Hello! This (very long) message is by Midnight Springs and is to explain the situation going on with the package delays.
Currently, 50 packages have been successfully shipped out to their homes, including American orders that were sent to me.
The massive delay has 3 main causes:
1. Many of my own pins had to be remade, and a large majority of the backers who also supported my campaign got 1 or more of those pins, which I only received remakes of roughly 1 month ago. The same goes for backers who also supported Cryptic Compendium; many spiders had to be remade and were in the same shipment as my pins. Most of those orders were packed sans remake pins and only need the remakes added to them before they can be sent off! I was very virally ill in mid-April when they arrived, probably a new Covid strain... and continue to be really out of breath and unwell with activity, more than my usual POTS-level inconvenience. That's the only reason those ones (over 20) didn't go out as soon as the new ones were received.
Because of these delays, and a lot of people actually backing us in Early Summerween and when we later did a cross-collab for more monster girls and the Geode Pets pins, these combined orders with Chocolat Chaud's pins have suddenly become up to 5 orders in 1 package (where any excess shipping will be retroactively refunded). This is not a complaint!! Absolutely not; just an explanation for how slow-going that is.
2. I'm also very chronically ill in general, and unfortunately since around February/March of this year my functional "baseline" has really decreased. The same happened to Cryptic Compendium, as he was seriously sick in January with some sort of respiratory illness, and is also chronically ill.
3. The new shipping increases and tariff issues are not only the reason that the American orders had to be sent to me, but are also why I'm having difficulty sending them out. For the backers who did not also back my campaign or Cryptic Compendium's, or who did but we had already sent them our pins last year, your boxes were fully packed by Chocolat Chaud...but we're having to pay for their shipping out of pocket. The reason for this is because the cost to get the giant box of all of your orders was nearly the entirety of what was raised via the Ghostly Gallery surveys. It was hundreds of dollars for her to ship the box, then hundreds more to pay in tariffs upon arrival. That's why, unfortunately, I'm having to prioritize shipping out the ones that also paid a shipping fee to me (or Cryptic Compendium, because we live together) that wasn't eaten by the US govt.
It's not favoritism, but an unfortunate consequence of what is going on with the country right now and all of the raised import costs. It was completely unexpected and could not have been planned for in the initial surveys. That's hundreds of dollars out of pocket to send those orders out when the aforementioned health issues are preventing me from really doing anything shop-wise, so acquiring those funds has been a very slow endeavor. Especially with the current wars affecting shipping costs (fuel). Even shipping one 2oz mailer from where I live to WA state just cost me $6.40 in postage alone, which is such a huge increase in just the last couple of months, and doesn't cover the packaging/supply cost, fees from the survey funds, or labor cost at all. And as you know, Chocolat Chaud is having even worse health issues and cannot materialize those funds right now either.
I recently did Colossalcon artist alley and set aside a really big chunk of income from that convention for shipping out your orders! The next ready-to-ship campaign I do will be assisting with the funds for this as well. That leaves the current largest barrier as being my health, which I am pushing through.
I truly apologize for the obstacles here, and the delays they have caused, and especially for the lack of communication from me regarding this final leg of fulfillment. I do accept culpability in the extreme delays, but I do also hope this explains a lot of what's going on and how this happened to begin with.
Thank you for your support of Chocolat Chaud and your patience!!
I just wanted to let you know that I will very soon be launching a new campaign in collaboration with Midnight Springs! Click here to see the teaser page☆
One of the reasons we decided to run this campaign together through Midnight Springs' account is because shipping from Japan is currently very complicated and expensive due to the new tarrif rules. So to avoid any problems, delays and unexpected fees, we decided to ship everything directly from the US. Another reason is that I'm currently very ill and unable to pack or ship anything myself. Midnight Springs was kind enough to offer to do this campaign together and take care of shipping to hopefully help me raise money for treatment, and I'm extremely grateful to her.💕
This is mostly a jewelry campaign, but many pins, stickers, and a ton of other add-ons will also be available. With so many options, you're bound to find something you love!
The base goal includes a gothic architecture inspired collar pin available in 3 colorways, as well as 2 freebie stickers for early bird backers, returning backers (of either of us), and enamel pins for backers who purchase over a certain amount. All the informations regarding materials, measurements, and colorways will be in the campaign's story, but my designs will mostly be stainless this time.
We both put a lot of love and care into our designs. I hope you'll enjoy them!💗
Just a little update to let you know that shipping to US based backers is slowly progressing. You will get a tracking number as soon as your package is shipped. I'm so sorry it's taking so long. Please understand that this is completely out of my control.
Thank you all so so much for your patience so far!💗
The package containing all the US orders has reached Midnight Springs!!🎉
For those of you who also bought pins from her and from Cryptic Compendium, your orders will be combined and shipping overcharges will be refunded by Midnight Springs at a later date.
I really appreciate everyone's patience and understanding so far. Things very much didn't go according to plan for many creators of Early Summerween, including me, but everything is finally getting settled!
Hey everyone💕 I hope you're all having a fantastic beginning of the year so far!
I just wanted to let you know that I designed some mini pin sets for Fantasy Fox Creations' latest Backerkit campaign!~ So far, only the black cat has been unlocked, but I'm hopeful we can unlock the porcelain inspired one and the white cat too!
