First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for their sweet messages since the last update- a lot of you were super understanding of the tariff situation and sympathized a lot, I almost started crying with how kind everyone has been, haha!
I want to start off this update with (another) thank you because despite all the challenges with this project, you all have been so nice. It truly has been tough for me not just on a small business level due to all these new changes, but also on a more personal level the past year and a half or so.
I want to share that even recently it has been really tough on me because my dog, Milo, has recently passed away due to a cancer that spread to his liver/spleen at 10.5 years old. His health declined really rapidly in the span of a month and he passed away in his sleep in my room last week He was really struggling with rapid muscle weakness and incontinence, and it's hard for me to even type this out because I really, really miss him.
Here's a cute photo of him. We always had to gently wipe away the lil crusties covering his nostrils due to his condition, we were actually in the middle of it when we took this photo of him. He was a grumpy grandpa and for some reason always had beef with my dad's shoes/feet, but he absolutely loved cuddles and kisses. He'd take that over treats any day. Rest in peace and cuddles, my sweet lil' pupper. ❤️
Onto other business!
I'm also excited to share that production for Moocha Latte is currently in the works. It will start this week and estimated to be done in late August to early September, of which afterwards it'll also undergo the CE safety testing which will take an additional few days. Once all this is done, it'll be shipped out by boat which takes roughly close to another month due to shipping fees having increased an enormous amount in the last year, so the expectation is that I'll get Moocha around September.
It feels good to finally have this going on with Sailor Moo being the last to get produced. My aim is to have all plushies with me before the end of 2026 and hope that there won't be any more surprises along the way when it comes to shipping, haha. 🤞
I will continue to ship out as many packages as I can since I had to take a little break due to my dog's sudden passing, I'm slowly forcing myself to keep going and working on things. If I haven't responded to your email yet, please expect a response soon, my apologies!
🇺🇸 How can I get my rewards earlier? Can I opt to pay for the tariffs so I can receive my rewards sooner?
Absolutely! Since tariff costs have increased since July 24th, it's been a massive dent in my fulfillment plans since I'll be paying for these costs out of pocket on top of also compensating for the upgraded shipping costs that is mandatory in order to be able to ship out the pledges (for more information, please see this update).
This means that shipping will take much longer than anticipated for USA backers, so unless you're fine with covering these extra expenses so you can get your rewards sooner, unfortunately I'm going to have to ask you to wait a bit longer since I cannot guarantee when I'll be able to ship them out. 🥲
If you don't mind covering the tariff costs, send me an email to [email protected] and I'll send a screenshot with the exact amount that needs to be paid. We can discuss it further from there.
That's all for now, and thank you so much again everyone for the support and patience. 💚 I'll see you all in the next update.
As I've been working to ship out as many plushies, etc. as possible over the month, everyone in Portugal (and likely the rest of the world) recently got notified of the new, updated tariffs that are going into effect on July 24th. This came as wholly unexpected, especially so shortly after we finally became able to ship to the USA again.
The new tariff rules coming into effect will have increased costs. What would usually cost me around €3-4 for pre-paid duties will now cost me around €6-8 (around $7-9 USD) to send only one enamel pin, for example. One plushie now costs me around €7-8 minimum in tariff costs whereas before it was around €6.
Considering that some pledges were initially paid for with just standard shipping and that the USA now requires not only pre-paid duties but also for it to be sent with tracked shipping, this is a lot of extra expenses on my end considering the bulk of the pledges are going to the USA.
What does this mean?
This put a massive dent in my fulfillment plans since I mentioned in previous updates that I'll be paying for the tariffs out of pocket on top of also compensating for the upgraded shipping costs that is mandatory in order to be able to ship out the pledges.
This means that shipping will take much longer than anticipated for USA backers, so unless you're fine with covering these extra expenses so you can get your rewards sooner, unfortunately I'm going to have to ask you to wait a bit longer since I cannot guarantee when I'll be able to ship them out. 🥲
If you don't mind covering the tariff costs, send me an email to [email protected] and I'll send a screenshot with the exact amount that needs to be paid. We can discuss it further from there.
I'm really bummed about this and I'm frankly so done with the ridiculous laws and rules that keep being added. All I want is to get everyone their plushies, pins and everything else as soon as possible but it's one obstacle after the other... 🫠
Thank you again for your patience, and I'll see you all in the next update. 💚
Here with another mini update! As mentioned in the previous update, I proceeded with charging the shipping costs for the eligible, non-USApledges who haven't been charged yet.
If you need to change your address, please let me know within the next 2 business days. On Wednesday (July 15th) I'll start locking the addresses of the above-mentioned pledges so I can proceed to the fulfillment of these same ones. ☺️
Are you moving in the near future? Please don't worry – I absolutely don't mind holding onto your pledge until you're settled in your new place. Just send me a email to [email protected] so we can discuss this further!
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❌ Declined/Errored Payments
Some pledges are ready to get shipped out, but due to declined/errored payments I'm unable to send them out. Please take a look at this ASAP so I can get your goodies on the way!
Feel free to email me for further assistance if needed.
📝 Reminder to fill in the surveys!
There are still a few backers who haven't filled in their surveys yet. Please make sure to do this ASAP so you can get your rewards too if you pledged for plushies and the ones you want are Cotton and/or Cherry.
If this isn't filled in a timely manner, please keep in mind that I cannot hold onto the products forever. Chances are high that I'll be forced to cancel your pledge and the surplus will eventually get sold in my online shop.
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🇺🇸 USA Pledges – When will I receive my rewards?
As mentioned in the previous update, I'll be shipping out USA pledges at a slower pace and in smaller batches. Tariffs/customs and import fees are being paid out of pocket because covering these costs feels like the right thing to do after this project has been dragging on for so long, and I certainly don't expect the people who supported me and this project to pay more than what was expected of them.
If your pledge contains the Cotton and/or Cherry plushie and you haven't been charged yet for the shipping, please expect to get charged in the next one or two weeks. I'll be shipping out in small batches as mentioned above and will post another mini update when I've done so. ☺️
If you're unable to pay the shipping charges in the upcoming weeks, please send me an email as to when it is possible for you.
For full transparency, I cannot give a guaranteed estimate as to when I'll ship out your pledge since the tariffs/fees all piled together can be very costly (especially for plushies) so I'm trying my best to get things shipped out ASAP since this is an unexpected added expense on my end. Thank you so much for your understanding with this. 🙏
🇺🇸 Can I opt to pay for the tariffs so I can receive my rewards sooner?
Absolutely! Please email me if you don't mind paying these costs (which, depending on the volume and contents on your pledge, should be within a range of around €2 minimum to €10+) so you can get your pledge shipped out sooner. I'll provide a screenshot of the actual calculated costs and we can arrange the payment afterwards.
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That's all for now, thank you so much again for your patience! I wish you a very happy Sunday.
This is a small update regarding the last update where I mentioned Cotton has finally arrived. I've done a couple test shipments last week and I'm keeping a close eye on them. I also asked for feedback on those shipments from the selected people to see if everything went smoothly so I can focus on the other eligible pledges as fast as possible.
So far my postal office reassured me (they even directly contacted their HQ to confirm the process) that everything seems to be in order and that it should go along just fine, so I hope that the test shipments arrive without any issues! ☺️
📦Please note that if you haven't been charged yet for shipping, chances are that you will be charged for this in the near future!
🇪🇺🌍 EU/Intl. Backers – I'm slowly shipping out all eligible orders over the course of the month, so please keep an eye out for your inbox for a shipping notification! As stated above, if you haven't been charged yet for shipping, please expect to get charged this Sunday (July 12th). If you aren't able to pay the shipping charges at that time, please let me know in advance by emailing me to [email protected] so I can note this down and when it will be possible for you so I can get to shipping your pledge out ASAP. ☺️
🇺🇸 USA Backers – I plan to ship out some more pledges sometime next week or the week afterwards once I see/hear that the test shipments have gone well, so hopefully this is plenty of time for those who have yet to be charged. If your pledge includes a plushie that has solely Cotton or Cherry (or both), then chances are your pledge might get picked to get shipped in the upcoming small batch. I'm hoping to be able to post another mini update this month, likely near the end of it!
As stated above, if you're unable to pay the shipping charges in the upcoming weeks, please send me an email and when it is possible for you so I can note it down.
🇺🇸 USA Backers – A kind reminder if you want your pledge sooner
As mentioned in previous updates, the tariffs/customs and import fees are being paid out of pocket. Covering these costs feels like the right thing to do after things have dragged on for so long, so I certainly don't expect the people who supported me and this project to pay more than what was expected.
However, this means that fulfillment of your pledge can take longer than initially anticipated since the tariff costs ended up being higher than the estimate that was communicated with us. Please feel free to email me if you don't mind paying these costs (which, depending on the volume and contents on your pledge, should be within a range of around €2 minimum to €10+) so you can get your pledge shipped out sooner. I'll provide a screenshot of the actual calculated costs and we can arrange the payment afterwards.
Again, this isentirely optional and it's only if you wish to get your pledge shipped out quicker. If you're fine with waiting a bit longer due to the above mentioned reason, then there's nothing you need to do, however I - for full transparency - cannot give a guaranteed estimate as to when I'll ship out your pledge since the fees all piled together can be very costly (especially for plushies), so I'm trying my best to things shipped it out as soon as I can since this is an unexpected added expense on my end.
That's all for now! As always, you can email me for further inquiries and I'll respond to them ASAP.
Cotton has finally arrived after being packed snug in the box on her journey here! Sailor Moo and Moocha Latte have also accompanied her, so I'll gladly share some photos below. Take a look! ☺️
I think they came out adorable and I'm really happy with them! The only thing that my manufacturer missed was the little band at Sailor Moo's hat being a darker blue shade (matching the ribbon), but there were some issues that hopefully can be fixed so that the colors match, otherwise the above sample will be the finalized look for Sailor Moo.
Other than that, I'll be working with them to get both of these manufactured as soon as possible and have all cows in my possession this year.
What's next?
All backers (excluding USA - please see the segment below this one) who have only the Cotton plushie as part of their pledge will finally get their plushie shipped out as soon as I finish quality control of all of them which I'll try to finish as soon as possible. If your pledge also includes Cherry, then of course you can expect to get your pledge shipped out soon too!
Once this is done, I'll be preparing all eligible pledges and get to shipping them out, so please look forward to an email in July!
🇺🇸 USA shipping update
I have some good things to share! Shipping towards the US has finally resumed, meaning that I can work on getting to know the procedures to getting all eligible pledges out to the USA.
However, I can only ship them with tracked shipping with pre-paid duties and import fees, meaning there's an increased cost attached that's higher than I (and others) had been anticipating, meaning it'll cost me a lot more out of pocket than I thought which will lead to fulfillment taking longer than I had hoped for. 😭
Not only that, but right as shipments have finally been reopened, I've gotten a notice that there'll be possibly additional paperwork needed if a package is headed towards the USA starting July 8th. It's not wholly clear to me what this exactly is and if this even applies to me, but right now I'm waiting to see what is going to happen. I already contacted my postal carrier about this for more information, so hopefully I'll have proper answers for this soon.
This is incredibly frustrating especially since I've been waiting anxiously to ship to the US again, only to get hit with this. 🫠 I'm so sorry about this, it's outside of my control but I'm keeping a close eye on everything to the best of my abilities.
My biggest appreciation and thanks once again for your immense patience and understanding. I'll get back to you as soon as possible with another update once I have more things to share. For those dealing with heatwaves right now: please stay hydrated and keep cool, because it has been unbearable here in Portugal thus far. Take care of yourself.
