads)

    P.S. Wasn’t sure as to whether it was going up yet, because I went onto your e-mail and there was no information as to how to get on-board. It just mentioned that it was finally ready, but no place to go.

  14. Cindy Lietz, 28 October, 2008

    Hi Diana… Oh yes it is definitely time to sign up. I thought you knew. The sign up link has been emailed at least a couple of times to everyone on the Guest List, which I know you are subscribed to. I just emailed you directly with that link again… so please do check your email inbox right away before the deadline passes for the Charter Member deal.

    And for anyone else who is already on the Guest List that has not yet received your invitation, leave a comment below or send me an email and I’ll forward it to you immediately.

    For everyone else that is interested in getting the library invitation, what you do is sign up for my Guest list (use the link by name above) and you can receive the invitation that way.

  15. Cindy Erickson, 30 October, 2008

    Dear Cindy,

    I became a Paying Member and a Charter Member both this evening. I am so glad that I got in on your great offer for Charter Membership before October 31st! I hope everyone else who wants access to all of the past videos from the beginning will get in on this fabulous deal! A one time fee of $9.95 (after becoming a Paid Member for just $9.95 once every 3 months, of course) for a chance to be able to always go back to the first videos made by Cindy, is a beautiful deal!!!

    Well, I am sitting here for hours just enjoying all that you have to offer!!! It is actually 3:38 in the morning where I am, and I just finished going through many videos…some that were new to me, and some that I had seen months ago. It is really cool seeing the ones I already saw before, because it is like I am seeing them with new eyes, and learning even more the second time around! I really want to encourage anyone who is going back and forth about weather or not to get a Paid Membership or a Charter Membership…DO IT, YOU WILL BE SOOOOOOO GLAD YOU DID!!! Now that I have my User ID and password, I easily get around in the library to see videos on anything that I am interested in at any moment. It is really great! The recipe cards are so nice as well. I am a painter and didn’t think that I would need the recipe cards because I am so used to mixing paint colors together…well…I LOVE THE RECIPE CARDS!!! You have shown me that there are sooooooo many different colors that I can make from my clay! So many different greens, blues, reds, purples, yellows, and even metallic colors and different natural “white” colors. Thank you so much!

    I AM really looking forward to everything to come here at your site in the future, and am really enjoying everything that is now within my reach from the past, just by signing in to “my new library.”

    Sincerely, Cindy Erickson

  16. Cindy Lietz, 30 October, 2008

    Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts CindyE. I *really* appreciate it.

    ———————————————————————————————————————————————————-

    And here’s a question which came in this morning via email, that I’d like to address…

    “…I’m a little confused on how I access the bonus recipe cards each week? For instance…the hospital green…I get the Oops!! Page!! Hugs Peg :)”

    Hi Peg. Hugs back. I see that you are a full member and that you have taken advantage of the charter member offer. Good decision :) and welcome! You now have access to everything in the library except for the bonus recipe cards. Those recipe cards will only become available through special “no-cost” promotions, contests and surveys.

    You can can get a feel for how these bonus recipes are given away by having a look at my Oct 18 blog post. The link by my name will take you there.

    In the meantime as a full member, you do have access to all the “regular” color recipe cards. They are the ones listed as “A” recipes in the recipe index. The bonus recipes are marked with a “B”.

    Hopefully this clarifies things for you Peg.

  17. Sarahjane Acosta, 30 October, 2008

    The Special Charter Member Package on Paypal says 9.95 USD for
    5 years. What does the 5 years actually mean.

  18. Cindy Lietz, 30 October, 2008

    Hi Sarahjane,

    That 5 year notation is there because of how my library software is integrated with PayPal. You see, the main library payment is set up as a subscription which requires a time frame. So for example, your first payment of $9.95 is set to bill every 90 days.

    But that Charter Membership Package is just a one time fee of $9.95. And because PayPal “needed” a time frame for their calculation to work, I picked the longest option… 5 years. It’s nothing to worry about though. I can guarantee that the $9.95 price for the Charter Member Package is in fact just a one time fee.

    Thanks for bringing that up.

  19. Maria, 30 October, 2008

    First of all, I want to thank you Cindy again for all the help you gave me and how patient you were when I had some trouble with my username and password. Well I’m all squared away now and very happy with my charter membership and am enjoying all the videos I couldn’t get access to before. I occasionally feel like I need some inspiration at times and these videos and color recipes are definitely useful. I encourage everyone who hasn’t signed up yet to do so – it really is a great deal. Plus Cindy is very prompt at answering one’s questions/concerns about this addictive medium.

  20. Lynn Williams, 31 October, 2008

    I am so excited about the library. I spent most of the morning checking out back videos. I feel the money for the Charter membership was well spent. The site is great.

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