Rebeca Mojica's Blog

It’s pumpkin season and these little chainmaille fidget toys are ready to roll! Each “pumpkin” is actually a dodecahedron (12-sided figure). They’re fun to make and add a touch of geeky charm to your Halloween or Thanksgiving decor.

The pumpkins follow the basic Dodecahedron pattern, and have extra jump rings added as stuffing to give the pumpkins a plump shape. Adding the leaves as shown requires some Byzantine basics, but even if you don’t know Box/Byzantine, you may be able to figure it out with the diagram below. Or, you can skip the leaves and just add a few brown rings for a stem.

We don’t currently offer orange kits, but we do have other chainmaille dodecahedron kits in the B3 Etsy shop. Within that listing, feel free to click on the “contact seller” button to special request any color combination you’d like. (We’re working on adding more custom kit options for automatic ordering soon.)

Tips for Cat Owners:
These pumpkins are irresistible to curious paws! Be sure to supervise your feline friends when they’re in the vicinity of the dodecs. (I may be speaking from experience here…)

Here are four size options for dodecahedrons in common jump ring sizes. The P16 size is the “squishiest” and requires more stuffing rings to hold its shape. The T14 pumpkin uses small size scales, and all the other pumpkins are shown with itty bitty/micro green scales and size D20 connector rings. D20 = 20 awg (0.8mm) 1/8″ (3.2mm)

Sadly, the Blue Buddha Boutique Instagram account has been suspended! I’ve written a more detailed post about the suspension on the Rebeca Mojica Jewelry blog.

Luckily the account wasn’t super active, but I am sad to see it go. If you’ve been following me as Blue Buddha on IG, I invite you to either follow the Blue Buddha Boutique page on Facebook, or @rebecamojicajewelry on Instagram. You can also find me on TikTok @officialrebecamojica. I now realize I could lose these accounts at any time, but I’ll just go full steam ahead and hope for the best!

Get ready for spooky season with this DIY chainmaille project diagram for the cute Eternal Love Necklace. We’ve revived this kit in very limited quantities (and we have focal-only kits as well, in case you’d like to use a different weave or chain).

You’ll need to know Jens Pind 3 and Mobius/Flowers in order to complete the project.

Purchase Eternal Love Necklace kits in the B3 Etsy shop. Or, purchase focal-only kits. (And yep, we do offer the skulls by themselves too)

Happy Halloweaving!

In early April 2024, I’m headed back to Ventura, CA to teach and learn at Craftcation, woo-hoo!

This 5-day event is a crafter’s paradise, with 200+ crafts and business workshops, along with wellness activities and social gatherings, including introvert-friendly activities!

This year I’ll be teaching the beginning level Rosettes Bracelet as well as leading an Elevate Your Etsy Shop Think Tank and a panel about writing and publishing a book.

If you are near the West Coast (or simply feel like making a trip out to sunny SoCal), come join me for a magical week April 3-7, 2023! Registration is open!

For all the details about Craftcation, hop over to the Dear Handmade Life website where you’ll find a complete list of crafts workshops, business classes, an extensive FAQ and info on how to apply to volunteer at the conference.

The conference sells out every year, so if you are excited and can’t wait to try ALL the things, then  sign up today!

If you have questions about my experiences at Craftcation, please let me know. I’m excited to share this wonderful event with you!

Just in time for the some of the first snow of the season, kits are now available for an all-white snowflake pendant and earring!

Purchase snowflake kits in the B3 Etsy shop. If you’ve never made this before, you can also purchase the snowflake tutorial in the shop. If you don’t need the full instructions, check out the free project diagram below – it has information on how to combine ring sizes in the earrings to stabilize the weave (otherwise it’ll be pretty floppy). Let me know if you have any questions!

Happy weaving!

After years of procraftination, I’m finally tackling the new Blue Buddha Boutique website!

Before I get too deep, I’d like to ask for your feedback – specifically on the kit customization wizard.

If you’ve ordered custom-color kits (or think you might in the future), and you’re interested in previewing the website and offering your feedback, I invite you to take the 8-question survey below to see if you qualify for the upcoming focus group(s). It should take less than 5 minutes to complete. Thank you!

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Woo, hoo!!!!!!  A few months ago, I asked for your vote in the Interweave Readers’ Choice Awards … and I’m so excited to announce that thanks to you, CHAINED was voted one of the Best Jewelry Books!

Thank you sooooo much! I really appreciate everyone who took the time to cast a vote, and I’m honored that so many people have found my book helpful.

It’s hard to believe it’s been more than a dozen years since the book was released! Even though it has been out of print for a few years, I still receive regular messages from people thanking me for the book, or asking a question or two. It makes me so happy to know that the projects continue to bring joy and inspire people!

If you don’t have a copy of the book and would like one, or if you’re simply feeling more digital these days, the Kindle version of CHAINED is still available for purchase. (That’s an affiliate link, so, full disclaimer, I will receive a few pennies from your purchase!) You can also pick up used copies of the book at that same link.

Thanks again for your support. You’re the best!

For the past couple years (minus a break during the height of the pandemic), I’ve attended Craftcation in Ventura, CA to try out new crafts, take business classes and connect with other people who also enjoy geeking out with their creative projects.

I’m excited to announce that in 2023, I’ll be returning to Craftcation as a presenter! I’ll be offering Celtic Visions Star pendant as well as teaching a business workshop on How to Create How Tos.

I haven’t yet decided which classes I’m going to take (the schedule is still being finalized), but I’m still obsessing over a body scrub class I took last year, so I will likely take more body care classes. I’m always excited for painting classes, and who knows, maybe I’ll even give crochet another try!

If you are near the West Coast (or just feel like making a trip out to sunny SoCal), come join me for a magical week April 19-23, 2023! Registration is open!

For all the details about Craftcation, hop over to the Dear Handmade Life website where you’ll find a complete list of crafts workshops, business classes, an extensive FAQ and info on how to apply to volunteer at the conference.

The conference sells out every year, so if you are excited and can’t wait to try ALL the things, then  sign up today!

If you have questions about my experiences at Craftcation, please let me know. I’m excited to share this wonderful event with you!

At long last, JPL5 instructions are here! This has been one of my most-requested projects, and I’m excited to have put together a thorough guide so you can conquer this weave!

First off, if you’re intimidated by JPL5, I recommend checking out this video that shows how to weave JPL5 from a starter piece. You’ll probably be surprised at how easy it looks!

If that has you excited to create JPL5, hop on over to grab instructions (and/or a starter piece) from our Etsy shop. You can also buy JPL5 kits in 4 colorways and choose from dozens of colors to create your very own custom-color JPL5 kit.

Blue Buddha Boutique’s full JPL5 tutorial contains:
• 3 pages of step-by-step photos for creating this weave in 5 colors
• 2-page “quick start” chart to create JPL5 in 2-, 3-, 4- or 6 colors
• cover page with ring sizes and “weave overview” summary
• link to a private, 20-minute video that demonstrates every step, including how I hold the weave in my hand, plus a “checking your work” and troubleshooting section to keep you on track
• left- and right-hand PDFs and videos included
• PDF includes links to video at each steps, so you can jump to the exact spot you need

I strongly, strongly, strongly recommend learning JPL5 with 5 colors. Once you are comfortable weaving in 5 colors, you can try doing JPL5 in 2 or 3 (or any other number) of colors. The PDF tutorial includes a “quick start” chart that shows steps 1-19 in 2-, 3-, 4- and 6-colors. Check out how the chart works:

I hope the comprehensive PDF tutorial and videos make this weave easy—and dare I say, even fun?—for you.

I love to know about your successes, so please feel free to tag BlueBuddhaBoutique on social media and share what you’ve made. Or simply send your pic to customercare@bluebuddhaboutique.com! Happy weaving – you got this!

Here is the full lineup of JPL5 offerings from Blue Buddha Boutique:

If you received an order confirmation about an order you did NOT place, and the order is via commentsold on Facebook, that message is spam. It is also not my company (I’ve never sold through commentsold), but likely instead refers to another company with an identical name.

I recommend checking your bank account to confirm no charges are processing, and also contacting commentsold – support@commentsold.com – to report the issue.  (You can see their response to my inquiry below)

The other company that started doing business as “The Blue Buddha Boutique” does sell through commentsold, so you may wish to reach out to them (I did contact them but have not received a response and since then it looks as though they’ve disabled contacting them via their website, but you may still be able to on Facebook) –

https://shopthebluebuddha.com/
https://www.facebook.com/BlueBuddhaBoutqiue/ 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/722029925310246/

After receiving dozens of messages from upset and confused people, I reached out to commentsold and received this reply from them:

I have tried to respond to all the individual emails and social media DMs I’ve received about this, and set up auto-responders to try to stay on top of things, but it’s been … a lot. If I somehow I didn’t reply to you directly, my apologies. Please know Blue Buddha Boutique is not a scam (even though the website is ancient right now! We’ve been around since 2003 and pride ourselves on top-notch customer service. Feel free to check out our many happy reviews on Etsy, and leave a comment below if I can answer any other questions for you about this spam email.