Oh dear, I'm so glad I'm sitting down - beginning to hyperventilate a little here - I think I may have caught the class bug and perhaps bitten off more than I can chew in 2012 - no that doesn't sound like me at all!  Luckily most of these are self paced classes and I can complete them at my leisure (breathe small sigh of relief) some you can even download and complete whenever you like (feeling a bit better).  So what are the classes I just couldn't resist and why - read on:

Classes from Tamara Laporte (aka Willowing):

• Fabulous Faces - this class teaches you Tam's style of drawing faces for journals and art works, I love her style so am looking forward to taking it and learning then making the style into my own
• Magical Mythical Makings - building from drawing faces to working on variations of the masters (eg:Klimt)
• Ultimate World of Whimsy - creating your own fun and fanciful little creatures for journaling etc.
• Whimsical Watercolors - learning more about using watercolours, figures since I bought some it might be handy to know how to use them!
• Lifebook  I was NOT going to take this class, I was NOT - it was a year long commitment, there is no way i will have time to do everything, I'd already signed up for more than I can possibly finish, I didn't want to feel obligated to create - blah blah.  Then I realised it's my money and time I can pay and just watch and gain inspiration if I want, see what happens!  There are 12 months of amazing teachers participating in this sometimes multiple teachers per month - even if all I get from this is inspiration I still think it will be well worth the money.

Shabby Cottage Studio which offers classes via Creative Workshop Ning Network 

• 

  Color Drop Flowers with Martha Lever. Martha is the MASTER of watercolour, her work is vibrant, fluid and beautiful - what I'd like to be when I grow up :O)
• Painting Poppies with Martha Lever
• Letter Lab with Lori Vliegen - Lori's letter work is amazing, my own journal writing is hideous, so I'm hoping some training will improve it - certainly can't hurt!

Classes on Joggles.com

These 2 weren't in 'the plan' but I couldn't say no and I'm telling myself these are MUCH shorter than the others and via PDF only to not as time consuming - maybe :O)  The real reason - Dion is an inspiration and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see a bit more of how she creates - go look at her blog and you will see what I mean for yourself.

• Watercolor Pencil Workshop with Dion Dior - so I own ahem rather a few Watercolor pencils and thought this may be the perfect opportunity to learn how to use them better, and since I love how Dion uses these who better to learn from.
• Mastering Twinkling H2Os with Dion Dior- OK so I don't use my Twinks anymore, not since Lindy's Stamp Gang bought out their Magicals, but I figure the techniques are transferable and I can't wait to see how Dion mixes these into journaling - yum yum yum!

Every Life has a story

• Art Journal Conversion with Roben-Marie Smith - I've been following Roben-Marie's blog for a while now and couldn't resist the chance to 'see' how she creates her amazing backgrounds.  While I'm not planning on doing exactly the same thing here, I can't wait to try the ideas out in my own journal.

Color me Creative

• Copic Class 5 with Suzanne Dean, come on if you use Copics you MUST have heard of Suzanne - she is a warm and funny lady who has an amazing Copic blog and who offers classes on-line for those of us who are unable to make it to classes in person.  Her techniques, ideas and detailed way of teaching make it like you are there in the room with her.

The Institute of Cute

Now I haven't signed up (as it's not available just yet) but I am also eagerly awaiting the Joynal class from Jane Davenport - if like me, you'd like to learn to draw fairies, fairy tales & myths keep an eye on her site The Institute of Cute or why not take one of Jane's other amazing classes while you wait (I did), I believe the class should be available around the end of March 2012.

and I'm also taking

21 Secrets in 2012

... because who can resist Connie and the line up she has this year!!

I told you I'd gone a little class-crazy but click on the links look for yourself and let me know which classes you could resist!  The people teaching these classes are AMAZING artists and I can't wait to begin learning some of their secrets.  The fabulous thing about learning is that you can never tell where it will lead - sure some things don't turn out to be things you love, but how do you find out unless you try them for yourself.  You can read other people's opinions and reviews, but in the end it's your own experience that makes the decision - so I say leap in with both feet, try as many things as you can afford to and learn what you like.  I'll let you know how I go with all of these.