Friday Finds - Raffle Sponsor Spotlight Part IV

This is the final Friday Finds to feature the amazing sponsors for my handmade raffle benefiting the 3 Day. Because of these wonderful artists, ALL proceeds from the raffle will go directly towards my fundraising for the 3 Day to help fight breast cancer. Please check out these amazing Etsy sellers and, of course, the raffle where you can win some of their work! The raffle is super easy: check out the amazing goods, buy tickets (aka: donate to my fundraising), and then comment on my blog to let me know. That's it! Enjoy! Let's make this final week of this fundraiser a good one!

Make sure you read through until the end for a special offer!

Not only has whskr made a beautiful piece to contribute, but she also made an impressive commitment to help spread the word about the 3 Day and this raffle. In addition to making this beautiful Art Doll Brooch, Marjorie is a doll.

Crazy4Cards has donated these adorable and very appropriate bra cards. Whoever wins her donation, will open the package to find not just the cards but also some earrings and some other goodies. I think she had some fun putting together her package!

When cascreates offered to donate a piece for this raffle, Chris very generously offered for me to pick any item from the shop. This necklace and earring set glimmer and glitter like pure gold and the beadwork is beautiful!

Amber Moran has offered a very special piece as her contribution. She will create a custom portrait of up to two people and/or animal. Talk about an amazing way of honoring a loved one.

Don't forget to visit the 3 Day Raffle for your chance to win one of these or many other amazing handmade items!
It's super easy: check out the amazing goods, buys tickets (which really means donate to my fundraising for the 3 Day), and comment on my blog to let me know. That's it!

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As I mentioned, this is the last week of the handmade raffle fundraiser. I'd like to make this last week count, so I'm going to make a special offer to everyone who participates this week. You don't even have to be one of the lucky prize winners. Everyone who purchases tickets (aka: makes a donation) for this raffle will receive a free Euro 4-1 chain maille bracelet from Athena's Armoury.

All you have to do is:
-Make a donation of any amount (the minimum that the 3 Day website will accept is $5) to my 3 Day fundraising.
-Make a comment on the raffle blog post (with you name, e-mail addy, & number of tickets or dollar amount) so that I can correctly cross reference.

There are $600 worth of amazing products to be won. So far, this raffle has raised $125 to go towards breast cancer research and breast health programs. Will you help me raise at least another $75 (to get up to a nice even $200) to go towards the fight against breast cancer?

Thank you so much for your support!!

The Pink Warrior Chain Maille Collection

About a month ago I had made a very special announcement about my fundraising for the 3 Day: the insanely talented mailler Rebeca Mojica of Blue Buddha Boutique agreed to provide me with literally thousands of pink jump rings. This was an amazing sponsorship for me because I've admired Rebeca and her work for a very long time so I'm thrilled to be able to work with her, but also because her generosity will allow me to donate ALL proceeds from the sale of items in the Pink Warrior Chain Maille Collection to Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure!

This year, the 3 Day is using the song Pink Warrior by Candy Coburn as their theme song. The warrior woman in me was inspired to combine my passion to find a cure with my love of chain maille (the armor of warriors past). My goal with Athena's Armoury is to equip your inner warrior with chain maille to bring out your strength and confidence. Whether you are undergoing chemo, have won the battle, are supporting a loved one, know someone who has lost the fight, or are standing up to have your voice heard... you have the heart of a warrior.


I'm thrilled to share with you the beginnings of the collection. There will be a few pieces in the collection that will be remade after they sell, but there will also be many one of a kind items that once they sell they are gone. It's important to me to include these unique items as a reminder that every situation and every person dealing with breast cancer is unique and have their own battle to face. There are many more pieces coming in the future; including more jewelry and accessories, but also housewares like candle holders and dream catchers.


All items are available in both Athena's Armoury on Etsy as well as Artfire.


And if you haven't checked it out yet, don't miss my handmade raffle benefiting the 3 Day! All you have to do is check out all of the amazing goodies that have been donated, buy tickets (aka: make a donation), and then let me know about it. Easy peasy.

Special 3 Day Announcement!

I have just been bursting at the seams to tell you about a special fundraising opportunity that has so beautifully fallen into place! The majority of my blog followers have been around since before I registered for the 3 Day but for those of you fairly new around here: I am the maillesmith of Athena's Armoury. I create chain maille which was originally invented to be used as armor (picture King Arthur) by knights and warriors. It's only in recent years that the art of chain maille has been adapted to be used as protective clothing, sculpture, jewelry, and many other practical and beautiful purposes. I mainly focus on jewelry, but have also been known to dabble in armor, housewares, bags, and pet accessories.

One particular femailler and business owner that I've admired through the past few years that I've been making chain maille is the insanely talented Rebeca Mojica of Blue Buddha Boutique. Rebeca launched Blue Buddha Boutique out of her spare bedroom in 2003; today B3 has grown to a staff of six full and part time employees, with interns and guest contributors. Her designs include the stunning Poseidon's Embrace (left, on Rebeca) and her signature Quantum Rose. Her projects have been featured in Chain Mail Jewelry, an instructional book by Lark Publishing and Step by Step Wire Jewelry magazine. Her work has appeared on CLTV and in The Chicago Tribune and The New York Times. She's also in the process of writing her own chain maille instructional book.

Not just a talented artist, Rebeca is also an amazing business woman. She is responsible for updating the website, developing new kits and instructions, writing the newsletter, bookkeeping, managing employees, researching vendors, and anything else that may come up! Rebeca is definitely one strong warrior woman.

Blue Buddha Boutique prides themselves on their meticulous attention to detail, unparalleled customer support, and a passion for what they do. B3 offers finished pieces of chain maille as well as classes, and the supplies you need once you get hooked from their classes.

The Blue Buddha Boutique is committed to making the world a better place, and has supported many organizations in the past including:

• Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum
• AIDS/Lifecycle
• Airsources (proceeds benefit Pulmonary Fibrosis research)
Albany Park Chamber of Commerce

• Anti-Cruelty Society
• Chiaravalle Montessori School
• Chicago Tap Theatre
• Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis
• Gan Shalom Early Childhood Education Center
• Lillstreet Art Center
• Parker For Adults: Day and Evening Courses
• pulmonary fibrosis foundation
• SHAC 7

And now, I'm thrilled to announce that Rebeca has agreed to sponsor my fundraising efforts for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure!! The 3 Day is using the song Pink Warrior by Candy Coburn as their theme song (or maybe rally song! or fight song!) this year. My warrior woman roots inspired me to combine my love of the defensive art of chain maille in the fight against breast cancer.

The Pink Warrior Chain Maille Collection will be created using pink anodized aluminum jump rings donated from Blue Buddha Boutique!

Rebeca's generosity will allow ALL PROCEEDS from the sale of items from the Pink Warrior Collection to go straight to my fund raising efforts. I hope to have some items in the shop starting next week but will be sure to announce when they are available.

Be sure to check out Blue Buddha Boutique and support this amazing woman and her business.