Vote for Two Colorways for the November Maillers’ Choice Kit!

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Celtic Wreath Blue Buddha

The Celtic Wreath shown here is the all metal version in the Poinsettia colorway.

We can try and savor fall as much as possible, but whether we like it or not, winter and all of her chilly holidays are on their way. If we can’t control the weather and months that seem to fly by at the speed of light, we might as well do some crafting and make our days a little shinier!

This November, our Maillers’ Choice kit will be the Celtic Wreath. This project is fun, festive and versatile: hang it as an ornament or wear it as a pendant! It’s great as either.

votenowbuttonThe twist this month? We’re asking you to vote for your favorite colorway of two versions of this design — one that is all metal and one that is aluminum and rubber!

Get those votes in for your favorite two colorways and we’ll see you again in mid-November with the results. 

 

Related info: Learn more about how to care for rubber o-rings here.

 

We’ve Been Busy! The DIY Trunk Show is On the Horizon

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As we plan, plan and plan some more – we can hardly believe that the 2014 DIY Trunk Show is less than one month away!

For some history and context, here’s how Blue Buddha came to produce this show, and we’re now joined by Edgewater Artists in Motion as well!

Chicago friends, we hope you’ll be able to join us 10 am – 5 pm, Saturday, Nov. 22 at the Broadway Armory (at the corner of Broadway and Thorndale, just a few blocks from B3 HQ). We’ve worked hard to bring you the most diverse, creative, fun experience to kick off your holiday shopping season. In addition some of the most talented artists in the Midwest, we’ll have food, beverages (yes, the grown-kind), a DJ on the main floor, and live music in the upper-level dining area.

For complete details about the show, visit www.diytrunkshow.com, like the DIY Trunk Show Facebook page, and RSVP to the Facebook event.

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Sponsored by:

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Weaving Wednesdays & Ask Rebeca: Flex Those Creative Muscles!

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As we hit “publish” on this post, many of the B3 team will be heading into our classroom to participate in our weekly event, Weaving Wednesdays. (Yes, we know how lucky we are to work here!)

Weaving Wednesdays is part professional development, part team building exercise, part creative stimulation and part fun. We teach and learn from one another, and get the opportunity to play with the bevy of jump rings we have at our disposal. It’s time like this that we get to tinker with weaves – and sometimes even come up with new ones. Which leads to a question Rebeca gets asked A LOT.

“How do you come up with new weaves?”

So here is a challenge for YOU! Host your own version of Weaving Wednesday (doesn’t have to be today, but try for this week). Find some time to sit down and experiment with Helm Chain. Add to it, twist it, deconstruct it – whatever. See what happens! Then, head to our Facebook page or comment here and post a photo of what you came up with – and we want to see the great results, and even the not-so-great ones.

Flex those creative muscles and see what happens. (And hey, if it’s great, consider submitting it for our B3 Guest Designer program!)

Happy weaving! 

Quoth the Raven, Roundmaille: Vote for the October’s Maillers’ Choice Kit!

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Emily Fiks Blue Buddha BoutiqueThis October, Raven’s Roundmaille will come rapping and tapping on your chamber door! B3 team member Emily Fiks was inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s legendary poem, The Raven, to create this seasonally spooky kit. Roundmaille accented by spikes? Yes, please!

Here’s your chance to vote for your favorite Raven’s Roundmaille color combination (our sample here uses black AA and plain aluminum)! 

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Get Published! Submit Your Work for B3’s Guest Designer Program

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guest-designer-logoWe are again looking for original designs created by YOU to become the next Blue Buddha Boutique tutorial. Since our last call for submissions, we’ve published great projects like Chunky Cuff, Concentric Force and Mngwa. Thank you for consistently reminding us that we have the most creative and talented customers and peers. What do you have in store for us next?

We are excited to be *this close* to releasing a new line of rubber rings. They’ll be available in wonderfully bold colors, and in sizes that correlate well with many of our most popular metal ring sizes. And they’re exclusive to B3. You won’t find these anywhere else! With that in mind, for this round of design submissions, we are looking to highlight the use rubber rings. They can be bracelets or necklaces, but don’t forget these other categories:

  • Finger rings or other hand jewelry
  • Head pieces (simple and contemporary-looking preferred)
  • Men’s jewelry
  • Advanced- or expert-level projects

KIT-LTCE-BLK-PINK-big Interwoven-COPPLIME-700px KIT-RUBR-HP-RUST-bigHave a great idea that doesn’t quite work with rubber rings? Submit it anyway! We are always open to looking at original designs.

How to Submit Your Idea

  • Complete our project proposal form which includes basic information about the project (materials list, description, etc.).
  • In the form, you’ll need to include up to three photos of the finished piece.
  • Mid-November, our Product Development team will review all designs and and contact the designers whose pieces we are most interested in.  At that point, designers will be required to submit a full sample using B3 rings (yep, we will mail the sample back to you), as well as basic photos and instructions for how to create it (these can be super basic—even cell phone pics will do). Our PD team well make final selections from this round of reviews.

Submit your idea to us by 5pm CT, October 31, 2014, to be considered. It will also be helpful to read our FAQ page about what it means to work with Blue Buddha to create a chainmaille tutorial. Still have questions? Send us an email at [email protected]. Happy weaving!

>>GO TO THE PROPOSAL FORM<<