Although her background is in mainstream magazines, Amelia Gregory always wanted to produce something more personal - from which urge the unique and intimate Amelia's Magazine was created. Now she has brought crowdfunding into play to allow the publication of a uniquely crafted book and series of art prints.

Bex Burch is a percussionist with a classical training at the Guildhall School of Music. First visiting Ghana as an undergraduate, on the recommendation of a Ghanaian friend, she initially felt very uncomfortable there, but gradually grew to love the people, the way of life, and the musical culture. Settling in the north, with the Dagaare People, for two years after graduation, she began an apprenticeship with Thomas Segkura, a professional maker of Dagaare xylophones, or gyilli.

Food, of course, is one of the places where the principles of our We Made It series are often best expressed. And in a culture where value is increasingly put on hand-crafting and traditional methods, few have an approach that is as purist and deep-rooted as Ole Martin-Hansen.

Beardyman, aka Darren Foreman, began his musical career as a beatboxer, becoming in 2006 and 2007 the first performer to win two UK beatboxing championships in a row. He’s always been interested in the use of technology to create original sounds, and has been using looping systems to sample his own vocals for many years. To give himself more control, he developed the original Beardytron, his own bespoke system enabling him to create sophisticated live improvised music, with a complex keyboard and huge range of looping options.

Our aim in creating We Made It was to look at the way that invention, design and fabrication are every bit as integral to the arts world as aesthtics, concept and genre. This week's profile couldn't show that any better: over on the Bruichladdich site, we meet John Alexiou, a passionate music lover switched on by his experience of drum'n'bass soundsystems, who wondered how he could take that experience out into the world.

It's easy to forget among the pile up of high-tech and high-concept flash that Hollywood films still depend on handiwork and hard graft from all kinds of trained craftspersons. On the Bruichladdich Site, Katherine McLaughlin meets one member of this army: Nina Pratley, an artist whose canvas is the faces of some of the best-known actors.

Sawdust in your hair, paint on your face and fingers that look like they’ve never seen a tap: such is life as a model-maker for movie special effects. Work is grubby and relentless until the shots are done and everything looks “real” – and none is more precise and demanding than Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). It’s hard work but this is the crucible for the visual magic of films like Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean and Men in Black.

Photographer Brian David Stevens has contributed to theartsdesk before, most notably with his subtly powerful gallery of Scottish dunescapes with a piquant political edge.

For the longest time, Waterford Crystal was hardly the coolest brand: something your granny might buy, or a wedding present to be put away for “best” and never used. Now, though, the company has updated their image – in particular with a range of whisky glasses inspired by the world of Mad Men – but managed to build on their Master Cutters' long-established traditions of hard-won skill.

A few years ago I wrote a book about the French horn which was made into a stage play. The play had a minimal set design, so we decided to hang some horns from the lighting rig over the playing area. To do this we needed about a dozen instruments. I borrowed a couple, threw in my own, and we also bought a quartet of knackered old instruments. Collectively they looked splendid as a carefully lit constellation of coils and flared bells dangling from the ceiling.