🎉 Welcome to Pintopia — a celebration of creativity and collaboration from a diverse group of artists collectively running enamel pin crowdfunding projects from March 28th -April 18th.
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⚔️ 2 FREE Cross Collaborative Pins if you back both pins from a cross collab project pair
💯 1 FREE Full-Color Pintopia 2024 Pin once ALL projects are 100% funded
🏆 1 FREE Gold Pintopia 2024 Pin if you back 5 projects or more
*Only pledges to physical reward tiers qualify towards earning these FREE pins. See full details here.
Join the fun - Back Pintopia 2024 projects to qualify for
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WHEW critters!! It has been one crazy month so far, and first I want to thank you all again for your patience and bearing with me while I juggle a dozen different tasks.
I was hoping to start the survey smoke test tonight and send out the remainder tomorrow, but it looks like something is bugged on my end because I can't submit the survey for review 🙃 That's a bummer and slows us down a bit, but I've already reached out to support and I'm confident they'll have it sorted by tomorrow.
On a lighter note, the BackerKit team built a new function and we get to be the first to test it out! If you selected one of the pin bundles as an add-on, the prompt you encounter to select your pins will be all-new and super streamlined. We've already tested it pretty extensively and it seems to be working as intended, but I'll be hypervigilant and on the lookout for any issues once surveys are live.
So the TL;DR of this update is-- surveys are delayed due to a bugged submit button, but should be fixed tomorrow and then sent out shortly after that.
And if you made it this far, I have a little treat for you! Another round of plush updates has arrived! These four are remarkably close to finished already.
Sakura Wolpertinger needs a few more adjustments to their flowers. We've talked about using a different material altogether so I'm optimistic the next iteration will look less like a cheap cutout.
Twinkle Star Bat will have lighter embroidery on their nose because the contrast is too stark right now.
Not pictured here, but Thornheart Wolpertinger is also being adjusted slightly. The yellow on their horns and paws will be more pale, and the main body blue lightened just a bit.
Other than that the first batch is done and I look forward to Dragon Fruit and Rosy Maple next!
This is a reminder that the first lockdown will be today. At around 9pm EST surveys will be locked down and charged for your shipping and add-ons. If you aren't ready to submit your survey to be lock downed, complete your survey and then exit out before finishing the confirmation page.
The second lockdown will take place on May 17th,
Booktrovert Pin
I just recently created this pin design and added it within the add-ons section. Since surveys won't be locked down until tonight, you can still add this pin to your order if you want it. If you want this pin, sign into BackerKit, open your survey and navigate to the add-ons section. If you are seeing this update after the first lockdown, but still want this pin, please email me at [email protected] and we can add it to your order.
I just want to give you a quick update on the freebie sketching kitty pin that hasn't been showing up on backers' pledges. Here I am specifically referring to those backers who backed for three or more Kitties of Whiskewood pins during the campaign using either the one pin tier or the sticker pack tier. I have just finished adding the freebie sketching kitty pin to all those pledges! Please let me know if you are still not seeing it in your pledge, or if there are any other problems.
First off, about 90 people still need to complete the survey - if you are one of these people, please complete it! There are a few which have been mostly filled out but are missing an address or payment method.
PRODUCTION:
Pins and Stickers have all been paid for and are now in production! I will provide updates as I receive them, but this part will be a bit of a lull as they manufacture thousands of pins.
TIMELINE:
We are completely on schedule, and mostly ahead of schedule! I will LOCK the surveys on Friday, May 24th- meaning you can no longer go in and make updates to your items in two weeks. I will send out a 48hr-reminder before this happens!
I will then CHARGE CARDS on Friday, June 7th. This is the charge for shipping costs and any add-ons. This provides me the funds for purchasing packaging material and any additional items to fulfill orders. There will also be a 48 hr reminder before this occurs in case you need to switch your card or make an update!
Addresses will not be locked until ~1 week prior to shipping. This will be some time during August/September. when pins ship to me I will do another update and let you know. You will receive an email prior to shipping which gives a warning that the address will lock soon and allows you to edit your mailing address if needed.
Apologies for the delay but smoke test surveys have just been sent! Haven't received your survey yet? No worries, just check back in 24 hours! The smoke tests are just a small first wave to make sure the survey is working before it is released to everyone.
For sake of transparency, I was advised to wait a little bit to make sure all of the data from the campaign imported correctly. The timing was a little weird though because I had a convention when everything got imported and then I got pneumonia when I got home. Oops! But all's well that ends well.
When doing the survey, you should notice that: 1. If you backed both my and my partners' campaigns, the cross collab tea cup will already be in your cart. 2. If you're a returning backer, you will be prompted to choose your bonus set - don't add it on the add-on store unless you want an extra set!
For the cross collab pins, the other collab pin promised to you will be fulfilled by my partner so you will receive one through me and another through my partners.
ALSO!!! I have some fun extra add ons!
This ginger cat enamel pin is available in the add-on shop! It was inspired by some of the stories you all told me about how you enjoy your tea! (and also people have been begging me to add a ginger cat to my arsenal!) - $20 USD - 2" with 2 backing posts - Gold plating - Hard Enamel - 6 colours and screenprinting
Also available for pre order is SWORDS!
This was going to be my pintopia campaign but I just couldn't come up with the designs in time. Each pin is $20 and we only need 10 pins of each set (animated set and JRPG set) to be pledged to unlock them! Make sure to check them out in the add-on shop to see the exact specs of each pin!
ONE MORE THING! Shiba Inu Recolour [Mona's Version] Returning backers will recognize this as the Shiba Inu tea set - a set available for the original Elemental Tea Time campaign on Kickstarter - but now it's recoloured to match my darling Shiba Mona! As with the other new pre order pins, we only need to have 10 pins (cup or pot or set - doesn't matter!) pledged for this to unlock! We already have my husky as a tea set - let's get my Shiba made into one too!
I hope you like these extra goodies! I'm personally very excited about the swords, they were SO MUCH FUN to design and the final artwork for them turned out so well!
Alright, time for the technical stuff... It's survey time, so it's also technical manufacturing, charging, shipping, and fulfilling time.
How's Manufacturing Going? Very good! I'm ready to pull the trigger on every pin here at a moment's notice. I will make the official order when I receive 75% of the surveys back. All artwork is finalized and ready to produce (even the new add-ons).
What About Timing? From the last pin campaign I did, it took my manufacturer about a month and a half to make about 10,200 pins with minimal issues. We're definitely not making that much this time but I'd still expect that timeframe as a minimum. We're trying new techniques I haven't done yet in pins, and while my manufacturer is very experienced in all these techniques I don't personally have experience with ordering them, so I can't say for sure if it will take less time or not. Either way, I will keep you all updated on any delays that might come up.
Icky Sticky Terms And Stuff Yeah I hate this part too. I've mentioned these before on the campaign page, but here are some important terms and conditions concerning the surveys, payments, and such.
When Will Orders Be Locked and Cards Charged? Surveys that are completed will be locked every Friday until the final lock date: May 31st. Cards for these surveys will also be charged at the same time. (And yes, this Friday counts! So if you're on the fence about a pin choice, go ahead and wait a couple days!) I will lock orders around 11:59 MDT to give folks the whole day to ponder their choices. I am based in the US so for some of you orders will lock on Saturdays. Yay time zones!
You have until May 18th to request a refund if you absolutely need one. I will not offer refunds after that.
You have until May 31st to finish your surveys, otherwise your rewards will be forfeit. There's a lot of you here and I want to make sure you all get your pins asap, so please be considerate to your fellow backers and complete your survey at your earliest convenience! I will not order the pins until 75% of surveys are completed.
I have enabled BackerKit Support for surveys so if you run into any issues you can contact me via support. I definitely want this experience to be as easy as possible and am here to help!
If I order a pin from the new pre-order pins and it doesn't unlock, will I still be charged for it? Nope! If any set or pin fails to unlock, that's it! You will only be charged for any unlocked pins you add on.
What am I paying for in the survey? Just shipping, unless you add any add-ons! Shipping estimates were outlined in the campaign story page so check that out if you want to know what to expect.
Thank you so much for everyone who already submitted or have attempted to fill out the backer's survey. Many of you might have experienced issues with selecting the kitty pins they want last Saturday, a few hours after I sent out the surveys to everyone. The issue was due to an error on my end, where the maximum number of pins available for each designs were set at 20 pieces max. When the maximum has reached after many of you have submitted your surveys, the system made all the pins unavailable as it thought the pins were out of stock! Thank you so much for everyone who have reached out and let me know that there was an issue, thus I was able to have it fixed as soon as I can. I have now set the maximum quantity of the Kitties of Whiskewood pins to infinite, so there shouldn't be anymore problem with selecting any of those designs you want. I am really sorry for the inconvenience this has caused, and thank you so much for all your patience while I tried to figure out what went wrong. If you have attempted to filled out the survey last Saturday and decided to put it aside due to this error, you can now go back in and finish your survey~
Next, a few of you have reached out asking about the freebie sketching kitty pin as it was not showing on your pledge. Just to clarify, the freebie sketching pin is only available for all the backers who have pledged for three or more pins during the campaign. This means that if you added-on more Kitties of Whiskerwood pins in the pledge manager after the campaign ended, you will not get the sketching kitty pin as a freebie. As for the sketching kitty pin not showing on your pledge, I am working with backerkit to see how I can have this resolved. Backerkit's support team is very helpful, and they told me there is a way that I can do that on my end. So no worries about having to manually add it on yourself. I will send out another update about this once I have it figured out. Thank you so much for all your patience!
Lastly, I got a request to make the individual stickers of the Kitties of Whiskerwood available in the pledge manager. I went ahead and made it available, so if that is something you are interested in, you can now go and get them! Just a quick note, when I am about to place an order with my manufacturer (sometime by the middle to end of May), I will be removing all the Kitties of Whiskerwood pins and stickers from the pledge manager, as I need to make sure I order enough items for everyone. So, if you haven't filled out your survey yet, please do so as soon as possible so that you can grab those add-ons if needed, and your prompt response is also highly appreciated as it will help me determine how many items I need to order.
Sorry for the long update, but that should cover everything! Thank you so much for your attention. Please feel free to reach out if you have any other questions or concerns. Have a wonderful day~
Hey everyone! Surveys are out! I'm so excited to get this going, I've already got the molds in progess as of yesterday. I already can't wait to get these in hand and out to all of you! I want to see my new shineys in my hands so I know you do too. I hope everyone has been keeping well and had a great weekend.
HI all! Hope you have been well! I've been very busy prepping production for all these goodies! I just wanted to post a couple of reminders!
I have about 90% completion rate for surveys, which is awesome! Thanks so much for getting your surveys in quickly and promptly. This has allowed me to get a snapshot of counts easily and ensure I can go into production as soon as possible.
For the rest of you who haven't completed your survey, make sure to do it ASAP! This will ensure you get all the products that you want without having to wait extra time if I need to order additional products to fulfil counts. If you're having issues finding your survey, please let me know and I can help!
For those who have completed your survey, they will lock on May 11th. This means that you won't be able to make changes to the items in your order because items will be in production. You will not be charged on May 11th. Card charges will be run when I receive all the products. You will still be able to make any updates to your address in the meantime. When I receive the products I'll unlock surveys for a period of time to allow you to make any last minute changes.
Lastly, I had to manually mark orders that had the early bird freebie Spotted Lanternfly pin. As such, there might've been some error on my part. I believe I was able to correct any issues, but if you notice that you should receive your freebie pin and don't have it, please let me know! I'm happy to help.
As before, feel free to contact me at [email protected] or my Etsy storefront at VileWorm to let me help you with any questions or concerns!
