Infographic: Chainmaille Community Survey Results!

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Earlier this month, we invited you to participate in a survey to help us get a picture of our community.  When we originally published this survey in 2010, we got 135 responses that helped us learn more about you – whether chainmaille was a hobby or a big part of your income, what metals you used and what you LOVED about the craft.  This time around, we got almost double the responses and got to learn even more about you! 

To share the results, we decided to create our first ever infographic.  We’ve seen infographics (visual representations of data) for just about everything floating around the web and we thought, why not one about our community?  In addition to representing numbers from the survey, our infographic also includes some quotes taken directly from the survey that we just adored.  See if your comment was included!  (Click image for a larger view.)

 

Click image for a larger view!

 

We plan to repeat this survey in another year or so, most likely expanding the questions somewhat.  So we ask you, what would you want to learn about our community that we aren’t already asking?  Share you ideas in comments below or send them to us in an email at [email protected].

Heads up! USPS Spam Alert

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It was brought to our attention that there is currently an email virus circulating disguised as an email from USPS.  Here is information about the scam taken from the scheme alert:

Some postal customers are receiving bogus e-mails about a package delivery or online postage charges. The e-mails contain a link or attachment that, when opened, installs a malicious virus that can steal personal information from your PC.

The e-mails claim to be from the U.S. Postal Service and contain fraudulent information about an attempted or intercepted package delivery or online postage charges. You are instructed to click on a link, open the attachment, or print the label.

But Postal Inspectors warn: Don’t do it!

Like most viruses sent by e-mail, clicking on the link or opening the attachment will activate a virus that can steal information—such as your user name, password, and financial account information.

What to do? Simply delete the message without taking any further action. The Postal Inspection Service is working hard to resolve the issue and shut down the malicious program.

Please note that all correspondences about an order placed through Blue Buddha will come from [email protected] or [email protected].  If you receive an email that appears to be about your order but is not from one of these email addresses, delete it.  All links regarding your order that come from our email address are safe, however if you are feeling wary, you can always copy and paste your tracking number directly into the USPS website: https://www.usps.com/.

Vote for your favorite – July’s “Featured Product” contest!

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CAST YOUR VOTE NOW!

Submissions for July’s Featured Product of the Month Contest are closed and it’s time for YOU to cast your vote to determine the winner. Folks this month were challenged to create a piece using our newly à la carte Miyuki seed beads.  We are super impressed with the wide variety of uses – make sure to check out all of the finalists to get ideas for how YOU can use these beautiful beads in your next project. Voting will close July 31st. 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 AUGUST – Copper jump rings

copper chainmaille bracelet

 

For August, we’re inviting you to get creative with a classic!  Copper is an awesome metal to work with – great for beginners because it’s easy to manipulate and it has a great weight.  Combine it with other metals or colored rings or keep it simple, whatever you do – get creating!

Closed July 24 for Employee Appreciation Day

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Blue Buddha will be closed on Tuesday, July 24 for our first ever Employee Appreciation Day!

One of my philosophies as a business owner is that is is important to not only take care of customers, but also employees— actually, especially employees! When I backpacked and hitchhiked around western Europe a dozen years ago, I was impressed with the generous attitude toward holidays. I vowed to incorporate this culture in my business, should I ever own one. OK, so truth be told, Blue Buddha is a long way from offering 6-week vacations and 52-weeks of maternity leave. *cough* But I do like to make sure our team has time to rest and recover, and that they can spend holidays with loved ones. Everyone even gets a paid day off for their birthday. :-)

The B3 Team (well, almost the whole team!) Counterclockwise from top right: Rebeca, Jason, Lisa, Jenna, Jen, Nadja, Aimee, Erik, Emily, Dan, Max & Samm.

 

Our other team members: Artie (left, celebrating B3’s 9th Birthday with our jump rings) and Matt (right, serving his guests as his Titanic recreation dinner.)

Kat doesn’t like having her picture taken so our mascot Zed will stand in for her (he loves the camera *wink*.)

 

 

I know that closing store doors is not typical in the retail world, and especially in the Internet world (somehow having a website gives many people the impression that we are here 24/7 working to fill orders nonstop!). But we’re not a typical business, and I’m proud of that. People really matter to me, and if employees wind up getting burned out or frustrated, that’s going to be a lose/lose situation all around.

We’ve never officially taken a day to fully acknowledge how much the employees mean to the success of Blue Buddha. So we created our first Employee Appreciation Day next week, Tuesday July 24. This means that we won’t be answering phones, shipping orders nor checking email from close of work Monday evening through Wednesday the 25th when we re-open. Some of us are heading up to Six Flags to ride some crazy roller coasters, while others are simply taking a day to rest solo or with loved ones.

I’m lucky enough to have great experiences on a daily basis with the folks at B3. I’m sure you’ve had some great moments with them too, or with the company as a whole. Feel free to share your favorite anecdotes, or send kudos to the team (I know they’d appreciate it) in the comments field below.

Thanks for supporting us as we take a day to celebrate us! We’ll be back to business as usual on Wednesday the 25th!

“Maillers’ Choice” kit is now available + Enjoy a Bonus Discount!

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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!

For July, we’ve created a limited edition kit for one of Rebeca’s popular Elfweave Variations – Elf Wave.  This is the easiest variation offered in this follow up to Elfweave Braid so it’s a great way to take a dip into experimenting with weave varations.

JUST FOR “MAILLERS’ CHOICE” we have created a special PDF that bundles together “Elfweave Braid” and “Elfweave Variations” in one big awesome package.  You can purchase this PDF right on the same page as the kit. 

As a bonus, enjoy 5% off both when you buy the kit and the special PDF bundle instructions together in one order.  SHOP THE SALE NOW!

 

Already have “Elfweave Braid”?  No problem!  The “Elfweave Variations” only PDF is also available on the page and you’ll still receive the extra 5% off!