Blue Buddha Boutique

Last week I had to take a quick business trip to Chicago, and when you are in Chicago you get pizza right? No you visit Rebeca Mojica founder of Blue Buddha Boutique and then get pizza, or Ethiopian Food whatever is closest. Anyway my first trip to the windy city was highlighted by a quick hour or so meeting with Rebeca, so I figured I would spew my dirt on the REAL Rebeca.

First I got the quick tour of the workings of Blue Buddha, past the quality control, to the shelves and shelves and shelves full of rings, to the guy who electrocutes the Niobium, to more rings, to the guy eating in the break room, to half dozen people sitting in front of computers with rings in little bins getting processed (wonder how many tiny rings end up in keyboards?), past the teaching room, through the front show room full of shiny stuff. Then it was decision time, where to eat, trust me, as I get older food seems to be a very important part of life! My wife can tell you, I’m not scared of eating anything at least once, so it was off to Ethiopian food a local favorite of Rebeca’s. You can tell she has been there before when the waitress knew what she wanted.

So you think the owner of a not so little chainmaille business drives a hot car right? Nope, bicycle, she wasn’t even sure her drivers license was even valid any more. Probably has a big TV right? Nope, Rebeca has a little boycott on TV’s, as a matter of fact, she has a little gizmo that she uses to turn off TV’s in public places, but that is our little secret. There is one fetish though, that I’m sure she will not want me to reveal, Rebeca loves MEGA-maille! I think she started with Megamaille as a small child and finally decided to come out in the open, I mean how long can you hide a secret like this?

Along with megamaille, Rebeca is an accomplished writer, with her book Chained, which is one of the more complete chainmaille books I’ve seen. So the real scoop that I’m sure Rebeca is trying to keep quiet, is that I hear there is another book on the horizon. But that is very quiet, to be kept just between you and me.

So in summery, there is one thing that you couldn’t miss about Rebeca and that was determination. You could  tell that she has a clear vision for her business, and the future of the art of chainmaille. I think we could all learn a bit from the TV boycott, although she did say that she will watch a few shows on the internet LOL, the point is are you living. I know I feel like I’m constantly working, which I am, however I have personally been trying to keep an eye on myself and make sure I’m living a bit in the meantime.

Tags: blue buddha, chainmaille, chainmaille books, Handmade, Handmade Artists, handmade chainmaille kits, megamaille

Posted in Handmade, Handmade Holiday