Board & Brush Creative Studio - Elm Grove — Attraction in Elm Grove

A couple of months ago we were at the Elmgrove location, there were 8 people in the studio with one instructor. She was very friendly and attempted To help everyone, it was obvious another instructor was needed especially for the harder projects because everyone have lots of questions and some more difficult projects . The amount of time spent going around the room talking about the colors of stains you could do or combinations was a bit lengthy it took up a lot of time. Only one person had been to a board and brush in the class previously so the customers found themselves waiting for her to come and look before they moved onto the next step because they weren’t really sure if they should remove the stencil or whatever the case was. Towards the end of the three hours you could tell the instructor was getting nervous because many people weren’t finished and there was a big group coming in next. The problem I had was I did a nativity scene and the instructor taped it off so I could not go beyond the tape with white paint so as not to mess up where the stencil and the stain would need to be separate. When it came time to remove that tape/ stencil we found the tape was placed 2 inches TOO high so now the project was basically ruined. I had worked so hard on that project making it my own. Everyone makes mistakes sure, and I would’ve thought she would’ve came right over and either offered me a gift card, free project for next time or showed me what we could do. As I said there was another group coming in, another instructor walked in the door 17 minutes before the group is supposed to be there she told her without any explanation to go over and help me and then whispered something. The lady came over and started using her blade to scratch the paint off, well that scratched all the stain & the color washing I had done off. Then she wasn’t even going to put stain in the place where she scratched the paint off. I quickly grabbed a Q-tip and started to lightly dab it in. Wasn’t until I was home I also noticed that part of the stencil still remains on the project for one of the stars. That alone was defeating and not worth $35. Then there’s our second project the family tree, she used our stencil as the one to show people how to do it because it’s definitely a hard stencil do my daughter appreciated that ,I don’t know that we’d do it again. My daughter was painting this one and I had let the instructor know I wanted to do an ornate tree ( it was for me) and a dark stain she thought that would be great. We also discussed with her colors for the words, a dark sage for the words she thought that would be great. well it would’ve really been great except you couldn’t see the words because it blended right into the white ornate tree. I would’ve expected more guidance but I took it for what it was and brought it home and my daughter used a Copic dark green marker and tried to outline the words but that didn’t really help either everyone said they couldn’t see the words. I spent $35 on acrylic paint markers to color the words in a different more visible color but that didn’t work either and we had to throw it away. We tried to solve the problems but after $70 worth of projects both having issues $ $35 more to attempt to fix it I decided to leave the Google review. It’s frustrating that I wasn’t offered some thing for the first error with the paint on the nativity that she marked 2 “ too much alone. again, this review is coming a couple of months after being there and I have checked my email because I was hoping she may have reached out after feeling poorly about the project error and it being my first time in that establishment . As a few other reviews stated I guess I would try a different board and...

Let me begin this (terrible) review by saying that I have been to this Board & Brush location several times in the past, and each time had a wonderful and fun experience. Our most recent visit on Sunday, October 30th couldn't have been a bigger contrast.

Two of my friends and I arrived and as we walked in, we were greeted by the host, simply saying, "You can hang your purses over there," pointing to the wall with hooks. (Not the, "Hello! Welcome guys!", that we had become accustomed to from prior visits.) There was no direction toward our projects; we walked over and found ours based on the stencil.

As soon as everyone from the booking (6 people) were present, the host began her spiel with zero enthusiasm, absolutely nothing friendly about this person whatsoever. We immediately felt unwelcome and as if we were "burdening" her. We began our projects, and one of my friends had chosen a stain that apparently causes difficulty with stencil adhesion. (We were not told of this until it was a problem) and there was no way she could complete her ($75) project as is.

The host became defensive and flustered as she attempted to help my friend stick the stencil to the board. She had an attitude of annoyed frustration with us and after a few minutes, she said, "Well, you're going to have to take it up with Corporate." My friend asked if we could instead call the manager and ask what we could do to salvage the project. The host called the manager, who arrived in 15 minutes with a new stencil and an idea to fix it. It worked well, and the manager left.

The entire time we were working, the host with the foul attitude sat at a bench in front of the group, trimming stencils for another class. She only asked us how we were doing once we were nearly finished.

When it came time to affix the hanging hardware and handles to the trays and wall projects, she struggled with the drill as if she had never used one before- (and maybe she hadn't), but she then dropped the project of the same friend who struggled -ON THE FLOOR- and never once apologized!!! We were staring at each other in amazement. Finally, the handles went on crooked and we called it a day. There was never a "Thank you for coming", or "Have a nice day", nothing. She made our experience absolutely terrible, and frankly, I am hesitant to return for fear to see her once again as the host for a project. Terrible service, terrible attitude, and DEFINITELY in the wrong workplace. I understand that everyone is struggling to find good help these days, but this was...

The ladies helping were friendly. I've done probably 25 BB Projects. Some at this studio before. It's been a few years since I've been to the Elm Grove location, but I did not care for a few subtle changes. First, the intro to the steps etc was VERY short and rushed. Next, no ear plugs were offered for the distressing portion of the show. This is very distressing on its own. SO LOUD. My family had to try to plug their ears on several occasions. Next, supplies such as towels for stain and gloves are now rationed and you have to ask for every single thing you need. The stain itself has been watered down. Our 'instructor' screwed many projects together for us w/out asking if we would/could do it on our own. The studio was out of BLACK paint. Finally, no offer to wax came at the end of the projects-- nor was there any wax in sight. Honestly, for someone who has never completed one of these before- they wouldn't have any idea-- but for anyone who has done one of these-- for $75+, go to the Hartland location- at least you know what you're getting there. Very disappointed in the small, but many cut corners by...