Cast Your Vote for February’s Featured Product Contest!

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CAST YOUR VOTE NOW!

Submissions for February’s Featured Product of the Month Contest are closed, and the B3 team has cast their ballots to determine the finalists…..which means it’s time for YOU to cast your vote to determine the winner. Folks this month were challenged to create a piece that featured anodized aluminum scales. The submissions really demonstrate the impact adding scales to your projects can have!  Voting will close February 29th. Voting is only allowed once per computer so choose wisely!


To share the survey, we recommend you copy the link to this blog post and use that in any emails, blog posts, or social media posts you’d like to make about it (we’ve noticed some weirdness in the past with sharing the link directly – it sometimes like to bump people out of voting that haven’t already.)

Get a sneak peak at the all of our finalists below:


               

 

FEATURED PRODUCT FOR MARCH – Size O18 jump rings – any metal


March’s featured product will be our size O18 jump rings – any metal.  For March, we are upping the creative ante and challenging you to create a project using one of our more obscure sizes.  We do not currently have a weave samples post for this size so you’re working without a net!  (We know you can handle it though *wink*.)

But wait, there’s more!  We will add a special place on each submission form for you to opt in to add your weave suggestion to our first ever fan-sourced weave samples post.  We figure we have some of the most creative customers around, so why not make a place to permanently share your suggestions as a resource to everyone!

Come Play With Blue Buddha on Pinterest!

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Probably not unlike many of you, we have been hearing about Pinterest (the web’s hottest new social sharing site) A LOT lately!  Well, we finally got around to joining and are already having lots of fun discovering inspiring images, craft ideas and other fun DIY finds.

After Rebeca and I attended the CHA Winter Conference last month, we asked our community of maillers on Facebook if they were on Pinterest and loving it.  We got a mix of responses from “I love it!” to “Pin-who-what??” but overall, it sounds like lots of you are in the stage we’re in – trying it out, seeing what we can discover and still feeling a bit unsure of what it’s all about.  We did do a little hunting before we joined and found that fans, friends and strangers had pinned nearly 150 images from our website already!   (Click on an image to see it larger, and then click on it again to be taken to the webpage on which that image appears.  A perfect way to store all those weaves you see on our website and want to make later!)

Let’s explore more together! 


To join Pinterest, you must request an invitation using your email address.  Your invite probably won’t come right away (it didn’t for us anyway) and once it does, you’ll need to use your Facebook or Twitter account to verify who you are.  Don’t worry, this doesn’t connect your account (i.e. – your pins won’t automatically be posted.)  Once you’re verified, you’ll be invited to choose some things you like to start following some folks and create some new boards.  Pinterest boards can be themed in whatever way you like and are used to organize the things you like into groupings.  We started out by making one for artistic inspiration, another for color inspiration, one just for fun and of course….one for chaimaille!

That’s when the fun really begins.  You’ll be flooded with images related to your chosen subjects and you can start re-pinning them to your pin boards.  You can also create your own pins using links from the internet.  For example, you might have a board for recipes and another for future crafting ideas.  When you come across a recipe or craft you want to try, you can pin them to one of your boards.  Think of Pinterest as a handy way to come back to those sites or images that you come across and think “Ohhh, I gotta remember this!”  We also have noticed lots of artists and crafters creating inspiration boards – lots of fun!

So try it out and let us know what you discover.  Oh!  And be sure to share some of your favorite chainmaille finds.  As we all know, the more people see the craft, they more they’ll love it like we all do!

“Maillers’ Choice” 12-Hour SALE – Today Only!

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This month’s “Maillers’ Choice” kits are now available on our sale page. We will offer these kits today only from noon to midnight CT – get yours before they’re gone! This month’s kit is a one-time-only kit for our Shaggy Scales Earrings project. This is a great kit for beginners and a fun way to whip up a project in no time – not to mention the tutorial is available for FREE on our website!

We had such an overwhelming response to the voting this month that we added a special “Buy 3 get 1 FREE” 4 pack in addition to the regular single pair pack. Make the other pairs for your friends or better yet, get them addicted to your favorite hobby too by giving them the kit to try out on their own!

Happy Valentine’s Day – B3 Pet Love Edition

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In honor of all things warm, fluffy and loving on Valentine’s Day, we thought we’d give some love to some of our sweethearts – our pets!  The B3 staff is a big group of animal lovers and many of us have pets that share our homes and give us love everyday.  What better way to celebrate a holiday all about love than to celebrate these animals that bring so much of it into our lives.  Sit back and get ready to say, “Awwww.”

Have a pet you’d like to honor for Valentine’s Day?  Leave your message to them in the comments section below!


Pet Name: Marley
Animal/Breed Info: He is a cat of the feline nature.
Pet Age: 6 Years old
Belongs to: Dan (B3 Quality Controller)



My pet and I are alike because…. we both sit in chairs the same way and we both like Monster Energy Drinks. Well he likes the box at least.
This Valentines day, I’d like to tell my pet…. if he loves me he’ll stop snuggling my feet while I’m walking up the stairs.

Pet Name: Jasper, many nicknames Pinchy, Boo, Moo, PeePee, MOMMA! ,Rum Baba Goo, Goo-Boo, Jabby (nickname given by B3 co-workers!)
Animal/Breed Info: Jasper is a beautiful young lady who is a Black Lab/ Dachshund mix
Pet Age: 6 Years old
Belongs to: Lisa (B3 Order Processor)

My pet and I are alike because…. we both like naps, long walks and cookies..
This Valentines day, I’d like to tell my pet…. “I ROVE YOU!” we will be friends FUR-ever!”

Pet Names: Apollosaurus Aleksandr & Zeela Simone
Animal/Breed Info: Domestic shorthair
Pet Age: Apollo = 3, Zeela is 2 1/2 (And yes, these kitties are an unusual father-daughter pair.)
Belongs to: Rebeca (B3 Owner + Founder)


My pet and I are alike because….
Apollo and I are alike because we both love hanging out with people.
Zeela and I are alike because we both can be really hyper at times.
This Valentines day, I’d like to tell my pets…. if only you knew how lucky you really have it, you little boogers. :-)

Pet Name: Sesame
Animal/Breed Info: Afghan Hound
Pet Age: 5 Years old
Belongs to: Kat (B3 Product Developer + Order Processor)



My pet and I are alike because…. we both are fussy, can’t get comfortable when sitting or laying down and love watching animal TV shows.
This Valentines day, I’d like to tell my pet…. that it would be nice if she let me sleep in past 6:30am sometimes, because I am tired from working so hard to make her life easy.

Pet Names: Nacho (Orange) & Lloyd (Grey)
Animal/Breed Info: Tabby cats
Pet Age: Both are 10 Years old
Belongs to: Kat (B3 Product Developer + Order Processor)



My pet and I are alike because…. we both like to talk a lot, miss each other when not in the same room and love to cuddle.
This Valentines day, I’d like to tell my pets…. I love both of your soft, furry bodies, stinky breath and cute meows. You make me very happy.

Pet Name: Roscoe
Animal/Breed Info: Tabby cat
Pet Age: 2 Years old
Belongs to: Emily (B3 Quality Controller + Order Processor)



My pet and I are alike because…. we both love naps and snacks.
This Valentines day, I’d like to tell my pet…. that he is my one and only.

Pet Name: Isis
Animal/Breed Info: Turkish Angora
Pet Age: 4 Years old
Belongs to: Aimee (B3 Customer Service Specialist)



My pet and I are alike because…. we both like to cuddle.
This Valentines day, I’d like to tell my pet…. I wuv you ms. fuzzy muffins!

Pet Name: Bat, aka Batty Bat (named after this)
Animal/Breed Info: Demon
Pet Age: less than 1 Year old
Belongs to: Artie (B3 Quality Controller + Order Processor)



My pet and I are alike because…. we are both in love with the humidifier.
This Valentines day, I’d like to tell my pet…. “I love you, but I think you’re secretly plotting to take over the world.”

Pet Names: Stimpy, Pepper and Squishy
Animal/Breed Info: Stimpy and Pepper are Tortoiseshells and Squishy is an Orange Tabby.
Pet Age: Stimpy is 10. Squishy and Pepper are both 9.
Belongs to: Nadja (B3 General Operations Manager)



My pet and I are alike because…. we both like to lounge incessantly and talk back.
This Valentines day, I’d like to tell my pets…. that I wish I could clone them.

And last but not least, the managerie that lives at B3’s Inventory Coordinator, Jen‘s house!

Pet Names, breeds and ages:



Stanley, tabby, 8.5 years old







Dell, tabby, 8.5 years old






Lil’ Blackie, um…black cat? Not sure of the breed – she was a stray that decided to waltz right into the house one day and she didn’t bring her papers, a year old







Mation, German Shorthair, 6.5 years old







Dougie, part terrier, part I don’t know…another stray that won us over, 4 years old





My pet and I are alike because…. we both practice good oral hygiene.

This Valentines day, I’d like to tell my pets…. that they better be good because if another stray comes along, one of them has to go. Just kidding, of course. I would tell them that if they can understand what I’m saying, stop waking me up before my alarm goes off. I work, so I definitely need more sleep than you. And finally, I would tell them that I wouldn’t know what to do without a single one of them. You guys rule.

Spring 2012 Color Forecast

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Spring will be here before you know it and of course that means saying goodbye to our dark winter wear and hello to flirty floral colors.  Make your jewelry to match the fashion trends using the color forecast below.  We’ve also suggested color palettes but would love to hear about the combinations you experiment with.

Tip: Print out the image below and play “mix and match” before you buy by cutting out the swatches!