As I write this, I am celebrating my sixth month with The Crafts Report. These six months have been filled with travels and visits to craft shows and events from New York to Florida, including a weekend in Texarkana on the border of Texas and Arkansas. I have talked to artists and retailers from all parts of the United States and even a few from Canada, Great Britain and South Africa.

I cannot say enough about the multitude of wonderful and diverse craft works I have seen. As well, the artists, retailers and promoters I have met in my travels have been generous with their knowledge about the industry and delighted to help a neophyte in the field. I have so much more to learn, but hundreds of craftspeople have already made a happy adventure of my on-the-job-education.

This month we present the results of our annual Economy Survey, and not surprisingly, it shows this has been a difficult year financially for many in the crafts industry as it has for other businesses.

But what struck us as we compiled and analyzed the data from Survey participants, was the determined efforts by so many in the industry to stay the course, grow their businesses and look to the future with better products, better business skills and better markets.

Moreover, the 26 percent of respondents who say they were not hurt by the economy at all, as well as those who say they still find the business of making and selling crafts as fulfilling as ever, give all of us a reason to look harder and position ourselves for the bright spots to come in 2003.

In this first issue of a new year, we also present a look at the current and changing trends that will affect the crafts industry in the months ahead. Contributing editor Bernadette Finnerty has talked to experts inside and outside the crafts industry to find out what to look for and what to plan for as artists and retailers prepare for the spring shows.

We hope readers will find this feature story useful, together with the other invaluable advice and information from our monthly columnists and writers.

In this issue, we also begin our expanded Insight section featuring more artists and two craft media each month. This month we focus on needlework and clocks.

We urge all artists to take a look at our Insight list for 2003 to find a medium that fits their craft and send in images and information to share with other readers. In February, we focus on book and paper art and we still have space available for additional artists in this section.

Finally, the staff of The Crafts Report wishes a very Happy New Year to all those individuals laboring so hard in the crafts industry. I look forward to meeting and talking to hundreds more of you in 2003. Please let us know how The Crafts Report can help make your business more profitable as we embark on these next 12 months.