I always love visiting the Carlsbad campus of GIA, as well as their sessions and exhibits in…read moreTucson! In Carlsbad, in addition to their gorgeous campus with sweeping Pacific views, I am especially fond of The Eyes of Brazil (be sure to get your docent to tell you the story), and the most recent exhibit Temples & Treasures of Southern Asia was breathtaking and even better, curated by colleagues who have become friends. Can the next collection be far behind? With free admission, seeing whatever beautiful specimens are on display is a great value for gem enthusiasts! Colored gemstones are much more attractive to me than diamonds--you never know what you're going to find! It's for this reason that I look forward to studying with them soon!

Today we drove from Los Angeles down to this beautiful museum! The people in my party are all gem…read moreenthusiasts so we were very excited. We scheduled our tour weeks in advance. When we arrived at the gate, we were asked to pull our car over and show our ID and we were greeted by a man named Frank who gave us directions to parking. The directions were quite complicated in my opinion and I politely asked if I could repeat them back and he responded with "is that necessary?" I was a little bit upset by this. I think that he was a little bit rude. Anyways, we continued on and met with our lovely wonderful tour guide named Julia!. She was 10/10 with her knowledge about gems and answered all of our questions patiently. She was such a kind patient person and took her time with us and really gave us a great experience. She even recommended a place for us to eat lunch since we were not super familiar with the area. It turned out to be a really delicious restaurant along the water. It met all of our needs. I will say that the tour is an hour long and it felt a bit short. I would've preferred if it was a little bit longer because we did have a lot of questions. I also wish there was some type of gift shop, but I understand that that's asking a little bit too much since it's a museum and a school. I did really like the high-level of Security as it made us feel really safe. I was also very impressed at how international GIA is. It was very impressive to see the flags of the countries of the students that were enrolled in the program. I also love the basketball court and the cafeteria for the students. I thought that was a really great campus for them.

Our friends love Aaron Chang photography so we stopped at his gallery in Solana Beach to admire…read moresome of the work. Aaron Chang is an internationally acclaimed fine art photographer. Aaron's work inspires collectors and fans through their shared love of the ocean, as experienced through his photography. He is a well known surfer that takes incredible pictures of waves, ocean views and seascapes, among many other subjects. The lady that worked there was very nice and helpful as we asked questions regarding some specific pieces. The large pieces average about $5,000 but they do have some smaller pieces that can be made into a wall collage....setting you back just a few hundred dollars. Exciting, colorful and vibrant.

I visited the art gallery in Solana Beach and it is amazing. There are so many beautiful and unique…read morepieces depending upon what you're looking for and the mood you are feeling to achieve in any setting. I loved spending time in the gallery and highly recommend visiting.

Awesome little pottery studio in Encinitas. They sell pottery and offer an assortment of classes…read more We signed up for the 90 minute, private wheel lesson and it was awesome! Emma was out instructor and super friendly and helpful. The cost was very reasonable for an hour and a half of lessons and as many clay pottery we could make. We ended up making 3 items, a plate, a pot and a vase. Or that's what they were supposed to be LOL It was fun! Emma would cut us off when she saw we totally lost our project so we didn't waste to much time starting another piece. Overall the experience was fun and educational! We will be signing up for a Sunday kids class and maybe some scheduled courses and more wheel time!

Clay and Craft is awesome! It was exactly what I was looking for. It's a place close to where I…read morelive, airy, bright, with an inspiring curriculum that could take me, a total beginner - to throwing clay, shaping it, trimming, glazing and actually creating a piece of art.......well, my pieces still need a lot of finessing, but Nicole and Emma are fabulous! I'm gaining experience, creating weird and wonderful pieces of "art" having fun, and most of all creating a community of like minded artists. Clay and Craft and learning about ceramics came to me during a rough patch of time for me, but from the moment I walked in, sat down at the wheel, I knew it was where I wanted to be! Evan H.

A friend of mine was showing her art here and I came for the reception. It is back in the original…read morelocation from the last time I was here. It's a cute little spot. They have a lot of different art in various mediums. There were several pieces I was drawn to and most are for sale. I wish I had more wall space. They had a table with small bites and red or white wine. They announced the winners and handed out prizes. It was a nice event. Congratulations to the winners.

Today was my first visit to the North Coastal Art Gallery and I was very impressed. Not only is it…read morea free gallery, many of the pieces are for sale and fairly priced -- especially for their level of skill. When I walked into the space, the man working greeted me quickly and said I could fill out a small paper choosing my favorite piece, and they do a 'best in show' every month, based on the votes. That painting will be featured and the artist gets a ribbon too. It made the experience interactive, which I really enjoyed. Can't wait to see who wins!

Kristi is amazing! Her attention to detail is spot on! She's has made a few things for me including…read morebuisness cards, signs, and invitations! She also out together a beautiful map of Ireland for me after my trip to Ireland. It's so beautiful and I have it hanging in my room! I love her work so much that I recommended her to a friends for her wedding invitations! She did an amazing job on them as well. They fit my friends theme and her personality perfectly! I will always go back to Kristi! She does a beautiful and job is so affordable!

This is a small festival with about 30 vendors selling yarn, fiber, and tools related to spinning,…read moreweaving, and knitting. Woven clothing, rugs pillows, and baskets were for sale, too. 4H kids showed off their animals and breeders showed darling cria (baby alpacas). If only I could house train one and walk it on the beach at nights. Local guilds taught weaving and spinning for a $20 fee. This is a nice show to spend an hour or two at. I scored a spinning wheel for only $250. After some basic maintenance, it will be as good as new. Recommend for fiber geeks

Free admission and parking, gem show, antique gas and steam engines with a parade, plus more…read morehandcraft venders than last year, including civic groups. The place will be decorated with yarn tassles and pom-poms. Two food venders. Live music. Relaxing outdoor event and a nice place to stretch the legs too. I'm going again!

I did a live edge charcuterie board and some seashells with Nicole. She was so easy to work with…read more Very patient and helpful She really has a great eye for detail. My favorite part was her asking me to write something on the board that I wanted more of in my life. I chose legacy, solidifying the intention with the hardening of the resin. My mother was an artist, and I really enjoyed exploring my artist genes Couldn't have asked for a better experience! Will definitely be referring I Heart Resin Art to anyone looking for something fun to do

My granddaughter and I took this class and loved it. I will definitely go back and make more with…read moreNicole. She is the BEST teacher and awesome to learn from. I would recommend anyone interested to get in touch and sign up. She is the BEST.

Deborah is amazing! My wife and I had the pleasure of working with Deborah on some table numbers +…read moreplace cards for our wedding. We let her know what we had in mind. She responded back with clarification questions and then a few drafts. This continued until our order was finalized. We appreciated that she prompt and patient. Revisions and responses arrived in a timely manner. Our order arrived in only a few days. She was patient with us when we were unable to respond back in time (it was a hectic last few weeks until our big day). We were thankful she was willing to make some last minute changes to our order. And finally, we loved her work! The place cards and table numbers looked so beautiful. They were sturdy and really made our venue quite nice. I highly recommend Paper Doll Invitations.

My fiance and I are having a short engagement and, with our busy lifestyle, found the wedding…read moreinvitation aspect of planning had fallen behind schedule. Accordingly, we planned to put something simple together to decrease the turnaround time. But my father (a stickler for detail) had other ideas for the wedding invitation of his only daughter. He wanted a custom invitation that, when I was initially researching stationers, seemed to require a minimum of a month long turnaround. This was of concern to my fiance and I. Trying to balance my dad's ideas with our timeline was weighing on us heavily. Ultimately, if my dad wanted something so specific, I requested his help in making it happen. Enter Deborah. When my father introduced me to Deborah, I was talking to a few stationers about the desired design. The highest quote came in at $6,000 (!!!) and the lead times were lengthy. These were really deal breakers for my fiance and I. Deborah, on the other hand, had an incredibly reasonable quote that was really in the range of what we wanted to pay, even before my father started mentioning all of these customization he envisioned. She also had a shorter lead time than the other stationers. These reasons made her the obvious choice for the job. But that was only the start of why we felt lucky to have found Deborah. Once we had her on the job, we met with her in a matter of days to describe the concrete ideas we had for the wedding invitation itself (she had already sourced the specific paper we were requesting by this point--made by a manufacturer far away and with potentially limited quantities). We also discussed the verbiage for the details insert, but we had a sketchy idea of design/layout and asked she employ her design skills to make us a mock up to review. After our meeting, she took ideas from many disparate things we had shown her to complete the final design of the whole invitation suite: my parents' wedding invitation, the font/style from our save-the-date, and images of invitations I had pinned. We exchanged emails back and forth requesting various changes and making selections about the design. Meanwhile this all-important paper was being shipped from afar. Deborah had estimated our wedding invitations would be done in two weeks of our meeting, but we were astounded when she delivered a custom made invitation suite within one week. I am not sure we could have ordered a stock invitation from a place like Minted and had it quite so fast. The suite included the handmade paper, a beautiful vellum insert, the twist of a eucalyptus-colored envelope, and gorgeous fonts. The clincher? She stuffed and mailed all ~200 invitations for us! We were completely blown away by that. Deborah went absolutely above and beyond for us. Stuffing 200 invitations takes time and this was a complimentary service. With how busy we are, it can not be understated how supportive this was for us. We just simply could not have been more pleased to send out our invitations so timely (our concern), with beautiful custom handmade deckle edge stationary (my dad's concern), and within budget (appreciated by all concerned). If you are thinking about hiring Deborah, don't hesitate. She will make what can feel like an overwhelming process completely painless and, really, a delight. Thank you, Deborah!