So I know I just posted an update in the last couple weeks already, but our new manufacturer sent me some gorgeous photos of how the Iris & Honey Eater trio turned out - and they were too pretty to keep them to myself!
I just can't believe how pretty these turned out and to see them actually look how I hoped they would from the beginning is just an incredible. And I thought you guys would love to see how they turned out as well :)
As this first batch gets closer to shipping out to me and I will start sending out whatever orders I have the designs for as fast as possible, I wanted to circle back to an update I had made many updates ago, in case anyone missed it - as I didn't want anyone to be surprised when they got their pins and charms.
As I mentioned previously, these will only be available in gold metal. Unfortunately, my original manufacturer had said we could do the various metal colors with no problem and then months later told me it would be a huge increase in price to do so, that was far above what the campaign even raised. And so I had to make the decision to keep them all gold metal instead.
Because this project is so far over budget already beyond what we raised, esp with having to start over with a new manufacturer, I couldn't do the variant metal colors. I hope you guys understand!
And in case any of you don't want the same designs you selected because of the metal being gold - please email me at [email protected] to switch up your order to what you are happy with. I don't want anyone to be unhappy with their choices, so please reach out to me if the gold metal changes what you want and I will do my best to help!
Ok that is everything for now - I hope you guys are as excited as I am with how this trio turned out! <3
Hey It's been about a month and a half since I updated you guys - so I thought I would just check in real quick and let you know things are moving ahead smoothly with no trouble :)
A little bit of a extra happy update - I was able to order not only the red Ibis and Poppy trio, but I also ordered the blue Honey Eater and Iris trio. So both of those trios are almost finished. The manufacturer sent me some pictures of how the plating turned out and it looks very beautiful. So we are almost done with 2 of the 8 trios and I'm hopeful we will pick up speed with the remaining sets.
Also - another happy update - this manufacturer was able to contract out to get matching tassels made for the cords, so we will be able to go back to the original style of matching cord and tassel that I wanted originally (instead of the alternate one I came up with once the previous manufacturer told me half way through that they couldn't provide the matching cord and tassel after all). So I am very happy to be able to tell you guys that that is going to be as originally planned. They found a company who was willing to custom make the tassels to match the cords. Though I have to buy 1,000 of each color, I think after all this, it is worth it to have something go right and be what we originally planned on. So they sent me photo of the newly made tassels with the matching cords and I am so happy to see that they turned out so well.
So not a huge update, but a happy one. They are finishing up the printing step and polishing step and then they should be on their way to me. And I am going to be getting these shipped as fast as humanly possible once they are in my hands :) and getting the next batch started. Thank you again everyone for your kindness and patience. It has really meant the world to me as I found my way back to the path on this project. <3 I don't know if I can properly express how much I really mean that. I feel so lucky to have had such kind backers and I am so grateful to be actually seeing these get made properly at long last, so I can send you the pretty shinnies. Thank you again, with all my heart. And I hope you guys enjoy this peek at the progress :)
Quick update - I got photos of the next two samples from the new manufacturer for the other two designs in the red trio - and they turned out gorgeous!
So I thought I would just update you guys real quick and let you see what I'm seeing :)
I'm amazed at how much of a nicer job this new company is doing with the printing and they are turning out exactly as I hoped when I started this project. Things are moving along slow but steady as they seem to be really taking their time on their end to have their designers refine and work on the print file before printing each sample, but it seems to really be worth it as they are turning out so good.
My plan is to just start ordering them in batches of three, so one trio will be being produced, while we refine the samples for the next set of three until we have all 8 trios finished.
And I plan to also start shipping any orders I can as soon as I get each design. So for example, anyone who only ordered designs from the red trio, I will get shipped asap as soon as they arrive and as more and more designs arrive, I will keep sending out whichever orders I can with each new wave of designs. And so hopefully by time we near completion of getting all the designs made, I will have already shipped a large portion of the orders and be able to finish shipping everything way faster than if I had several hundred orders to pack and ship all at the same time. I think this will be the most efficient way to get everyone their shinnies as fast as possible once I start getting them in hand.
But yeah - not a big update - but another hopeful and reassuring one :) These are finally coming to life!
The new manufacturer has just sent me photos of their first attempt at printing the UV layer ... and it came out gorgeous!!!
Once they got all the molds from the manufacturer, we decided to start by just tackling one design and see how it prints, so we chose the red dragon, since that was the one I had last been working on with the previous manufacturer. I went back to the original version I had first made, since it had changed so many times trying to get it to print right at the previous manufacturer, and I wanted to start clean before I started trying to correct for how their samples looked.
And the new manufacturer knocked it out of the park - it turned out exactly as I hoped it would when I first designed it!
The highlights are actually showing up, the darker colors aren't turning into giant black blobs, and it actually does give the dragon a sense of volume and form, as well as some pretty color transitions. I cannot tell you guys how relieved I was to see this sample in my inbox today - and I am so happy to have good news to share with you guys at long last.
I think the light on the horizon is actually real :) and these will finally get made at the quality I had hoped they would.
We are taking it slow at first, just to make sure we don't get lost in the weeds - so next, we are going to do the poppy and scarlet ibis, since the colors should all print very similar to this one. And then we will pick another set of three to work on. And hopefully, as we see more and more good results, we can pick up speed. But for now, I am just so happy to see these can actually be made and that I can send you guys the beautiful treasures I promised you.
Thank you so much for your patience as I was lost in the wasteland of manufacturing - but it seems we have found our way back to the path and things are looking good!
Hey - I wanted to share some pretty big news on this project. I have found a new manufacturer!
Thanks to another Pintopia creator, Aimee (thank you so, so much Aimee!) I have begun working with a new manufacturer to get these pins made. And honestly, it is so nice to feel hopeful and excited about this project again! They have gorgeous samples of UV printing, and are confident that they can achieve the right results and make these pins look how we hope they will. Communication with them seems great and so everything is a go.
They also are able to use the molds that they previous company made - which did actually turn out beautiful - so that is also good news. We aren't starting from scratch. So right now I am in the process of getting the old manufacturer to send the molds to them and once the new manufacturer has the molds in hand, we will begin working on getting the UV layers to print nicely at long last. I am very hopeful about everything and excited to think that this might actually get us to finished pins sooner rather than later instead of drag on indefinitely. (The old company still hasn't even giving me the new prices for the pins I tried to order and pay for in November and said this week they are still researching cheaper materials they could use before giving me a new higher quote - which just boggles my mind at this point.)
I truly thank you guys for your patience and sticking with me as I dealt with this 🖤 and it seemed like many of you also felt it was time to start over with a new manufacturer which did help me to finally let go of trying to make it work with the old manufacturer. I will keep you guys updated of course when they have the molds, and progress we make on getting these made once and for all.
Anyways, a big update - but a short one lol. Thank you again everyone and so excited to be moving again, even if it means starting over somewhere new. As always, love you guys 🖤 and fingers crossed I have a much better thread of updates for you in the next few months!
