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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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/.