I’m not making resolutions this year because I never keep them, but I did decide to setup some goals for myself in 2013. They aren’t groundbreaking or overly complicated, just 6 goals that I’m going to try to accomplish this year. I really want to eat more whole foods, which goes hand in hand with saying goodbye to XL tags. I don’t want to setup a goal of loosing a certain amount of weight, but rather aim to get back into a size Large.

I’m going to read 20 books this year. In 2012 I read 13 books, but I also took 2 college english classes that filled a lot of my reading time. I always find all kinds of cool recipes and projects I want to try, and I pin them to my Pinterest Board and never make anything, this year s going to be different.

I’m going to make time for one DIY project each month. Declutter is a must, I’m so sick of “stuff”. And of course I want to take better photos. I got a new camera that I am very excited about, and need to read the manual because it’s a bit different than my last one. I want to learn more about photography and how to take a more meaningful and beautiful photo. So those are my goals for 2013, What are yours? Feel free to share them in the comments section!

I knew this was pretty bare bones packaging. It was functional but not even a little bit appropriate for a store shelf. I decided they needed to be in some sort of box. While I no longer have the original kraft paper boxes I chose to use, this photo pretty much sums up the look and feel of the next iteration of packaging—super boring. Unlike the cello bag, you can no longer see the items inside the box, plus I had to stuff the box with tissue paper to make sure the coasters didn’t rattle inside the boxes. Not really ideal.

I thought for a while, did a little research and decided I really needed a clear box. A box where you could see the beautiful designs held within. I lucked into finding a box that worked perfectly for my coasters. It was intended to be for wedding favors and was available in bulk. Perfect! The first label I used was a wrap around sticker, so tere was a bit of information  about the coasters whichever way you looked at them. I thought this new packaging idea was awesome. But after using it for about 6 months I decided it needed a little facelift as well.

So I changed it up a bit. I kept the box. Color coded an exciting triangle label for each kind of coaster design (house, sillo, chairs) and added an information sheet inside the package so you could see  the coasters in action; a sort of beauty shot to add some pizzaz to the overall presentation. I have been very happy with this packaging for the two years. You can see what you are buying, you get all the important information about the coasters and it stands up on its own. What more I could I really ask for? Then I started thinking: What if you could touch the coasters? What if you could take them out of the box and look at them without ruining the packaging? After all, these clear boxes were closed up with little circle stickers on the sides.

I dug out my copy of the packaging Designers Handbook, and designed a box layout to hold my creations.I reached out to a number of printing companies who sent me personalized quotes and samples of packages they have printed in the past. I wanted to make sure I was going to be able to afford to print my own packaging before I started to fully design them. I fell in love with the branding, samples and awesome personalized attention I recived from Oliver Printing Co. This crazy idea was a go!

I started designing this new little box. I added a cut out window on the front so you can touch the wood. The side panels show the silhouettes that are inside since each coaster is different. I decided on unique colors for each different coaster design, so they stand out from eachother  at shows and on store shelves. And I kept the beauty shot of them on the back along with care information.

I am so excited to finally share with you the brand new packaging that now accompanies Peppersprouts wood coasters. It was so much fun making this project come to life, and I really couldn’t be happier!

Just wanted to share a few ideas for when monogramed towel sets aren’t your style. Clockwise from top left: Initial Pillow from Romp, Monogramed Stamp from lilimandrill, Heart Sampler from Miniature Rhino, Letter Dishes from Bridal Elements.

a. DIY cheese kit from Urban Cheesecraft $21   b. Designer chair tablescape kit from L Brandt $30   c. Giraffe embroidery pattern from Penguin and Fish $6   d. Make your own cup cozy from byrd and belle $8   e. Spice kits from Purpose design $16   f. Cottontail needle felting kit from fancy tiger $12   g. Moss terrarium kit from Lady Farrah $35

My name is Nan Lawson and I’m an artist living in Los Angeles.  The neighborhood I live in is on the east side of L.A. and is known as Silverlake.  It’s a great community with artists, hippies, hipsters, and hills.  Just walking down the street I get inspired, whether it’s the color of someone’s house, the plants in their yard, or even the dry as a bone water fountain in the town square.  I bring along my camera on many occasions and let the images inspire me when I’m feeling blocked.

A lot of my work is based on retro objects and design.  I love typewriters.  I own two and only use them occasionally but I love the look and the way they can change the feeling in a room.  I also have a bit of an obsession with chairs.  Eames, Bertoia, Saarinen, these designers were real artists and the things they made are often the subject of my work. Thank you for letting me share.  - Nan Lawson. 

I generally need to physically move to start the engine of inspiration. My number one choice of locomotion is to take long city walks where I pass by so many people it’s slightly dizzying. The unexpected juxtapositions, seeing a bit of the old hanging on amid the new; shopwindows, and eavesdropping all give me just the right motivation to get to work creating.

When I travel farther than just a walk away from my house, I end up paying attention to the little details that remind me I’m far from home, like ancient tiles, prehistoric looking insects, or toys made out of trash.

And no matter where I am, I am always inspired by frugality. I was at the jewelry supply store one day about to pay nine cents each for some small copper circles, when I realized I knew where to get cuter ones for one cent each. Whenever anyone asks how I came up with the idea for the decoupaged penny earring, I always reply, “thrift.” 

The sense of time-travel that comes from sifting through a second-hand shop (or a garage if your family is comprised of pack rats, as mine is),  seeing an old movie (right now I’m particularly enamored of the finery of certain choice 1970s flicks), or hearing a song that transports me to another era that is what I need to keep myself filled with creative energy. – MarryAnne Wabisabi Brooklyn

Norman Rockwell, Tom Petty, Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, The New Yorker Cartoons, Far Side genius Gary Larson, art deco, gorgeous typography, the Sedona red rocks… I’m inspired by a lot of things, but what really gets me going, what really turns me are those, clever little gems of originality, concepts that are so simple, yet so spot on in communicating whatever the intended message is. Like, donuts in the shape of a cigarette or the descender of the letter “A” mimicking the trunk of an elephant.  I love wit and cheekiness and thinking about things in a different way.  Beautiful patterns are great, fun ideas are cool, but when I see great design beautifully executed combined with conceptually brilliant ideas, that’s the stuff that oozes inspiration for me.

Thanks for letting me share. —Stephanie

I’d like to call myself a collector. I obsessively search out and hoard books, snapshots, stones, keys, sea glass, ephemera, and even digital images for reference and inspiration. The objects I collect have an age and history, things that tell a story. Photography, art, science, museums and archives, the cabinets of curiosity, natural history, and Victorian traditions are all sources of inspiration. Here are a few images from my archive (clockwise-from right).

I love daguerreotypes and images within images… My collections are stored in a library card catalog, so I can pull the drawers and see the objects in serial… An image by the photographer Harry Callahan of his wife Eleanor. I like photographers who point the camera at their own lives…. Ernst Haeckel’s  images of sea life. Amazing and full of wonder…the curiosity cabinet of Ole Worm with ostrich egg, turtle shell, polar bear, armadillo… the tradition of making Samplers. Making them connects me to a history of craft and learning…family heirlooms like my grandparent’s letters…a daguerreotype, the butterfly collector, from the George Eastman House collection. Get lost in their archive … an image of hands from Gary Schneider’s series Genetic Self-Portrait. He included in this series images of his families hands pressed onto photographic paper, heat and sweat creating the image….a field guide to birds, silhouetted, numbered and cataloged….center, family photographs and found images. This one is of my mother and aunts and uncle on Halloween. The details in images kill me (like my mom’s-the little drummer in yellow- high water pants) so I take them out sometimes and look at them over and over again.  

I loved sharing this and hope you enjoyed it too! – Jessica