Over the next few weeks we’ll be featuring some of the wonderful makers who make our community great. First up is Lana Krolikowski, proprietress of Saving Throw Pillows. You can find her using tools all throughout the shop for her own personal projects as well as the textiles area, lasers, and wood shop to create TTRPG-themed accessories to sell. Read on to find out more about her work and her connection to Maker Works, and keep checking back to hear more member stories!
Lana Krolikowski (She/Her)
Ann Arbor, MI
Maker & Entrepreneur
Saving Throw Pillows
Update: Check out Lana’s new project on Kickstarter—Rainbow Dice Boxes!
A full set of plushy polyhedral dice pillows to decorate your couch. The numbers were cut out of fabric vinyl on the Epilog laser!
What can you tell us about your business, art, and areas of interest in making?
Saving Throw Pillows is a women-owned, created, and produced gaming accessories company. We are also part of the LGBTIQ+ community and are proud to create high-quality handmade products that celebrate those individuals and allow them to see themselves in the gaming space.
From creating dice-shaped throw pillows with hidden pockets to hold your treasures (because everything is better with pockets), to wooden dice boxes and gaming accessories, Saving Throw Pillows puts the gaming nerd front and center in our design process. Why? Because we are those gaming nerds. We started in 2016 and have grown our product offerings every year, increasing the size, number, and types of products made and show no signs of stopping.
These hardwood dice trays and boxes were all cut out on the ShopBot and finished using tools in the wood shop. You can sponsor the ShopBot to support Maker Works!
While women are becoming less of a rarity in woodworking, they're still not as represented in the gaming community. I'm happy to challenge stereotypes by showing my skills and the quality of my products, often to the chagrin of many a person who asks if my husband does the woodworking (wrong in so many ways!).
Our multi-purpose products are lovingly designed to curate joy and bring smiles to our customers' faces, as is evidenced by the gallery of proud dice pillow owners displayed on our social media channels.
Watch the ShopBot as it’s hard at work cutting out some bat-shaped dice trays!
What is your relationship to Maker Works and how did you get involved with the shop?
I first heard about Maker Works because of a Backyard Brains event at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. I had no idea what a laser cutter was before that day, but they laser engraved a green dog tag with my name on it and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
Later on, my then partner and I wanted to make a metal fence. And what could be more fun than making it on a plasma cutter? I went to Maker Works to take the CNC plasma cutter safety checkout class and immediately, I was hooked. Since then I’ve gotten checked out on almost every single tool in the shop, which is beautiful because each skill I learn gives me more ideas for making things. Somewhere along the way, Maker Works grew into one of my favorite places in Ann Arbor—and possibly one of my favorite places on the planet.
How has Maker Works, access to shared tools, and a shared community helped you reach your goals?
I would not have a company without Maker Works. It’s given me the ability to take ideas and not only make them a reality, but to then refine them in a way that makes my products more unique and high-quality. The shop also gives me a space to work out of that I don’t have at home.
A bat tray, as shown on the ShopBot above, in its final form—holding almost enough dice.
The fact that Maker Works fixes broken tools and does the routine maintenance for us is amazing, because members can focus on making without having to put brainpower into how to fix things. There’s always someone there with more expertise that’s willing to help, but they don’t force their suggestions onto you and let you learn by fumbling when it’s more appropriate. It’s also very flexible in that if I need more space I can usually get it in the short term without having to commit to a year-long rental.
A full rainbow of tiny D20 pillows on display at Ren Fest 2022.
Even though there’s a cost to membership, the benefit is so much greater than the cost. In that regard, it’s somewhat like a public library—just without the public funding. Members get immeasurably more out of the place than they put into it. When you make a financial investment in Maker Works, the community good that comes out of it isn’t something that can be measured in money.
What would you say to others about your experiences with Maker Works and why is it a valuable part of the community?
Maker Works expands access to tools that are out of the financial reach of most people. Along with access to space they also give lessons on things like how to take care of a house (Intro to Household Tools), how to use power tools, and how to build skills in making.
It’s spooky season all year long with these adorable thematic dice pillows!
Maybe it’s better measured in “happiness units” or by the people whose worlds have been bettered by the opportunity to build confidence in a safe environment for learning. Either way, having my business and running it out of Maker Works has taught me so much about what I find important in my life and I’d love for others to be able to go through that journey of self-discovery as well.
Want to ensure more awesome makers like Lana gain access to the space and tools they need to run a business? We can’t do it without your help. Donate to Maker Works Community Workshops today!