Happy Pride Month! 🌈 We’re proud to support and celebrate our LGBTQIA+ creator community and BackerKats. We’re highlighting some amazing queer-led projects that launched or are launching here on BackerKit!
Join the fun - Back 🌈 Pride 2024 projects to qualify for
free rewards!
Hello Pride Angels backers and followers, about five days from now is the launch of my new campaign Blood & Holy Water. This campaign is launching on Halloween and will feature vampire and angel enamel pins. I was inspired by how much shared imagery there is between vampires and angels and wanted to capture that in a pin series.
Blood & Holy Water is part of the Mementos Mori collection, which features six pin campaigns with spooky, Halloween themes. There's a ton of freebies to be had!
Mementos Mori pin set: pledge to all six Mementos Mori campaigns to get a mini pin from each campaign.
Each campaign may offer additional freebies on top of these collaborative rewards, including stickers and more!
You can go to each campaign's pre-launch page by clicking on the images below.
I wanted to give you all assurance that I am committed to fulfilling Pride Angels first and foremost. Usually I like to completely wrap up one campaign before launching another but the Mementos Mori collaboration ended up being scheduled for Halloween so there is a little overlap. I anticipate Pride Angels to overlap only with the funding stage of Blood & Holy Water (which is ending November 14), so it should not conflict with fulfillment.
If the Blood & Holy Water campaign sounds interesting to you I hope you'll consider pledging! But I completely understand if you prefer to wait for this campaign's pins first before pledging. If you miss the Blood & Holy Water campaign, just like in Pride Angels there will be a post-campaign preorder store, where I am planning to fund some old pin designs in new colors and the Pride Angels pins that didn't get funding in this campaign.
If you have any questions or concerns you can leave them in the comments. I'll be back with another update once the pins are ready to ship. I'm about a third of the way through pin grading so I hope to start shipping pins out in early November.
Hello backers, I have another update for you all: the pins have arrived and I am in the process of grading them. And, I have pin photos at the end of this update!
There are a lot of pins so it may take me a bit to get through all of them. You can find my pin grading policy in my About Page/FAQ, I have also copied the current version below if you have trouble accessing that link.
Standard grade pins may have one or two tiny imperfections. These would be considered A grade. My general rule is, if a pin can be held at half-arm’s length and I cannot see the flaw, it is considered small enough for standard grade. Pins are handmade products so please do not expect a flawless item.
Seconds grade pins have more noticeable flaws, including but not limited to: smudges, specks or bubbles in the enamel, under-filled or over-filled enamel, chips or dents in metal and metal-plating, heavy tarnish, missing or mis-colored enamel, loose pin posts, fused metal, missing metal, missing varnish, uneven linework, bends, and/or scratches. Moving pins that are tough to move are considered seconds grade: for example, a spinning pin with a spinner component that does not spin freely. Seconds pins may not come with backing cards. These pins would be considered B/C grade.
I do not sell or guarantee collector’s grade (S grade) pins! Do not purchase from me if you would not be satisfied with an A grade pin.
My stockists may sell mixed grade pins for certain listings: a mix of standard and seconds grade, so A/B/C grade. Or they may sell only seconds grade pins. Please read the listing descriptions carefully.
Rainbow anodized plating is unique for every pin - no two are alike with differing metal colors. The plating may appear different than the example images shown in the listing.
Anodized and chrome plating is unique for every pin. Texture and variation in plating should be expected. The plating may appear slightly different than the example images shown in the listing, for example it may be slightly lighter or darker. White or pale enamel on this plating may be tinted, this will not be considered a flaw.
Soft enamel with epoxy pins may have minor blemishes, bubbles, or specks in the epoxy. Small areas may not have epoxy. The surface may have variation, texture, or bumps, unlike hard enamel. There may be bits of glitter in non-glitter portions of the pin. Transparent enamel may also have these traits. Since these are unavoidable they will not be considered flaws for the purposes of grading. Epoxy overflow will not be considered a flaw as well since this is also unavoidable in some cases.
Certain plating is prone to tarnish, especially copper, silver, and rose gold plating. I will try my best to sort heavily-tarnished pins as seconds grade, but please note some tarnish may be unavoidable or develop over time if the pin is exposed to moisture and in these cases will be considered standard grade. This tarnish can be removed by gentle polishing with a jewelry cloth.
Pin Photos
And now without further ado, here are photos of the pins!
That's all for this update, as always leave me a comment if you have any questions.
I just wanted to share a quick update. I got my advance copies of Physical Magic yesterday and they look fantastic! I was able to work with a local author and artist, Audrey Logsdon, to upgrade the title and lettering a bit to give it a nice pop.
The front and back of Physical Magic!
The formatting for Foxfire in the Snow is almost complete, and as soon as it is, I'm going to put in an order for that one as well. Oceans of Fireflies will be ready soon after that, and all three books will be coming to you before the end of the year. For those who got the subscription. All the newly released books will be coming to you once I get Oceans, so be on the lookout...
I've also been busy putting the RPGs together, which was a new experience! I've been working in Affinity Publisher, which gives me a lot more formatting leeway, especially with graphics. Here are a couple page layouts for the Dissolutionverse and the Creatures of Ruin RPGs. Both of these manuals will be releasing very soon!
The Dissolutionverse RPG manual depicting vehicle types
The Creatures of Ruin manual depicting pinchdragons and the Northeast faction
Whew! That's five books releasing before the end of the year, and we'll be back in January with the release of Tavern Tale.
I'll have another update as soon as I'm shipping new books out!
Just dropping in with a shipping update. I currently have about 25% of the pins in my possession, I'm waiting for the other 75%. I'm expecting to receive those pins for in the next 2 weeks. We are still on track to start shipping in November, but possibly mid-late November. One of the pin designs was also made incorrectly so I am waiting for them to fix that error and make them again.
I've gone ahead and locked addresses, so from this point on, if you need to update your shipping address, please email [email protected].
Below are some photos of the pins I currently have.
Update: Heavenly Embassy Ita Backpacks (Wave 2) – Production Progress! 🎒✨
Hey, Heavenly Embassy backers!
I wanted to drop by with some exciting updates on Wave 2 of the Ita Backpacks! 🙌 The samples are almost done, and we’re getting ready to dive into full-scale production soon. There have been some delays (because, of course, production loves to throw us curveballs!), but things are definitely moving forward!
Here’s a quick rundown of what’s been going on: - Sample Status: We’ve been fine-tuning the final design, and I’m happy to say it’s looking fantastic. The adjustments have really brought out the vision we had for these bags, and I think you’re going to love them! - Bulk Production Timeline: Once the samples get the final thumbs-up, we’ll kick off mass production. I’m aiming to have everything on track so we can start shipping by **March 2025**. 🗓️
I know these bags are something you’ve all been excited about, and I truly appreciate your patience. The quality is worth the wait, and I’m confident you’ll be thrilled with the end product.
Keep an eye on your inbox for more updates soon, and if you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to reach out!
Hello backers, I got news from the manufacturer that the pins are ready to ship to me! It should take 2-3 weeks for the pins to reach me once they ship, assuming there's no shipping delays. After that it'll be another 1-2 weeks while I grade the pins. Once I have the pins graded, I will send an update with all the pin photos.
Pin grading entails sorting the pins as standard (one or two minor flaws) or seconds (more noticeable flaws). All campaign backers will receive standard grade pins; except for pins marked as mixed grade. You can find my pin grading policy in my About Page/FAQ. If there are serious issues with any of the batches I will let you all know.
Survey Reminders
While you're waiting, now is a great time to review your survey to make sure your address is correct. If you lost your survey, you can recover it here.
If you still need to resolve an errored payment or fill out your survey, you should do that now. Once the rewards ship, any backers who have not paid or filled out their survey may not receive rewards.
This is also a final reminder to request a refund if you made duplicate orders, duplicate addons, or have excess credit in your Backerkit account - please read this update for more information. You can check if you have excess credit by navigating to the end of your survey where you can review your order, it will be labeled as "Credit Remaining." Here is an example:
Reprinted Demisexual Angel Keychain
One more thing: I got the reprinted Demisexual Angel keychains! Here are photos.
Thank you all very much for your patience, and I hope you all love your pins once you receive them. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments.
I’m happy to report that the first batch of rewards has just arrived at my studio!
The samples of the pins arrived and I'm so, so pleased with how they turned out! I need to make adjustments to some of the colors (particularly those yellows in the big Intertidal Triptych pins!) but the details and quality are perfect! It's also more vibrant gold plating than on my previous pins, and I really love how it looks with these bright colors.
I also got the washi tape in and they look even better than I was hoping for. I’m always nervous about trying out a new product line, so I'm delighted that they turned out so nice and I'm looking forward to making more washi tapes.
I'm taking a brief, much-needed break next week to visit Santa Fe with my wife and my parents, and as soon as I get back I'm going to be sending the color changes to my pin manufacturer and placing orders for stickers, backing cards, shipping supplies. It will probably take 2-4 weeks for everything to arrive to me, so with any luck I'll be starting fulfillment before the winter holidays.
And in case you missed it, my current campaign, Coping Cats is fully funded and a bunch of stretch goals have been unlocked. As always there are extra rewards for returning backers!
Hello backers and followers, the stickers have arrived. Below you can find photos of them. I have also posted videos on Instagram, TikTok, and Tumblrshowing them in action.
There are fifty backers who ordered only stickers and/or keychains. If you are one of these backers, I will be shipping out your order ahead of schedule so you don't have to wait around for the pins to arrive. Please look out for an email to finalize your shipping address.
Freebie Postcard
One more thing: I finished the artwork for the freebie postcard, here it is! I wanted the artwork to be a little vague so you might imagine this angel pair as friends, lovers, or anything you like.
If you are worried about either the backing cards or the postcard being too obvious and would prefer them omitted from your package, please contact Backerkit supportrequesting these be removed. They will forward your message to me and I will make a note to do so when packaging your order.
That's all for this update. Have a wonderful rest of your day!
I had intended to get this update out much sooner, but the week (like nearly every preceding one) got away from me and now it's somehow Sunday again-- thank you so much to everyone who has finished theirs so far! I'll be starting the process of locking them down soon, to try and get this timeline somewhat back on track and actually get manufacturing rolling once counts are finalized. Hopefully throughout the coming week I'll be getting a more detailed update out for this and prior projects, life has been more than a bit hectic as of late.
![Heavenly Embassy - Ita Backpacks ! [WAVE 2]](https://bk-prod.imgix.net/active_storage/backerkit_production/blob/d8smdwjjawtl4kawd1ip7d65d138?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&auto=compress%2Cformat&cs=srgb&lossless=true&w=300)
