Featured Weave Contest – December 2013


Submissions are now being accepted for the December Featured Weave Contest! Send in a photo of your projects using the mobius technique. A great skill for chainmaille newbies to learn, it is also adaptable for the pros to incorporate into more complex designs.

For some mobius instructions and projects, check out Forward & Backward Mobiusing, and  WiggleFlowers, and Mobius Bracelets.

Want to see which B3 sizes work well for this weave? Visit our base metal stats & uses page and our sterling silver stats & uses page.

KIT-MOBIUSBRCLT-ALUM-big mobius3
mobius1

 

 

 

 

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:



Make a project which primarily uses the featured weave or a variation of the featured weave. The project can use any and all B3 supplies and can use other weaves, but the featured weave should be the star. Please see the complete rules and details below for more information about qualifications.




Take a picture of your project and submit it using our official Featured Weave Contest submission form. You may post the piece online somewhere and provide us with a link, or upload it directly in the form. You will be asked to provide your name and an email address we can use to contact you in case anything goes wrong with your submission—or if you are the winner of the contest!

GO TO THE SUBMISSION FORM.

Submissions will be closed at midnight Dec. 15 and are limited to 2 entry pieces per person.





 


We will award the top voted finalist each month with a $25 B3 Gift Certificate and will feature YOUR project in a special blog post and possibly even future B3 ads to inspire fellow chainmaillers all over the world.




Complete contest rules and details: Submissions are limited to 2 per person and must use the featured weave of the month as determined by Blue Buddha Boutique. The project is not required to be made from Blue Buddha Boutique rings, however any winning projects that use primarily rings from another supplier or rings made by the artist will not be eligible for posting on our blog or use in our ads to prevent false advertising. Pieces do not have to be specially created for the contest but should be no more than 12 months old. Current employees and interns of Blue Buddha Boutique are not eligible for this contest. Finalists are chosen by Blue Buddha Boutique and voted upon anonymously by the public to determine a winner. Submissions may be disqualified at the discretion of Blue Buddha Boutique if they are deemed inappropriate in any way. If a winner does not claim their prize within 15 days of notification, the second place winner will be awarded the prize. Please note: As of March 2013, participants are not eligible to win two or more months in a row.

Free chainmaille project ideas for Jewelry Brass jump rings!

blog-gold

Metallic gold jewelry is especially trendy this year and we’ve got some project ideas that are easy to make and won’t break the bank.  Jewelry Brass is a great affordable alternative to precious metal rings, easy to work with and still lends a nice weight to pieces.  Check out our “free & easy” jewelry projects blog series for tips and materials lists to create the chevron necklace and rings & earring set shown above.

Get your glitter on!

Spot Us on the CTA and Win!

If you ride the CTA red line in Chicago, you may see our faces smiling down on you!

Yep, we’re kind of a big deal. :)

photoWe’re running ads on the red line L cars through December – so let’s have some fun with it! If you spot our ad, snap a photo of yourself with it and send it to us by Friday, December 27th. Then we’ll randomly select one entry to win a $25 Blue Buddha gift certificate! (One entry per person, please.)

How to send us your B3 CTA selfie:

Please note: While we look forward to sharing some of the photos on our main Blue Buddha Boutique and B3 Chicago Retail Store Facebook pages, you cannot post your contest entry there. Facebook has some pretty strict rules about contests and we need to abide by them. Thanks for understanding.

Good luck, happy L riding, and of course, happy weaving!

The Winner of November’s Featured Weave Contest Is …

Voting for November’s Featured Weave Contest is now closed, and the winner chosen by you isssss….

Melody J. with JPL Snake Bracelet!

MelodyJ_JPLSnakeBracelet

Congratulations, Melody! You’ve won a $25 B3 gift certificate. Email us at [email protected] to claim your prize.


FEATURED WEAVE FOR DECEMBER – Mobius


KIT-MOBIUSBRCLT-ALUM-bigFor December, we’ll feature the Mobius technique.
 This skill is great for chainmaille newbies to learn, and for the pros to incorporate into more complex designs.

For some mobius instructions and projects, check out Forward & Backward Mobiusing, and  Wiggle, Flowers, and Mobius Bracelets.

Want to see which B3 sizes work well for this weave? Visit our base metal stats & uses page and our sterling silver stats & uses page.

Happy Weaving!



 

 

Why Our Store is Closed for Thanksgiving Weekend

If you come to Blue Buddha’s retail shop on Thanksgiving weekend, you’ll find the lights out and this sign on the door:

anti-black-friday-web

The people working our online shop are also off for the weekend, which means we’ll accept orders but we won’t start processing and shipping them until the Monday after Thanksgiving.

I’ve had several people, mostly fellow entrepreneurs, look at me and say, “What, are you crazy?” when they find out we are closed on Black Friday. This is usually followed by, “Wait, WHAT?” when they hear we don’t re-open until Monday. Once they get over the initial flabbergastation, they’ll usually counter with one of the 5 points below.

1. “But it’s the biggest shopping day of the year! Retailers live for this day!”

Maybe big box retailers live for that day, but as a creative company that is focused on quality products and experiences every day, we can hardly imagine putting all our retail eggs into one Black Friday basket. We work  hard all year to create exceptional products and experiences for our customers and to inspire people all over the world. Waiting for that one day a year where we put red stickers on everything because “that’s what everyone else does,” just doesn’t fit our culture.

B3 customers totally rock and, while they love a good deal as much as the rest of us, they always seem to value quality of product and experience over all else. The type of experience found in most frenzied Black Friday sales is not exactly what we think our customers are looking for. We will still have our twice-a-year coveted mass overstock sales, but there’s no need to do it on a day when everyone else is doing it, too.

2. “What made you decide to close? And for the entire weekend?”

About a dozen years ago, I lived in Germany for a while. At first I was shocked, then upset, when I discovered most stores are closed on Sunday. During the month of August, many businesses–even restaurants!–close for weeks at a time while the owners go on holiday. “What kind of insanity is this?” I thought.

And then, after a while, I realized it wasn’t insanity; it was actually really, really nice. Here were people who felt like they deserved to take some time for themselves, and a culture that embraced such notions. That was a really powerful realization for me, that life doesn’t have to be a giant rat race. I vowed that if I ever owned my own business, I would abide by this European mentality. Work-life balance can be difficult to achieve, but giving employees–and myself–permission to recharge is a step in the right direction. Holidays were created for a reason. Even though we now live in a fast-paced, technology-driven world, I don’t see the value in discarding the tradition of holidays. If anything, having the time to follow our passions and be with loved ones helps us stay in touch with our very humanity.

3. “Aren’t you worried you’ll lose business?”

I understand that people expect businesses, especially e-commerce stores, to be open and shipping 24/7. I get it–I can be one of those people, too. But honestly, I think Blue Buddha has some of the coolest customers around, and I am certain that most of them (especially the ones who’ve been with us for years and already know we close on holidays) will not only understand, but will say, “Hell yeah! You go, B3!” I think they’ll appreciate us for valuing our team so much that we give them this weekend off. It’s only one long weekend. We are open for pretty much all of the other 52 weekends of the year (unless, of course, a national holiday falls on that day :-) ).

A couple days off is not going to bring our entire business down. Not even close.

I accept that there might be a few people who will be so disappointed in our company because we aren’t there to serve them during this four-day period that they’ll vow to never shop with us again. And I’m willing to take that loss.

4. “I’ll bet you’re glad you’re saving money by not having to pay your employees!”

Well, actually, our workers (even part-timers) receive holiday pay for Thanksgiving. :-) Nice try, though.

5. *pause* “Um, well, good luck with that…”

Thanks! My team busts their butts every day. While the company can’t afford to pay them awesomely, we can afford to compensate them in other ways, including some paid time off. It’s nice for us to realize that even though 98.9% of the year we are all about the customers, on these four days, it’s all about taking care of ourselves. I am truly, truly thankful to have such a great team, and this is one thing I can do to show it.

I hope you are able to spend this holiday in whatever way is best for you, and I hope you respect our decision to turn our back on this retail tradition.

As the sign says: Live, craft, hug, eat, laugh, cuddle, rock out, sleep, breathe, meditate, party … and simply “be” … more. Not only this weekend, but every chance you get. Life is too short.

If you like this post, please leave a comment below, share the sign, tell your friends, vow to not be angry the next time your favorite store or restaurant is closed for a day. Perhaps we can begin to create a shift in culture to one that sees people as individuals rather than replaceable, ’round-the-clock workers. This culture places a high value on deeply rich and varied experiences instead of on materialistic consumerism. The people of this culture love innovation and instant access to information, yet not at the expense of running the workers ragged. If occasionally we have to wait for something, it’s OK, we understand. It just gives us more time to do something else we love.

Someday.

With warmest thoughts,

RM-sig