Hey everyone!

First of all, I am deeply sorry for the delay in this update. I’ll explain everything in a moment, but I wanted to start by sharing some of the work.

Before anything else, I want to reassure you: you WILL receive your rewards, and nothing catastrophic has happened with production.

Shortly before the shipping timeline I shared in the last update, I ordered one of the plushies to myself to double-check the quality. When it arrived, I noticed that the popsicle part had very little stuffing, making it quite wobbly.

I’m not entirely sure why this happened, but it turns out that about half of the plushies had this issue. I asked my warehouse to return the affected units to the manufacturer, and they are currently being fixed. Unfortunately, this process has taken several weeks longer than originally promised.

 

There was also an issue with one of the pin designs. While the color defects were corrected, the manufacturer mistakenly listed the size as 0.75" instead of 1.75" in the final order. I was only notified of this issue after my warehouse sent pictures of everything.

I approved the order without catching this error, so this one is partially on me. As a result, I now have 50 mini pins at 0.75".

To make up for the delay, I’ll be including these mini pins as a free bonus gift. Around 85% of backers will receive one, since there are only 50 available.

For those who don’t receive a mini pin, I’ll include a sticker sheet (or an extra one) instead. I haven’t decided exactly how I’ll distribute them yet---likely randomly---but if you’d really like a mini pin, please comment below!

 
 

I did order a new batch though, and they were made on the correct size. It's upsetting to have to spend extra but it was my responsability to fix it.

Now, about my absence.

Over the past year, I’ve been dealing with ongoing health issues that had me in and out of the hospital. This ended up affecting every area of my life in a kind of domino effect.

When I launched the Frozen Felines campaign, I had just moved to a new country on my own, without any safety net. It was a risk I took because I genuinely wanted to build a life around my art.

At the same time, I was struggling financially, dealing with bureaucratic hurdles to access healthcare, and trying to cover basic living costs. I took on a lot of freelance work and gigs just to stay afloat.

Frozen Felines was always important to me, but the constant stress made it incredibly difficult to manage everything at once. I was handling production issues, delays, and defects while also trying to survive financially.

Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have launched a campaign during such an unstable period in my life. I didn’t expect things to become this difficult for such a long time.

Every time I tried to sit down and write an update, something else in my life went wrong, and I ended up feeling completely overwhelmed and stuck.

That said, I know none of this is your responsibility. I’m not sharing this as an excuse, just as an explanation for the lack of communication.

What matters most is that I am committed to delivering everything. I’m still here, still working as an artist, and still putting care into making sure your rewards are something you’ll genuinely love.

Yes, the delay has been long (around 6 months), and I know that’s frustrating. But part of that time has gone into making sure the final products meet the quality you deserve.

I’ll post another update as soon as everything is settled at the warehouse and we’re ready to move forward with shipping. I’ll also confirm how shipping payments will be handled---possibly externally via PayPal, but I’ll make sure it’s straightforward.

Thank you so much for your support and your incredible patience. And again, I’m truly sorry for how my personal challenges affected this project.

It means a lot that you’re still here.

With love, 
Julia

Hey everyone!! 💖🐱

 I’m so happy to finally share an update with you. I’ll keep things brief and won’t go into too much detail about my health.

Over the past weeks, I’ve been in and out of the hospital a bit more than expected - but the good news is that my condition has been feeling more and more stable, I promise! 

At the same time, I’ve been dealing with a few minor defects in some of the pins. Since this is my first time manufacturing enamel pins, I honestly didn’t expect any issues, but there were small things like a few missing colors on some pieces. As a perfectionist, I really don’t want to take any risks - especially since I also plan to offer a small number of the remaining pins in my shop. Right now, I’m waiting for around 30 pins to be fixed so everything meets the quality you deserve.

As for the plushies🐾, I requested a few design adjustments - for example, making the popsicle stick sturdier so it can actually be held properly. Since I’m only producing enough plushies for the supporters of this project, it’s very important to me that each one comes out as perfect as possible. If something isn’t quite right, I really want to fix it before moving forward.

The main reason shipping might take up to one additional month is the upcoming Chinese New Year. I know this means a longer wait than the original timeline, and I’m truly sorry that shipping may extend beyond the initial deadline (pointed in the campaign page) by more than 3 months. Please know that I’m doing my absolute best to navigate these unforeseen circumstances, especially regarding my health.

Thank you so much for your patience, understanding, and kindness 💕 I’m continuing to work hard behind the scenes and will share another update in a few weeks.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping me bring these little kitties to life!!

All the best,
Julia 

Hey guys!! I want to start off by thank you all so much for your patience. For many months now, I have been battling a lot with my health and a few weeks ago I came back from Brazil (I actually wanted to finish treatment there!) and was able dive back into my projects.

I'm happy to announce that manufacturing of the pins have started a few days ago and it shouldn't take much longer than 2 months for everything to be shipped out, since the bulk order is actually not that big! And working with a fast fulfillment center, shipping only takes approx. 2 weeks :) I'm going to do my very best when it comes to quality control but my manufacturer really is amazing, they make such high quality hard enamel pins!

The plushies will also be pretty fast, I am just doing some minor adjustements in the final design (such as making the stick of the popsicle "harder" so that people can hold it by the stick)! And then we're good to go. I was able to negotiate a little more in their pricing, I'll order some more than I intended so that the price per unit is not as expensive and I can put the rest in my Etsy shop!

I will soon share more and things will move faster now, I promise! Despite having such a difficult year, I really am still really excited to see the frozen kitties come to life :D And I can't wait for you to have them. 

I must of course apologize for the lack of updates in the past 2 months. As you know, I had been dealing with persistent infections that didn’t respond well to regular antibiotics, and despite my best efforts to keep going through freelancing and running my projects at the time, my condition worsened to the point that I developed anemia from months of ongoing exhaustion from the situation.

After getting IV antibiotics and iron infusions to address both the infections and my anemia (along with careful monitoring for potential long-term complications) I finally got to a place where my body felt like my body again and I could go back where I left my artistic projects.

So, again, thank you! Wishing you a lovely rest of your week. I'll take care of myself and you do, too! 🩷

Hi everyone!

First of all, I want to thank you again for your patience as I navigate my very first pin campaign. It’s been a bit more challenging than expected, especially with the IUD infection that’s had me in and out of the hospital - but I’m pushing through, and I’m truly grateful that this project was funded thanks to all of you. 💜

I’ll now be locking all addresses. Hopefully everyone has had a chance to fill theirs in, but if you run into any issues, feel free to email me at [email protected].

Pins: The good news: manufacturing for the pins is already underway, and everything is running smoothly with our pin maker!

Plushies: There is, however, a little bump in the road with the plushie manufacturer. When I ordered the sample, they gave me a bulk order price for about 100 plushies. Unfortunately, when it came time to place the final order a few months later (when I last talked to them), the price had gone up kind of significantly. I suspect this is partly due to recent US tariffs on goods from China.

This increase was unexpected, but I’ll be covering the difference out of my own pocket; it’s not the backers’ responsibility. I’m sticking with the same manufacturer because I want to maintain the quality of the plushies, and I truly believe it’s worth it.

To help offset the extra cost, I’m considering launching a mini dragon pin campaign that will run for just a couple of weeks. This is purely optional and there’s no expectation for Frozen Felines backers to support it. But if you like the design when I share it, any extra support would help. I’ll post here once it’s pre-launched!

Please don’t worry - no matter what, you will receive your plushies and pins as promised.

Thank you again for your incredible support and understanding!

All the best,
Julia