The Crafts Report

A Magazine Crafted For Sellers and Artisians

The Crafts Report is an excellent, high quality magazine aimed at full-time crafters and those who make all or mostly all of their living from their crafts.  Beginners may have a very tough time reading the content.

Each issue contains great features for professional and part-time crafter . There are monthly columns on business basics, crafts law, advanced business concepts, crafts technology, crafts retailing, the crafts buyer, regional profiles and monthly polls.  A news page covers important events impacting crafters nationwide.  Excellent photographs accompany all of these columns and articles, each one displaying the various crafts in their Sunday best.

The business basics and techniques sections are very useful because of their focus on our industry.  Detailed information about the photography types that influence juries as well as potential customers is great information!    The Crafts Report also gives advice on how to choose a crafts name and use it as branding.   I’ve learned more about price points and how they were rising and falling in different spots around the country. I may not have changed our business model yet because of The Crafts Report, but it has helped us focus on certain areas and opened up venues for us to research further.

The Crafts Report also does an excellent job of finding interesting, well-written features.  These articles are easy to read and understand, never getting overly technical while still providing useful and helpful information.

Each issue of  The Crafts Report focuses on a different craft each month. I’ve skimmed through these sections because they haven’t been applicable to any of the crafts that my partner and I produce, but I look forward to the time when they do address thread décor or wearable art. Covered areas includ production methods, items that are popular, where to find supplies, and some of the economic factors affecting that particular craft.  Artist profles, just like the ones here, are also great features.

While praising an advertising section may seem odd, the classified section in The Crafts Report is especially helpful.     This section includes listings of supplies, craft shows, and equipment.   I’ve learned a lot about tents and display materials, as well as their costs and availabilities.  The listings contain information that is difficult to find elsewhere-even online.

Thanks to The Crafts Report, I am gaining a better understanding of the economic and competitive environment. The magazine isn’t immediately helpful to the stage of business that I am in, but it is preparing me for the next stage and helping me develop the knowledge that I will need in the future. For those reasons alone, I’ll be keeping up my subscription.