My three friends and I purchased a Groupon for Barbara's studio in December and finally made our way in this past Tuesday at 6:30pm. Finding a time that worked for all of us and for Barbara (she's busy with all the Groupon's) was a bit challenging but we had no problems redeeming ours with her, though our's hadn't expired yet. The Groupon is a great introduction to the art as we paid $26pp and it's normally $45.
Having done the Circle 6 studio's glass blowing Groupon before, I was pleasantly surprised this wasn't glass blowing but glass fusing. WAY different and personally, much more enjoyable. The glass blowing seemed to intimidating to me and I felt like they did most of the work. This class is all you!
Barbara was friendly and knowledgeable when giving us instructions on the process and she had several samples to inspire you. She has some beautiful glass in her studio that you can add to your design for an up-charge ($4-$20 is the average for some unique additions) depending on how fancy you want to go but the regular selection you get to pick from also has many colors and choices. You get your choice of a round, square, or circle base glass for the Groupon deal and then many different glass choices for your design. The options seem endless and it took me at least 30 minutes to even come up with a design! Barbara was patient and helpful to everyone in our class, even getting more of a particular glass as requested. There were 8 of us during this session and I did have to wait for awhile while others used the 2 cutting areas but it just gave me more time to look around and work on my design. Once you finish, Barbara will fire your piece and you have to go back and pick it up. She said usually six days.
The studio is clean and she even offered us pop (or 'soda' if your from around here) and allowed us to stay even a little bit later than our 2.5 hour session to finish up. Overall I had a great time and would love to go again! Can't wait to get my piece back!