New look for Projects

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Our new “Projects” section now houses all of our B3 Instructions. When you click to shop this section, you’ll see a brand new landing page.  The kit displayed on the page when you get there is our featured kit.  We’ll change that up frequently to help you know what’s new and what we’re loving at the moment.

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These instructions are organized by level so you can be sure to get a project that will work perfectly for you.  Use the tabs along the top of the new kit icon grid to view each level.  If you prefer to see all kits on one page, simply use the link that says “view all projects on one page”.  That will take you to a page where all projects are organized both by level and alphabetical.

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Rolling over an icon will give you a larger picture and short description to the right.

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Click on one of the projects to go to its individual page complete with a big, beautiful image, information about the project and a picture of the project’s designer.  Instructions and project kits can be purchased from this page.

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Most of our projects instructions have coordinating project kits that contain all the rings, findings and other components needed to complete the project.  If the kit you’d like to buy offers customizable elements, you will see a button that says “Customize and Purchase”.

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Clicking that button will open up a cool new widget that will allow you to choose your customizations.

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Once you’ve selected you colors, clicking the “Add” button will add it to your cart.  If you change your mind about wanting to customize the kit, clicking the little black “x” in the corner will hide the widget again.

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For projects that do not have kits, we have created handy shopping lists at the bottom of the page where you can get everything you need to complete the project or just stock up on the parts that you don’t already have in your stash.

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We hope you enjoy these new updates on these pages.  We have more improvements in store for the future (like customer reviews!) and we welcome your suggestions for features you’d enjoy as well!  Email us with suggestions at [email protected].

Elfweave Variations: Color Palette Ideas!

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We recently released a follow up PDF to Rebeca’s super popular Elfweave Braid project.  Elfweave Variations takes the weave to the next level by offering your tips for creating 4 additional projects based on the original weave.  This PDF was created in response to folks who have been asking us for more advanced projects – we hope those of your looking for the next challenge will find it inspiring!

     

You can find the Elfweave Variations PDF

on the Elfweave Braid kit page!

 

 

Each of these variations can be made using enameled copper for the colored rings in place of the anodized aluminum rings used for the Elfweave Braid.  Below are some of our favorite two color combinations to help inspire your color choices for these variations.


Violet + Gold


Lime + Green


Gunmetal + Ice Blue


Burgundy + Black


Royal Blue + Seafoam


Lavender + Eggplant


Amber + Peacock Blue


 

“Maillers’ Choice” kit – available today only!

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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!

This month, you get 2 projects in 1 with our Japanese Cross + Polyhedron Earring kit.  Make sure to purchase the instructions PDF to learn how to create each design + receive a special bonus variation design idea!

Instructions are available on same page as the kit for your shopping convenience.

A Decade of Chainmaille

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Ten years ago, on this day, I made my first piece of chainmaille.  *squee!*  At that time, I didn’t realize that my life would never be the same. I certainly didn’t imagine I would be where I am today.  It’s been an amazing journey, and I’ve learned so much from my students, customers, co-workers and fellow chainmaillers.

Here’s a little glimpse into how I fell down the rabbit hole 10 years ago:

I’d fallen in love with a chainmaille belt I saw someone wearing at a Renaissance Faire in Germany.  I couldn’t find any to purchase that I’d liked, either there, nor when I returned home. But I did find an eBay listing for “1,000+ rings! Make your own chain mail!”  I figured I didn’t have anything to lose, so I bought the rings.  They turned out to be 16ga galvanized steel.  Oy.  I am lucky those rings didn’t scare me away, but instead, somehow caused me to fall in love with this artform.

Euro 4-in-1 chainmail belt

The very first piece of maille I made. I didn't follow any instructions; my fingers just instinctively knew what to do. My technique and speed, however, were a different story. ;-)

 

galvanized steel chainmaille

I had enough rings leftover to make a second belt. This one hasn't survived as well as the first one; somehow parts of it were cannibalized for other projects during the early parts of my mailling career.

making chainmaille with unusual tools

With no proper pliers around, I improvised. Yep, the desire to create maille out of that first pack of jump rings was too great. I couldn't wait to get started, so I used these li'l guys!

 

poor closures in chainmaille

Oy. I cringe looking at my first closures and non saw-cut rings.

 

20ga dragonscale chainmaille

Typical chainmaille insanity: I taught myself Dragonscale about 2 1/2 months after I started making maille, using, of course, 20ga rings! This is I20 SSTL with D20 ALUM/COPP — 20ga 13/64" (5.2 mm) stainless steel with 20ga 1/8 (3.2 mm) aluminum and copper.

 

Over the past 10 years, I’ve seen the industry really blossom. Maille seems to be everywhere these days, and there are some fiercely talented folks out there. I’ve seen some chainmaille artists, and even several suppliers, come and go (*sniff*). I’ve watched the number of known weaves documented on M.A.I.L. soar from 200(ish) to more than 1,100. I’ve spent more than 1,000 hours teaching thousands of students how to make maille.  And I gotta say – I still love what I do every bit as much as I loved making that first belt.

Thank you to everyone who’s helped me along the way: artists who’ve taught and/or inspired me, and stores and galleries who took a chance on a new artist/instructor—including Spider, Maillemaster, Emerald Dragon, Buddha, Zlosk, Sarah Chapman, Caravan Beads, Lillstreet Art Center, Aesthetic Eye — the Chicago Craft Mafia, the talented and hard-working crew of anyone who’s ever worked for B3, every single customer and student we’ve had, and many others. I am eternally grateful.

For more of my early work, see the post celebrating my 8-year anniversary of making maille.

Congratulations to April’s Featured Product Contest Winner!

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Voting for April’s Featured Product of the Month contest is officially closed and the winner as chosen by you is……

 

Chrys M. with his piece “Captive Crystal Byzantine”!


Congratulations, Chrys! Your creativity has earned you a B3 gift certificate for $25! To claim your prize, please send an email to [email protected].

 

A Note about April’s Contest:  Some of you noticed that, while the contest was meant to be for projects that used round crystal beads, some of the projects that made it to the final voting used bicones.  This was an oversight on our part and we want to extend apologies for confusion or hard feelings about this.  In our enthusiasm to get the finalists together, we made the mistake and didn’t realize it until public voting was already underway.

 

Taking down the survey to replace it with just the entries who used round beads could have resulted in some of those losing the votes they had already gathered.  In the end, the entries using the bicones were not eligible to win, but it didn’t much matter anyway as Chrys’ piece did come in first regardless of our error.  We have established a better process for looking over the submissions so we don’t run into this again.  Thanks for understanding!

All of that said, we still want to sincerely thank ALL of April’s contest participants – the projects we received were each inspiring no matter the shape of the crystals! We are currently accepting submissions for May’s contest. Dazzle us with your use of stainless steel rings for your chance to win!

Happy Weaving!