Hello everyone! I'm coming back with a small itty bitty update to check in with everyone and their post, as well as some new information and exciting future.

I have had a veeeery small trickling of mail being returned to me- whether the address was invalid or it got caught up in the tariff nonesense before it was properly implemented.
If I got a returned mail, I have emailed you personally about it.
I would recommend checking your inbox to see if you got an email from me if your mails hasn't arrived yet!

If your mail STILL hasn't arrived, and you got no email from me, then please email me at [email protected] and I will investigate.

Now enough about shipping.

The pins are now all available on my Etsy storefront, and some of my local Irish stockists :)

> ETSY SHOP

> LIST OF STOCKISTS

I will also have them at local Irish and UK conventions as well. You can keep up to date with the events I'll be attending through my socials or discord server.

That's right, I'm coming back with an idea I've been wanting to execute for months now. There's also so many projects revolving around dinosaurs, but has anyone ever thought about....

As part of Pintopia 2026 in January, I will be launching Ancient Arthropods as my newest pin campaign. I have a lot of ideas in mind, and I am currently in the research phase. The project will focus on arthropods and invertebrates of all kinds during the mezosoic and paleosoic eras on Earth.
I'm super excited to get started on this.

Of course the campaign is EU and UK friendly, but I will also be making special pledge bundles for everyone in the US to encourage group orders where you and your friends can minimise and save some money from the tariff charge as much as possible.

If these prehistoric bugs fly your fancy, then please check the teaser page out and drop an email to it! Share it with a friend! A bug nerd or entomopologst- paleontologist?
Every sign up counts a millionfold for this, and I will be sharing pre-launch updates as I go about the design process on the pins too :)
Perhaps.. there will even be a different kind of reward too 😳

Welcome to the last week of August! ALL SHIPMENTS ARE COMPLETE.

That's right, every single one of ya'lls order has been packed and sent out within the longest 7 days of my life. I was packing anywhere between 20-30 packages a day and then throwing them at my local postal worker who, by day 5, was sick of seeing me.

He was very happy to hear that the packages today were the last ones. What a workout!

Now I am not deaf, I hear you guys yelling from the rooftops,

I've contacted my postal service last week but havent't heard anything back. They're being silent about this and the EU is fighting back the vague explanation of tariffs from the USA's side. Today is the 25th, the supposed cut off day. Will things arrive before the 29th? I couldn't tell you. This new policy came into effect over night with zero explanation, zero time to prepare, zero infrastructure, just prayers that the law will bend into submission. I'm sure some of you who follow me on Bluesky have seen some of my rambles on the situation.

TLDR; I've no idea what's happening. I don't want to tell you all something and then have it end up being incorrect. But we should all have our fingers crossed everything arrives fine and dandy.

The fees for Ireland should be 15%. If you do get  import fees, it would be calculated as such:
ITEM COST + SHIPPING COST x 15% = IMPORT FEE

I did my best to minimise import fees if you do get hit with them as well.

That said, the majority of orders Do Not Have Tracking. If your order page and email doesn't direct you to a tracking page, you do not have tracking. I can't magic tracking out of thin air. Most things were sent using a digital stamp, and all I will know is if it arrived to the airplane postal depot.
The good news is that some of the mail I sent out last week that IS tracked has already arrived at the US border, and is more than likely being processed by customs. That is quite a fast turnaround compared to the usual time it takes.

So when will your mail arrive if you're in the US?
Soon, I would hope. And without too much delay. But because of the current sporadic situation I ask you to give your mail 2 months to arrive in case your customs offices are absolutely swamped with mail. Usually mail takes about 3 weeks to arrive, but if something gets caught by customs- which is common enough- it can take longer to be released. Especially now. If I get any returns, I will contact you through email immediately.

TO THE PEOPLE I CONTACTED ABOUT MY POSTAL SERVICE DENYING YOUR SHIPPING ADDRESS...
I have kept all the failed mail until the end so I could cross reference what issue was between all of them. And in the end it was the stupid glitch I've ever seen in my life. The post site hates the abbreviation of Oregon. I don't know why. I don't know how. I fixed the issue by typing out the entire state name. Your mail went through just fine now.

IF YOU HAVE ANY ISSUES....
I think Backerkit added a way to message creators now, I will see if that is something that's enabled. If you can't find the option to do that, you can email me with any quieries, questions and problems to [email protected]

If you're in the EU, UK, or anywhere else in the world: you're fine. You've nothing to worry about. EU orders are starting to show up in people's hands already.

When you do get your orders, please feel free to tag me on instagram or bluesky so I know your items are safe and sound with you!

Now enough with the sadness and worrying...

I cannot express enough how much love and appreciation I have for all you backers, friends, and fellow creators who supported me through every step of the way. From sharing the project, giving design advice, participating in polls, to helping with the backend so everything goes as smoothly as possibly. Truly, thank you. Thank you all so much <3

This is hopefully not the first and not the last project I ever do. I'm already planning a new campaign for Pintopia in January of 2026, with a perhaps smaller scope to this one, and I will update you all here once that project launches.

Thank you all again <3

Find my on social media if you'd like! Or in person at Irish conventions <3

INSTAGRAM - BLUESKY - TUMBLR 

The end of the year is upon us, and I and many other artists have been very busy at work preparing for Pintopia 2026 in January.

It seems like I got roped into doing a lot of things and having to tie loose ends before I could finally sit down and work on the new project *checks watch* 4 days before Christmas. Oh joy!

Welp!! I can't waste time any longer, and I have to start putting graphics up together for the next installment in my pin journey. If you haven't seen the last update, this is going to be the last reminder about...

> Subscribe here to get notified on launch.

I will be making pins of insects during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras, and boys, I've just finished doing the first half of my research. They're weird. Kinda familiar, but there's just something off about these old-world insects.

Now I am planning to make bug from each sub era, and have a bunch of polls for community choice designs because I'm indecisive.

ALSO! I will be making socks B) As a special item. I always wanted to make socks.

Before I open up Launch Party for the campagin and start releasing updates on progress, you guys get to see some sketches too as a little taste of what I will be offering!

Can anyone guess what these are? 👀

If you'd like more updates on the progress, then I will also be filming videos for my Tiktok and Instagram, as well as early snapshots on my Discord Server.

See you in the new project! And Happy Holidays to everyone!

Hi everyone! It seems like people are now starting to get their packages. Ones that are tracked seem to be arriving earlier than non-tracked ones which is usually the case.

I've had two of you contact me recently that you received a notice about paying customs, so I thought I'd give another update on how exactly this works.

You will receive an email from An Post (the Irish postal service) that you used for your order, about charges on a package from Jay (hi, that's me).
I have done my best to reduce the actual amount the import fee will cost, however admin fees (a fee An Post collects for the paperwork needed, warehouse rent, and paying workers fairly) are standardized and that's not something I have control over unfortunately!

If you do not pay the tariffs within 5 days then the package will be returned to me and if you want me to send it again then I will have to ask you to cover the shipping costs once again. 

Hope this helps some people be more informed on the situation!

Hello everyone! This is going to be the last update before the final one where all shipments will be completed.

I have finished grading the pins last week and am super happy to say that my manu pulled out all the stops and we have a VERY low quantity of B grades (and no C grades) yay!

Here's a little run down how I grade my pins...

B Grades are with:
- Any scratches
- Underfilled enamel
- Very visible stray glitter
- Small missed enamel spots
- Incorrectly cut metal (this happens in tight spaces sometimes)
- Visible bubbles in epoxy
- Tarnished metal/not properly coloured chrome metal
- Misaligned screenprint

A grades DO NOT include:
- Any mistakes on the back of the pin
- Small specks only visible if you're extremely close
- Dust particles in the epoxy coating

I want to raise the dust particles specifically because while it's not on every single pin ever, but it can be seen on a good few of the pins that are chrome or rainbow metal. The way these pins are made is by using soft enamel with an epoxy fill on top to make the pin smooth and high quality. However that means that it's prone to dust while it cures, and dust is near impossible to get rid of entirely when you're working with epoxy. So just keep that in mind when you open up your pins!

I also want to mention that the pearlescent enamel is actually pretty faint with its pearlescence. The pins which use dark pearl colours show up much better.

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Moving on! I am very slowly packing up mail. I fell ill last week after a crazy weekend and was only able to start going back to work around Friday.
Because the pins were delayed flying over to me as well, the fullfillment days have crisscrossed with preparations for a convention I'm vending at too. This week I will spend preparing for Dublin Comic Con, the biggest con in Ireland, and I'm still probably going to be heavily underprepared. If you're attending the convention come on by and say hi, I'll give you a trading card if you mention you're from the Backerkit :)
After this weekend, I'll be going full swing on shipping all your pins out and I will not rest until they're all flying in an airplane around the globe.

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Lastly! There is still a few of you who haven't filled your surveys and are having trouble with cards. If you aren't able to fix either or, then your pledge will be considered a donation.

See you next time!