Hi there fellow fungi friends! March is upon us (can you believe it?!), and with the new month, your Reward Surveys have sprung up as well ;) I'm SO thrilled to see that over half of you have already submitted (way to go, and THANKS so much for being incredible)!! 

✦ BackerKit calls it a "survey", but it's more like a shopping form where you confirm your pledge tier, shipping address and get another chance to shop all the campaign's add-on goodies (as well as all of my previous merch). 👀👍

✦ Your order can only be shipped to you if you've submitted your Reward Survey! That's why it's so important that you fill this out and complete it as soon as possible, so that I have an accurate count of how many pins / plushies / stickers to order from my manufacturers. Thank you in advance for your submitting yours ASAP!

 

✦ In the Reward Survey, you can also cast your vote for what kind of future project(s) you'd like to see from me :) It's thanks to everyone's votes during my last project that we got tiny jar pins + more Shroomies!

✦ I'm keeping surveys open for about 3 weeks, so orders will lock and any remaining balances will be charged on March 31/April 1.

✦ If you're a backer who used the "Pay Over Time" option, then your survey will automatically send only after your pledge balance has been paid in full. This will either be 4 months (4 payments) after the campaign's end, or as soon as all 4 payments have been made (if you choose to pay the full remaining balance early). Note: your survey is on a different timeline than everyone else's, due to the nature of pay-over-time. So please don't worry about your pledge getting locked early—the March 31 lock will be for all non-pay-over-time backer surveys that are completed. Rest assured, your survey will still come, will have full access to everything, and will have some time after completion before it locks. 

✧ Your Reward Survey has automatically been sent to your email inbox. If you don't see it, be sure to check the spam folder. If for some reason you still can't find it / don't have it, there are 2 other ways you can access it:

1️⃣: Log into BackerKit > click your profile icon in the top right corner > click "Your Pledges & Surveys" > at the top, navigate to "Your Surveys" > find and click "Shroomie Shoppe" from the list

2️⃣: Use the link here to have the survey re-sent to your email: Shroomie Shoppe - Reward Survey

If you missed the live campaign and want a chance to grab any of the Shroomies and shiny goods from this project, now's your time! This Pre-Order shop has everything that the live project did (at the same campaign prices) + all of my previous pins & stickers that are still in stock and ready for a loving home :)

👉 Shroomie Shoppe - Pre-Order Store 👈

Note: if you're already a backer and have a Reward Survey, there's no need to use the Pre-Order store, since you have access to the same shop-front within your survey. But you can share the link with family & friends, since it's there for anyone who hasn't ordered yet. 😉
Also, after surveys lock, if you decide later on that you want to grab anything else, then feel free to use this Pre-Order shop, and I'd be happy to combine your orders for shipping.

Alright, I saved the best part for last ... 👀 Our first-look at the mini Shroomie plush just came in, and now I get to share it with you all and bask in its cuteness together!

Please note: the very first sample of a plushie design is always more like a rough draft, VS how the final will be. I've already submitted edit notes on this design so that it'll better match the original artwork. So, no need to worry if you feel like it looks a little off. I'm already on it! 💪🍄

Several little details are being adjusted, but the biggest thing will be making the mushroom cap much wider.

Look how silly and squishable our little guy is though! I'm so stoked for this one to go through production, and really really grateful that you guys voted for this design and made it possible 😂💖

Thank you for following along and for being a part of this shroomy journey! Please feel free to reach out any time if you have questions, or just drop a comment for fun. I absolutely love reading and responding to comments here, and especially value your guys' thoughts on the items we're making.

❓ Question for fun: do you have a favorite type of mushroom, and how do you like to enjoy them (foraging, photography, cook with, etc.)?

My dad and I would often find wild mushrooms growing in the yard outside, and would put 'em in a vase / bowl to enjoy like a bouquet of flowers until they'd wilt 😂

Until next time!

Hey Shroomie gang!

I wanted to give your inboxes a week to cool down from the flood of Pintopia emails, so hopefully this update reaches you easily now and finds you well~
But wowie. I just need to take a moment to acknowledge what an absolutely incredible ride Pintopia 2025 was. This event broke numerous records across the board, which is huge for crowdfunding! We should be super proud of what's collectively been accomplished here and what we're all a part of :) I mean, look at this!

You guys absolutely busted through expectations for my own campaign as well, and set a HUGE new record! THANK YOU so very much for this immense support. 😭💖 It seriously means the world to see so many familiar names keep coming back to my projects as well as welcoming in waves of new backers! Whether this is the first campaign of mine you've supported, or you're a 2nd, 3rd or 6th time return, you have all of my deepest gratitude and appreciation for being here. None of this could happen without you :')
 

Thank you too for all the amazing backer trains that occurred throughout the live campaign! I captured this super fun train ride on day 1 while you guys were smashing through every last stretch goal 😆:

We had a nice run of about 15 min in Overtime Mode too at the end of Pintopia! 🔥 Not quite like last year's insane 3+ hour Overtime Mode backer train extravaganza 😂, but I was honored to pass the train conductor's hat off to Arledge Comics, who got to experience the glory this time around. All in all, an unforgettable experience once again, and I can't express enough how excited I am to now bring all of these Shroomie goodies to life, thanks to you!

So what happens next? Updates will come a bit slower from here on out, but rest assured, lots will be happening behind the scenes now, as items begin moving into production! I need your help on a few things first though:

🍄 Payment — You may have already seen an automated email that your payment method has been charged for your pledge to this project. If, however, you received any kind of error notifications for a failed payment, it's absolutely imperative to get this fixed as soon as possible, otherwise your pledge will be forfeited and I won't be able to ship any of your rewards to you. Don't let your Shroomies get abandoned! Please see Backerkit's Help Article on how you can fix payment errors (and reach out if you need further assistance).

🍄 Pay-Over-Time Backers — If your pledge was over $150 and you opted for the "pay over time" option, please remember that all 4 payments must be paid in full in order to receive your post-campaign Reward Survey and have your item(s) shipped to you. Also, any partial payments made are not eligible for a refund. I appreciate you guys staying on top of this and making sure all of your payments go through in time so that your Shroomies can make it to their loving new homes :)

🍄 Reward Surveys — Keep an eye on your email inbox, because within the next few weeks, you'll receive a notification to fill out your Reward Survey for this project :) This is another absolute-must, because this is where you'll get to select which pin design(s) you want, confirm any add-on items, enter your shipping info, and grab any other items that you may have missed or decided that you wanted after all! Without a completed reward survey, I will not be able to ship your pledge out to you, so thank you in advance for filling this out as soon as you get it 👍

As per the last update announcement, we have not one, but THREE new freebie pins that got added to this project. They were still just sketches last I talked to you, but now I'm thrilled to reveal the completed designs. Here are our adorable new Shroomie friends, and how you can qualify to receive each of them:

Thanks to some great comment requests, I worked in the colors of our top plushie color options into each of these freebie pins. I hope you enjoy them and love 'em even more in person :)

Note: you'll still have a chance to increase your pledge total if you'd like to get these new guys during the Reward Survey. So don't worry, you haven't missed out on them yet!

And with that, I'll leave you with this adorable image that my friend sent me in regard to all the lil Shroomies and their jar hoarding obsession 😂:

Shroomies really are just tiny dragon hoarders hahaha.
I can't judge. I 100% have several drawers of empty jars that I collect too. 😂 How 'bout you?

Thanks again for being a part of this project! Out of all the pin designs, plushies and other shroomy merch, which item(s) are you most excited to see and receive?! 👇 Let me know in the comments below! 👇

Until next update,

Oh my goodness grape juice, as I started to type this update, the campaign just hit the $20k funding mark!! WOW. I'm absolutely speechless. THANK YOU so much, each and every one of you who have backed to make this shroomy dream a reality :') 

I am so immensely stoked to begin production on all of our Shroomie friends! The mini plushie sample is underway, with the big plushie sample ready for full production. And I'm currently finalizing Pantone colors on each of the pins and getting the final files ready for manufacturing. It's an exciting time, and I can't wait to share process pictures with you down the road!

Thanks once again to all of your votes, we have a new pin design added to the campaign! This was definitely a tough choice and another close call, but BEHOLD: the free mini mushroom pin that will go to everyone who backs this project at any pledge tier!

Woohooo! 🙌 Great choice, y'all. I'm now deciding colors for this pin, and would love to know if you have any particular color(s) that you really want to see on this design. 👇 Let me know in the comments below! 👇

Alright, because this vote was pretty darn close, and because I really want to share the pin love and all my thanks to you for making this project a huge success ... I decided to move forward with ALL 3 pin designs above and make 3 different tiers of FREEBIES! Our first place winner will be given out to everyone, while the 2nd and 3rd place winners will be additional freebies when your pledge meets/exceeds certain $ totals. Check out all of the loot this campaign now has to offer below:

✨ Check out Critters Collective if you haven't yet!

👉 Note: all freebie rewards are tracked with your pledge. They will automatically be applied to your cart during the post-campaign survey.

And with that, I give you all my immense, heartfelt thanks again. 😭💖 These last remaining hours of Pintopia are a thrilling and wild ride, and I'm so happy you're here to be a part of it! Let's finish strong, Shroomie gang!!