Hey there critters!

It's been a bit since our last update! Let's catch up with what's been happening since we last checked in ✨

Cinder's outfit is complete!

Pardon the outdated sample photos used on the left — they’re just to show how the cardigan can be worn open or buttoned up! 

Also as a fun fact: We're working with another factory just for Cinder’s cardigan! Our main factory doesn’t have the special machines used to make buttonholes, but luckily they have family ties with a clothing factory that agreed to let us use their machinery! This partnership has been a huge help and could open up more fun clothing possibilities in the future! 🌈 ✨ 

 

Juniper's outfit is also finished!

We swapped the shorts for a lighter color! I think it looks great and will be a nice compliment to the other clothes in our collection.
 

Willow’s outfit is still in progress… I wish I had better news, but accidental misprints on the dress have caused more delays.
 

That said, I love the new color balance of the dress! It’s light and bright, but not too saturated. We also had the split added to the collar of the shirt! We only have a few tiny fixes left, so I’m hopeful this will be the final round of edits 🤞 
 

Since Willow’s dress isn’t finished yet, we can’t lock surveys or charge cards just yet. I originally estimated we’d be ready by the end of March, but the misprints slowed things down. The good news is though that Willow's dress is the last thing we are waiting on, and once we have that complete we will be ready to proceed!

I know the final stretch is always the hardest, but I promise it’ll be worth it! 🥺 We’re sooo close to the finish line! And as always, I’ll keep you all updated and let you know as soon as we have a firm survey lock and charge date. Thank you all so much for your patience and understanding thus far, it truly means the world to me! ❤️

I decided to go ahead and start mass production on the plush! The samples have been complete for quite some time, and I'm purchasing plenty of extras for our storefront and future events, so I felt confident in confirming quantities now so the plush could get started.

Right now, they’re planning fabric cuts and securing all the necessary materials! I hope to share more behind-the-scenes photos as we move through the process — I've always wanted to see how it all comes together and I'm sure many of you do too!

We are also working to obtain the proper safety standard accreditations for worldwide shipping! By the end of production, all of our plush and outfits will have CPC, CE, and UKCA certifications. This is big for us and means we’re on track to open up shipping to more countries, including Europe & surrounding areas, later this year!

As a little side project, I’ve been working on a small website for Critterfolk! And with that, we now have a brand-new support email to match our fancy new domain. No worries if you use our old email by accident — everything is set up to forward automatically to our new address! 

From now on though, you can reach us at [email protected] for anything — whether you need help with your order, have a question, or just want to reach out! 

And if you’d like to check out the new website, visit critterfolk.com! It’s just a simple landing page for now, but there’s plenty more to come in the future!

As always, if you have any questions about your pledge or the survey you can comment below or email us at [email protected]!

If you want to connect the Critterfolk community, you can join our discord server! There, you can ask questions, stay up-to-date with mini-updates on plushie development, and chat with many other Critter-lovers! Come hang out with us! 💕 🔗 https://discord.com/invite/UR3CYWFr97 

It’s been a while since our last check-in, so let’s catch up on what’s been happening!

Our move went well, but we were without internet until yesterday. Even though we moved in on January 25th, our new internet provider didn’t have an installation appointment available until February 18th. We expected maybe a week without service, not almost four! We relied on our mobile hotspots where we could, but data limits and slow speeds made it tough to keep up with everything. During that time, we focused on email and our Discord group rather than Backerkit. Aside from the internet struggles, everything is great! We’re fully settled in now and ready to get back on track, hopefully without any more unexpected delays.

In our last update, we estimated that surveys would close on February 20th, but that’s no longer the case.

Critterfolk is my first campaign and while things have been going well overall, I underestimated how long it takes to finalize so many designs. Not having internet only caused further unexpected & unavoidable delays in the timeline.

Going forward, the survey closing date & card charging date is still up in the air! I don’t have an exact date right now and truthfully, I feel awful about giving new dates only for them to change. So for now, surveys will officially close sometime in March. I’m really sorry for the shifting dates — it's definitely a lesson learned for next time! 

In case you missed the last update — all plush prototypes are complete! 🎉

If you want to see more photos or get a closer look, you can check out that update here! 

 Most of the outfits are done! Here’s a peek at what’s finished so far:
 

The outfits for Clover, Frasier, Honey, Rowan, and Briar are now finalized! We are now just working on finishing up the outfits for Willow, Cinder, and Juniper.

Here’s where we’re at with the remaining outfits!

🍄 Juniper's outfit is almost there! The sweater is finalized, but we are trying a lighter color for the shorts & a matching inner pocket fabric (instead of a white fabric).

🍄 Willow's outfit just needs a few tweaks too! There are only a few adjustments left to be made, such adding the split to her shirt's lace collar and finding a more suitable, muted green color for her dress.

🍄 Cinder's outfit still needs some work, but we have already sent these changes over to our manufacturer!

Thankfully these are all small changes and shouldn’t take too long, meaning we’re officially in the final stretch of prototyping! 
 

🍄 On another note, we recently brought the plush to a family party and the response was amazing! ✨
Everyone absolutely loved them, especially the kids! We heard so many compliments about how well-made the plush are and how soft their fur is, which made me feel so much more confident that you all will love them too!

Everyone also had the chance to dress the plush up, and we got great feedback on how it was to put the clothes on. We noticed that while adults and older kids had no trouble, some of the younger kids struggled with fitting the plush heads and tails through the clothing openings. Since our littlest fans are just as important as our older ones, we’ve made some changes to the clothes! Going forward, the Velcro closures on tops and the tail openings on bottoms will be slightly larger. With these changes anyone should be able to dress the plush with ease! 
 

Surveys won’t close until all prototype samples, including outfits, are finished. Once they’re done and in my hands, I’ll take photos just like I did for the plush!

Once everything is ready, I’ll post an update announcing 1 week left until surveys close and orders lock. During that final week, I plan to host a few "dress-up" livestreams where you can request different clothing combos on the plush! It'll be a fun time to hang out, experiment with outfits, and just play together! ❤️ 

As always, if you have any questions about your pledge or the survey you can comment below or email me at [email protected]!

If you want to connect the Critterfolk community, you can join our discord server! There, you can ask questions, stay up-to-date with mini-updates on plushie development, and chat with many other Critter-lovers! Come hang out with us! 💕 🔗 https://discord.com/invite/UR3CYWFr97 

Hello everyone!

I've been working diligently over this past week to get photos taken and edited of all of our lovely critters, and they are now complete and ready for you to view! 🎉

The plush prototypes are now final, so no more changes will be made to the plush.  We hope you love all of them as much as we do! 🥺💞 

We are personally very happy with all of the plush, but if you are disappointed with how any of the plush look and there isn’t an alternative you like, we will process any refund requests without question/judgement. If you’d like any sort of refund, either full or partial, you can email us at [email protected] with your order information and we will take care of you!
 

❓ Are the plush poseable?
💬 No —  the plush don’t have any inner armature for posing! Any poses you’ve seen were done by simply twisting the plush into position or using rubber bands.

❓ How soft/firm is the stuffing?
💬 We think the stuffing is a perfect balance — not too soft, not too firm! When brand new, the plush may feel a little on the firm side, but we have found they soften substantially after some snuggling! They hold their shape well too, but remain easy to squish into clothing. 
 

Even though these plush are being mass-produced, keep in mind that each one is sewn by hand. This means the plush you receive won’t look exactly like the prototypes shown, but they’ll still be in excellent condition with no defects. Every plush will have its own unique little quirks, which makes them even more special and one-of-a-kind! ❤️ 

❓ When will surveys close and orders lock?
💬 The plush prototypes are officially complete, but we’re still working on finalizing the clothing prototypes. Surveys will continue to stay open until everything is ready, and orders won’t lock until after the surveys close.

Work on the clothing prototypes will pause for two weeks because of the upcoming Spring Festival/CNY holiday in China. Our manufacturer will be closed during this time so their team participate in the celebrations! 🐍🐉🏮

Right now, we’re estimating that surveys will close around February 20th, with cards being charged on February 25th. We’re so sorry for the shifting dates! This is our first large-scale project, and perfecting everything has taken longer than we planned. Luckily, we factored in plenty of time for delays when we built our timeline, so we’re still aiming to stay on track for delivery.

As always, if anything changes, we’ll keep you updated right away! ❤️ 

❗ As a personal update, we have secured keys to our new home! 🔑🏠
We will be moving out/in this weekend, so our support will be down during this time. Will be away starting today, Thursday, January 23rd through Tuesday, January 28th. If you need help, we'll be back in the office on Wednesday, January 29th with a response!

🌱 That's all for now folks!
As always, if you have any questions about your pledge or the survey you can comment below or email me at [email protected]!

If you want to connect the Critterfolk community, you can join our discord server! There, you can ask questions, stay up-to-date with mini-updates on plushie development, and chat with many other Critter-lovers! Come hang out with us! 💕 🔗 https://discord.com/invite/UR3CYWFr97