A Year in Review: 2014!

How did 2014 fly by in a blink?!

In a world where days, weeks and months seem to blur together, let’s take a minute to reflect on the year. We hope you enjoy this look back at some memorable moments from 2014, and be sure to share your favorite B3 and chainmaille moments of the year in the comments below.

Cheers for happy, healthy 2015!


January — February — March

rubr heartf-25-1-7200159_2yVJIWz5_CombinedCold metal, warm hearts! We survived the miserable polar vortex and warmed up with some fun romance-inspired seasonal kits, and wrote Valentines to what inspires us. <3

We also said a sad goodbye to an old friend, Oscar the Knight. We miss you, buddy!


April — May — June

I-Heart-MailleYou voted on the design — and then you bought a bunch of I *pliers* Chainmaille t-shirts! Thank you! We had a great time with this Teespring campaign, and love seeing folks wearing them around.

YouTube HAPPENED. This year, we really dedicated ourselves to creating helpful, educational and sometimes downright silly video content. It was a slippery learning curve, but we found our groove with monthly “Favorite Things” and “Ask Rebeca” episodes, as well as some informative DIY Life Hacks.

Have an idea for a video you’d like to see? Tell us in the comments!

Blue Buddha Boutique Artisan MarketFinally, in June, we celebrated the first anniversary of our Chicago retail shop. Seems like just yesterday it was a raw space with no floor. Now it is a thriving, colorful chainmaille supply and handmade goods destination in Chicago! Thank you for all the support!

 


July — August — September

tumblr_nblfd7JHRC1tc53zyo1_1280Rebeca answered a question we get a LOT: “Can I sell the jewelry I make from B3 tutorials?” The short answer: Yep!

And, we, uh, may or may not be responsible for Cats & Chainmaille.

 


October — November—December

MULT-250pxWe launched our new line of rubber O-rings! Not only are the colors vibrant and the texture amazing, but you can only get these rings from Blue Buddha. Sweet.

We also welcomed Britt Johnson, our new Marketing Director! Stay tuned for fun new things to come under her marketing leadership.

250x250DIY2014Possibly our biggest undertaking of  year? Blue Buddha hosted the DIY Trunk Show!

With more than 130 vendors and 5,000+ shoppers, more than a year of planning boiled down to one amazing day filled with talented artists, friendly shoppers, delicious food and beverages, and great music to fill the air. It all made the return of the DIY Trunk show a total blast!

 

12 Days of Craftmas: Twelve Months of Maillers’ Choice!

On the twelfth day of Craftmas, the Blue Buddha Artisan Market gave to me …

Twelve Months of Maillers’ Choice kits from Blue Buddha Boutique

Today we conclude our blog series, the 12 Days of Craftmas. We hope you’ve enjoyed it and are more familiar with just a few of the talented folks who sell their handmade goods in our Blue Buddha Artisan Market, as well as some fun chainmaille projects and special kits from Blue Buddha itself. We’re excited to announce that we’ll continue highlighting our Artisan Market vendors each Monday on this blog too! Stay tuned, and we look forward to meeting you as well! Please stop by our studio (1127 W. Granville, Chicago) and say hi; our hours can be found here.

If you’re as obsessed with chainmaille as we are, then you’ll want to purchase a subscription to our Mailler’s Choice kits. Subscribing has its perks, including increasing discounts for the more months you subscribe for, a kit shipped right to your door each month, and free instructions for each kit! Not sold yet?

If you had purchased a 12-month Maillers’ Choice subscription starting in January 2014, by today you’d have made the entire collection you see below!

MC2014

Happy holidays  and happy weaving! 

12 Days of Craftmas: Eleven Snarky Sleeves

On the eleventh day of Craftmas, the Blue Buddha Artisan Market gave to me …

Eleven silly, sassy coffee cup sleeves by Snarky Sleeves

snarkySome estimates are as high as 23 billion paper coffee cups per year are used and thrown away in the U.S. alone. And each one of those cups is accompanied by an equally wasteful cardboard sleeve. 

Snarky Sleeves tries to reduce at least a small portion of that paper waste with awesome snarky words and phrases.

These sleeves are made from 100% recycled post-consumer PET plastic bottles, so you can feel even more eco-awesome.

An even better reason to snag every Snarky Sleeve you can ASAP? They will soon be closing up shop FOREVER. Get ’em while you can!

All of the Snarky Sleeves are handmade in Chicago, IL out of domestically made materials.

Learn more about Snarky Sleeves creator Michelle Kaffko here!

Stop by and check out more Snarky Sleeves at the Blue Buddha Artisan Market, 1127 W. Granville in Chicago, or visit www.snarkysleeves.com.

 

 

 

12 Days of Craftmas: Ten B3 Quickmaille Kits

On the tenth day of Craftmas, the Blue Buddha Artisan Market gave to me …

Ten Quickmaille Projects by Blue Buddha Boutique

chainmaille beginner class

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: You CAN make beautiful metal jewelry. Give us 10 minutes and we’ll show you how!

Stop by our studio (1127 W. Granville, Chicago) and we’ll show how you to make one of these fun and easy quickmaille projects. We can’t guarantee you’ll be addicted (*cough* legal reasons *cough*), but we doubt your first chainmaille project will be your last. :-)

Can’t make it in person? Check out our website for our collection of introductory and beginner level kits and tutorials.

12 Days of Craftmas: Nine Holiday Greeting Cards

On the ninth day of Craftmas, the Blue Buddha Artisan Market gave to me …

Nine holiday (birthday, or just for fun!) greeting cards by:

The collection of greeting cards in the B3 Artisan Market is as fun, high-quality and diverse as one could hope for! We carry cards from a variety of makers that are appropriate — or hilariously inappropriate — for all occasions

IMG_0825 IMG_0826 IMG_0824

Stop by and check out all of our handmade greeting cards at the Blue Buddha Artisan Market, 1127 W. Granville in Chicago!