Hello, everyone! I've got some exciting updates to share this week. Isopod Colony pin production is nearly complete, the pledge manager will close soon, and I'll be participating in Pintopia 2026 with a mythological creature pin campaign! Read on for more info:
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November 30 Preorders, Pledge Manager Order Lock & Credit Card Charge
Please note that November 30 is the final day to participate in preorders if you're a new backer, and to make changes to your campaign orders or add on any items. After this date, the pledge manager and preorder store will lock down, and everyone's credit cards will be charged for any addons or shipping charges that were added during the pledge manager stage.
92% of backers have completed their survey, and it is much appreciated! If you are one of the backers who has not yet completed their survey, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible so that your items can arrive promptly and without issue!
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Pin Production Photos
The enamel pins & charms are nearly finished being manufactured. Here are some photos of their production! Below you can see what the pins look like with their solid, enamel fills alongside their final look, with the UV printing and spot colors added. The spot colors really bring these guys to life!
I have some production photos of the mini pins as well. In the lower right, you can see some of the Panda Kings being hand-filled with enamel! (see the revision & remake notes for Panda Kings.) ----------------------------------------
Blind Bag Production Photos
The blind bags for the star candy isopods are currently in production! Here's the final design and a photo of them being created. When the bag manufacturer sent me the video of their production process, I was surprised to see that a single, giant machine prints, seals, and cuts them. I thought that each step would be a separate process and require different equipment. Technology is amazing!
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Revision & Remake
Enamel pins are a largely a hand-made process, so some issues and bloopers are to be expected. Here are a few of the items that are undergoing corrections and remakes:
Panda Kings Remake: The Panda Kings/Lemon Blue mini pin is currently undergoing a remake. The eyes and cheek lines were intended to be part of the UV print layer, but were erroneously created as part of the metal mold during production. Doing the eyes in UV will allow for it to match the other mini pins. It will also allow for the Panda Kings and Lemon Blues to have different eye shapes/expressions, as their eye artwork is not tied to their shared metal mold.
Isopod Snuggle Leaf Remake: When the Isopod snuggle leaf design was taken to the electroplating factory to receive their gold color, something happened that caused 80% of the pins to have rusting tide marks in some of the lines. My manufacturer was awesome and took full responsibility, so they are being remade for me free-of-charge.
Blooper Freebies: Between the snuggle leaf "rusties" and the handmade nature of pins, I am likely to have quite a few blooper pins. As long as it doesn't result in the weight of your package jumping up to a new shipping tier, I'll be including some of these bloopers as a freebie when I ship out orders. I don't know if I'll have enough bloopers for everyone to get one, but will try and include them in as many packages as I can. So if you end up with an unexpected freebie in your order with a blooper note attached, this is how they came to be!
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Pintopia 2026
I am excited to announce that I've been accepted into Pintopia 2026. Elemental myth is a series of pins & jewelry featuring mythical creatures, surrounded by or interacting with elemental energy - wind, water, fire, and more!
This series of pins will consist of several themed sets. Each set will have one large, deluxe pin featuring a full-body mythical creature surrounded by elemental energy, a standard sized pin of the creature, and a mini pin and charm with complimentary elemental decoration.
Note: All Isopod Colony artwork is complete, and all items for it have been ordered from my manufacturers. Elemental Myth will not conflict with the production of Isopod Colony!
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That's all for now! I hope that everyone has a great week.
