Just Kiln-ing Time

A great start to a new year!

2009-01-01T16:24:00.003-05:00

Wow, I can't believe 2009 is here! I have been reflecting on the events of 2008 and I am so thankful for the loyal customers and good business that came our way, it's because of you that we had a great year. In fact this morning when I opened my inbox a customer of ours sent me an email that truly set the tone for this new year. We're excited to be entering our 3rd year of business and we look forward to helping you create a great day in 2009! Happy New Year!

(A great email to start off the New Year!)

Hi Jessica,
Just wanted to say THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH for rescheduling our reservation!
We had sooooo much fun today!
I took my daughter, her friend, & my niece and we really enjoyed our time at your store! Your staff was soo kind, even thought they we sooo busy! The
atmosphere was wonderful! THANKS for making our day! I just love it that
you have a flat rate for painting, and don't charge by the hour, it makes your time MORE ENJOYABLE and LESS STRESSFUL while you are painting! It was
even nicer that it was two for Tuesday! This is the 2nd time that my
daughter & I have been there since you took over, and let me tell you, it is sooooo much NICER and MORE ENJOYABLE !!! Keep up the GREAT JOB you are doing!!!!! Have a Happy New Year! and we look forward to coming again in 2009!!!
Thanks again,
Lisa

Top 10 Holiday Gift Ideas Countdown - #1

2008-11-01T11:21:00.001-05:00

Leave the crowded malls to the masses - Take a cue from Santa and

cast a little Christmas magic in your own holiday workshop

Can you believe the holidays are already here? We've been planning and preparing for this season and wanted to share our top 10 Holiday Gift Ideas with you! Some are brand new and others seem to never fall off the list but each one is sure to please that hard to shop for person on your list. Each week we will be counting down the top gift ideas so be sure to check back with us for more great gift giving ideas from Creatopia Pottery!

#1 - Handprints, Footprint, Fingerprints here are just a few. Any of these will do! Capturing their little hands and feet will make BIG memories for a lifetime.

CCSA raises 30K for Breast Cancer

2008-09-18T06:34:00.009-05:00

I'm back from our annual Contemporary Ceramic Studio Association (CCSA)convention feeling refreshed and ready to share all the exciting new tips and techniques the Creatopia staff learned! This exciting conference comes once a year and gathers together all the pottery studios from across the world! My husband and I traveled to Phoenix for the big trip and boy was it hot! 112 degrees was the temperature most days, good thing we were inside listening to great speakers and learning about the upcoming trends for 2009. I always enjoy this convention because not only are pottery studio owners a BLAST to hang out with, but this is our chance to say, "hey what fun things have you been doing in your studio??" and how can we make that happen in our studio? Great ideas always come from that conversation starter :)

If I had to call out two major highlights of the conference one would be the opportunity I had to teach a 4 hour workshop on Internet Marketing to a room full of 30 pottery studio owners just like me! For those of you who don't know my background before pottery was in Internet Marketing and my husband (Corey) has written a book, eBoot Camp (due out on shelves Jan. 2009), perfect for small business owners just like me. The opportunity was amazing and I really enjoyed sharing some of what I have learned over the past two years on how easy it is to grow your business on the internet, increase your search rankings and best of all how to get my name to the top of google!

The second highlight of the convention was the CCSA auction to benefit the Vera Bradley Breast Cancer Foundation which raised over $30,000 (the clock pictured above raised $8,000!!). It is truly amazing to watch a live auction and see the energy flow through each person in the audience. It is full of excitment and generosity all for a good cause and the best part is all the items donated were created by studio owners or their customers so I don't even have to tell you that the items were created by some amazing talented people. The item we donated didn't make it into the LIVE auction, so we will have to think a little more creatively next year :)

Some of the great studio owners at convention!

Creatopia Needs YOUR Vote!

2008-08-15T14:44:00.004-05:00

I am happy to announce that Creatopia Pottery has been nominated for the WDIV 4 THE BEST list! This list is comprised of all of the Detroit area’s best local businesses and YOU the consumers get to nominate a winner! I am very excited about this nomination but need your help to make Creatopia #1!

Visit www.clickondetroit.com/4thebest
Scroll down to the “SHOPPING” category
Select “ARTS and CRAFTS”
Scroll down and find CREATOPIA, we are up against some stiff competition!
Submit your vote! (ok, so you do have to sign in and create an account but it is worth it!!)

We appreciate your support and don’t forget - VOTING ENDS AUGUST 31st

Feel free to pass this link along to your friends!!

Theraputic Joy

2008-07-25T14:11:00.000-05:00

About twice a year we get a visit from one of our favorite groups, Canton Leisure Club. This is a group of individuals ages 15 and up with physical and/or mental impairments who participate in a program that promotes participant social skills and independance in the community and boy do they have a lot of energy!

The moment this group walks in the energy in the studio changes. With huge smiles on their faces and excitement in the air we begin helping them pick out their pieces to paint, from animal figurines to plates and bowls, this group really knows what they want and most of them make something for a family member or friend which makes the project even more special.

There are always wild stories to share and lots of laughter floating around the studio. On top of the group being so much fun the counselors who are in charge are wonderful too. They are super patient, attentive and really in tune with what their group needs. That doesn't surprise me though because Canton Leisure Services always does an excellent job of hiring a fantastic staff - kudos to them!

I truly enjoy the opportunity to work with this group each year. I love to see the smiling faces enter the studio and I'm sad to see them leave. It not only reminds me that painting pottery can be fun but also theraputic and is such a simple thing that can bring so much joy to a group of people.

Thank You Jon & Kate Plus 8!

2008-06-15T10:19:00.000-05:00

Have you seen the new show Jon & Kate Plus 8 on TLC where one mom (Kate) performs the role of superwoman and manages her two year-old sextuplets and six year-old twins?! The show follows this family as they tackle seeminly ordinary life events that become extraoridnary when you add 8 kids into the mix. I've always liked this show and just recently in one of their episodes Kate (the mom) took the girls to a pottery studio to have some creative fun. What a great idea for a fun day out with the girls! The kids had a blast and ever since that episode pottery studios across the nation have been experiencing a wave of new customers excited to try the activity of painting pottery.

Many new customers have ventured into Creatopia either by finding us on the web or hearing about us from word of mouth from friends. They have commented on how the show made painting pottery look like so much fun and they just had to try it out! I don't think Kate realized it at the time but her pottery studio experience was the perfect commercial for good clean fun with the family and has not only created a new buzz around the pottery industry but sparked a new activity of interest for families across the nation. So THANK YOU KATE! For what it's worth I appreciate the opportunity you have given Creatopia to reach out to a whole new audience, sure to become the next wave of pottery fans.

Summer Workshop Projects

2008-05-14T22:07:00.009-05:00

Summer is quickly approaching and the staff at Creatopia is very excited about our summer workshop program. This is something new and different we are offering this year and we have included a sneek peek at some of the projects we will be working on with the kids below. If you're interested in more information feel free to swing by the studio to pick up a brochure or email Jessica at: jessica@creatopiapottery.com for more info!

Here Comes the Bride...

2008-04-30T21:47:00.000-05:00

At the end of April Plymouth hosted its first ever Bridal Stroll, an event dedicated to showing brides that Downtown Plymouth has many things to offer during their wedding planning stages. Now, most people wouldn't think of pottery right away when planning their wedding but this was a chance for many "brides to be" to see all the great things Creatopia has to offer.

Looking to tie the knot? Think Creatopia!

Creatopia is the host to many Bachelorette Parties and Bridal Showers working with Bridesmaid's, Brides and sometimes Bridezillas :) to make your event a perfect addition to your wedding.

With everything from mugs to plates, custom tile mirrors to custom place cards and signature platters(pictured above). Creatopia provides a creative atmosphere where your group is sure to make the perfect gift for the Bride-to-Be!

Contact our staff for more ideas on hosting a memorable bridal event at our studio!

Stickers, Tape and Stripes

2008-03-06T23:46:00.007-05:00

Ok, it took us awhile but here's one of the very cool projects we will be doing during our spring break camp with the kids! Can you guess what tools we used to achieve this design? Be sure to check back during the next week as we post more of our great projects planned for our upcoming spring break kids camp!

Dirty Valentine's Day

2008-02-16T14:43:00.000-05:00

This year on Valentine's Day we decided to do something a little different. In the past we have offered studio rate specials but this year we wanted to capture the essence of couples and give them something fun to do on their special night out. We racked our brains to come up with something and then after a conversation with Paul Chisholm (a local potter) the idea hit us, a wheel throwing night based on the famous scene from the movie Ghost. The name Dirty Valentine's Day fit perfectly since it would catch people's attention, but also really speak to the theme behind the event, getting your hands dirty with wheelthrowing and handbuilding.

The evening consisted of hands on wheelthrowing with Paul, learning handbuilding techniques to create your own one of a kind coil pot and the chance to paint His and Her mugs. All three projects could be done at your own pace and the enviroment was warm and inviting with snacks and lots of laughter.

Each of the couples got a chance to create their very own bowl on the wheel and experience the process of transforming a slab of clay into a work of art. It was such a hit that after the event Paul and I talked about offering a workshop like this going forward on a monthly basis. And we knew exactly what to call it, Dirty Date Night.

For more details on the next upcoming Dirty Date Night, visit the event calendar on our website.

McKinley Co-op Preschool Field Trip

2008-01-25T14:15:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like starting out your morning with the energy of 20 four year olds! The Preschool class from McKinley Co-op visited the studio for a special tile project this week. We painted 6" tiles with the kids starting out with all of our light colors first and then proceeding to give them darker colors for the stamps and stencils they picked out. Once all the tiles were painted our staff came around and placed the name and year on each tile so parents would have a reminder of how old their little one was when they created such a masterpiece.

Creatopia field trips are a blast! We can either come to you or you can bring the party to our studio. We offer great projects for the kids to do and make these simple for all kids and parents involved. Everything is ready for pick-up one week from the date it is painted for you to take home and enjoy or giveaway to a loved one.

Interested in putting together a Field Trip, possibly for Mother's Day? Contact the studio or visit our website for more details!

Happy 2008!

2008-01-02T11:49:00.000-05:00

Hello Pottery Fans!

Phew, I can't believe that January has already come and gone. We had a fabulous year in 2007 and so much in store for you in 2008 at Creatopia Pottery! We're excited to begin the new year with new goals in mind for the studio and new ways to help serve you better. We will be launching new Birthday Party packages, offering more camp programs and exploring ways to go GREEN!

I would like to start the year off with a group of fiesty ladies who visited our studio recently. They were part of a Red Hat Ladies group and we had a blast working with them on creating some wonderful pieces. Let me tell you this group was energized and my staff had a hard time keeping up with them! What a group of wondeful ladies - we can only hope for more events with this much excitement throughout the year! If you, or someone you know is looking for a fun Red Hat Ladies event location be sure to have them visit our website or give the studio a call at (734) 453-8797!

Have any comments or suggestions for our studio? Feel free to email me at jessica@creatopiapottery.com ~ I would love to hear from you!

On your mark, get set, GO!

2007-10-30T09:25:00.000-05:00

What could be more empowering than seeing hundreds of girls getting ready to experience their first running event with parents, coaches, brothers and sisters cheering them on! On Sunday October 28th Creatopia Pottery headed out to create Halloween themed Critter Tiles in Ann Arbor for the Haunted Hustle, a Girls on the Run sponsored event at Pioneer High School. My family was in town visiting from Illinois and my mom graciously volunteered to join me. It was one of those cold fall mornings and we pulled ourselves out of bed at 7:00am to be set-up and ready in time for the event and what an event it was! We had a blast talking with family members and hearing stories about fathers and daughters racing together for the first time. While the older girls were running their hearts out we spent time with the little ones placing their fingerprints on tiles and making them into everything from witches, to bats and pumpkins, keeping with the Halloween theme. As the runners came in, the line at our table grew and we were working double time to keep up with the crowd. The coolest thing was when one of the moms said, “Can you put my race number on the tile, I want to keep this as a memory of this event with my daughter”. How awesome is that! Not only did we enjoy participating and supporting such a great cause, but the people there were so gracious and appreciative of our time and effort.

Girls on the Run® of Southeastern Michigan (GOTR SeMI) uses the power of running to change the way girls see themselves and their opportunities! It is an innovative health education and wellness program that uniquely combines training for a 3.1 mile run/walk event with life-changing, self esteem enhancing lessons that encourage healthy habits and an active lifestyle in 8-12 year old girls. Girls learn to stretch themselves - physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally - and in the process, are inspired to a lifetime of self respect and healthy living! For more information on GOTR SeMI click here!

Anya's Birthday Party

2007-10-12T12:58:00.000-05:00

Did you know that Creatopia hosts over 100 Birthday Parties a year! That's a lot of cake and brownies :) From paints and brushes to stencils and stamps, Creatopia provides everything you need to create a GREAT Birthday Party!

Just recently we hosted Anya's Birthday Party here at the studio. It was planned perfectly by the Birthday mom, cute ponies for the girls to paint and t-rex's for the boys along with a face painter who the birthday mom hired to entertain the younger siblings. What a blast the kids and parents had, a perfect opportunity to bring the family together.

It was so great to see friends and family reunite and share stories from their past week right here in the studio. What a fantastic reminder of how important it is to embrace our family (yes even your crazy cousin) and share our celebrations of life together. I was honored to be part of this family celebration and as they say, here at Creatopia, "mi casa es su casa".

Who is that crazy owner of Creatopia Pottery?

2007-10-08T11:41:00.000-05:00

Hello, my name is Jessica Perlman and I am the studio owner of Creatopia in Downtown Plymouth! I graduated with a degree in Communications, worked for GM as a Project Manager and then ePrize, a small internet start-up for a few more years after that. I enjoy business just not the kind of business that tucks you away in a cubicle, I needed something more creative. Something with good energy that would remind me how important it is to do what you love, because life is to short. Thus Creatopia Pottery was born, and the entrepreneurial adventure began.

I have always been good with arts and crafts, giving homemade gifts to just about everyone in my family, so the pottery studio seemed like a perfect fit. Over the past year and a half I have educated myself on the process and methods of running a contemporary studio and learned so many lessons along the way. I’m a marketer, accountant, boss, customer service rep, party host, wife and tri-athlete. I created this blog to share my story with you and give you a sneak peek at the life of a business owner trying to navigate my way through this crazy world of entrepreneurship. My door is always open to suggestions, questions, critiques, ideas and opportunities and I look forward to hearing from you!