I wanted to post a progress report update for everyone :)

Surveys: The surveys have gone very smoothly (and there are only a few left that aren't filled in yet). I plan to leave them open for now until I am much closer to having everything in hand to ship. I will be sure to let you guys know when we get close to that point - and when the pins & bookcharms are getting ready to be shipped to me I will let you guys know and likely lock the orders then.

Samples: As of now, the samples are actively being made by the manufacturer. They will ship them to me, so I will have photos to share of those once they are in hand. Getting physical samples mailed to me adds cost and time to the project, but I really want to make sure they are as nice as possible for you guys before having them go ahead and make thousands of them. And photos just don't seem as reliable.

Tassel Woes: However, I got an email from my manufacturer this week that is a pretty frustrating complication! They just informed me that they are no longer able to make them with matching cords and tassels. I am super frustrated with this news - as they have said since April that they could. And since I've already sent them thousands of dollars for molds and samples, I'm already too far down the path with them to turn around and start over with another company. For the cords, they sent me menus with several good options per design and I was able to find exactly what color I wanted for each design. However, for the tassels, they sent me a menu that has about 20 colors to choose from and none of the colors are the same as the cord options. 

So right now, I am left with two options:

Even though it is a more expensive and time-consuming option, I am starting with the second option. I've already reached out to several companies and contacts to see what I can find. This is definitely adding a ton of stress, time, and cost to the production - but I really want to do everything I can to make these as nice as possible. It's been a very frustrating week for sure with this news - and I can't believe that they didn't tell me until now that they couldn't do the thing we agreed on since the spring. But I am trying to just keep pushing through and finding solutions.

I wanted to let you guys know about this obstacle to keep you informed of what is going on behind the scenes. But also wanted to let you know that I am on it, and working as hard as I can to make these as nice as possible.

Flora & Feather Puzzles: And, on a different note, I also wanted to add a note here that the surveys for the puzzle Kickstarter are also starting to go out today :) I sent out the first smoke test surveys for the puzzles and the rest will hopefully go out in the next few days. So if you backed that campaign as well, be sure to keep an eye out for those!

A bit of a tangent, but I also ended up with troublesome news from the puzzle manufacturers this week as well. Unfortunately, about 20% of the puzzle boxes were smashed in shipping to me and the manufacturer has refused to replace them. I still have plenty to fulfill the campaign but, there is definitely not nearly as much left over to sell once the campaign ends. This has been a very stressful week as far as emails from manufacturers go!

Puzzle Pre-Orders: But also, if you didn't back the matching puzzle campaign, and were thinking of getting some puzzles later - I have set up the pre-order store for the puzzles so you can order them if you like while I still have some.

I am not sure how long the extras will last or when I will be able to make more since I need to find a new puzzle manufacturer now. Its such a shame since the puzzles came out so beautiful that I was really excited to get a bunch more made with them. But the customer service is so bad that I can't trust ordering from them again. But in the meantime, I do have some extras if you would like to order them on the pre-order store: https://flora-and-feather---jigsaw-puzzles.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders


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TLDR: pin and bookcharm samples are being made and will be shipped soon, but unfortunately, the manufacturer can't match the tassel colors to the cords so I am trying to find some good solutions to this, and lastly, the Flora & Feather puzzle pre-order store is open if you missed that campaign.

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✨ Thank you so much for your patience with me as I work on getting these made as best I can! 💖✨ It's been a very tough week, but I am just keeping my eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel, which is sending beautiful shinies to you guys! ✨