A Review...

Sometimes when I see BPS classes that I'm interested in, I'm searching the internet to see if anyone who's taken the class previously has written any opinions on it. Occasionally I find a little sentence here or there, but usually not very much. So I have decided to take the time to write a little review of the recent class I took. It's by Darci Dowdle and it's called "A Bakers Dozen".

It's a 4 week class and today is the last day. So the perfect time for me to summarize my thoughts on it...

Firstly the price. Now I can't remember exactly what I paid for this class but I'm pretty sure it was not mega expensive. So a good price for 4 weeks.

The concept I like. Something I'm not really used to... working with the "unknown". Gathering supplies beforehand (not knowing why or what they will go together with). This was a challenge for me LOL! It felt hard (easier just to wait and see what was needed later) but I stuck with it. Probably a very good challenge for me. But still definitely not "me" :)

Over the 4 weeks we did 13 layouts (some of these double LOs). There were also a few extra projects mentioned throughout (though not with any prompts/special instructions).

Now there's one thing that really let the class down for me. And I have thought a lot about how to write this... I still don't know. I don't want it to come across as a nasty comment. But at the same time you're taking a class and you're expecting a certain type of "standard". And if this is going to be a fair review I really need to mention this as it was something that honestly disappointed me a lot straight from the first day of the class...

I know we all scrap differently and we all have different styles. Some like the clean & simple look others a more "messy" look or a very embellished look etc. There are so many styles and I think that's great :) Even if I only lean towards certain "styles" or "techniques" myself, I love to see ALL styles. Anyway, I'm going slightly off topic here. I just wanted to explain that this is not a "style" issue as such. But to be really honest here, I was disappointed in the teacher. Not the way she teached but the layout examples. You pay to take a class by a *teacher* and then you expect a certain... I don't know? "Skill level"? "Standard"? It wasn't really layouts that were teacher material (a cynic might even start to think about the BPS family connection here). It feels harsh & mean to say this and I have taken many, many classes and NEVER felt this way before. This was a big let down for me so I feel like I have to be honest about this...

Conclusion: Am I glad I took this class? Yes and no. I'm glad I faced the challenge of working with collections of supplies I had no idea beforehand would be paired up. I'm glad I have 13 new layouts in my albums. Would I take it again? No probably not... I would love to be inspired by the layouts in the handouts rather than feeling pressure thinking how can I change this into something I love for my album (and don't get me wrong, I have nothing against doing your own thing and I mostly do, it would just be nice to be inspired by what's presented).

Hope this, very honest, review is of help to some of you :)