Mailler and B3 community member, Tracy K.B., posted this photo to our wall on Facebook a few days ago and we just had to share with everyone here on our blog.  She and a bunch of mailler friends get together to work on chainmaille projects and enjoy some yummy food, so she thought she’d make jump rings – out of jello!

We love extra detail of labeling the bags with the size and stats.  Just such a cute and creative idea, Tracy!

chainmaille · funny · jello jigglers · jump rings · snacks

We just wanted to give you all a heads up that we are having our staff “retreat” this afternoon.  As of about 1pm, we will be away from the studio and unable to take calls or answer emails.  Things will be back to normal tomorrow morning and we’re sorry for any inconvenience this causes for you.  It’s been a while since we’ve gotten to do a real team building retreat and with so many new employees added this year, we think it’s important to take the time to stop and really get to know one another to help us work better together.

We mentioned on Facebook a week or so ago that we were going to be having a talent show as part of this team building experience – we’ll do our best to show you guys some of the talents that our employees show off via video (with their permission of course!)  We are also using some personality tests this year to help us gain some insight into how best to communicate to the people we work with.  It’s bound to be very interesting and I can’t wait to learn more about some of my fellow staff members that I don’t know so well.

We also did a Muppet personality quiz just for fun and we thought we’d share our results with you as well as encourage you to take it and find our your Muppet personality (note, our team member Samm had not yet taken the quiz when we made this chart so he sadly is not accounted for).  Check out the B3 team breakdown (clicking on the picture will open a larger version), then follow the link below to take the quiz.  Post your Muppet type in the comments section, post it on our page on facebook or tweet it to us twitter.

The Muppet Personality Quiz

B3 Employees · just for fun · muppet personality test · staff retreat

Here at B3, we love sharing fun (sometimes silly) links and photos we come across. I love getting a little gem in my inbox from one of the other B3 team members and thought I’d share a couple on the blog today.  Sometimes Mondays need a little brightening up…here’s hoping these brighten up your day as much as they did mine!

RE: new use for U12 RUBR

Jason‘s ingenious use for U12 RUBR rings…..status markers for D&D miniatures.  To indicate wounds, being under a spell, and the like.  Ha!

RE: Something Silly

After a discussion about chainmaille for animals (customer request *grin*) Nadja was reminded of this cat armour and chainmaille by talented metal artist Jeff De Boer.

cat armour · chainmaille · dungeons and dragons · funny · rubber rings

First of all, thank you to everyone who submitted their favorite funny cat videos to our Evil Kitty T-shirt Giveaway contest – ALL of them made us smile and it was a tough choice to pick our favorite. Tough, but not impossible. Our favorite kitty video was sent to us by Mikaela E. – Congrats Mikaela, you are the winner of the adorable Evil Kitty T-shirt!

Without further ado, for your viewing pleasure – the winning funny feline, Many too small boxes and Maru:

Honorable mentions go to Beth R. and Jill L. for the following two videos which we also really loved:

evil kitty · giveaway · tshirt

In case our adorable mascot Zed (who makes a sneaky guest appearance in all our ads and was featured as the “Amazing Chainmailling Cat” in our 2009 April’s Fools day joke) didn’t tip you off – we heart cats here at B3.  Many B3 team members are proud cat owners.

Therefore it is no surprise that Rebeca fell in love with this cute kitty tee (click for a larger photo) made by fellow Chicago small business Evil Kitty.  When she placed her order however, there was a little size confusion and generous Evil Kitty owner Lidia Wachowska decided to send her two sizes just to be on the safe side (props for the customer service, Lidia!)  Long story short, we have an extra Evil Kitty tee in size small that we are giving away!  (Please note, this t-shirt is quite small!  Rebeca said of the t-shirt, and I quote, “I could squeeze into the small, but it wasn’t pretty.”)

To be entered to win, you must share your favorite funny feline viral video. Sure, we could just draw a random name out of a hat – but that wouldn’t be as fun now would it?  Submit your video to us by Friday, February 11 @ 12pm to be entered to win.  The B3 team will vote on their favorite to choose a winner who will be announced on Valentine’s day.  Sounds like a purrfectly lovely way to celebrate to me!

Send the link to your favorite funny internet cat video to: community@bluebuddhaboutique.com.
BTW – we can’t wait to see them! Here’s one Rebeca shared with me recently to get you started:

cat · contest · evil kitty · giveaway · tshirt · zed