We recently caught up with another inspiring entrepreneur from our inaugural class of American Made Award honorees: Flora Grubb, owner of San Francisco–based garden center Flora Grubb Gardens. Here, Flora let us pick her brain on what it means to be a modern-day maker. What kind of response did you see after receiving your American Made award? [...]

All photos by Ryan O’Hara Theisen; makeup by Sarah Graalman using M.A.C. We’ve been so inspired by the small-business owners that we’ve met around the country in the spirit of our American Made initiative. Whether pursuing new side projects or making a total life leap, these makers are responding to a creative pull and transforming their dreams [...]

Photo by The Weaver House. Interestingly, it took leaving the States for Chicago-native Kiyoshi Mino to become an American Maker. While on two deployments to Afghanistan with the U.S. Army, Kiyoshi was inspired by the simplicity of life within the remote villages of the Paktika province, an area along the Afghan-Paskistani border. “They live almost [...]

When we perused the country for our inaugural group of American Made Honorees, we couldn’t help but get fired up over the work and passion of Alisa Toninato, a metal designer based in Madison, WI. As much a creative artist as she is a savvy business owner, Alisa founded FeLion Studios in 2010 and has [...]

It was a pleasure meeting Brett Binford and Chris Lyon, founders of the ceramics cooperative Mudshark Studios in Portland, OR, at our American Made events last fall. Brett and Chris (pictured below, from left) received our 2012 Crafts award on behalf of Mudshark and have continued to inspire us since. They’ve already achieved a business goal mentioned in [...]

After an uninvited snowfall earlier this week, we’re welcoming the first day of spring with open arms here at MSL. Whether you’ve already begun donning warm weather wear or you’re still humming “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” during your morning commute, it’s certainly possible to celebrate springtime indoors with a lovely Easter dessert your family and [...]

Just over four whirlwind months ago, we honored our inaugural class of American Made Award Honorees at the historic Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal and celebrated them in our November 2012 issue. It seems hard to believe that it’s almost time to again survey the country for this year’s crop of inspiring artisans and [...]

Perfect for party flair, easy gift add-ons, and sleepover shenanigans with my little sister, Tattly has turned me into a tattoo convert. (Don’t worry, Dad; they’re temporary!) Creative icon Tina Roth Eisenberg, of swissmiss fame, founded the artsy, tattoo-design collaborative. Tattly now features tattoos designed by a wide network of artists. Here, meet a few of [...]

With A. Heirloom, husband-and-wife team Amy Stringer-Mowat and Bill Mowat achieved the holy grail of American-made kitchenware, uniting smart design with high function. The Brooklyn-based couple designs beautiful state-shaped cutting boards. Every board is made to order; A. Heirloom offers customized engravings (a heart, star, house, logo, initials and/or dates) and carves the icon on [...]

Home is where the heart is – and, in this case, in a sweet brass cutout on an 18-inch chain. Brooklyn Charm founder and owner Tracie Howarth features state-shaped charms, among countless others, on Etsy and at her Williamsburg brick-and-mortar store. Tracie makes design-it-yourself jewelry easy and unintimidating. A friend introduced me to Brooklyn Charm [...]