Stories of independent makers, artists, designers and small businesses, in their own words

How they started and how they work, what matters to them, how they find their customers – what worked and what didn't. And where you can find them.

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Elizabeth Runyon Turned Appalachian Baskets Into Sculpture – and Into a Venice Biennial

Elizabeth Runyon, a sculptural basket maker in Paris, Kentucky, learned to weave in monthly classes about 30 years ago and holds a bachelor’s degree in music theory, not art. With $0 spent on promotion and fewer than 150 Instagram followers, she has sold around 35 pieces through juried exhibitions and galleries – and in September 2026, two of her works were shown at the Homo Faber Biennial in Venice.

Sculpture & Fine Art

Word of Mouth & Offline

Oct 16, 2026

Craig Thibodeau Builds Furniture You Have to Solve – and Lets the Videos Sell It

Craig Thibodeau, a mechanical engineer turned furniture maker, builds puzzle furniture to commission in southern Virginia, with pieces starting around $15,000. He doesn't advertise: since 2014, videos of his pieces moving and being solved have brought in nearly every commission.

Video Platforms

Woodwork & Furniture

Communities & Forums

Social Media

Word of Mouth & Offline

Oct 14, 2026

In an Era of AI and Renders, Italo Armone Lets Real Finished Spaces Speak for Themselves

Italo Armone runs riformae, an interior design studio in Catanzaro, in the south of Italy, with co-founder Manuel Ceci. The studio shows no renders – only photographs of finished spaces – and when a kitchen island came out 4 cm too big, Italo called the client before they could notice.

Interior Design

Search & AI Traffic

Social Media

Word of Mouth & Offline

Oct 11, 2026

Aldo Boscolo Blows Murano Glass Freehand. Its Colors Come from Metals Reacting in the Flame

Aldo Boscolo was born on Murano and shapes every piece freehand in the flame, without molds. His earliest customers were tourists who stopped at his workshop window to watch him blow glass – today his work is shown in museums and at glass biennales, and he still doesn’t pay for advertising.

Glass Art & Glassware

Collabs & Shoutouts

Social Media

Word of Mouth & Offline

Oct 9, 2026

Klinta Lapsa Paints Abstracts in Latvia. One Buyer Waited Almost a Year to Take Hers Home

Klinta Lapsa started painting in 2018, after an experience that turned her life upside down. About 200 buyers later – most of them through Instagram, with no paid promotion – she has learned that creating the work and finding the right people for it are two completely different things.

Sculpture & Fine Art

Social Media

Marketplaces

Oct 8, 2026

From Lifestyle Blogger to Surface Pattern Designer – Selling on 10 Platforms at Once

Cynthia Haller took her Redbubble shop from 18 to about 1,300 monthly visitors in under a year – and made $65 there to show for it.

Communities & Forums

Social Media

Marketplaces

Home Decor & Wall Art

Oct 7, 2026

A Daily Mail Article Fully Funded His Kickstarter Almost Overnight

An unfunded Kickstarter for an ice cream scoop turned around almost overnight after one newspaper article – then had to find a channel that didn't depend on press. Today it's Amazon, at 65% of sales.

Video Platforms

Search & AI Traffic

Collabs & Shoutouts

Social Media

Marketplaces

Oct 7, 2026

Report for month 3 (September) of tinyfound's work. Results and plans.

This post is more musing than specifics. About what's working (a little), what isn't (almost everything), and what needs to change (that's the question). Plus: a ray of light.

Tinyfound Monthly Reports

Oct 1, 2026

From Selling Firewood to 219 Furniture Orders a Year – Mostly Through Etsy

A family workshop in a small Lithuanian town started out selling firewood and outdoor furniture sets locally – then found nearly all its international buyers through Etsy, growing from about 150 orders last year to 219 so far this year.

Search & AI Traffic

Woodwork & Furniture

Collabs & Shoutouts

Marketplaces

Sep 30, 2026