Anniversary Present

In honor of my upcoming two year anniversary with Blue Buddha Boutique, Rebeca got me the coolest present, a chainmaille dreamcatcher that someone has already described as perfect because it is so me:



Thanks, Rebeca!

Vanessa Walilko

Unique Handcrafted Beaded Jewelry, Beaded Dragon Sculptures and Chainmaille

Changes to the website

I've made some cosmetic changes to the home page, mostly to offset links to the Gianessa Designs blog and the Gianessa Designs Etsy Shop to make them easier to find.

I've also linked the Gianessa Designs blog in the bottom navigation so that you can find out when Chicago chainmaille classes are happening whenever you feel like it.

Vanessa Walilko

Unique Beaded Jewelry, Dragon Sculpture and Chainmaille

Lill Street Gallery Chainmaille Earrings Workshop - May 11

Looking for something fun to do on Mother's Day? You can learn to make chainmaille earrings in this five-hour workshop at Lill Street Gallery. This introduction to chainmaille will turn you into a chainmaille-making expert. In this class, you'll make up to 10 pairs of earrings in a variety of weaves. You can see more about this class (and see samples of the earrings you'll make) at Blue Buddha Boutique.

You can register for this class either by calling Lill Street Gallery or registering on their website.

Vanessa Walilko

Unique, Handcraffted Beaded Jewelry, Chainmaille, and Beaded Dragon Sculpture

JC Herrell

I have a favorite lampworker. It's true. JC Herrell came to speak before the Bead Society of Greater Chicago tonight, and she was fantastic. Not only is she a talented lampworker, making THE coolest beads, but she is also an excellent speaker. Her discussion of trying to create "perFect" was pretty incredible.

And she's nice too. Due to a projector/computer issue, she had to use my laptop for her presentation and in thanks she let me pick out one of her beads for myself. I've posted a photo of that here:


After browsing her site and stumbling upon her stunning Orchid Rings, I totally fell in love with them. I'm a huge fan of large flower rings, so of course, now I'm trying to figure out how to save up money for one of hers...

Vanessa Walilko

Unique Beaded Jewelry, Dragon Sculpture and Chainmaille

Class Schedule - April

Here's a sampling of the chainmaille classes I'll be teaching in the Chicago area for the month of April. For a list of all the Blue Buddha Boutique classes, check this link: April Blue Buddha Boutique Classes

Caravan Beads Classes:
Mesh Bracelet - April 12
Byzantine - April 13

Blue Buddha Boutique Class
Bull's Eye Earrings - April 24

Briolette Beads Classes:
Beginning Maille, Intermediate Earrings - April 27

If you're interested in taking a class, check out my Classes page for store contact information.

Vanessa Walilko

Unique Beaded Jewelry, Dragon Sculpture, and Chainmaille

Jewelry Classes

Now that I'm teaching more, it seems only responsible to tell the world about it. As such, you'll find a new section in my Resources section: a Jewelry Classes page. There you'll find links to the stores and galleries where I currently teach.

Vanessa Walilko
Unique Beaded Jewelry, Dragon Sculpture and Chainmaille

Jewelry Spotlight - Dragons

Due to a Virgin Atlantic-caused nightmare, a trip to London and Salisbury that I had been planning for over a month was canceled a few weeks back. As such, I decided to get myself something to cheer me up. The result of this self-prescribed retail therapy is perhaps the coolest piece of jewelry in my collection, the World's Largest Dragon Ring by Joseph Dean.




It's quite a hefty ring as it's entirely cast out of sterling silver. It's weighted perfectly--and stands quite nicely as a sculpture when not worn.





Being a fan of dragons and dragon sculptures myself, I think this ring is incredible--the detail is amazing.

Speaking of dragons, I've added a new pair of earrings: Dragon's Teeth Earrings.

Vanessa Walilko

Unique Beaded Jewelry, Dragon Sculpture and Chainmaille