The traditional third anniversary gift is leather, which goes quite nicely with chainmaille, don’t you think?

We can’t believe that Rebeca has been creating and enabling chainmaille addicts through her book CHAINED for three years already! Since 2010, more than 30k copies of the book have been sold worldwide.

Writing a book is tough enough, but with a detailed instructional book like CHAINED, Rebeca needed to not only write a narrative, but also step-by-step instructions, then weave several versions of a sample item (about 100 of them!), and have it all photographed. She worked for more than a year on this labor of love – resulting in 144 pages, more than 30 projects and variations, mailling tips and tricks, and the ability for people to make their own chainmaille jewelry!

Kits from the book are still some of the best selling items here at Blue Buddha Boutique – and to celebrate, we’ve recently updated some of the color combinations.

A Look Back

For a look at the publishing process of CHAINED, revisit this blog post from February 2010, where Rebeca wrote about putting the finishing touches on the manuscript.

And then there were photoshoots. Images are especially important in a book that is teaching the reader to DIY. Bad photos = confused readers. Rebeca put this task in the capable hands of Blue Buddha’s Marketing Maven Jenna Deidel. Rebeca and Jenna spent hours upon hours under hot lights, shooting and reshooting the pieces.

Ring of Philanthropy

A portion of CHAINED’s sales – ultimately, $1,000 – was donated to Friends of Franklin Fine Arts Center, a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise funds and provide community resources and support for Franklin Fine Arts Center, a Chicago Public Magnet elementary school in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood, focused on the visual and performing arts. Franklin Fine Arts Center is especially close to our hearts however because Rebeca’s first formative encounter with the arts was as a student there.

Rebeca said, “I wanted to give back to the school that fostered my creativity and taught me to express human emotion through the arts. I want other people to know about the success of Franklin, and I want parents and teachers everywhere to brainstorm ways to bring the arts to more students.”

Just for Fun

Rebeca embarked on “gueurrila marketing” mission in an LA Barnes & Noble. She may have given a copy of CHAINED a more prominent shelf location, and it may *cough* have resulted in a small spike in sales.

A Star is Born

Rebeca proudly showed off the fruits of her labor at the CHAINED launch party on December 11, 2010, at the Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago.

And the Reviews are in …

 Via the Blue Buddha Boutique Online Guestbook:
“I have just received my copy of CHAINED and love it. I am only new to chainmaille but after viewing your website and looking through your wonderful book my head is so full of ideas! Do I really need to waste time sleeping? Thank you so much!” – Camille L., AU, 9/6/12

“I learned how to make chainmaille jewelry with Rebeca’s book CHAINED and from the very first piece I made I was hooked! The instructions are very clear and easy to follow, the pieces are beautiful, and the rings are the best quality I’ve found. Thanks to everyone at B3!” – Amy K., US, 8/31/12

Via Amazon.com:

“This has to be the best instructional guide for maille that I’ve read yet. The detailed close-up pictures of actually working with the rings has been very helpful. There is a lot of detail to show exactly how a weave works for beginners, and shows a fast track to refresh your memory if you’re doing it again or if you have a lot of experience weaving. I highly recommend this book to people of all skill levels. And the projects are fantastic, too.” – Rod Westwood, 11/23/10

“This book has got to be added to the library of every mailler or wannabe mailler out there! The pictures are outstanding – you can see each step. The detailed instructions make even the hardest of weaves understandable. For the beginning student, each section starts with an easy weave and then progresses to intermediate, advanced and expert. The beauty of this is that you are able to learn each weave (or review it) then go on to more difficult, intricate variations. You’ll feel like an expert in no time! The first chapter provides so much useful information for people who are new to chainmaille or to those who have been weaving for a while. By far, this is the best chainmaille book I have ever seen.” – Christa K., 11/29/13

“In this book Rebeca brings chainmaille out of the “dark ages” with color and flare! She takes ancient weaves and updates them for the 21st Century by adding color. Then she adds movement and depth by going beyond the norm and jazzing up age-old designs. As other reviewers have said, someone new to chainmaille could get this book and master these weaves in no time at all, the directions are amazing with step by step pictures. Someone like myself, who already knows the art, will revel in the new ways to do their art.” – Maureen Martinek, 12/14/10