There are four reasons for why you may not have received your completion email: It has not been 6 full business weeks (excluding holidays) since the time of your session. As noted within the session description, discussed at the time of your lesson, and detailed in Pinch prep/post emails, it takes upwards of 6 full weeks for your pieces to be turned into food, drink, microwave, dishwasher, and oven safe. After the 6 week mark, please allow up to 48hrs for us to carefully organize, wrap bag, and tag your wares, as well as notify you via email. We appreciate your patience more than you know! It has landed in one of your spam or alternate folders - please be sure to check these. You have "unsubscribed" from/and/or blocked Pinch. DO NOT unsubscribe from receiving emails from us. I repeat, DO NOT unsubscribe from receiving emails from us - this will prohibit us from being able to successfully email you, and ensure that you will not receive the completion message. You are not the individual who booked the session you took part in. Please note that all emails pertaining to your time at Pinch are sent directly to the individual who booked your session. The email address used when signing up, is the email address our system stores - therefore, all website generated messages go there. These messages include; booking confirmation, pre-class info, session reminders, post-class info, and of course your pick up notification. Please note that the ceramic process is a labor of love and takes roughly 6 full weeks on average. That said, we kindly ask that you wait 6 full weeks before reaching out to check on the status of your pieces. Thank you!

Just yourself, an open mind, and the willingness to try something new! We'll provide the rest!! :)

Part of the fun of working with clay, is that it is a naturally messy activity (think making mud pies, as a kid). As such, we highly recommend wearing clothes/shoes that you do not mind getting dirty. As well as leaving jewelry at home, and putting long hair up. With that being said, clay is just dirt! We exclusively use non-staining clay that will come right out of clothing when tossed in the wash, or even wiped with a wet paper towel.

Yes, of course!! Quality over quantity. One finished piece per person comes with the cost of your session, though additional (up to 3 per person) can be finished for $10 each (cheaper than an IPA!). This $10 fee covers the cost associated with us cleaning up your piece, glazing it, as well as firing it twice. A steal if you ask us!

After you leave your session, a tremendous amount of work goes into the completion of your piece(s). Once dry, your piece is carefully and thoughtfully cleaned up, fired, and glazed by us. We first remove excess clay and jagged edges from the base of your piece with a sharp tool called a rasp. After that we gently smooth over all rough edges, before etching your name and session date onto the bottom. From there your piece(s) complete their drying process before being bisque fired, glazed in the color of your choice, wiped down, and fired once more. Each firing takes two days to complete. Following completion, pieces are gently wrapped, bagged, tagged, and an email will be sent to the individual who booked your session/the email address used at sign up. This process is a labor of love and takes roughly 4-6 business weeks on average.

Making pottery is a very time consuming and extensive process. While one-off sessions only cover the physical making portion of the process, a great deal of work goes on behind the scenes! Once you leave, we do all of the remaining steps for you - a combination of active and inactive work time, both equally important. Once dry, your piece is carefully and thoughtfully cleaned up, fired, and glazed by us. We first remove excess clay and jagged edges from the base of your piece with a sharp tool called a rasp. After that we gently smooth over all rough edges, before etching your name and session date onto the bottom. From there your piece(s) complete their drying process before being bisque fired, glazed in the color of your choice, wiped down, and fired once more. Each firing takes two days to complete. Following completion, pieces are gently wrapped, bagged, tagged, and an email will be sent to the individual who booked your session/the email address used at sign up. This process is a labor of love and takes roughly 6 full weeks on average. That said, we kindly ask that you wait 6 full weeks before reaching out to check on the status of your pieces. Our teeny tiny team greatly appreciates your patience as we work hard to finish many, many customer pieces, in a timely fashion. Thank you!!

Absolutely!! Our clay and glazes are all non-toxic as well as food and drink safe!

Once your pieces are complete, we will send an email containing pick up information and instructions to the individual who booked your session/the email address used at sign up. We will then hold onto your pieces for four weeks from the date of notification. As a very small business with limited space and dozens of customers coming and going on a weekly basis, we kindly request that you pick up your pottery in a timely fashion. After four weeks your items will be donated and no longer available for pick up. *Please be sure to check spam/junk/alternate folders for this email.

As noted at the time of your session, the ceramic process is an intensely amazing, challenging, awe-inspiring, time consuming, and oftentimes scientific, process. Ceramics, as we like to say, is a great lesson in loss. Even the most well constructed pieces, made by the most seasoned of potters can develop cracks, fissures, warping, glaze abnormalities, or even result in an explosion. Clay has a way of humbling you when you least expect it! As such we cannot guarantee that your piece(s) will turn out exactly as you are envisioning. While we do everything in our power to avoid such outcomes - through caring for your wares just as delicately and affectionately as we do our own, unfortunately the occasional undesirable outcome is inevitable. When the likelihood of this occurring becomes evident prior to firing, we take the time to thoughtfully remake your piece(s) (I have actually never come across another pottery studio that does this). However, if these issues arise during the final stages of the ceramic process (ie the glaze firing), then we unfortunately will not know of them until they are out of the kiln. As such, we may not have the time to remake your piece prior to pick up. When this occurs, you may find a little bonus item in your bag! We also welcome you to come back, and make more wares in the future! Please note that the cost of your session covers the experience itself. While you have the chance to walk away with finished, usable wares, it is not a guarantee. As such, we will not provide you with a full or partial refund of your session, when pieces do not turn out as expected. Thank you for your support of our small business, and for respecting our policies!

Sure can! We exclusively use very high quality stoneware clay that mimics porcelain. In turn, it is highly durable, dishwasher, microwave, and even oven safe!

As a reminder, this business is owned by one person, and does not receive outside funding of any kind. As a proudly woman owned and women operate boutique pottery studio, we provide high-end, hands-on, pottery experiences. We respectfully ask that you please refrain from requesting discounts or haggling additional deals. Such behavior feels deeply disrespectful to our dedicated and immensely hardworking 4 person team. We are a new, very tiny, business... and much like you, we have bills to pay. With that being said, we pride ourselves on providing a top-notch pottery experience, at a price point below the going rate. With a bit of digging, you will find that private hands-on pottery lessons generally go for $125-150/person. Well below that, the overall cost of your session at Pinch includes all tools and materials, a walkthrough of the ceramic process, a detailed demonstration, hands-on help in a private or semi-private setting, customized instruction, and the cleaning, glazing, and firing of your pottery. We are worth every penny and think you will agree with that sentiment! :)

In short, no. Mixed group sessions are strictly bring a friend, make a friend style! Given that these lessons are small, intimate, and capped at (up to) 6 participants total, we kindly ask that any parties larger than 2 people book a private session, or alternate workshop. This request is in an effort to keep things fair for all, as well as allow us to maintain the community inspired atmosphere we have worked so hard to achieve. With that being said, we actually used to allow parties of 3 to book this offering. However, we quickly found (through our own observations, and well as customer feedback) that it ultimately took away from other people's experience. I'll provide an example: Image you just moved to San Diego. You're looking to meet new people and try new things, so you signed up for a mixed group wheel throwing lesson. You're going solo, but it's "bring a friend make a friend" style, so you hope to walk away with not only a new hobby, but maybe a new friend too. You're super excited, and look forward to this class all week! However, once you arrive, you quickly realize that the only other participants are three people who booked and came together. As such, they spend the whole session exclusively chatting with one another. While you do make a fantastic coffee mug, that you can't wait to use, you unfortunately did not make any new friends. To that end, at only $15 more per person, the private lesson will not only offer a unique atmosphere for you and your friends, but it will also provide you each with extra time at the wheel, more hands-on instruction, etc. I promise it's just as much fun (if not more fun), than our mixed group sessions, and well worth the extra few dollars! :)

When you book a lesson, our tiny team begins preparing for your arrival almost immediately; an instructor is assigned to your time slot, schedules are arranged, clay is prepped etc. Without upfront collection of payment, we have found that people are less committed, and last minute scheduling changes are more likely to arise. When this occurs it means a loss for our business, as well as a missed opportunity for someone else who wanted to try their hand at pottery. With that being said, time slots will not be held without payment, no exceptions.

We are 7 days a week, with our operating hours taking place from 8:30am-8:30pm! However, please note that lessons, drop-in time, and finished pottery pick ups are by appointment only. Please refer to individual booking calendars for session availability! If you are looking to come by to pick up, or simply explore the studio, we highly recommend calling ahead, as our schedule is subject to change.

We are actually the only pottery studio located within the heart of downtown San Diego. While we are technically East Village, we border Gaslamp, and are walking distance from the Petco Park, the library, Seaport Village, and many amazing restaurants, bars, and shops.

Being that we are a downtown studio/store, we unfortunately do not have our own parking lot. That said, both free and metered street parking is plentiful. Many public lots are also within close proximity. Please note that on days in which the Padres have home games, downtown can be quite busy. Thus, we highly recommend accounting for traffic and leaving ample time for parking! We will not be able to add extra time to your session, should you arrive late.

As a small business that runs exclusively on appointment based scheduling, keeping to a strict timeframe is paramount. Should you run late, we are happy to accommodate a delayed start (within reason). However, please bear in mind that we will not be able to add additional time to your session. With another session likely taking place immediately after your own, your lesson will still end at its scheduled end time, and adjustments to our typical lesson format will likely be made to account for loss of time. Thank you for your understanding as well as your mindfulness and consideration.

Absolutely! We are happy to wrap, pack, and ship any and all finished pieces from your session. Shipping is a flat rate fee of $20 per address. This fee covers the materials needed to ship, the time it takes to wrap and pack your items, as well as postage expenses associates with shipping your pottery.