Hi Everyone! 

I hope you are doing well and the spring sun has been shining brightly for you! 🌻

Here is the updated timeline for this project:

January 23, 2025: Pintopia 2025 launches!
February 13, 2025: Pintopia 2025 ends
February 14-28, 2025: Surveys building & Smoke Test sent out
March 1 - 15: Surveys are collected and manufacture artwork is being completed
March 16 - April 1: Manu proofs are approved and production begins
🎉 April - June: In production 🎉
June - Pins are completed, sorted and carded
July/August - Pins are sent out to their new homes! 🌿

The pins/magnets are currently in production. I am waiting on some process photos that I can hopefully share with you! 

I'm sure this is not news to anyone, but I have been pushing this update again and again to try to determine how to navigate what is happening in this wild world right now. The tariff situation is paralyzing at best for nearly every small artist I have talked to.

I have a slightly different situation to deal with as I am a Canadian 🇨🇦 small business. This means I receive my products from China, sort/grade/package and send them to you. Due to the removal of the de minimis exemption, this means that there will be an outrageous 145% increase charge on all packages going to the USA 📦 (again, I am NO expert - this has been insane to try to follow and understand)

I am holding out hope that as we inch closer to mail-out time (which looks to be closer to August) there will be some more clarity around what is happening, or better yet, this will not be an issue any longer. I will be looking into the best options as we get closer to mail-out time. 

Thank you so much for your patience - this has been a stressful time for many and your support means the world! 💖

Hello everyone! Hope you're doing well!!

Survey Update:
The surveys have been submitted, and the first surveys should be ready to be sent out tomorrow morning. I will be mass sending them out the next day, so if anyone has any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Pre-Order Store:
Missed out on the campaign??? WELL!!! There is a second chance! The pre-order store is now open and ready to accept orders.

Timeline:
I want to apologise to everyone for the constant delays...

With the 145% increase in tariffs, I've been paralyzed with what my next actions should be. Other artists and my manufacturers have mentioned sea ddp. Sea ddp is a form of shipping where all the fees, customs, tax, and other costs have been paid for ahead of time, but that doesn't mean the shipping would considered reasonable costs and any issues would be paid out-of-pocket since insurance will most likely cover a minimal amount. There are pros and cons, so I was thinking about waiting for better news.... However, it would not be fair for all of you. I decided that since it will take a couple of months to produce the products, the current tariff situation might change for the better.

I will be proceeding forward with the production and be submitting the surveys to everyone.

Updated Timeline: (based on prior update)

 
I would except approximately a half a month shift in the process of the timeline. I will provide continue update to everyone as we move forward!

Hello Backers,

Surveys are out! Check your inboxes and spam folder for an email from Backerkit. Please fill out your surveys as soon as possible. 

Can't find your survey? Retrieve it at this link: Retrieve Survey

Keep in mind, I cannot ship you your rewards if you don't fill out your survey. 

If you have urgent questions for me or notice any issues on your survey, please contact Backerkit support via the link in your survey  (I believe it is at the top right of the page). Your message will be forwarded to my email and I'll help you as soon as I can.

Any backers utilizing the Pay Over Time feature will receive their surveys when all payments are completed. I'll be sure to include you folks in my order totals, so don't fret!

If you qualify for Cross Collab or Early Bird freebies, they will be automatically added to your cart when you get to the add-ons page.

I received a photo of the new deer pin sample. I love the shimmery pearl effect—it's much better than glitter, and much closer to the effect I envisioned! However the color of the bones still isn't quite right. I will be choosing a new Pantone that is more subtle, desaturated, and probably a little brighter too (less pink for sure!). I'll keep working on this behind the scenes and keep you updated.

I added some new photos of add ons in the survey and preorder store for reference. The patches, stickers, plain prints, and washi tape have some new photos.  The sticker reprints are also looking a lot better, and I love how bold the colors turned out on the patches and washi! Bold and brash, if I do say so.

I received confirmation that acrylic charm samples were in production a few weeks ago, but still no updates from there. I'm reaching out to the manufacturer today to see if I can get an update on that front.

Other than that, I'll post updates when I have them, but for now, just waiting on surveys. :)

Thanks so much for the support, as usual!

Ribbits frogs!

All enamel pins are officially in full production! To celebrate, here are all the enamel pin sample pictures I've received. There are a few with some minor edits and they are all very nakey without their screenprint.. but I'm super excited about them all! 

The Nothern glass frog will be partially transparent and the Black rain frog will have recessed textured metal with semi transparent resin in a brown colour on it. It's all working out as planned so far, so super pleased with that!

Love to hear what you think of all these Frogtastic Frogs!

A little information recap for your ease:

Locking and charging the survey's won't happen before the end of April.
I will first check for all the combined shipping if that's set up correctly and after that I'll give an heads up when I will lock and charge the survey's. I'll probably to the route that Roundbirbart did: charging and locking the survey's when the enamel pins are being sent yo me.

Please keep an eye out on your email (the one you use for Backerkit) in case I contact you about the combined shipping.

No backer but interesting in the frog pins?
For those who didn't join the campaign I have opened a pre-order shop!
Pre-orders made in this shop will be shipped out together with the Backer fulfillment.

What about the tariffs?
Just like Roundbirbart I am located in the Netherlands, Europe.
It's still unclear how this would look like with all the tariffs, but I can warn you all to be prepared to pay 20% extra on top when the parcel will arrive in the US. That's how these tariffs work, the percentage amount needs to be paid extra. That said for the Netherlands there's still the de minimum active (anything under $800 will be exempt for customs) so there's also a chance no extra costs will happen.

Everything else I'm still looking into, seeing how it's going for those shipping things out now, etc. But I think it is safe to say: expect to pay some more money when the parcel arrives in the US. These costs are for those 'importing' the parcel, so that would be you, the backer. There's also a chance no extra costs will pop up but I want to be clear and transparent on this part. I'll continue with the 'wait and see' mindset for now and keep you updated.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me via Backerkit support (the 'Contact us for help' button on your pledge page). Or you can use the contact form on my website, that way you reach me immediately by email and I can help you out much easier.

Have a frogtastic week everyone!

Hey all! Getting to the chase:

Reason for this is good news! I've got photos of the pins, they look great! I've approved moving forward with production so i hope you guys are excited!

I'll be posting the pictures throughout the week before the lock, starting with Moon Mage! 

That's all for now, thank you for your patience!