At this stage, the coasters are designed (mostly), tested, engraved, painted and lacquered, but what happens when someone pushes the magic button worded 'buy'?

It's something I hadn't given much thought to, if I'm honest. I just thought, shove 'em in a box and send them out. But actually, that really doesn't cut the mustard and I don't think it does justice to what I hope are a lovely set of designs!

Some quick googling and Etsy stalking gave me plenty of inspiration. Turns out packing a product requires almost as much thought and care as creating the product itself. Something, I'm sad to say, I still haven't got to grips with quite yet.

First, there is the box. I estimate there are approximately 1.3 million box retailers on the internet offering a bewildering array of cardboard sheaths for my little wooden drinks mats. Obviously, I still couldn't find an exact fit tho, so decided I would engineer something using my laser cutter!

I bought some boxes, slightly too large (to accommodate bigger orders) and designed and created a little spacer that sits in the box so the coasters fit snugly.

Then there is some packing material - a little sheet of foam, cut into a square (bubble wrap is fun, but messy to cut to size)!

Finally, to top it off, every purchase includes a beermat business card. Printed using a stamp I made on the laser cutter, each one featuring a design from another set (selected at random).

It's not what I expected when I thought of selling coasters, but actually makes perfect sense. I hope that people will like the product, but the experience of buying and receiving them is also really important. Like the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression!