Hey wanted to send a quick update to you guys as I work on refining these UV print layers. We've made good progress on eliminating the black blotchiness that is showing up in some of the dark areas. I'm hoping to be able to get the physical print samples ordered in the next few weeks. 

As I mentioned in my last update, I am going to go ahead and lock and charge the surveys that are completed. This will help me make sure I have the final counts right and hopefully get everything lined up to go as smoothly and quickly as possible once we reach the next few stages. I just wanted to make sure to give you guys another heads-up, in case anyone missed it in the last update (as that one was a little long) :) 

And for those of you who haven't completed your surveys yet - not to worry I will still make sure you have a chance to but if you get a sec, it would be very helpful if you went ahead and filled yours out. I also wanted to let you guys know that though I am still planning to keep all the designs in stock in the future, as I said I would, I've decided I will only keep the gold metal going forward as it is too complicated to keep the alternate metals in stock as well, esp with the charms needing matching cords and tassels. So all that to say - the silver and black metal versions are instead going to be a limited edition to only this one print run. So if you had hopes on getting any of them in silver or black metal, to be sure to get them while you can, as once they run out, I will not be able to restock them. 

Thanks again everyone for your kind patience as I work on making sure these turn out as beautiful as possible and overcoming the unexpected obstacles this project had and supporting these creations <3 This project has been so much more complicated than I anticipated, (I had no idea that UV printing was as challenging and time-consuming to get right as it is) but I've been learning a lot along the way and I'm really excited to see these start turning into the beautiful treasures I hoped they would be to send to all of you. And of course, I will keep on keeping you guys updated :) love you guys! <3 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and got to spend time with your loved ones <3 I wanted to drop in and give you guys some new updates :)

This collection of pins and charms turned out to be far more difficult and troublesome than my Egyptian one - but - we are making slow and steady progress forward! Thank you so much for being patient with me as I work to make sure these turn out as nice as we hoped they would.

Cords and Tassels -- So first update - we have finally found a manufacturer willing to make custom cords and tassels for the bookcharms where the colors will match perfectly. This was so important ot me, since the colors are such a foundational part of this series that I wanted to do everything I could to make sure that the cords and tassels matched each other. It was so difficult to find a manufacturer willing to do this and most wouldn't take the order unless I ordered 10,000 per color when I only needed 600 of each color. But with some help, we finally found a company willing to work with us and fit all our color needs - including the three different metal colors as well (gold silver and black). The style of cord and tassel is different than from my last collection, but I actually like these more for this series, than what I had originally planned, as they look softer and more feathery :)

This was the photo they sent us showing the style, but it will be in the proper colors of pink and blue and green that matches the charm designs :) I am so excited and relieved to have found a company willing to make these for us. Unfortunately, it does add several thousand dollars to the cost of making these, but I have enough savings to cover it and I think it will be worth it to have the charms be as nice as possible. I hope you guys like them as well!

UV Printing Samples -- The other thing that has slowed us down a lot on the production of these pins is the UV printing. I had no idea it would add so much complication and difficulty - esp with 24 designs that each have to be fixed one by one. But despite that, I still think it will be worth it in the end when these look how we want them to - but I definitely will be much more cautious about adding UV printing to such a large project again in the future. 😅 But I wanted to share some photos of how the pins and charms are turning out so far with the UV printing so you can see where we are in the process.

From the photos you can see that some are printing so nicely now (like the Iris set) while others still need a lot of work to fix (like the barn owl set or indigo dragon). It seems that the colors do not print true to the digital files at all.  Darker areas have consistently printed large dark spots that I have to keep lightening and softening until they look like the proper soft shading they are meant to. And the lighter colors and highlights seem to disappear completely and I have to keep lightening and brightening them until they show up on the enamel. SO it has been a very finicky process to correct. Add to that, there is the language barrier and the manufacturer has not been able to give me any explanation or advice as to why they are printing this way, and so I have to shoot in the dark, adjusting my file, hoping the changes will move it closer to the effect and color I was trying to achieve and then waiting for them to remake the sample and photograph it for me to see if my changes worked. I honestly have no idea how long this process will take to get all 25 just right - but I wanted you guys to know that I am hard at work on it over these weeks and months, and that I will eventually have beautiful pins and charms to send to you!

And honestly, I am so thankful for how patient everyone has been - I get so anxious about letting anyone down or upsetting everyone after putting trust in me to make something beautiful. And so it means a lot to have had such a kind and patient response from so many as I keep working on these until they are beautiful <3 And despite how long it is taking, I am excited about how these are turning out and I'm able to see the light on the horizon of these turning into the beautiful pieces we hoped they would.

As we get closer to the UV layers being cleaned up and fixed, I hope that I will be able to get the final samples shipped to me in just a few weeks so we can go ahead and get started on final production. (Fingers crossed!) So I will go ahead and lock orders on the survey in a week or two to make sure all the final counts are within margins.

Alternate Metal Colors -- I also wanted to add, that I decided the alternate metal colors are only going to be available from this print run and once I sell out of them, I will only keep the gold in stock.  So each silver or black metal pin/charm is a limited edition to just this one print run and once I sell out of them I won't be restocking them in that color metal again. If you were hoping to get any other pins or charms in the alternate color metals, I wanted to give you a little warning that they will only be available til they sell out of each design so you can still add them in your surveys if you, like before I lock the surveys. 

Thank you again everyone <3 I'm glad to be able to share good news about the tassels and share some updates on where we are at with the UV printing. We're not quite across the finish line yet, but we are getting there :) slow and steady. I hope it was fun to see the UV samples (even if some of them still need a bit of love and care to get them looking pretty lol) And I hope to have some more good updates for you guys soon! <3