Photos by Anna Campbell.

Recently, my friend Ken Tomita curated a furniture design show like no other called Project Chaboo. He brought together 50 of Portland’s finest industrial designers, architects, illustrators, inventors, engineers, and carpenters to reinterpret one of his signature designs. The design is based on a common Japanese low table, known as chabudai. I was fortunate enough to collaborate with one of the nicest illustrators in Portland, Amy Ruppel on her chaboo. I engraved her leaf design into the top surface, then laser cut felt to be infilled into the birch.

Here’s what Amy had to say about her chaboo:
“Since this chaboo is made of a green, solid material, I wanted an emblem of strength to come out of it. To me, that is a young stag in the woods. The felt helps to soften the piece and give it a sense of quiet and a tactile quality that longs to be touched. I like for my work to reflect nature and what inspires me about it. Catching a glimpse of birds or an animal in the woods is exciting to me, and I want to share that excitement.

Check out the new line of laser-cut acrylic jewelry that I produce for my friends at The Opulent Project . “The silhouettes of earrings worn by royalty are made from a plastic often used as nametags for service workers and the silhouette of ornate chandeliers are cut from fluorescent light panel covers.” I love the way the light refracts through the prismatic florescent light diffuser material! Get a pair for Mothers-day (5-11) ASAP!

After a killer live show, I’m usually the first one in line for band merchandise. T-shirts are an essential for promoting any band, but now bands can offer their bookish fans something new: laser engraved Moleskine notebooks. The Portland based band,Yacht came up with a great design to help promote their current world tour. If you haven’t heard their music, check them out - It’ll knock your socks off!

The weather here in Portland, Oregon has been unusually sunny for this time of year. Instead of going for a hike at the base of Mt. Hood, I decided to laser cut the mountain out of balsa wood (my mental rendition of it anyways).