With the anthem "No Tea Cozies Without Irony," Craftster is a forum for hip, rebellious crafters. The forum has approximately 88,300 members to date that "Loves to Make Stuff, Hates Potpourri". The number doesn't reflect crafty, unregistered "lurkers."
Craftster is literally an encyclopedia of diverse crafting ideas. Members share finished crafts, ask advice and get inspiration for their next project. Some finished projects are selected to become featured projects. Members also participate in craft swaps. Although using the forum for selling is forbidden, a section of the forum is designated for promoting crafty shops.
Craftster was started in 2003 by Leah Kramer, a computer programmer who describes herself as a "self-proclaimed craft junkie". Leah lives in Boston, MA; she owns Magpie, a store which features local artists and vintage collectibles. She also helps organize Bazaar Bizarre, a "not-your-granny's" craft fair.
In April 2006, Leah published The Craftster Guide to Nifty, Thrifty, and Kitschy Crafts: Fifty Fabulous Projects from the Fifties and Sixties, a full-color collection of fifty craft projects dated from the 1950s and 1960s.
Craftster has been featured by the press, including Time, Jane, Budget Living, San Francisco Chronicle, London Guardian, and Houston Chronicle, and on National Public Radio.
the problem with craftster is that altough they bill themselves as hip and rebellious, really the management is more apt to censor than encourage rebellious behavior. Whenever a person vioces an opinion that is even a slight challenge to the status quo, that person will have their post deleted, or worse. There is a definate hierarchial membership clique who runs things to a far larger degree than Leah or the "MODS". This has gotten severely out of hand over the past few years, and with craftster being sold out to a commercial enterpise recently, it may only get worse. Take a look at the new terms of service. Basically, anything you post on craftster becomes their property, and they reserve the right to reprint it in any way they see fit. This might be a bigger problem but most people don't even bother to read TOS, when they sign up, so they have no idea what rights they are handing over to craftster when they sign on as a member.
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