“Life is too short to not do what you love.” Or so, the saying goes. For some this might merely be an aspirational adage, but for designer Meg Galligan, these words served as a call to action. After working in online advertising at Google for four years, Meg made the gutsy decision to abandon the [...]
Last year, we had a blast at the annual Kutztown Folk Festival and can’t wait to go back this year (June 29 to July 7). We thought we’d pique your interest and share a few of our photos and a video as we ate, danced and shopped our way through this nine-day celebration of the [...]
So Mom could use a spa day, but a Canyon Ranch trip is out of the question? Instead of giving her store-bought bath bombs for Mother’s Day, treat your mom to a homemade collection of sweetly scented sachets. To make them, Ashley of Sugar and Cloth used a scoring board and layering punch from Martha [...]
Step away from the cardboard tubes! A special present deserves a special presentation, like this printed paper that Kimberly of A Night Owl made using Martha Stewart Crafts Paint Stencils. We can also see the bold hues and graphic shapes working as drawer liners, or even graphic wall art. What would you cover in chevron [...]
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 [...]
Don’t get me wrong: I love that the Internet boasts an abundance of blogs written by talented crafters, makers, and DIYers. Whenever I’m feeling uninspired, nothing helps jump-start my creativity like the beautiful photography, witty prose and helpful how-tos I receive from these like-minded creators. That being said, sometimes navigating the blogosphere is overwhelming. With [...]
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 [...]
Part coffee shop, part part printing press, the crew behind Oddly Correct is seriously passionate about what they are roasting and where they stand in the world of coffee. How was Oddly Correct born? Oddly Correct was born out of a mix of coffee passion and a strong belief that one could do what one [...]
We recently came across these ceramic bunny paperweights by Rookwood Pottery. Their sweet, simple design was originally created in 1926 by Louise Abel, one of Rookwood’s resident artists. In the early 1800s, Europeans considered American-made ceramics to be second-rate. Enter Maria Longworth Nichols. Determined to make a new name for American pottery, Maria gathered a group [...]
As a child, balloons provided infinite amounts of entertainment. From rousing games of “keep the balloon off the floor” to watching their static electricity make my hair stand on end, balloons were an inexpensive decoration and diversion. Unsurprisingly, my excitement about balloons has faded over the years, or so I thought, until I saw Eden [...]
