Pins have been shipped to me (some will take a bit longer)
almost 4 years ago
– Thu, May 21, 2020 at 03:15:17 AM
I hope you are all doing well! I’m here with a quick update on the pins. My manufacturer sent me pictures of the finished pins, and I’m really happy with how many of them turned out! Here are some from my manufacturer (sorry that it's a bit blurry):
Unfortunately, my manufacturer filled some colours incorrectly on five of the pins for some reason. Namely, the Sakura (red) pin, Amulet Spade/Clover/Diamond, and the Ultimate Madoka pin. I have talked with my manufacturer and they are currently being remade, which means orders with these pins will be shipped out a bit later. I know many of you had ordered the red Sakura pin, and I had made two samples that all came out correctly, so it’s really unfortunate that this error was made on the final product. I’m really sorry about it being held up once again :( I will let you guys know when I have an estimate on when the remakes will get to me.
However, the rest of the pins are being shipped to me first so I can get started on packing and sending out your rewards. If you do not have the aforementioned pins in your pledge, I will be working on your reward very shortly. My manufacturer said that they shipped the finished pins today, and it will take around a week for them to get to me. I will update you guys when I receive the pins.
Thank you all so much for your patience with me throughout this project. Please message me here on Kickstarter if you have any questions or would like to change your shipping address. Please stay safe and well wherever you are in the world.
Production update!
almost 4 years ago
– Thu, May 14, 2020 at 03:45:31 AM
Hello! I hope you all have been healthy and doing well. So much has happened in these past few months and they have not been the easiest.
April has passed and I want to update you guys on how the pins are doing. My manufacturer finally sent me photos of the pins in production a few days ago, and they were being filled with enamel. The excess enamels have not been sanded down yet, so I’m going to wait a bit until I can show you guys better photos! They’re not quite finished yet due to delays in production, but the manufacturer said that they should be done next week (yess!!). Usually, shipping to me will take 3-4 days, but this shipping time may take longer in this current climate. I will start to grade, package, and begin shipping out your rewards shortly after receiving the pins if everything goes smoothly. We are getting extremely close to getting the rewards sent out to you guys. Thank you for all your patience, and I'll be sure to post another update once I have any news to share!
Project update and more sneak peeks!
about 4 years ago
– Thu, Apr 09, 2020 at 01:25:09 AM
Hello, I hope you all have been doing well! I know you guys have been asking for an update for the pins! So sorry about the lack of update the past month or so. I’ve been finishing up with my classes and projects this term, and things have been in a frenzy ever since the COVID-19 situation started to ramp up in Canada.
Unfortunately, there was a lull in communication between me and my pin manufacturer right after they got back to work mid-February, so I wasn’t able to have the pins made in time. I'm really sorry about it taking longer than expected! I was really excited to be in the final stretch of the fulfillment process and wanted so much for you all to receive the pins :(( My manufacturer and I were able to work out the kinks and I put in the order with the finalized colours around two weeks ago. Currently, I am waiting for the pins to be finished and sent to me. My manufacturer said that the manufacturing process would be longer than usual because they were still getting through backlogged orders from the Chinese New Year break and COVID-19 shutdown. She gave me an estimate of by the end of this month, but also that they’re working hard to get it done as early as they could.
Despite that, I'm pleased to say that the bonus items, shipping supplies, and pretty much everything else are all ready to be shipped! I’m really happy with how they all came out. I hope you guys look forward to receiving these! Here are some pictures:
(You can't really see it here but these stickers have transparent backgrounds!)
(Took the charm straps off to show the designs. The strap will be included!)
Finally, If you’ve been moving around recently and would like to change your shipping address, please send me a message on Kickstarter so I can send you a link to edit your survey. You will be able to make changes to your shipping address right up until the pins get here. You will receive a 48-hour notice email before the addressed are locked/finalized.
I’ll let you all know once the pins have arrived. In the meantime, I hope you are all safe and staying healthy wherever you are in the world!
Sneak peek and update on the shipping date
over 4 years ago
– Wed, Jan 29, 2020 at 02:30:32 AM
Hello! I got another update for you guys. I received the first batch of these floral magical girl pins! Here are some sneak peeks of the pins that came in the mail.
I’m really happy about how the metal outlines came out (the pictures don’t do the metal justice ;w;), but unfortunately, there is one issue with some of these pins I received. That is, on some of the designs, the colours came out just slightly paler than I would have liked. For example, the yellow on Usagi turned out to be more of a buttery colour, whereas it’s a lot more vibrant on the concept photo. I think what happened was that I heard enamel colours tend to come out slightly darker when they get heat-treated, and so I tried to err on the side of caution and selected paler colours to compensate. I have a much better idea about how Pantone colours translate into real life now that I’ve received these pins.
I know slight colour differences aren’t a super huge dealbreaker to some, but I really want to make sure the pins I ship to you guys are as best as I could make them.
I’m currently working with my manufacturer to change some of the colours, but unfortunately, all pin manufacturers are on Chinese New Year holiday until early February, and they’ll need a bit more time fulfilling orders due to all the backlog from CNY and also because of the recent virus outbreak. That would mean the pin ship date will be pushed back once more. I’m planning to remake a set of samples once my manufacturer returns to work, then allow two or three more weeks for them to mass-produce the rest of the pins. Depending on how the situation goes in China, the pins could get to me anywhere from late-February to mid-March.
I am terribly sorry about the delays in getting these pins to you all. It’s my first time working with a pin manufacturer for large scale projects such as this one, and I wasn’t able to foresee some of the blips that happened through the fulfillment process. Regretfully, I was not able to stick to the timeline I made at the beginning of this Kickstarter, and I feel really apologetic since I know many of you were looking forward to receiving this set of pins. I have learned a lot from this project in terms of working with pin manufacturers and the many factors that play into the completion of a KS project. In the future, I will make sure to factor them into my initial timeline estimate and be more vigilant with pitfalls along the way (in the form of colour selection, vector design). In the end, I would like to thank each and every one of you for all your patience with me and my Kickstarter project so far!! I will do my best to make these pins the best I can make them and deliver them to each and every one of you.
Thank you!
Current progress and a later shipping date!
over 4 years ago
– Fri, Dec 13, 2019 at 12:06:10 AM
Hello! First of all, I’m terribly sorry about the lack of updates. I had gone through a number of unexpected things the past few months, so I have not been updating you guys as much as I had wanted. I would like to give you guys an update on the current stage of the project and what to expect if you are a backer.
Since we ended up with a lot more designs than the start of the campaign, I wanted to get a real, preliminary sample made in order to test out various line widths and colours. Here is how sakura came out:
(also, you can see the two different skin tone contenders on each of the pins)
After that, I went back and forth with my manufacturer and made quite a bit of changes. One major change is that I made the outline slightly thinner in width. Currently, I’m waiting on receiving the new samples of all 16 designs.
Additionally, all the designs have been made into charm artworks and submitted for production. They should get to me by the end of this month (December). They look a little different from the flat design of the pins. Here is a sneak peek:
Unfortunately, the designing and manufacturing process for both the pin and the keychains are taking longer than expected. Because of that, all your rewards will be packed and sent out a bit later, in January. I’m really sorry about the delays in shipping the rewards, and I would like to thank you guys for your patience so far. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send me a message here or on my Instagram.
