Bluprint Closing

This post has affiliate links to products I use and love. If you buy something I can make a small commission, so thanks in advance. 🙂

Consider this an update about the closing of Bluprint. Also consider it an update on the future of Craftsy.

The headline really does say it all.

Bluprint has Closed. (but Craftsy is back!)

As I write this story, it is May of 2020, and we remain in the middle of what we refer to as the great pandemic. For the past few months, most of us have been at home. Everything we know and love has been closed, temporarily we hope. During this time of being home, we turned to streaming and hobbies to help pass the hours. (as I update this story it’s the end of December 2020, and it doesn’t feel like much has really changed.)

Which is what makes the announcement from Bluprint regarding their imminent closure so puzzling.

But worry no more my friend in crafting, because Craftsy is BACK!

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2020 was both a streaming boom and a sewing boom. To be more accurate, A CRAZE. An absolute revival in the craft of sewing brought about by the most widely discussed home craft of 2020, mask making. Love them or hate them, disagree with their use or not, one thing is for certain. Fabric masks are everywhere.

Sewing machines under $600 sold as quickly as they could be unboxed. I know about this as the sales manager at the sewing machine store shared with me the absolute of insanity that is sewing machine sales in America in spring of 2020. Singer backordered everything except their most expensive models for weeks.

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In short, everyone is sewing. People who have never sewed all of a sudden want machines and decided upon looking at fabric face masks, “how hard can that be?” Well, as I shared my experience sewing masks, it was not the easiest project I’ve ever done. I’ll leave it there.

So this abundance of new sewists began searching for help. A lot of them wound up on Youtube. And a lot of them found Bluprint. Many retired people decided that now was the time to invest in that Bluprint subscription. And others found new hobbies and enjoyment in the wonderful world of streaming craft and baking courses.

My real love of the platform is rooted in the older Craftsy courses. Craftsy was from the beginning, the pioneer in putting full craft based classes online. Craftsy began as an ala carte platform, and purchasing a course promised lifetime access. More on that later. In 2015, Craftsy reported 9 MILLION members. By all accounts, it was successful and profitable.

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I started with Craftsy in 2012, learned to knit with Stefanie Japel, and found a hobby that literally got me through an incredibly difficult chapter of life. It is a wonderful way to process feelings and to make beautiful and fun knitting projects.

In 2018, Craftsy was purchased by NBC/Universal and rebranded as Bluprint. It was confusing, and many of us were not thrilled with this change.

But, I enjoyed the Craftsy platform so much I joined the Bluprint service right away. And I wound up absolutely LOVING it. With Bluprint, I relished having access to classes I had wanted for years, and I could jump in and try them.

Learning new things like embroidery, and how to bake madelines and meringues is so much fun. I have also been enjoying the quilting library which is vast and an unmatched resource for anyone interested in fiber art. I also tried some things I didn’t love, but it was not problem. Because I could simply go to something else.

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I loved my Bluprint membership for the unfettered access to the full Craftsy library. Those older Craftsy classes are worth their weight in crafting gold. The newer Bluprint produced classes? Well they were beautiful to watch, but much like an Instagram Influencer, they were all looks with no substance. Bluprint classes rush instructions, leave steps out, and often, beginners are left not knowing how to finish a project. So my love for Bluprint is qualified and conditional on Craftsy.

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News of Bluprint’s closure spread faster than a California Brush fire in August. It was all over Reddit and Ravelry. And let me tell you something. People were flipping out.

By Sunday the 24th of May, Bluprint posted a “letter to our customers” on their website. They did not even have the decency to email us about ANY of this. They still have not officially notified customers as I write this story today on Thursday May 28th.

I filmed this live stream to update my youtube viewers on what little information I had and also to let them share their thoughts on everything in a place where people understand. Let’s face it, our not so crafty friends have no idea why we are so upset.

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The good news for all of us is that Craftsy lives on!! In July 2020, TN Marketing announced they had purchased the Craftsy assets, and last fall relaunched our original and beloved Craftsy platform. My streaming membership carried over to the new service, and I’m happy to report it’s all working beautifully. My own forever classes all carried over and I even have credits for more when I finally do use them.

It was a little bit of a rough start, but things seem to be working themselves out. I’m happy to report the classes are working beautifully, though not all of them are part of the streaming membership. Some instructors chose not to go along with streaming, and their classes are available only as stand alone purchases. But I know a lot of you prefer that to streaming. With the new platform, you have the option to either purchase a class or pay monthly for streaming. I personally love access to everything, and I will definitely be renewing my streaming membership when the time comes. For now, my membership runs through March of 2021.

Expect to see class and project reviews as I share my favorites with you here and on my youtube channel. I will also let you know that I signed up to be an affiliate with Craftsy, so if you click through using my links on this website or on any videos, and make a purchase, I will make a small commission. But honestly, I would not recommend it if I didn’t love it. (and it does not cost you anything extra!)

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