Craftster

Craftser
Founded May 2000
Headquarters El Segundo, CA
Website http://www.craftster.org/
Advertising Yes

Craftster is an online community for crafting and do it yourself enthusiasts.[1] Users post pictures of craft projects they have made and others comment and ask questions about how it was made.[2]

The site's tagline, "No tea cozies without irony", refers to the fact that many of the projects posted are irreverent, off-beat, humorous, clever, etc. While projects posted on the site tend to be made using traditional techniques such as knitting, crochet and sewing they often convey modern sentiments such as images of a favorite rock band, or motifs from a favorite 1980s video game.[3]

The site has over 190,000 registered members.[4] It has been written up in publications such as TIME Magazine, the New York Times, The Guardian, and the Washington Post.[5] [6] [7] The membership is over 190,000, and readership is over 1,000,000 unique visitors per month and over 10,000,000 page views per month.

The site has been called be one of the forces behind the renaissance of crafting among a new, young, contemporary demographic.[8]

History

The site was started in August 2003 by crafter and computer programmer Leah Kramer.,[9][10][11] Prior to starting the site, Kramer was one of the organizers of the Boston Bazaar Bizarre, a yearly "punk rock craft fair," begun in 2001.

References

  1. ^ MSNBC. "Designer combines the nerdy with the crafty". http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29108952/. 
  2. ^ TIME (March 1, 2005). "Pretty Crafty". Time. http://www.time.com/time/connections/article/0,9171,1032358-2,00.html. 
  3. ^ The Daily Record. "It's Sew Easy To Make & Mend". http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/life/2009/02/01/it-s-sew-easy-to-make-mend-78057-21087510/. 
  4. ^ Associated Press. "Get crafty for holiday gifts". http://www.gazette.com/articles/says-30280-crafting-handmade.html. 
  5. ^ Washington Post (February 5, 2009). "Feeling Crafty? Inspiration Abounds on These 5 Sites". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/04/AR2009020401254.html. 
  6. ^ New York Times (July 2, 2006). "Crafster Founder Interview". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E6DD1730F931A35754C0A9609C8B63. 
  7. ^ SeattlePI. "Sewing Hip". http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/346712_sewing10.html. 
  8. ^ Associated Press. "'Alternative' crafters bring new eye to crafts". http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2009/11/27/news/feature/doc4b0d9641df8de722704048.txt#vmix_media_id=11813425. 
  9. ^ SFList. "Interview with Craftser Founder". http://sfist.com/2006/07/24/craftsters_leah_kramer.php. 
  10. ^ Boston Globe (July 26, 2006). "Calling all craftsters". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/ae/events/articles/2006/07/26/message_board_calling_all_craftsters/. 
  11. ^ Boston Globe (June 22, 2006). "She and Kitsch Go Way Back". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/yourlife/home/articles/2006/06/22/she_and_kitsch_go_way_back/.