Craft Supply Catalog

The Rise and Fall of the Craft Supply Catalog

Catalogs have had a long and glorious history in America. From the first Sears and Roebuck catalogs (you could order a whole hose through the mail!) it seems we've had a love affair with catalogs.

Back in those days, most towns only had grocery and general goods stores. If you wanted anything different from the stuff everyone else had, you had to order it by mail. Until the Internet exploded on the scene that was the way you found and procured just about anything you could want that wasn't available in your town, from clothing to spices to specialty tools and craft supplies.

Sure, there are still plenty of catalogs out there, but they virtually all have an Internet component now. A lot of these companies that made so much money from catalogs in the past have either stopped printing paper catalogs altogether or have limited their print runs and only send them out to people who request them.

There's a simple reason for this change: money. Catalogs are expensive. It costs money to take pictures of products, write descriptive copy about the products, design and lay out the catalog, have it printed and ship it to customers. It is much more cost-effective to drive people to a website and let them do their browsing and buying online. Sure, you still need the pictures, design and some of the copy, but you cut out the cost of printing and distribution, which can be substantial.

Finding a Craft Supply Catalog

There are still companies out there that print and distribute craft supply catalogs, but they don't always make it easy for you to find them. The next time you're at the site of your favorite online craft supplier, look around and see if you can find any information about a print catalog.

You can also go to a site like Catalogs.com and look for catalogs relating to the craft of your choice.

When you visit craft stores in other cities, see if they have catalogs and if they do, get on their mailing lists. Smaller stores may only publish newsletters that alert customers of special events and sales, but larger stores often print catalogs that are available by request.

A Few Catalogs to Consider

Here's a list of a few craft supply catalog companies you can look at and request a catalog from if you are interested:

• Dick Blick has one of my favorite craft supply catalogs. These things are huge, and I feel like a kid in a candy store whenever I get one. I just want to buy everything. Dick Blick focuses on art supplies as well as mosaics, paper crafts and craft room necessities. Request catalog here
• Woodturners Catalog is the publication for you if you like wood crafts. With everything from kits to tools to blanks, this catalog has got you covered. Request catalog here
• PaperWishes is a wonderful site and catalog for scrapbookers. Papers, stamps, findings, kits, organizers and more can be found on this site. The emphasis is scrapbooking but there are also items for card making and other paper crafts. Request catalog here
• Yarn is one category where there are still a lot of manufacturers and retailers publishing catalogs. A few of my favorites: KnitPicks, Lion Brand Yarn, and Patternworks, which also has fun catalogs for quilters, needlepoint artists and scrapbookers.
• Fire Mountain Gems has a beautiful website with a very cool feature: a virtual catalog. You can "flip" through the pages, which are reproduced exactly like the paper copy. Or you can request a paper copy.

Getting the Most Out of Your Craft Supply Catalog

I love to look through catalogs right away when I get them, then set them aside for a couple of days and look through them again more slowly. I look at the projects and kits that are available and consider if such items might be good for holiday gifts or any other special occasions coming up.

For example, I just received a catalog with a pattern for a sock monkey. Most of the time I would never think to make a sock monkey, but I have a friend who is pregnant, and the daddy kind of has a thing for monkeys, so I thought it would be funny. If I hadn't taken the time to look through the catalog slowly, I wouldn't have come up with this cool gift and that company wouldn't have gotten a sale.

I guess that's the best advice when using craft catalogs: buy something from the people you like. Not only is it a way to ensure you'll keep getting the catalog, it supports the notion of keeping a paper catalog, which I think is important in this day and age, mostly because looking through catalogs is a lot more fun than browsing a website. There's a lot more room for serendipity, and I want that to continue.