Wildfires are in the news and very much on our minds after visiting two Texas artists who are recovering from the loss of their home and studio to a wildfire last September. They have just finished rebuilding their home and will soon start on the studio. Here are a few tips gleaned from their experience to keep in mind if a wildfire – or any fire – is near you:

After weeks of fierce, yet friendly online voting, The Crafts Report’s Facebook followers have narrowed down our Cover Contest finalists from 249 to just four!

Wow! What an exciting past couple of weeks! The 64 preliminary finalists vying for the cover image on the October 2012 edition of The Crafts Report have faced off in the intitial voting rounds, and we are now down to the Final 16!

For the last two weeks, each day four of our 64 Finalists were pitted against each other on www.facebook.com/CraftsReport for 24 hours, with the highest vote getter of each day advancing to the Round of 16.

Now it’s time for you to narrow them down to the Final 4!

Starting tomorrow, June 27th through June 30th, four images will be posted at 9am Central time each day on www.facebook.com/CraftsReport. Vote for your favorite by clicking “Like” on that image. The highest vote getter each day will advance to the Final 4!  

Here are the Final 16 photo entries, groupings, and voting dates: 

Congratulations to the following 64 artists (voting rules & schedule below) 1.Adam Field Covered “Jar with Carved Pattern” Photo by Artist 2.Adriana Christianson “Bird Series Photo” by Christopher Sanders 3.Alaina Burnett...

The Crafts Report thanks each and every artist who submitted their image to our Facebook Wall for our Cover Contest throughout the month of May. In total we received 249 submissions, making the task of selecting the top 64...

In a letter to past exhibitors, Nancy Vince, President of Wholesalecrafts.com, announced that ACRE is moving their 2013 Las Vegas show dates back to their original late April/early May schedule of previous years.

“After careful research and surveying of our artist exhibitors and retailer attendees, we are pleased to announce that we have decided to push our dates back for next year’s ACRE Las Vegas show to April 27 – 29, 2013,” said Vince. “We feel this to be a positive change for the future of our Las Vegas show and the needs of our industry.”