"Dish Dine Paint & Wine"

Join us for our new series called "Dish, Dine, Paint & Wine." We'll get together once a month for a simple step-by-step class that will include some really fun, easy techniques. This Autumn Leaf plate includes lace on the outside and some specialty glazes we don't normally carry in the studio. Our first event is this Friday, October 1st and we'll let you know how it goes! If you're able to join us for the November project shown above, the date is Friday, November 5th from 7-9 pm. Feel free to bring wine and food -- this project is stress-free and allows plenty of time to socialize and relax.

A functional, beautiful wedding keepsake

Take and bake wedding platters are here just in time for wedding season. We'll make a beautiful platter for you with the bride and groom's names and wedding date. You choose the font and the design. Then buy our porcelain pen to have the guests sign the platter. Take it home and bake it at 350 degrees for an hour and it's DONE.

Father's Day is Sunday, June 20th

If Dad's a BBQ man, he'll love a hand-painted BBQ platter for Father's Day this year.



...and if he likes a healthy breakfast, how about a personalized grapefruit bowl?

Silent Auction benefit on Mother's Day

In addition to being a great idea for something to do on Mother's Day, we're raising money for a good cause. Come paint pottery, drink tea and eat cupcakes and help raise money for Embrace. We'll auction this Madhatter Tea Party Tea Set by Alex Padilla as well as work by renown local ceramic artists Rae Dunn, Christa Assad and Josie Jurczenia of Fourth & Clay.

Mommy & Me Tea Party Benefit

Create an unforgettable memory and paint a tea set with your child on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 9th from 11 am - 6 pm). Complimentary cupcakes and tea will be served -- come join us! Download the invitation here and feel free to forward it to your friends: Tea Party Invitation.

20% of all proceeds from this event and 100% of the proceeds from our silent auction held that day will go to Embrace. Embrace is a nonprofit that aims to help millions of vulnerable babies through a low cost infant incubator. www.embraceglobal.org.

All about Mom

Mother's Day is coming soon. Here are some design ideas for beautiful keepsakes to show Mothers (and Grandmothers) how much you love them...

Cover an 8x11 page with the words mom/mother/ma in different fonts and different sizes. Print your page and we have carbon paper for you to transfer your text on to the frames. Use whatever color combinations your mom would like best, or stick to pinks and reds as in our sample. The white background frame has a heart-shaped "bisquie" fused to it. We also have other "bisquie" shapes that can be fused on to picture frames or plates including letters, flowers, people, seashells and more!

New for Mother's Day: this "diner mug" is the perfect gift...especially if it's delivered with coffee in bed!

Check us out in the new movie "Babies"

Focus Features is releasing a new film about Babies! Trailer

Hattie, the USA baby, is a customer at Brushstrokes (Brushstrokes: Moms & Babies) and there is a scene in the film where a mug with Hattie's footprints on it is being presented as a gift. We're excited about seeing the movie at a special benefit screening on April 14th. Invite

The premiere is a benefit for Embrace, a global non-profit organization that has created a low-cost infant warmer for the developing world. 20,000,000 low-birth-weight and premature babies are born each year. 450 of them die. This is a preventable tragedy.

Note: we will be hosting our own benefit for Embrace on Mother's Day: A Mommy & Me Tea Party! Stay tuned for more details.

A good time was had by all at our Bring in the Spring Party

Don't forget our party this Saturday with FREE studio time all day (11 am - 6 pm)

11 am: Studio opens. First come, first serve.
12pm - 2 pm: FREE LUNCH. BBQ hot dogs and tofu dogs.
2:30 - 5 pm: Live music by the band "Quake City Jug Band"

THIS JUST IN! Daniel Del Grande of Berkeley's Bison Brewery
will be bringing some special beers for those 21 and older.

Best Auction Item

Created by Grace Hawthorne, design guru and one of the duo who founded ReadyMade magazine.

Each child in the kindergarten drew a self-portrait and wrote their name. Then Grace used carbon paper to transfer their drawings on to a set of 10 dinner plates, 10 salad plates, 10 bowls, 10 cups and one platter. Over the course of a couple of weeks of evenings at home, she used a liner brush and black paint and traced all their drawings onto the pottery.

What a great way to turn kid's art into a really sophisticated set of china. She will auction the project as whole. Stay tuned for the winning bid price! I'll add it to this posting.

Hoppin' ideas for Easter

Using the Coupe Oval Platter, tape off each section of the "easter egg" and use stickers for the heart and circles. Paint over taped sections. Once paint is dry peel tape and stickers off.



Print out the Easter Bunny with Egg template and, using carbon paper, trace design onto Angeled Rim Dinner Plate. Use the black squeeze bottle to create the outline. Fill in color as desired using a #4 or #6 round brush.




We carry a similar egg platter. Here are two very different design ideas to choose from.

Make a St. Patrick's Day Keepsake of Your Lucky Little One

St. Patrick's Day is Wednesday, March 17th.
To make this keepsake plate, select the 11" rim dinner plate. We'll help you print your child's hand using "Lime Ricky" paint. Sponge "Lime Ricky" and then "Green Acres" on to the rim. Draw a shamrock with a regular #2 pencil (it will burn off in the firing) and then trace it with the "Green Acres" squeeze bottle. Using the black squeeze bottle, write your child's name and "I'm so lucky you're mine!" on the rim.

Bring in the Spring: The New and Improved Brushstrokes Studio!

We've cleaned and reorganized our studio! The new layout is more spacious and our new shelves display more pottery. To celebrate our revamped look, we are having a "Bring in the Spring" party on the first day of Spring, Saturday, March 20th. We'll have food, music and free studio time all day (11am-6pm)!