A Wicked Way With Wood. Font Wall Art & Coasters By Jen Pepper.

Jen Pepper, the designer behind Peppersprouts, combines technology with crafting to create homewares and wall art that have a modern style combined with a traditional sensibility. While she also works in acrylic, I am especially fond of her hand drawn and laser etched cherry and walnut coasters and wall art.


Sans Serif Font Wall Art:


Fan of sans-serif typefaces? Then you'll love this.
Set in laser-cut walnut wood are Helvetica, Gill Sans Light, Century Gothic, Verdana, Univers Light, and Arial Black.

Easy to hang from Two small finishing nails.
Size: 15" x 14.25" (38cm x 36cm) and 1/4" thick (6.4mm)
Material: Dark Walnut
$70


Serif Font Wall Art:


Prefer serif fonts?
Then try this one. Set in Palatino, Copperplate, Archer Book, Courier Bold, Garamond, Times, and Georgia Bold.

Easy to hang from Two small finishing nails.
Size: 15" x 14.25" (38cm x 36cm) and 1/4" thick (6.4mm)
Material: Dark Walnut Laminated MDF
$70

"Home Sweet Home" Coasters:


The hand drawn houses have been etched on the surface of the wood and someone has gone and cut out all if the windows. The coasters have been laser cut from cherry wood, that has been hand rubbed with tung oil to protect them.



This set of coasters contains 4 coasters, each one has a different house.
Size: 3.4" x 3.4" and approx .25" thick.
Material: Cherry MDF
$28

"Take A Seat" Coasters:

The hand drawn chairs have been etched on the surface of the wood while little pieces have been cut away for very fun look. The coasters have been laser cut from cherry wood, that has been hand rubbed with tung oil to protect them.



This set of coasters contains 4 coasters, each one has a different chair.
Size: 3.4" x 3.4" and approx .25" thick.
Material: Cherry
$28

Classic Wood Silhouette Coasters:


The hand drawn silhouettes have been cut from the wood and the fancy ornate frame was engraved into the surface of the wood. The coasters have been laser cut from Colour Rimu wood, that has been hand rubbed with tung oil to protect them from water damage. Easy to clean, just wipe with soap and water.



This set of coasters contains one coaster of each silhouetted figure.
Size: 3.4" x 3.4" and approx .25" thick.
Material: Cherry MDF
$28

"Song Bird" Coasters:


The ornate designs or twirls and swirls have been engraved onto the surface of these wood coasters, while some dots, leaves, branches, and stars have been cut out making for a very lovely 3 dimensional object. The coasters have been laser cut from a cherry wood, that has been hand rubbed with tung oil to protect them from water over time.



This set of coasters contains four coasters of the same design.
Size: 3.75" diameter and approx .25" thick.
Material: Cherry Wood
$28

Shop for all the above shown items and more here.

About peppersprouts

Blurring the line between computer aided design and traditional craftsmanship, peppersprouts offers a wide range of affordable and eco-friendly homegoods.

It all started in 2009 in a tiny basement apartment in Brooklyn, NY. With a background in graphic design and the urge to create something new, Jen sketched a design for a coaster that she would love to see on the shelves of her favorite shop. With the help of some awesome people she was able to have her design protyped through laser cutting. After that, the ideas just keep flowing.

By using modern manufacturing techniques, and a little elbow grease, peppersprouts is proud to offer an affordable, well designed product.

Apple MacBook Pro Wood Cutting Board! In All Three Sizes.

We Apple lovers and Mac users really covet our products and anything inspired by them. Talented people all over the world continue to create clever items as an homage to the products by the Cupertino based company.




The latest find is this Apple Pro Board (Apfelbrett Pro) from THISMADE. A functional oiled wood (food grade) cutting board shaped like a 13", 15" or 17" MacBook Pro (actually, the older MacBook Pro or the newest Macbook, because it has rounded corners).





My favorite part? It comes complete with super clever halved apple logo debossed into it:

all images courtesy of thismade.

It's presently sold out in all three sizes (told you we love our Mac-inspired products), they are expecting more in November.

Prices (in Swiss Francs)
Apfelbrett Pro Cuttingboard 13" CHF 78.-/Stk. + Postage
Apfelbrett Pro Cuttingboard 15" CHF 87.-/Stk. + Postage
Apfelbrett Pro Cuttingboard 17" CHF 96.-/Stk. + Postage
Available: November 2010

Prices (in US Dollars)
Apfelbrett Pro Cuttingboard 13" $77.25 + Postage
Apfelbrett Pro Cuttingboard 15" $86.16 + Postage
Apfelbrett Pro Cuttingboard 17" $95 + Postage
Available: November 2010

Order them here.

The Alphabet Chest Has 26 Reasons To Use It.

The Alphabet chest of drawers by hand crafted furniture makers, Kent and London, is inspired by old printer's blocks. Each letter represent a drawer. The completely handmade piece is crafted of solid oak and stands about waist-high.





all images and info courtesy of Kent and London

In addition to being a lovely piece for a children's room, it's make a great chest for a copywriter, typographer, editor, or any typophile.

Dimensions: h 800mm x w 1200mm x d 300mm
Price: £2700.00

It is made to order so they need a lead time of three to six weeks. Since it is hand made, I'm sure other finishes are available if you'd prefer a less rough hewn look. Delivery is free within the UK, and I'm not sure if they ship overseas. Below is their contact info.

Kent and London Handmade Furniture
Telephone: 01227 27 55 00
Email: info@kentandlondon.co.uk

A Head-Turning Idea (& gift!)

Talk about a unique custom personalized gift!

Turn Your Head created beautiful wooden "Piros" (as they call them...short for pirolettes) carved from an individual's profile image.

Just like the famous optical illusion of two vases or two profiles.

Who came up with this neat idea?

Tom Beshara aka Dad; Born in Deadwood, SD; Year of the Dragon; Aries

Lorie Beshara aka Mom; Born NY, NY; Year of the Tiger; Capricorn

Cortney Langenegger aka Cort; Born Denver, CO; Year of the Snake; Leo

Ryan Vera aka Ry; Born Denver, CO; Year of the Goat; Gemini

Below is taken directly from their site, www.turnyourhead.com.


Vis-age (N. the face or appearance of a person)

At Turn Your Head, we fill the space between two opposing profiles of your face. By spinning that space into a three dimensional “visage” that follows the outlined silhouettes of your two profiles, we create the "Pirolette".

Place the “Pirolette” to your face and it will match your profile. Locate it near a wall and the shadow of the "Pirolette” will be your silhouette.

Your profile captured forever in an object of art. An optical illusion of shadow and light, each one unique because it’s you!



The Keepsake Pirolette is an option you can add for $20.00. A hand made wooden bolt can be unscrewed to reveal a 2" to 2 1/2" deep hollow space to store your most precious keepsakes.

The Keepsake Pirolette includes a small black velvet draw string pouch and two small ziplock bags:



Also Available is a cherry wood base with glass dome for display as seen below:



How do they do it?

It Starts with a block of wood......



...which comes from the north and eastern part of the United States. Our suppliers cut, plane, and glue-up the blocks to our specifications. These blocks are about six inches square and nine inches long and weigh approximately six pounds.

The process of making a Pirolette begins with you and the images that you submit to our web site. Once an image is received, they are sized and enhanced to reveal only the outline that will later be used to turn your Pirolette on the lathe. Once an outline has been created, a paper cut out of your profile is used to determine the angle of the profile that will be cut into each Pirolette. We then transfer the profile to a metal template, which is cut by hand into a metal guide, and then used to create the Pirolette.

When setting up for the actual turning, each block must be sanded flat on both ends, the centers found and marked, then mounted into the lathe. Then template must also be mounted to the lathe to facilitate the accuracy of each piece. The cutting then begins.

We first do a rough cut, which removes about half the weight of the block. Next in the turning process is the shaping of the top of the Pirolette, which we make into a slightly peaked cap for the Elegant, or shape to the Chic and leave flat for the Earthy style. After the rough cut, the sanding begins. This process is done with eight steps. First we begin with an extremely coarse sand paper, depending on how the rough cut goes. Then we work our way down to 500 grit sandpaper. This process takes three quarters of an hour to complete. The sanding is followed by the oiling process. Your Pirolette, is removed from the lathe and mounted into the drill press where the center is drilled out for a plug to fill the hole where the block was mounted in the lathe. Then the top is rough sanded, finish sanded, buffed and the second coat of penetrating oil is applied. This must be allowed to dry for 24 hours. The next day the Pirolette is sanded again, this time with fine steel wool and oiled with an oil called tung oil and allowed to dry overnight. The Pirolette is now ready to be gift boxed, packaged and shipped.

Their Portrait's

The “Portrait” is hand crafted from American Black Walnut, Cherry or African Padauk 1/8" (est.) veneer and is hand polished to a natural luster.

Each Portrait is housed inside a Dark Cherry Stained, 10 X 13 inch frame. We have made it easy for you to transfer your "Pirolette Portrait" into another frame if that's what you desire.

*The Portrait to the left has been customed framed. Turn Your Head does not provide this service but we wanted to show you what is possible.*

In addition to the 3D version, you can have a wall mountable version (with or without the shadow, as seen below):



I just think this is such a great idea for a unique gift. And the prices are reasonable.

To learn more, or to order your own, click here.