My boyfriend and I wanted to do pottery together for Valentine's Day, and I'm so glad we booked…read morewith Pinch Pottery! There were a few other couples in our session, but it still felt intimate and personal. For $150, we were able to make three creations of anything we wanted during the 1 hour and 30 minute class. We had so much fun the entire time. The studio itself is super cute and clean, which made the experience even better. Pinch is such a perfect way to introduce yourself, your partner, or your friends to pottery. If you're new, they teach you the basics and guide you through everything if you need help. They also have a ton of different glaze colors to choose from, which I loved. Definitely will be coming back again!

Wow! This place is GREAT! We had an appointment for a private party/class for 8-9 ladies. The…read morelocation is great. There is an ABM Parking lot right across the street from the East Curb line, $10 for 12hrs of parking, on a Saturday Night that is great for downtown. The staff here was Wyathe and Shelby. They were very good with teaching our group the ways to produce beautiful pottery. The class is $90/person and that includes the instructional 45mins class plus 1 pottery item. If you want to add more items, it's $10/additional item. With the time I had left I opted to do 1 additional item. This allowed me to form and create another small bowl to complete a set of 2. I plan to use them for individual rice and meat dishes at work lunch. Wonderful party, we were allowed to bring light Hor d'oevres and juices and water for the group. Nice time and I highly recommend.

Took the 5 week beginners course here and really loved my experience. My instructor, Jesse was…read morethorough, patient, and had a ton of knowledge to share. This class really sparked my love for ceramics and I intend on continuing classes!

Overview: loved this beginner class, great instructions and demo, beautiful finished product…read more ---- I saw their place on instagram and they had a special price for their anniversary, their 90-min wheel class was for $50 instead of their usual $80. I've thrown on a wheel in the past but this was a great opportunity to refresh those days! Parking was a little difficult, there is a paid parking lot, but luckily I was able to find street parking. Very clear demo and explanations, with a small class size (I think there was 8 of us). Our instructor Cristina does the demo first and then we try it and she is there to help us if needed. Once you finish your projects you can engrave designs into your pieces so I drew a little cat face on the bottom of the bowl. Unfortunately bc it was on the bottom of the bowl where the glaze pools, it was basically hidden by the glaze :( I wish I had known beforehand, then I would've chosen a better placement for the face. If you tilt it in the right lighting you can see the cat, but it's a beautiful bowl regardless! I like that they take care of everything else after you make the pieces, they trim, glaze, and fire it for you and you just have to be patient and wait for that email to come through that your piece is ready for pick up (4-6 weeks). From the class (3/7) to getting the bowl in my hands (4/10) took a month and a few days, due to the many pieces they have to fire. They have specific days and times for piece pick-up which they list on their email. ---- Overall: a great time for beginners or people with past experience, I'm happy with my piece and it reignited a dormant passion!

This shop has a real personal feel to it. I've been in multiple times and no matter who's working…read morethe counter they've always been very helpful and had no attitude. Generally graff shops have always been hostile In My experience. The only hostility I've encountered here was on my walk through the parking lot Supply can be limited as to be expected it's a small business. That's the only reason i won't give them 5 stars. Be sure to follow them on IG for info on sales

Half Corked is a great small, women owned business in the North Poway / Rancho Bernardo area of San…read moreDiego County and their creative candles are available on their website! Every candle is handmade by one of the two owners and made with recycled wine corks and mostly recycled wax. They also have many other cool corked products. The owners, Lori and Debbie, are very delightful and can be found at many of the local craft fairs. Their candies are also for sale in many local wineries in San Diego County and Temecula! I love to support local small businesses and those that have diverse and inclusive owners. I would highly recommend this company and their products!!!

Wow!! what a wonderful unique looking and smelling gift. Each one is personally done beautifully…read morewith recycled corks and scented wax. if you want to have the battery operated there are options. The candle once it burns down abut can be saved and used with refills when you save the beautiful casing. if you want some sort of a unique gift made with corks she seems to be able to do almost anything with wine corks! A perfect gift !'

This place definitely deserves the 5 Star rating. It's such…read morea cute shop with a wonderfully kind owner. They have epic sales for thrift fabrics and the shop is very unique. Follow on instagram for their sales. Don't treat it like a large sewing/fabric shop; If you're looking for something specific - best to call and see if they have it. They carry lots of different unique items. It's street parking.

Such a lovely store! They have quite a few fabrics that are on sale. They have all the essentials…read moreyou need to get started. A big variety of colors when it comes to sewing thread. Everything was reasonably priced. They were super helpful with showing me what to purchase to get started. As a new sewer it can be intimidating, but they got me everything I needed!

I enjoyed learning how to throw at this studio however I came to realize that Josh Herman is not…read morereally a clay educator and does not treat his staff like human beings. He is egotistical and is not able to integrate into the San Diego ceramics community. In addition the membership to the studio is very limited, yet the price is on par with other studios that offer 24 hr access. I would recommend that anyone interested in learning clay arts stay away from this studio. Josh is banking on other studios being too impacted so that his studio is attractive. Beware!!

As an exchange student in Japan many years ago, I eschewed intensive language study so that I could…read morefocus on appreciating the nation's food and ceramics. Many happy days were spent on side trips to little villages that specialized in different traditional styles of ceramics. Years later, I was able to take a ceramics class at a prestigious arts college. Despite the sheer joy that came to me when working with clay, I was a resounding flop as a ceramics artist. Most of my pieces broke in the kiln, probably the result of hara-kiri, or honorable suicide. So it was with great delight that I recently met Josh Herman, a professional San Diego- based ceramic sculptor whose work has been finding its way into magazines, boutiques and museum gift stores. In his Little Italy studio, Herman transforms unassuming hunks of clay into stunning sculptures and vessels that are popular with both serious collectors and and the Hollywood set. Herman, a New York City native who learned his craft in Southern California, identifies with the Mid-Century Modern aesthetic, but his work channels strong Asian influences. His unique organic sculptural forms are coated in evocative colors and textures with a signature lava-like glaze he calls "volcanic." The result is a distinctive body of work that is impressive in its breadth and elegance. Herman's work is sold at galleries and Neiman Marcus gift galleries all over the California and beyond. Since the studio is not open for retail operations, refer to the website http://joshherman.com/ for exhibit and contact information.

Annie G has a good selection of art and stamping-related products. She runs great sales quite…read moreoften, and you can get good deals. Check out her samples for some art inspiration! You will be happy you did!

Love this studio. Ann is really fun and helpful. Always great to come and work on my projects on…read moreFree Craft Friday.

International Bookstore Day is fun for all. In honor of…read morecelebrating another successful crawl for books, I give you another word find. This is for the Library Shop, one place we always stop on the annual event. A D A Y F O R S K O O B E N L Y A N H N T B E D T O O U L D O G W I O M G B U Y Z F D N U E Y O U E T O G A B B A G O T E E D O N T C N A V Y I P B A E A A E M G V T M R A Q A F F F C J E V L B UM O G I P D F I S X T O I N E B S E E I T O F F I C E W E G O E L O I T C T R I P C O I N S ACROSS: Why we attend? Who went with us? What do you collect after 5 visits over two days? A gift to place your _____ in. UP & DOWN: I describe this day as ___. Which book did I take a photo of that has been featured? What did we drink on the crawl? Enjoy an Independent Book Day in your city! - Ima Nerd #TheLibraryShop #IndependentBookstoreDay #Gifts #Books

We visited after the April Book crawl- The best selection of…read moreunique books, stickers, T-shirts for the lectiophile (new word!) in your life. Well sorted and fun to browse- The one down side, a few potential gift items (ie those funny and cringeworthy coasters) without price tags. And note, it's okay not to interrupt the very busy staff to ask, just go along on your merry way until next time.