Click this link then click the image to see this intensely cool chainmaille mandala in different stages of progress....or drop by Blue Buddha Boutique's (B3) new space and see it for yourself.
Steampunk Sagezilla (9) rocks a chainmaille 'stash
Art connects us... Links are forged when artists create community and when communities create art. It's the same way with blogs. I have a mandala tattoo on my shoulder and whenever anyone ask me what it means to me I tell them it's interconnectedness & individuality. That's how I feel about art, and well....life too. We all have our own unique voice and vision, but there's explosively cool energy and power in connecting with others.
So, ChiIL out with ChiIL Mama and unchain your brain. Drop the fears and busy schedules, and doubts that hold you back and try something new. Learning is lifelong and not just for kids. That's why we're seriously stoked about Blue Buddha's new training space. Come link up and create something amazing...art, confidence, community.
My last name, Kenaz, means fire, passion and creativity and they're traits I live by. So I was particularly excited when Blue Buddha asked ChiIL Mama to be one of 4 in a BLOG BOMB--simultaneous explosion of creativity!
Forget the ubiquitous "blog hop"...which is all well & good but reminds me of the bunny hop...not always a great image, or a great tune to get stuck in your head. Why hop when you can boom?! We're going for a full blown, powerful, explosive burst of energy. It's a BLOG BOMB BLITZ! BOOM!!!!
By 10am on Wednesday, 2/20, all 4 blogs will be offering great giveaways and exploring the theme of learning. Four blogs...four features...four giveaways....for YOU!
*Click here to check 'em all out then enter the big one... Grand prize giveaway post on Blue Buddha's blog: Comment to win a 3-hour chainmaille jewerly class held at Blue Buddha Boutique (B3)--must be local enough to use the class--no product substitutions.
NATIONWIDE GIVEAWAY (anyone in the US):
*ChiIL Mama's offering our readers: a Kit & Tutorial for B3's "Flowers Bracelet" project. Enter through midnight February 26th.
Flowers Bracelet tutorial teaches beginners how to create mobius balls or "flowers" than can be used to make a variety of projects! This tutorial will help you create a sweet bracelet and the skills learned be used to create matching earrings, keychain or even a necklace. You can create this piece in solid base metal or make it more colorful by using anodized aluminum jump rings in one color or even a mix.
This is the perfect first step to take for folks working up to making more complex projects like Rebeca's Tapered Mobius Necklace and Knotted Lace Cuff - coming June 2012!
Example shown uses red "large rings" (size L18) and aluminum "connector rings" (size H18).
Comment below on what sparks your creativity for your chance to win & click the Rafflecopter Form for additional entries for spreading the word. Enter like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Back in November, ChiIL Mama paired up with Blue Buddha for our 2nd feature/ giveaway, and it rocked! We learned so much as a family, trying our hand at their new chainmaille kits.
We collaborated on harder pieces as a family, which was a hoot, and our 9 year old has been so stoked to wear the necklace she made. She gets compliments on it all the time and you should see her face glow as she smiles and tells people she actually made it!
Celtic Visions Star Pendant
My 11 year old son loved it so much he took the rings and pliers in to school as his 6th grade art project choice for the semester. He not only mastered the directions, he went on to make more variations on his own, and link up 3 Celtic Visions Star Pendants for a unique, more complex triangle design.
Du-Jay (11) discovers a new passion!
ChiIL Mama's elated to be participating in our first ever BLOG BOMB with our fav local chainmaille artists--Rebeca Mojica and Blue Buddha Boutique, a Chicago based chain maille supplier. We dig supporting small businesses and creatives in the community.
Chicago's own Blue Buddha Boutique says:
We had so much fun with our blog hop in November that we could hardly wait to do another one. This time around, we’re doing a blog “bomb” – 4 blogs, 4 giveaways, all in one day. BOOM!
The theme for this explosion is learning. Whether it’s picking up chainmaille pliers for the first time, starting a new weave or really venturing into a new craft of any kind, taking those first few steps is altogether exciting, scary and confusing. But that’s what makes it worth doing! In re-launching our jewelry-making classes, we are energized knowing we’ll get to help lots of folks take these kinds of leaps, lead them through breakthrough moments and watch them create beauty. Check out Blue Buddha classes/ fees/descriptions here. They're offering a wide range of exciting instruction!
We also can’t wait to do some learning ourselves as we invite makers of all kinds into our space for monthly CRE8TIME Maker Studios.
*Click here for dates for totally FREE, mixed level, open studio times! This is not a class, it's a community. And that's the bomb!
BOOM! great giveaway! my daughter loves kits.
ReplyDeleteWhat sparks my creativity? Anything that combines structure and color...which is why I like chain maille with colored rings or with beads. It's the same reason beadweaving appeals to me. There's a definite structure, but lots of freedom to interpret that structure by changing out either the colors or the size of rings/beads.
ReplyDeleteThis is the BOMB!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, just sitting with my supplies sparks my creativity. Surrounded by fishing tackle boxes of beads and rings.... the possibilities are ENDLESS!
ReplyDeleteBrenda H - I love to see the faces on this blog as they are working and consentrating. I have fun just looking at what others have done for new ideas of what is possible when I play with my rings and pliers.
ReplyDeleteMy creativity is sparked at some of the strangest times. But I started doing chainmaille after seeing it at an art fair. Shortly after, I had a dream where I was weaving it myself. No joke.
ReplyDeletemy creativity is sparked by my tools and supplies, especially when I have no idea what to create at the moment ~ other times it is planned in my head and I just execute the plan
ReplyDeleteso glad to have a chainmaille supplier close to home :: look forward to visiting B3's new digs
So excited that Blue Buddha will be holding classes again. Can't wait to sign up for one!
ReplyDeleteI often have trouble sleeping, but the flip side is that I get some neat ideas for chainmaille while I'm lying there thinking! :) I also get ideas for color combos from the models I paint, and get great inspiration from seeing what other chainmaille artists have done. :)
ReplyDeleteLearning something new ... and then figuring out ways to combine it with something I have been practicing (esp to push me to continue working on a skill that still needs lots of improvement but on which the novelty of first-few-efforts has worn off).
ReplyDeletelearning something new ... and then finding ways to combine it with a skill that I need to continue practicing (especially, one that needs loads of improvement but on which the novelty has started to wear off - after the first couple projects... pushes me to keep working them both).
ReplyDeleteMy creativity is sparked by the supplies I have and by customers that come into the shop I work in. They have some wild ideas, and I help them to make the ideas into reality! It is so much fun!!
ReplyDeleteBlue Buddha rocks and I love your mandala...that is so cool.
ReplyDeleteMy current source for inspiration is Pinterest. You see so many great designs from all over.
ReplyDeleteYour work is just beautiful! I love making chainmaille too!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing the pictures of your children with their chain maille. Taught both my boys to bead weave when they were younger.
ReplyDeleteGuess, I need to answer the question to be entered in the giveaway. What sparks my creativity is taking the original components and turning them into something so completely different than what they started as. A pile of rings, two pairs of pliers and it becomes a piece of jewelry.
ReplyDeleteI love putting together wire to chain + beads/stones/patterns, to create something which isn't like any other!
ReplyDeleteMy creativity is sparked by having time to sit and ponder.
ReplyDelete