I'm excited to be writing this update! :) All the designs are finished and handed off to my lovely vector artist. To start with, Advent:

✨ Advent ✨  She is the sorceress of the morning sun, walking past the darkness, she gathers the light to her to begin the new day. Like the glorious sunrise unfurling, her peacock familiars spread their wings, revealing all the beautiful patterns and colors of the new day. She gathers the glowing feathers of dawn, and like the first rays of morning light, she pushes the shadows back. Like a song breaking the silence, she is the advent of the new day and new beginnings. What joyous beginnings are dawning in your life? What new adventures are illuminating your horizons? What dreams are taking wing as you look into the future?

This sorceress turned out to be one of the most complex and difficult of the whole series, with all the feathery shapes - but I just followed where the design led me, and I really love how she turned out. I hope you all love how she turned out as well. I know there was more discussion about her design than the rest, and I did my very best to create something you would all love and I think she has come really far from her work-in-progress stage. She took a little more time and problem-solving than the other designs, but in the end I think it was worth it.

✨ Shimmer ✨ This sorceress drifts through the storms, lightning singing into the clouds, she twists as gentle as a jellyfish, as sharp as electricity. The delicate jellyfish is ephemeral and beautiful - a weightless haunt that calls us to swim into the currents, never mind the tender stings. What soft storms will you dance into? The electricity sings in the dark, but above the clouds part and the moon shines. In this fragile dance between each tendril of risk, we rise into the swirling storms, with caution thrown to the wind. Shimmer reminds us not to neglect our shadows, and that some risks, some demons, are worth dancing with.

And to wrap up the series, I circled back to the beginning to Shimmer - which as I mentioned had just felt a little less elegant and graceful than the others. I think because she was the first in the series, I hadn't found the natural rhythm of the shape language and line style I wanted with the series yet and so she was a little more stiff than the other designs. But when I went back into her design at the end, she felt much more natural to work on and I love how weightless and elegant her design feels now with the final pass. I hope you guys love how she turned out and how all the designs fit together!

And for those of you who would like to see all the finished designs together - here is the whole collection! :) Finished except for any tiny changes my vector artist may need to make to account for the pin-making process itself.

Now that these designs are all finished and handed off to my vector artist - that leaves one design left for me to finish - the patch design. :) I'm excited to get to work on finishing that up while the vectors are being worked on - and I will share an update with you for that when I finish the design as well. Otherwise though, on the art side of things I am all caught up! :)

I'll update you guys on progress as I begin the manufacturing process, and fingers crossed, everything will be smooth sailing as we go. Because I purposefully avoided any difficult features (like UV printing, or cords and tassels) I'm very hopeful that this process will go quick and painless lol.

Thank you as always for your kindness and patience as I finished up the designs and I hope you love how they all turned out! 🖤 Talk soon! 🖤

A much quicker turnaround on this update :) but I wanted to share a quick little update. I finished another one of the designs! Illumination (homing beacon) has always been one of my very favorite paintings from this series, and I'm so happy with how her pin design turned out. I hope you love how she turned out as well!

✨ Illumination ✨ also called 'Homing Beacon' - as this sorceress reminds us that home is not a place, but a light we carry within us that calls our kin home to us. With this light, we find our family, and wherever we go, we are home. Take care to nurture and feed your light and warmth as it is a source of life to those you love as well. Like the loyal and social fox, her pack is numbered and tight-knit. Together they face the storms and share in joy, carrying the warmth of the den in their companionship. All members of her pack care for the young and injured, and she reminds us to pull close to us those we love and those who need us. She gleams a signal to us through the mist and rain, to share our warmth and light, and to gather to you your pack.

With Illumination finished, that just leaves two left - Shimmer and Advent :) which I hope to have finished and ready for updates of their own soon as well.

I also wanted to take a moment and just say thank you so much to all of you for the incredibly kind and thoughtful messages and comments to my last update 🖤 It means so much to me and I feel so lucky to have such kind and understanding backers. The last few months have been very difficult, and it was such a huge weight off my chest to read all the kind words and feel that everything is going to be ok. My biggest fear is letting people down, and the grace you all shared with me gave me so much peace. Thank you so much 🖤 I am on the mend, the surgery healed super well, and things are returning to normal a little. 

Oh, and a small note on pin progress - since my wonderful vector artist has already finished a few of the vectors, I was thinking of going ahead and ordering one or two designs, instead of waiting for the whole batch to finish. Since my last pin manufacturer has been such a nightmare to work with (and I'm still fighting to finish the order), I think that it might be less stressful and safer to try a new manufacturer with just one design and see how it goes. That way I can test if they are a good fit before sending them tens of thousands of dollars and being trapped working with them. And on the plus side - we get to see how a few turn out a little faster :) I think I will start with the Astronomer. 

Ok -  I really meant to keep this short lol so going to run for now! 🖤 Thank you again, everyone 🖤 love you guys and I'll have another update soon!