Chainmaille kits by artists – FOR YOU!

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Dragon Eye PendantWe released the first B3 project (“Scale Barrette”) from chainmaille designer Omni Mee last week and have turned our focus to a long-anticipated tutorial for Lisa Smeltzer’s epic “Dragon Eye Pendant” (shown left).  Beginning to work with more new designers is a fun new adventure for B3.  We are also continuing relationships with successful B3 projects designers and ambassadors like Kat Wisniewski and Vanessa Walilko (both of whom are always busy creating something epic-ly awesome on their own!)

Long-time relationships and new partnerships alike, working with these folks is an honor for B3.  We feel so lucky that such talented folks are willing to share their ideas, not only with our business but with our customers.  It really takes a special artist to be willing to teach others and encourage them to grow using their designs as stepping stones. 

 

These designs are just the beginning, however.  We have been busy putting everything into place to start working with more and more designers each year.  “Who are these designers?” you might ask.  Well, they could be you!


B3 project proposals are accepted on an ongoing basis.  Many of you have already sent us your initial ideas via email (don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about you!).  We now have a more thorough and official submission form.  Whether you’re just learning about this program or you have already sent us an email with ideas, we encourage you to look over our project submission form and consider completing it for your project pitch.  We will begin reviewing the submissions more closely and contacting potential designers for 2013 project releases in the Spring and Summer. 

Submit Your Project

 

Cast your vote for March’s Featured Product Contest!

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CAST YOUR VOTE NOW!

Submissions for March’s Featured Product of the Month Contest are closed…..which means it’s time for YOU to cast your vote to determine the winner. Folks this month were challenged to create a piece that featured one of our more obscure sizes – O18.  We commend the few brave souls who stepped up to the challenge and can’t wait to see who wins! Voting will close March 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:


Butterflies - chainmaille weave  Captive Inverted Round Bracelet - Chainmaille Weave  Spring Celebration - Mobius Chainmaille Weave  Captive Inverted Round Glass Rings - Chainmaille Weave

 

FEATURED PRODUCT FOR MARCH – Swarovski® Faceted Round Crystal Beads


Beaded Zig Zag ByzantineWe’re looking for some bling for April!  The featured product will be Swarovski® Faceted Round Crystal Beads, 6mm or 8mm, available on our findings page.  These beads lend a sophisticated sparkle to any maille project and match perfectly with our anodized niobium rings (check out this blog post to see the color match-ups!)

We can’t wait to see what you come up with!  Stay tuned to our blog for some ideas and inspiration for using this component and get ready to sparkle!

Victory over the copyright issue!

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UPDATE – All of the images in question have been removed!  Yay!  It took about 24 hours for that to happen, and I know that in this time, we collectively left hundreds of comments on her page (which were quickly deleted).  We did it!

Late last night, I wrote of the businesswoman who was in copyright breach by using other maillers’ images and claiming them as her own on her page on Facebook.  At that point, all of my images had been removed, but I just couldn’t sit back and watch such blatant violation continue to happen in the chainmaille community.

So many of you were angered by this situation as well.  You shared the post and my comments on FB.  You went to her wall, pointing out the URLs of the original images.

Your comments were very quickly deleted, sometimes within seconds.  And she continued to claim that she did nothing wrong.

Every cloud …

Her immediate action was to watermark the images.  Obviously, watermarking your intellectual property in this day and age is a great idea, and I support that. However, she also cropped and watermarked a few images that were clearly not hers! Some of the photo manipulation has been documented on fellow mailler crazymoke’s blog.  These manipulations can be difficult to spot at a glance, especially to non-maillers.  But—as several maillers have pointed out—it is statistically impossible to have two separate images of maille drape in exactly the same way, with the seams of the rings in the same positions, the reflections the same, etc.  Unfortunately, it may be difficult to “prove” this to Facebook, unless the rightful owners of the images continually report those photos as copyright infringement. (No one except the rightful owner can file a copyright violation report on Facebook.)

[NOTE – these images have also since been removed.  Yay!]

…has a silver lining

On the other hand, most none of the images on my long list are no longer on her page on FB!  So it seems that, at least, she recognizes that it is not appropriate to keep those images on her page.  Yay!   (I do, by the way, have screenshots of many of these images when they were on her page … just in case that ever would come in handy.) Perhaps the fans who continue to loyally support her will wonder what ever happened to all those other designs she once had on her page.

As artists, we take it personally and feel violated when someone wrongs us. And part of us may want them to be punished.  But that rarely happens.  That’s just not how the world works.   We may think it is unfair that her fans believe she has done no wrong, and we may not agree with her suppressing the hundreds of comments made on her page over the past few days.  But if she removes now that she’s removed all the questionable images, I will at least feel as though we accomplished what we set out to do.  This outcome likely could not have been achieved by any of us fighting her alone; it really did take all of us banding together.

Thank you to all who have come out and will still come out to support this issue!  As artists, we really do need to protect our work.  I hope the owners of the images that get stolen on Facebook always report image theft to Facebook.  And I will keep an eye on this business.  The optimist in me wants to believe that somehow, she’s learned from all this, and will turn over a new leaf.

Although, I won’t lie, an apology would’ve been nice.

When Crafters Do Bad Things: Using Images From Other Artists To Sell Your Work Not Only Misleads Your Customers, It’s Just Plain Rude. And Illegal.

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Chainmaille Artisan “Capturing Essence” Is Passing Off Stolen Images As Her Own Work. Help Us Stop Her.

Please read the update on this situation!

A post on Maillers Worldwide alerted me to the fact that a business on Facebook might be stealing one or more of Blue Buddha’s images.  No big deal, I thought.  We encounter people using our images without permission every few weeks.  Usually as soon as we let themknow, they apologize and immediately remove the image or add a credit to our company with a link back to our website.  It’s clear they never even realized they did something wrong, and they move quickly to correct the situation.

So it is very rare that I will call a business out for inappropriate behavior. In fact, I can’t remember ever doing it on our company blog before.  But one business has crossed the line.

Capturing Essence has posted many images on her page on Facebook that have been published years before, by other artisans, including two Blue Buddha images.  I reported the B3 images to Facebook, and they have been removed.  I would’ve been content to move on, except I know she is still displaying many images that are not hers.  She claims no wrongdoing and insists all work and photos on her page are her own.  I don’t doubt that some of the images on her page are hers, but others … well, look at the list below and decide for yourselves.  If she were innocent and all these other people stole her images, why doesn’t she say so, instead of deleting all comments that refer to the other images?  Capturing Essence, if you’re reading this, please leave a comment below offering evidence that the photos you claim are your own, are indeed your own!

Fellow crafters and supporters of the arts, I ask you to visit Capturing Essence’s page on FB and let her know that stealing images from others and claiming them as her own is not appropriate.  PLEASE keep a respectful tone as you do this.  I do not want this to get turned around so that we are considered the harassers, and she the victim.  You can feel free to simply link back to this blog post, too.

Here is a list of the images that are questionable.  Facebook may be taking some of them down as I write, so know that I will come back and adjust this list periodically.  I have also contacted all the rightful owners.

UPDATE: Capturing Essence has removed most images, as indicated below!  Woo!

full persian 6-in-1

This image was posted on Red Panda’s website several years prior to appearing on Capturing Essence’s page on Facebook. See first link in list at right.

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://www.redpandajewelry.com/products/full-persian-chainmail-basics-bracelet

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original –  http://www.longcanyon.com/YOJ/2005.htm (scroll down to week 17, Celtic Visions.  Refer to crazymoke’s blog post about the photo manipulation on this image.)

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://www.etsy.com/listing/37481945/sterling-silver-barrel-chainmaille

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://www.finechainmailjewelry.com/byzantine-chainmail-necklace.html

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://chainmaillebymboi.blogspot.com/2009/02/helm-chainmaille-pattern.html

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://youvegotmaille.blogspot.com/2009/02/february-etsyblogger-donnapool.html

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/weavedisplay.php?key=558

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://www.flickr.com/photos/redcrow/1279380570/

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://www.fishlips3.com/class_description.htm (scroll down to chain maille section)

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://wardscorner.net/maillepicts.htm (scroll down about halfway)

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://www.phoenixchainmaille.com/finejewelry.htm  (waterfall earrings)

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://www.longcanyon.com/YOJ/2007.htm (scroll down to Double Flower, Feb 26)

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://chainmaillebymboi.com/sterling-silver-and-copper-tryzantine-bracelet/

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://www.etsy.com/listing/65953685/snowflake-chainmaille-pendant

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://www.spiderchain.com/custom/index.shtml (scroll down to “HANDFLOWER”)

SUCCESS!  IMAGE REMOVED!
the original – http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazymokes/4349267270/in/photostream  (although the images are not cropped alike, a close examination reveals them to be the same image, and a blog post about stolen photos from the artist shows this to be so as well)

There are other images that I believe to be stolen, but I do not have proof.  If you recognize any other images and know the rightful owner, please contact them and share this blog post.

It is a shame that in the face of all this evidence, she still insists that the photos are hers.  Businesses like this make it that much harder for honest artisans to make a living.  And believe me, I want the honest artisan to make a living!

CHAINED giveaway on “Stitch Craft Create: Blog”!

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March is National Craft month and the “Stitch Craft Create” blog has been celebrating with lots of great interviews, projects ideas and crafty tips.  Our own Rebeca Mojica is featured today along with her book CHAINED and a very special free giveaway project of the Japanese Cross Earrings from the book.  

In the post, Rebeca offers tips on using color in your chainmaille jewelry as well as tips for choosing the perfect clasps to finish your piece.  Great tips from a chainmaille expert to help take your jewelry to the next level!  Don’t miss it.

Go to the blog and read Rebeca’s post…