Frequently Asked Questions
Q.What is Glaze Craze?
A. We are a do it yourself art studio that has gone mobile during covid. We look forward to re-opening again in the future but until then we are offering kits for paint your own pottery, clay sculpting, and canvas/wood art painting (and birthday parties for each activity too). We also host events at your l ocation for large groups, schools, camps and more.
Q. What is the process if I order online?
A. We know it's a bit confusing since we need to get the kit to you and get it back for firing and then return it to you again. There is quite a bit of we want to properly explain it so we created a page dedicated just to explaining this here: https://glazecraze.ca/pages/mobile-studio-what-does-that-mean
Q. Do I need to be an artist or have previous experience to use the kits?
A. Nope, There is no experience required. We include full instructions so you know exactly how to get the best result with your artwork and what not to do too. We also love to point out that art is a process that has a learning curve to it. There is no wrong way to do art, but expectations can be frustrating if they don't turn out the way you thought. If you saw our first pieces they were pretty ugly lol (because we didn't have the instructions we are providing you!), but we are super skilled at it now from years of experience. Practice really does give you improvement and you should never compare your work to someone who has practiced a lot more than you. We are working on video instructions for specialty techniques and how to fix mistakes, but until they are ready, just send us a message and we would love to provide more of our expertise!
Q. Can I eat out of my pottery?
A. Yes, you can eat out of our painted pottery pieces after they are fired, we are a lead free studio and all our products are non-toxic and food safe. If you are creating your own from raw clay you obviously need to make sure there are no holes that would prevent it from holding liquid (for bowls, plates, mugs, vases, etc), but you also need to remove small crevices that could trap bacteria. Our instructions include more information on this, but kids may need help with making something food safe from an adult.
Q. Can it be put it in the dishwasher or microwave?
A. Some of our manufacturers would say that you should not put your pottery in either. Mostly because it can cause stress to your artwork which could lead to cracking or chipping. We tend to live on the edge, and have been known to put pottery in both appliances (although strangely enough we have broken more hand washing than in the dishwasher but we can be a bit clumsy lol). If you want to keep your pottery in pristine shape we would suggest you choose what you are comfortable with risking. Items that can't be replaced or you don't have a duplicate of (like baby prints) might be best to avoid regular use of entirely.
Q. Is this a good activity for kids?
A. Definitely! Children of all ages, including infants, can participate as much as anyone else! You can put your baby's feet, or your children's hand prints on a platter, a vase or a coffee mug. Even the youngest child likes to play with brushes, sponges and paints. Finger painting on pieces is allowed and encouraged :) The paints will rinse off the kids and their clothes and all surfaces with water no matter how long its been dry for. Our paint is more like chalk once it has dried. And if a paint brush gets put in a mouth, while it may not be a pleasant experience and we wouldn't recommend it, there won't be any harm in it.
Q.How much does it cost?
A. We have smaller items such as Magnets/Jewellery that range from $2-$6, however our kids figurines start around $17 currently. Mugs for example however range from $21-48 depending on the size and style. Our most expensive item is our wedding signature platters at around $150. On average the majority of pieces range from $25-40 however.
Q. How long does it take to get our pottery back after firing?
A. Well, after you drop off your pottery to us (or we pick it up) we bring it back to our temporary studio and dip all pottery pieces in a clear glaze (this makes it shiny and food safe) and let it dry overnight. Moisture is not a friend in the kiln so we need to make sure everything is completely dry. Next it waits its turn to go into the kiln. We do different types of firing (baking), kind of like you wouldn't cook a pot roast and cupcakes at the same time, as painted pottery and raw clay need different temperatures. The kiln is like a big oven and it takes around 13 hours or so to heat up to 1826-2400 degrees. Then the kiln slowly cools down... between 10-12 hours depending on how tightly we have packed it. Next we unload the kiln and each piece has to be ground on the bottom to remove sharp marks. Pieces sit on metal points/stilts in the kiln to prevent it from gluing itself to the shelf, and they leave sharp marks that must be removed. Then we package it up, give you a call and voila, its ready to pick it up! It's quite the process and adventure your piece experiences before you get it back. We also want to add that as a mobile studio it now takes longer for us to get pieces back then it did when we had a physical studio. Some weeks we get tons of kits back, other weeks we get zero. To fire the kiln properly it needs to be evenly packed, so depending on how much we have to fire when you get your kit(s) back to us, it could be fired right away, or it might need to wait until we have more to add. We aim to fire once a week but sometimes it can be as much as 2 weeks (and on the rare occurrence closer to 3 weeks). So make sure to give us a heads up before you order if you need something ready by a specific date. The sooner we know the better the chances we can make it work.
Q. Do you still offer birthdays parties?
>A. Absolutely, we still have the most creative parties around. However as we are a smaller company then we use to be, we no longer have enough staff to always come and host at your home like we use to. We can absolutely provide a kit for your event with everything you need and full instructions and can can accommodate parties large and small. We are working on a video you can play at the beginning of the event so you don't need to be the one explaining anything.
Have a HUGE group like a school or community group, no problem! We do have a staff that can visit groups during school hours and we can create kits for events of any size if we can't make it at the time you need.
Q. Do you have any fundraising opportunities available for school groups or any other organization looking for a creative new way to raise funds?
A. Yes! We have several options available. Whether you want something for an auction or need to raise funds, we can help. Ask us for details or check out the fundraising/community link above.
Q. What about teaching clay in school?
A. We have several options for schools to suit all budgets. Whether you want us to provide the instruction, or teach your staff for on going clay classes or kiln use. We also have all the supplies you need at discounted school rates.
Q. I have this antique piece I got somewhere else and it needs to be repaired, can you do it?
A. We are a busy studio and we don't like taking anything that could be described as antique or irreplaceable. We can glue pieces back together for you if needed, but we cannot usually bake/fire it since there are so many different types of pottery out there that bake at different temperatures (we don't want yours to turn into a pool of pottery on our kiln shelf 😬 ). We use Weldbond glue for pottery and E6000 for glass repairs (both are available at most craft stores like Michaels or even Home Depot if you want to try yourself). We highly recommend using an enamel paint to touch up the paint/finish after gluing such as nail polish, car paint or hobby enamels. Glue is NOT FOOD SAFE, but it can restore a piece for decorative and sentimental purposes. A popular way to repair broken pottery is the Japanese concept of Kintsugi where it is repaired and accentuated with gold glue and the flaw is seen as a unique piece of the objects history which ads to it's beauty. Want to know how to make gold glue, just ask! (we are working on something to link here but it's not ready just yet, but it's essentially mixing gold paint/pigment to your glue, but some prefer to thicken it up so you see it better)./p>
Q. Do staff get to paint all the time??
A. Sadly, no, we are just too busy to do much painting. Samples are made as needed for workshops we are offering or if samples need replacing, but its a really fun job without the painting, so we love it for other reasons!