Craftster
title: "Craftster" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-social-networking-websites", "crafts"] topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craftster" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox dot-com company "]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Craftser |
| logo | [[Image:Craftster Logo.png]] |
| type | Craft content / online community |
| foundation | |
| location_city | El Segundo, California |
| location_country | U.S. |
| url | http://www.craftster.org/ |
| advertising | Yes |
| launch_date | |
| current_status | closed |
| footnotes | Website closed on December 19, 2019 |
| :: |
| name = Craftser | logo = [[Image:Craftster Logo.png]] | company_type = | type = Craft content / online community | foundation = | founder = | location_city = El Segundo, California | location_country = U.S. | location = | locations = | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | url = http://www.craftster.org/ | screenshot = | website_type = | language = | advertising = Yes | alexa = | registration = | launch_date = | current_status = closed | footnotes = Website closed on December 19, 2019 | intl =
Craftster was an online community for crafting and do it yourself (DIY) enthusiasts. Users posted pictures of craft projects, and others commented and asked questions about how it was made.
The Craftster.org website closed on December 19, 2019.
The site's tagline, "No tea cozies without irony", referred to the fact that many of the projects posted are irreverent, off-beat, humorous, clever, etc. While projects posted on the site tended to be made using traditional techniques such as knitting, crochet, cross stitch and sewing they often conveyed modern sentiments such as images of a favorite rock band, or motifs from a favorite 1980s video game.
The site had over 190,000 registered members. It has been written up in publications such as Time, The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Washington Post. The membership was over 190,000, and readership was 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.
History
The site was started on June 27, 2003, by crafter and computer programmer Leah Kramer. The term "Craftster" is a portmanteau of "crafty hipster" and a nod to pioneering peer-to-peer sites Napster and Friendster. 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
References
- "Designer combines the nerdy with the crafty". NBC News.
- (March 1, 2005). "Pretty Crafty".
- "It's Sew Easy To Make & Mend". The Daily Record.
- "Get crafty for holiday gifts".
- (February 5, 2009). "Feeling Crafty? Inspiration Abounds on These 5 Sites". [[The Washington Post]].
- (July 2, 2006). "Crafster Founder Interview". [[The New York Times Magazine]].
- (January 9, 2008). "Sewing Hip". [[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]].
- "Statistics Center". Craftster.org.
- (November 27, 2009). "'Alternative' crafters bring new eye to crafts".
- "Craftster.org WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools". [[WHOIS]].
- "Interview with Craftser Founder". sfist.
- (July 26, 2006). "Calling all craftsters". [[The Boston Globe]].
- (June 22, 2006). "She and Kitsch Go Way Back". The Boston Globe.
- "About Craftster".
- "Crafting gets attitude". The Boston Globe(December 7, 2005).
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