✨ I wanted to have this FAQ section specifically to discuss the progress on 2024's Pintopia campaign - Flora & Feather - to ensure everything was super transparent and clear - and to alleviate any concerns. I'm still hard at work finishing the pins and charms from this campaign - as I ran into significant delays with the manufacturer, especially once we reached the UV printing step. But I wanted to reassure everyone that they will be delivered despite the delays, and be as high quality as all my other campaigns. ✨ I also wanted to clarify that working on this new Pintopia campaign will not delay my Flora & Feather fulfillment at all. Because so much of the delay is due to waiting on the manufacturer, most days there is nothing I can do to make progress on the project until the manufacturer emails me and I respond, then go back to waiting to hear from them again. So working on this campaign in the meantime will not negatively affect the fulfillment of my previous campaign at all, which I hope helps put some minds at ease. ✨✨That is the short version :) but if you would like to read more about the specifics - see below✨✨ The pin manufacturer I am working with for my Flora & Feather pins turned out to be more difficult to work with than any other I've previously worked with - but I'm pushing through despite the difficulties and am determined to ensure the pins & charms are beautiful, even if they delayed. I am sad to make everyone wait longer than expected for these pins and charms, but I always think it is more important that they turn out as nice as possible rather than as fast. So I am working hard to make sure I get everything right, even if it is taking much longer to do so. I wanted to include this section that explains some of the delaying challenges to help show that I am working as hard as possible on the Flora & Feather pins. Some of the difficulties we have run into are communication - due to them not understanding English well and not answering questions or addressing problems even after dozens of emails, which has slowed us down by months, just trying to email back and forth repeatedly. There was also a several-week period in December in which they stopped responding altogether. I actually began looking for a new manufacturer thinking that they had stolen thousands of dollars in mold and sample fees and then ghosted me. Only after repeated attempts to contact them through various platforms, did someone finally answer me and inform me that the rep I had been working with left the company. I have no idea why no one followed up with me after she left or why they would not answer me despite being thousands of dollars into the manufacturing process - but as of last week, they have resumed emails with me again - though the english is much worse than before. Another manufacturing hurdle we ran into was that they had said they could provide matching cords and tassels for the bookcharms, and only after I had spent thousands of dollars on the molds and samples did they inform me that they couldn't actually supply matching colors. And so I had to find another manufacturer to source those pieces separately. Though as it stands, they are still trying to charge me as though they are still supplying the cords and tassels, so that is another issue I am contending with. And the largest, most difficult challenge we have run into was the UV printing. The UV printing they have down on the samples did not turn out well at all and the darks all just became black spots rather than a soft gradient and the light colors weren't showing up at all. I have been working to fix the UV layers, but they have given me no explanation as to why the print version looks so different from the file, and so I am having to trial and error fix each design myself one at a time - and then wait weeks to get an updated sample photo from them to see how my changes turned out. So we are making progress - however frustratingly and slowly. The molds did turn out beautiful though and the pins before the UV printing is added look gorgeous. So once we can actually get the UV printing figured out, I know that these will be beautiful. I also imagine that once I figure out how to get a few of the UV print files to turn out properly, it will be easier for me to know how to fix all the rest of them. I don't normally like to share anything negative online or want anyone to feel like I am complaining - but I also wanted to be sure to keep everyone as up to date and informed on what is happening as possible - so they know that they can trust me to send them the beautiful treasure I promised 🖤 I hope this peek behind the curtain has been helpful for that!