COVID Mandates are Lifted!

Woohoo! All kinds of mandates are being lifted this month and like many of you, we are excited yet cautiously optimistic for what’s to come and we brace ourselves for the many pivots that may be needed to respond to this ever-changing and challenging situation.

WHAT’S BACK?!

Starting this month, we have re-arranged our studio back to how it was before the pre-COVID era. We have taken down the curtains that separated the tables and we have placed the tables back the way they were. Currently, we only have party reservations during the weekends (Friday – Sunday), but starting March 14, you may again reserve parties any day of the week you want. We will hold weekday parties in our main studio and continue to hold parties in our temporary space on weekends. And starting with parties on the week of March 14, 2022, we will no longer require Parties to purchase their items 3 days in advance – kids may, again, select their items on the day of the party.

Special Pottery Glazes will again be offered as soon as our new shipment arrives to ensure that you are working with fresh glazes.

Since indoor masking will be lifted on March 12th – we will no longer require masking in the studio, but we like to encourage masking while walking around and perusing the items in our store. Our staff has been directed to also do what’s comfortable for them and have been encouraged to continue wearing their masks when engaging with customers, especially when the studio is busy.

As it was pre-COVID, we continue to ask you to wash your hands before touching the bisque items as to not transfer any oils onto the bisque which may create resistance to the glaze.

WHAT’S NEW?

A new service that some of you may have noticed is that we are now TEXTING! Don’t worry – we will never spam text you. We are only texting to inform you that your pieces are ready for pick-up. We are also texting to remind you if your pieces or work-in-progress have been here too long and it’s time to pick them up before they are gone from our studio. And if you happen to be on the waitlist to paint, we will also use texting to let you know when your table is ready. Opting out of these texts means you do not get reminders and that increases the chance that your pieces will be gone in 90 days without having the opportunity to be notified. We know that life gets busy and so you might not have realized that you haven’t picked up your painted pieces or that you haven’t finished that piece you were working on, so if it’s important to you to be reminded, do not opt-out of these texts.

Again, we promise you that we will never spam text you – this means we will not send you promotional messaging. All our marketing information will continue to be done through our email campaigns, website, flyers, and social media.

OUR GRATITUDE

The last two years have been difficult operating either in limited capacity or limited staff. We have made it through, all THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!!!! We have appreciated our customers so much for continuing to patron our studio and for appreciating what we do. So THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

It’s as good of a time as any to reiterate why we do this – we do this because we are committed to providing creative forms of engagement and enrichment for our youth, families, and community, particularly now. We know that creativity provides comfort and relief from anxiety and stress. And it is also a lot of fun for kids and adults to create and paint, whether it is for personalized gifts or for themselves.

We were determined to beat COVID and be here when it is all over. Now, we’re peeking on the other side and we’ve made it!!! Again, A HUGE GRATITUDE TO THIS COMMUNITY!!!

Peace, Love, and Paint Away!

What's New with the Mandate

After reading the Governor’s latest COVID-19 Guidance, we will have to make some adjustments in our store operations. We will stay open for in-store purchases, pick-up and drop-off (curbside or in-store), and online pottery-to-go. However, we will have to cancel all socially-distanced parties and events that have been scheduled and all in-store painting reservations. Also, in-store painting will not be allowed until the mandate lifts on December 14th.

With the COVID numbers accelerating in such a rapid rate, I think this is the responsible thing to do for our employees and community. We’ve always said that we want to be part of the solution in flattening the curve and not part of the problem.

We regret having to take these measures, particularly because in recent weeks, our sales were increasing and we were seeing more people painting inside our studio to the point that there have been times that we have reached our limited allowable capacity and have had a short waiting list. We loved seeing so many of you again!

We love what we do! It gives us such great happiness to be able to provide creativity to all our customers. We also know how badly needed it is for many people who find comfort and fleeting relief from worries and stress to be able to be creative. And we know how much fun it is for kids and adults alike to create personalized gifts or items for themselves. We are determined to beat COVID and be here when it’s all over. That’s our hope. But we cannot continue without this community supporting us.

If you were planning on coming-in to the store to paint, we hope you consider buying pottery-to-go or make in-store purchases and still paint in your home. And we hope you support our local eateries too. We are feeling the impact of COVID in so many ways. Let’s all do our part to buoy each other during this time.

We are wishing you, your family, and all your neighbors good health. Stay safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Grace, Peace, Love, and Paint Away!

I will leave you with this poem by James Crews, from the column American Life in Poetry, curated by Ted Kooser, a Pulitzer-Prize winning Poet.

Winter Morning

When I can no longer say thank you
for this new day and the waking into it,
for the cold scrape of the kitchen chair
and the ticking of the space heater glowing
orange as it warms the floor near my feet,
I know it’s because I’ve been fooled again
by the selfish, unruly man who lives in me
and believes he deserves only safety
and comfort. But if I pause as I do now,
and watch the streetlights outside flashing
off one by one like old men blinking their
cloudy eyes, if I listen to my tired neighbors
slamming car doors hard against the morning
and see the steaming coffee in their mugs
kissing chapped lips as they sip and
exhale each of their worries white into
the icy air around their faces—then I can
remember this one life is a gift each of us
was handed and told to open: Untie the bow
and tear off the paper, look inside
and be grateful for whatever you find
even if it is only the scent of a tangerine
that lingers on the fingers long after
you’ve finished peeling it.

Ready, Set, Paint!

Well, it’s been an interesting few months. And though we’re glad to be doing what we love best – dishing up some creativity via curbside or delivery – it isn’t quite the same without seeing all of you in action creating something that is uniquely you! Opening up is a big deal and we all have to do our part to continue to flatten the curve. And in that spirit and in the anticipation of the opening, we wanted to share with you our Reopening Plan. We have given a lot of thought on how we can open while providing safety measures for our customers to feel comfortable to come back and paint.

created by freepik

Our Reopening Plan goals, in a nutshell, are to minimize in-store browsing, product handling, in-store point of sale transactions, and to keep it clean to stop the spread, and of course - maximize social distancing. Here’s what’s new:

• Though walk-ins will always be welcome, we recommend reserving your table before coming – our easy online system allows you to do this 5 minutes before you arrive, provided there is a table available. In keeping with social distancing and occupancy limitations, we are limiting the number of tables available.

• We also recommend you purchase online, this will allow us to bring your pieces to your table. Of course, you may purchase items you see in the store – either on your phone or at the cash register.

• We will also now have a Paint Bar – but we won’t pour, we’ll give you the bottle! Everything you touch will be disinfected and thoroughly cleaned – we are dedicating an entire staff meeting and training to this. We will also be handing out paintbrushes (of your choosing) and paint palettes to limit the handling of these items.

We have also detailed for you our Employee Expectations here. We are all adjusting to this new way of being, so if you see anything that requires our attention, we ask that you tell us. We all can help each other out to ensure we’re stopping the spread because we’re all in it together.

And good news on the Summer Camp front – we have secured a dedicated temporary space to hold our Summer Art Camp Program. The temporary space is over 3500 square feet allowing ample room for social distancing. Our Summer Camp Safety Plan is posted and it details how we’re keeping campers safe while we still have fun. The main gist:

• Space will be a dedicated space for our Summer Art Camp program. This means there will be no customers in the space, only campers.

• Each table will have a maximum of 2 campers with a sneeze guard in between campers as a safety barrier (but campers will be seated 6’ apart at the same table). In addition, all camp tables will be 6’ feet apart. For a visual guide, see our camp layout on our Summer Camp page.

• Each camper will have their personal supplies and assigned seatings for the week.

With this new dedicated space, we will now be able to offer Regular Parties, in addition to our Virtual Party, Your Way! Our new temporary space of over 3500 square feet complies with County and State Phased Guidelines. See our visual guide to the party layout here (no more than 2 per table with a sneeze guard in between as barrier, and ample social distancing, yet festive)! If you’re missing friends and tired of connecting over video conferencing, check out our Party. There will be no general customer at this space, just your party.

Pottery-To-Go will also stay available for the long haul, perhaps permanently. Who knows? But we’re here to serve you however you need. So if milling about in public is not quite in your comfort zone yet, give pottery-to-go a try, if you haven’t already. And if you have, then you already know how easy our online ordering system is.

We will continue to offer curbside drop off or pick up of pottery-to-go items for the duration. If you want to drop off items ready for glazing and firing, you may drop it off at the table outside (we will check it often) or come-in to the store. If you want to pick up your pottery-to-go or finished items, you can do it curbside or come-in to the store. We expect inside retail to start on June 1st. If you decide to pick up via curbside, please give us a call at 425-861-8388, and we’ll be right out.

So! I think that’s everything we wanted you to know for now. We encourage you to read our Reopening Plan so you know what to expect when you come in.

We are excited to open our doors and see you all again.

Love, Peace, and Paint Away!

Hazel Roos

How-To Pottery-To-Go

We are so excited to offer same day curbside pick-up and delivery for online pottery-to-go orders that we created a little tutorial. Our system is super easy. It's no secret that being creative can be comforting during these uncertain times. It relaxes and quiets the mind. Not to mention, it keeps the kids engaged. Go ahead and try it!

Special thanks to our super-staff extraordinaire Katie and her husband, Josh, for making this video!

COVID-19 Update on Closure and Pickup of Finished Items

In the past few days and weeks, across the country, we have been asked to practice social distancing, which we rather think of as physical distancing. However, in our determination to create an outlet for creativity for our customers, as that is what we do best, during this time of high anxiety and insecurity, we created an online Pottery-To-Go program with curbside pickup/drop-off that was in keeping with Social/Physical Distancing and keeps everyone safe – customers and employees alike.

We were ready to launch this program just before the Governor announced his Stay-At-Home mandate on March 23rd, which directs all nonessential businesses to close. As a small business, these are trying times for everyone in our immediate reach – our employees, customers, vendors and suppliers, as well as our landlord. We are seeking guidance from the Sate of WA as to whether our curbside program would be consistent with the latest guidelines. Until we obtain such guidance, our pottery-to-go program is on hold.

The store remains closed as we have been since March 19th. We regret that we cannot open for customers to pick-up their finished items or their work-in-progress at this time. We are sorry for the inconvenience. We are anxious to open as soon as we’re able and allowed. We love our customers and we so much appreciate your support during these trying and economically uncertain times.

Thank you for your patience. We hope you and your family are staying safe & healthy.

Love, Peace, and Paint Away!