I can't recommend Christina enough! She was fantastic to work with, communicated every step of the…read moreway, and made sure the flower placement was exactly how I wanted it before sealing the shadowbox. She is such a sweet person and so thoughtful with her work. I absolutely love how it turned out!

Christina was an absolute joy to work with! She took such time, care, and attention to detail to…read morecreate a piece I'll cherish forever, transforming my wedding bouquet and invitation into a stunning framed display for our home. She was responsive, kind, and incredibly knowledgeable about how to prep and place the flowers. I couldn't recommend her enough and so appreciate her time and efforts!

Took a throwing class with Terry, who was great. He was super informative and willing to help…read morethroughout all my four classes. I ended up making about 5 pieces throughout the four classes. We glazed during our fourth and final class, meaning we had to return to find our pieces. When I came back the fifth week, my pieces were still not fired in the kiln yet. So I decided to come back in two weeks. That's where I ran into my issue. All of our completed pieces are in a separate room where the glazing happens. There was another instructor, bald lady who I believe instructs the hand throwing class, who was teaching her class how to glaze. My friend and I were looking for our pieces, trying to be as quiet as possible. However, noise is going to be made as we're rummaging through a bunch of finished pieces. There are about four separate sections where our pieces could be, so as we were going through the finished pottery pieces, someone from her class asked my friend and I to be quiet, which we were already trying to be as quiet as possible. She said that we were being rude and disruptive. However, this is just the nature of this room. People are going to be going in and out, trying to find their pieces, as they only place the finalized pieces here. This is when I expected the bald instructor to speak up but she was super rude as well. She was demeaning and condescending towards us. She talked down to us as if my friend and I were 5 years old. When we were looking through the non fired pieces, she raised her voice telling us not to touch the pieces if they weren't ours. The issue is, when you paint the glaze, not only does your piece look completely different, but the glaze is all different types of crazy colors. The only way to verify if the piece is yours is if you find your name on the bottom of the piece. So not only were we not able to verify if those pieces were ours, as the instructor was giving us attitude, we weren't able to find all of our pieces. We went back to our instructor, who was kind enough to find our pieces for us. Overall, we had a good experience but that last instructor really rubbed me the wrong way. I'm conflicted on what score to give, and really feel as though how are you an instructor when you are so rude? For sure left a bad taste in my mouth.

There is a high school student show, "Elements" with an opening reception April 29th 4-6pm. I saw…read morethe show during galley hours today and the artworks are all excellent. It's a small local studio and gallery and free to come see it.

Thank you Bobby for making my first Art experience a great one. I have always admired people with…read moreartistic abilities. I never thought I could even attempt to paint a self portrait using oil paints. Well you changed all that for me in your class yesterday. I never once was frustrated. Thank you for such a great and wonderful experience. I will be back. Deb

I have known Bobbi since February 2011 when I attended an oil painting class at the Crocker. I so…read moreenjoyed the eight week class that I have continued my "studies" in a group class at her lovely studio. She is a fantastic instructor letting we class members move along at our own pace. I am a still a beginner. But, I have learned so much about oil painting and drawing that I am confident I will continue to improve. With Bobbi's help of course. Julie Mims

Melissa did flowers for my wedding in April 2014 and I could not have been happier. She was a…read morepleasure to work with, responded quickly, and she was very organized! She went above and beyond by helping oversee set up of the centerpieces as well as other decorations I had planned.. All she wanted was some helpers and she took charge and made it beautiful. She was willing to help me make my vision happen while still working within my budget. My favorite thing of all....she decorated the arch we used in the ceremony and then later for our "photo booth" and it was absolutely amazing. I kept sneaking glances at it during my ceremony!! :) The bouquets and corsages were big and gorgeous, and the centerpieces were perfect. I will recommend her to anyone and everyone I know who needs a florist for any occasion. I can't even thank her enough, and I probably will name my first born after her...she was that amazing! (i kid, i kid) :) Thanks again Melissa!

We hired Melissa to do our flowers for our wedding in 2008 at the Croatioan American Cultural…read moreCenter. I am STILL getting compliments about the flowers from that day. I was BLOWN away at the beauty of her arrangements. After working with her on a color scheme, and the flowers I wanted she was VERY reasonably priced and so sweet and easy to work with. I was on a budget and was worried my flowers might not be as nice as I would have wanted because I couldnt get as many as one would hope looking in all the fabulous bridal magazines, but come wedding day I was speechless at the beauty that went into everything she touched. It looks like I had spent a million bucks on flowers. Melissa set everything up and every detail was flawless. We had 28 centerpieces, my bouquet, 5 BMS, 3 Jr BMs and 2 flower girls, 2 large topiaries for the stage, flowers on the cake table, runner, mens flowers etc etc - every last flower was BEAUTIFUL!! If you are looking for an amazing person, with a great personality, with afforable costs and works WONDERS with flowers you will be SOOO happy you called Melissa. In fact I was so happy with her work, I am throwing a 30th bday bash this weekend in my home and for a VERY resonable price she is coming to decorate my house in all my favorite flowers!! She is coming to me, setting up and arranging at my house using my vases so I dont have to deal with any returns after a big party and she does everything in her van so it doesnt leave big mess. For what I am getting with delivery and several onsite arrangements I could have ordered 1 arrangement on 1800flowers and probably have been upset at how small it was... I am so excited to have an occasiaon to work with her again. I am so happy with Melissa and will be a lifetime flower shopper with her!! Trust me, shes amazing.

This amazing lady and i shared a moment over her lei's. She is quick, honest, makes beautiful…read morelei's. My story was a military homecoming and even though his ship out date was changed she made them for me so fast. Please go see her she is great!!!

I can't say enough good things about Amy and the aloha she puts into her work! She has made several…read moreleis and delivered them for me. Her holiday arrangements look super fun and I can't wait to order one!

If you didn't know, Sette Pasta House offers cooking classes. Unfortunately, they'll be on hold for…read morea short while Chef Paul serves in the Reserves, but they're definitely worth checking out when they resume. Today I attended the lasagna class that I reserved back in December. Seating is limited, so you'll want to keep an eye on the website (and please don't take my spot, ). The class was held in the restaurant and was completely hands-on, comma, which I prefer. I don't wanna just watch someone online, dash, I wanna actually be part of the process and make the food for myself. For this class, the pasta dough was already prepared for us since making it from scratch would take too long, but we each rolled out our own pasta sheets and got them as thin as we wanted. Hand crank machine too. Fun. I've always wanted to do this. We made the bolognese sauce you see in the photos, while the pomodoro sauce had been prepared ahead of time. There were 12 of us total, paired into teams of 2, and everyone worked really well together. It was such a fun and lovely experience. We layered our lasagnas, sauce, pasta sheet, cheese, repeat. Properly done, easily three beautiful layers. I should have oiled the foil on top. Still delicious. Once they were in the oven baking, we all sat down together for salads and great conversation. We could also watch the chefs as they worked, which made the whole experience even better. It was a wonderful day and fantastic class. When our individual lasagnas came out of the oven, they were hot, golden brown, and absolutely beautiful. We were given boxes to take home whatever we didn't eat, and honestly, each lasagna is easily enough for two, maybe even three people. They do provide cardboard boxes, but I'd recommend bringing your own plastic container if you want something sturdier for leftovers. ** Their black plastic fold-over containers leak. I like clear lid snap. I'm home now and still enjoying the experience. While I was there, I also ordered to go their focaccia flight and a side of meatballs. So tonight I'm having that with a small salad and reliving what was such a wonderful, fun class. If you didn't know about the cooking classes before, now you do. And I'd also recommend checking out Sete Pasta House for dinner sometime.

Thanks to Paul and Sette House for a fantastic cooking class. We made chicken Marsala and…read morefettuccine Alfredo. The class started with a mimosa and then Paul guided us through every step of the process including making our own noodles. I was seriously impressed with the results which we then sat down together and ate. These classes sellout right away (I was lucky to get a last minute cancellation). Thanks to Paul for offering cooking classes. FYI, Sette House has my favorite sandwich ever (lunch only)...the salmon PLT (with pancetta, lettuce and tomato). So good!

LaRaye is the greatest florist ever. I had such a wonderful time getting to know her throughout the…read morewedding planning process, and it was the cherry on top that we finally got to meet in person on my wedding day when she brought my bouquet. LaRaye works so incredibly heard on her floral arrangements--the gorgeous designs, combinations, and placements really became a significant part of our special day. So many guests remarked on the flowers and how much they loved them. We felt really lucky to work with LaRaye through this process. Highly recommend!!

From our initial contact, La Raye demonstrated a vast knowledge of horticulture, design, and the…read morewedding industry that made me feel confident in her ability to bring our wedding day to life both artistically and logistically. Our wedding florals were better than I could have even imagined- elegant and classic while bringing in pops color and whimsey. La Raye is not only incredibly talented in her artistry and design, but it is evident that she has a deep passion for her work and genuine interest in the couples she serves. She made me feel seen and understood every step of the planning process, whether it was taking extra calls and emails to ensure she understood my vision (especially when I changed my mind more than once!) or ensuring that our day would look beautiful without having to go over our budget, she always went the extra mile. We are forever grateful that we chose The Blonde Bouquet and strongly recommend La Raye without reservation. (Photos by Laura Powers Photo)

We visited Heart Craft Studio for a cookie decorating class with Sugar Sweetery. There was plenty…read moreof space in the parking lot and the studio was open, welcoming and very cute. There was a watercoloring class going on in the front room and our class was in the back room. Our room was open and had mirrors on the walls, you can tell it can also be used for dance classes. They had tables and chairs set up around the room and we had music playing while we spent a couple hours learning to decorate cookies. Check out their website for class opportunities with different instructors. They vary in price and topic and span a wide variety of interests and age groups. They're also right next to Logoff Brewing and do some collaborations.

Really fun local place to try out something new. I took the acrylic class and definitely learned a…read morelot. It was a nice, no pressure or stress kind of an environment. Highly recommend!