Bluprint, formerly known as Craftsy, has just sent out the following message:
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| We recently shared the disappointing news that Bluprint will be closing over the next few months. You can see the letter to the Bluprint community here and posted below. We are immensely thankful for the opportunity to have supported you and your passion over the past decade. We know there are many questions and we will have more information to share soon. Please note that we will provide a way for those of you who have purchased classes to receive a copy of the classes you purchased. For example, we’re working on a solution to give you an extended period to download your purchased classes. Current subscribers still have access to classes, patterns, and course materials, however we will stop accepting new subscribers and orders for individual classes, patterns and supplies on May 31 at 11:59 pm EDT. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through these important details. If you have questions, please use the Contact Us feature on our website. May 24, 2020 To our Bluprint community, This is not an easy letter to write. For the last ten years, my colleagues and I have worked tirelessly on Craftsy and then Bluprint. When we started the business in 2010, our goal was to provide passionate enthusiasts access to the world’s best experts and make it easier to learn new skills. Our hope was to make people’s lives better through creativity, and we’ve been honored to serve millions of customers over the last decade. I am disappointed to inform you that Bluprint will be closing over the next few months. Like so many customers, instructors, designers, and employees, I am devastated by this news. Please know that our team is working quickly to finalize details, and we will provide more information soon. For now, I wanted to let you know that we are looking at various options to allow those of you who have purchased individual classes to receive a copy of your classes. This includes individual classes purchased with own forever credits. We are also planning to issue prorated refunds for paid subscribers based on the last day our service will be available, which will be communicated when that date is finalized in the near future. On behalf of all the Craftsy/Bluprint employees, I want to express our gratitude and appreciation to you for being with us on this journey. If you have questions, please contact us and we will do our best to respond as quickly as possible. Thank you and please stay safe and healthy. Sincerely,  John Levisay CEO, Bluprint (Craftsy) |
So odd this is happening now, when you’d think business would be booming with everyone stuck at home and working online. On behalf of myself and the 9 other Urban Sketchers instructors on the Bluprint/Craftsy platform (Shari Blaukopf, Suhita Shirodkar, Marc Taro Holmes, Paul Heaston, James Richards, Lynne Chapman, Suma CM, Steven Reddy, Matt Brehm), I’ve written Bluprint with a list of questions. Most important, it sounds like they are trying to figure out a way to let people access the content they bought as “Forever Classes”. I’ll let everyone know when I hear back.
I have to say a huge THANK YOU to Craftsy, it’s been an honor and a privilege to get to be part of their family. They created really high quality, state-of-the-art online classes — heck, my courses alone reached literally tens of thousands of people around the world. It was funny to meet folks who recognized me by my voice even before they saw me, thanks to these classes! At the Manchester USk symposium, Paul Heaston and I talked with a woman from Africa who said these classes had “saved her life”, as they were the only way she could access art instruction. WOW! I’m very sad to see this resource disappear.
So if you’ve purchased the classes, watch them again now while you have the chance, I think until the end of June…take notes and lots of screen shots! And stay tuned, I’m working out a way to teach perspective workshops online via Zoom… interested?
Drawing Perspectives 
Definitely interested in Zoom classes.
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Thank you, Cynthia! This will motivate me to keep working on developing the class!!
S
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I’m interested in Zoom classes as well! I’ve taken several, and they have also been taped so that the student can download them to view again. That is so helpful. Hoping you can do this!!!
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Thank you, Marlene…so much for me to learn and figure out! I like the idea of teaching live via Zoom, but we shall see how it goes!!
S
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I am interested in online classes!
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Thank you so much!!! I’m developing new classes now…stay tuned!
S
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I’m so sad about Bluprint. I just discovered Urban Sketching and all of the wonderful classes the master Urban Sketchers have on there. I would definitely be interested in Zoom lessons or any other format of class.
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Thank you so much, Miliisa….I’m working on new online classes!!! Stay tuned…
S
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Stephanie you are a wonderful teacher as are many of the others of the Urban Sketcher community. I would love to participate in your Zoom classes or whatever platform you choose.
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I appreciate your kind words sooooo much, Jeannine! I’ll keep working on developing the new class!
S
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Newly minted MBA says, hey, let’s acquire a sucess story and really screw it up. What could go wrong?
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Yes, really sad…so much potential. It was good while it lasted…
S
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THANK YOU Stephanie for writing this- This just seems so odd indeed, especially at this time. I hope we can still have access to these classes- this is the website where I ‘discovered’ you and have continued to grow in my drawing/learning!!! They never address the ‘WHY’ of discontinuing all these classes! If this does happen as planned, hopefully it could be picked up by another so it could continue!
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HI Tami, oh, this is truly sad! I’m so happy that you “found me” through Craftsy!! And yes, there has been no discussion of why. Really bad is they will lay off all their wonderful employees, including Paul Heaston’s wife, Linda. We will see what happens, fingers crossed…
xxS
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Steve had posted about this but not the May 24 letter. Of course, I purchased a number of classes, including all of yours. I never got that letter. I’m glad to hear they are trying to figure out how to let people purchase their lifetime access classes.
I discovered some years ago, it is possible to download classes to an iPad in order to watch offline. Unfortunately, that fills up the memory. And I haven’t found any way in the Apple OS (unlike in Android) to access the location of the files to move them to my PC
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Hi Kate, it seems they haven’t been very consistent about sending out this message! I’m also scratching my head to figure out a way to record the second class, as I have DVD’s of the first one. If you find a way, please let me know! Thanks so much~~~
S
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I have learned so much through your classes on Craftsy. And I have been back several times to look at these videos. I was also very surprised to see the emails today about them closing.
I would love to participate in your Zoom classes. Have you considered Skillshare as well? It is somewhat similar to BluPrint.
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Hi Isabelle, THANK YOU so much, I’m so glad you learned from those classes on Craftsy. This is really sad! I did see that Jim Richards did a Skillshare class, and I’m not sure how it works…if we film in a studio, etc. So much to figure out! Any recommendations would be most welcome!
S
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Hi Stephanie,
So sorry to read about bluprint.
I found you there, and really enjoyed your Perspective for Sketchers class, and then purchased your two books, and signed up for your blog.
I would be interested in online classes. If they can be offered in a format that permits the viewer flexibility in the viewing time, that would be ideal.
Have you considered Skillshare—it has a similar format to bluprint.
Best, Catherine
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HI Catherine, I’m so fortunate that I was able to do those classes, and glad to know that is how you found me!! THANK YOU! I need to take a look at Skillshare, I’m not sure how it works…if you go there to film, or if people film their own class and then market it through them…more research needed!
I’ll likely start the online classes via Zoom…I can use the powerpoints I’ve developed in classroom teaching over the years, and I can get real time questions in a small group. That’s what the plan is for now, anyway!
Thanks for writing~~
S
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Hi from France!
I recently discovered your work through the handbook series, your two handbooks and the one by Shari Blaukopf are my favorite, wonderful illustrations. I purchased your two classes on Blueprint on the last day, hoping Blueprint will provide a way to download these later…
And I will continue to follow your work,
All my best,
Patricia
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Hi from Seattle! I LOVE getting this message from France! Thank you, and thank you also for sliding into the Bluprint classes just as the door is closing. I hope there will be a way to download these later! So happy to know you found the books in the series, and thanks for the very kind words…I feel like I poured my life into those two little books!
Hope to meet you in person some day…
Take good care,
S
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I purchased the first class also as a dvd, but the second class wasn’t offered that way. I hope they will allow downloads of classes as I have purchased all of the Urban Sketcher classes on Craftsy. Fingers crossed.
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I have that DVD as well, I hope to somehow get a record of the second class too. I wish there were a way to save all the comments and questions!
Thanks, Cynthia!
s
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