Hey hey, fungi friends! 👋🍄 Hope this summer has been treating you well so far. Just dropping in to give you a short and sweet little update:
📦 Mini Shroomie Plushies:
These guys are the last remaining product that we've been waiting on, and after a long production period, I'm happy to report that they're all packed up from the factory and finally in transit to me! Look at this adorable picture from the manufacturer of all those squishy lil Shroomies stuffed in together:
They're on their way!! 💪🍄🍄🍄 Once I have all of the plushies in-hand, you best believe I'll be taking some fun photos of the full plushie batches together as well as some adorable glam shots.
✨ Note: You may notice that these little guys don't have the blush cheeks on them. In fact, the large blue plushies don't either at the moment, aside from a few individual samples. Due to some production complications with getting the blush color right, my manufacturer and I decided that I will be manually adding the blush to each plushie myself, so that I can get the color and size of the blush circles exactly how I like. This back-and-forth did slow down our production time a bit, but ultimately I think it's best that they didn't handle the blush application, since the blush colors in the sample photos I was getting always looked faded or oddly sized, and they couldn't seem to get it just right. Thus, I don't mind applying the blush to all the plushies myself to secure the quality and integrity of the design—please just understand that this will add a little bit of time on my end before I ship them to you. But it'll be worth the wait!
💳 Charging Cards:
Now that the last items have finished production and as I prepare to start shipping all of your individual orders, your payment methods will be charged in the next few days. All outstanding balances (shipping, add-ons, etc.) are due at this time, and you should see an automated email or two regarding your payment between now and Monday 7/21.
❗ Important: If your payment bounces back with any kind of error, it's critical to fix the issue(s) ASAP, otherwise I won't be able to ship your order out to you. Please see 👉 BackerKit's FAQ on Failed Payments 👈 or reach out to me if you need any help!
🏠 Shipping Addresses Locking:
Shortly after your payments process, all shipping addresses will be locked down, so now's the time to make any edits and double-check that your mailing address listed is correct. For context, I plan to ship all orders during August and September. If for some reason your address is going to change during that time, please reach out to me here ( [email protected] ) and let me know of your address update.
👉 How to Check / Edit your Order:
Simply log into BackerKit > click your profile icon in the top right corner > click "Your Pledges & Surveys" > find and click "Shroomie Shoppe" from the list > then find the "Edit payment or address" link in the top right.
As requested, here's a quick updated visual of the "Cat Cottage Garden" pin. I previously mentioned that we didn't end up editing any of the enamel colors during production, since it ended up looking true to the art in better lighting. It's still hard to capture on camera, but I promise it looks gorgeous in person!
I'll definitely still be taking more fun photos throughout the shipping process, but high-quality product shots will also come once I get ready to add this collection to my online store (usually after all of your orders have gone out, since it's just me working all the online stuff). Stay tuned though ~
That's all for now :) I appreciate each of you so much, as well as your patience and enthusiasm for this project!
Feel free to share the links below to anyone who may also enjoy our Shroomie friends, and I look forward to talking with you again soon.
I've been swamped lately and took a bit longer than intended pushing out this update, but I'm excited to once again share fresh new pics of the remaining finished pins 😆🙌 Check out all these shiny lil Shroomies!
Do you have a new favorite?! 🤩
🍄 Mushroom Plushie 🍄
By golly, were the polls insanely close once again, but a final decision has been made! In case you haven't already looked at the poll results on your own, here's our official winner:
Thank you to everyone who participated in the multiple rounds of deciding fabric color for this little guy! 😅 It really was a neck-and-neck race, but ultimately, I'm happy that we stuck with the color of the original design / artwork and kept with the initial vision. The bright red is super classic and fun, and if I do a second production run of this mini Shroomie in the future, I'll likely produce the brighter version next :) For now though, I hope you all enjoy the deep rich burgundy (that will also match the freebie holo sticker that comes with the plushie), and cherish your squishy new shroom friend for years to come!
📦 Production / Shipping Update 📦
✦ Plushies: All of the blue Shroomie plushies have successfully finished production and have been completed for a little while. We're just waiting for the mini burgundy Shroomie plushies to finish so that everything can ship together. 👍 I confirmed the final fabric color for the mini plushie as soon as the last vote closed, so their production has already been well underway by now, and shouldn't take much longer to wrap up. Once these little guys are done, then all of the plushies will make their voyage to my doorstep and get ready for order fulfillment :)
✦ Enamel Pins: All enamel pins are finished—woohoooo!! And since I was a bit slow in posting this update, I actually get to report that not only are the pins done, but they just showed up in the mail yesterday and are all safe and sound with me now! 🎉 They look even better in person too. I truly cannot wait for each of you to hold your shiny new Shroomies in-hand soon.
With everything else ready to go (stickers, shipping material, etc.), it's just a matter of waiting on the plushies to arrive, and then order fulfilment will begin! I'll of course send another update or two before your orders start getting packed up, as we'll need to finalize / lock down shipping addresses and charge cards for all outstanding balances. I'll wait until we get just a little bit closer before pushing out the address lock and payment charge, but if you'd like to stay on top of things and be an extra-awesome person, please double check your shipping address and linked payment method now, and kindly ensure that everything is correct and good to go.
👉 How to Check / Edit your Order:
Simply log into BackerKit > click your profile icon in the top right corner > click "Your Pledges & Surveys" > find and click "Shroomie Shoppe" from the list > then find the "Edit payment or address" link in the top right.
Short & sweet good news: Both of my manufacturers have been gracious enough to cover the tariff fees, so I'm happy to say that we'll be unaffected by extra tariff costs :) What a huge relief!
⭐ Backing Cards for Pins? ⭐
To conclude this update, I have a question and new poll for you all: do you want backing cards for the enamel pins? I've always hand-packed every single pin on a card back, mostly because I love pretty packaging and have always adored the extra presentation that card backs give to pins. However, it is a HUGE time consumer to unwrap and pierce every individual pin. And admittedly, the extra packaging does feel pretty wasteful, since I know most people likely don't keep the cards.
So I'd like to know from you guys, is having your pins packaged on cards backs an important factor for you? Or would it be all the same if they were delivered in their default plastic bags from the manufacturer?
👇 Vote below: 👇
We're getting closer and closer to fulfilment every day now! Which item(s) are you most excited to receive in the mail? 🤩
Thank you a MILLION times over again for your continued support and for following along through the process. I look forward to updating you again when the plushies come in :)
Thank you all so much for your votes on the last poll :) It was an incredibly close call, but the scales were tipped slightly in favor of the burgundy Mini Shroomie Plushie (original art color). I just received the two mini plush samples in the mail so that I could compare them in person too, and I wanted to share some more pictures & videos of all the plushie samples together. Some of you brought up good points on which mini plushie would look best next to the big blue Shroomie, so here's sort of a final round comparison / vote:
Here's some fresh new side-by-size comparison pics of the plushies as well: (TIP: If you don't see the GIF below while viewing in email, click the link to this update at the top to view the full message in a new tab.)
Dark burgundy mini plush & bright red mini plush
Dark burgundy mini plush & big blue plush
Bright red mini plush & big blue plush
Dark burgundy mini plush & bright red mini plush
All three Shroomies together!
All three Shroomies together!
Final Vote:
So, now that we can see all three together (and since the polls have been so dang close), I wanted to give everyone one last chance to confirm their choice on the mini plushie color. Do you still like your original pick, or has this swayed you to the other color?
Since the winner was previously the burgundy mini plushie, I'm going to assume that's the color we're moving forward with, unless everyone mass jumps ships over to the red shroom this time 😂
👇 Vote Below (at the end of the update)! 👇
✨ Enamel Pin Production Pics:
Usually I get more pictures of the pin process (molds, raw pins, etc.), but my pin manu has been so excited to make these and show the finished product, they just jumped straight to the final pins this time 😅 We've been working really closely together on color matching with the artwork, and I'm super pleased with how each of these designs are turning out so far! There have only been a few that I'm requesting slight tweaks on, which is great considering how many colors and how many different pins we're working with here. Please enjoy all these first looks at the Shroomie Shoppe pins that I've received pics of thus far:
(NOTE: Any that are marked *colors pending = pins that I'm requesting updated color(s) on, to better match the original artwork.)
Any pins that you don't see pictured above are still in the production process and I haven't received sample pictures of yet, but once they come in, I'll happily share them with you! 🤩 I hope you're a thrilled as I am to get these in-hand and add them to your shiny trinket collection ~
Until next update, please fill out yourShroomie Shoppe - Reward Survey if you haven't yet, and let me know in the comments below which pin(s) you're most excited to see and receive!
Thank you all for following along in the production process :) It's always SO fun to see everything progressively come to life, and I seriously love that I get to share the excitement with you guys as we go along.
Bonus update! 👀 I just got some fresh sample pictures in from my plushie manu with the BRAND NEW fabric sample color! We can now compare together the original red plushie to the updated burgundy version :) Sadly, we have to pick just one, so let me know in the poll / comments below which color you prefer:
Left: burgundy fabric (new) | Right: red fabric (old)
We did another test run with this burgundy fabric to try and match the original artwork closer, and I think we finally got it / got as close as the physical materials can get! If we go with this version, then it'll match the initial vision of the design, as well as the freebie holographic sticker that'll come with each plushie.
Or, we could go with the more classic look of a bright, vibrant red little mushroom friend, which will veer from the artwork a little bit, but still stand out in your collection.
What do you guys think?! I kinda love both 😅, so this is where I need your help deciding which version goes into full production. Everything about each sample is exactly the same, aside from the fabric colors. Note: the overall shapes will vary slightly between every plushie due to the nature of the item, but the mold / pattern is consistent between them.
A big shiny package full of gorgeous stickers arrived at my doorstep this week, and I'm thrilled to share the first look with you all! 🤩 Check out all of our new holographic stickers and sticker sheets from the Shroomie Shoppe project:
✦ All stickers are made of a high quality, waterproof / UV proof vinyl that's easy to peel, and lasts for ages!
✦ The individual stickers are all made from the same company that produced my previous holo stickers, so rest assured on the consistent quality.
✦ I also used this manufacturer for the sticker sheets above, which is a different producer than my last sticker sheets from the Shroomie Roomies project. These new sticker sheets are the same size as my previous ones, but the cardstock / vinyl is just a little bit thinner. However, the entire individual sticker borders are holographic on these new sheets, rather than having background artwork borders :)👍
I think they all turned out great, and I'm excited for you guys to bask in the super shiny glory once you get them in-hand too!
🔒 Orders Are Locking:
You should have all received an automated email from BackerKit about an automatic order lock for this project in 48hrs. That means you have the next 48hrs to make any last edits to your order (like if you decide to add on any of these lovely new stickers ✨), and then your carts will lock, meaning you won't be able to make any more edits after then.
If down the road, you do decide that you want to add on anything else, you can still use the Shroomie Shoppe - Pre-Order Store, and just notify me ([email protected]) with your order / pledge number to combine the shipping.
👉 How to Add to / Edit your Order:
Simply 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 > then find the "Edit Add-Ons" button at the bottom.
Orders are locking for quantity count purposes, but I'll be waiting until we're closer to shipping / order fulfillment before I charge your payment methods for the outstanding balances (shipping costs + any add-ons purchased). With the tariff situation continuously changing on a moment's notice, I'm choosing to be patient, and wait this out a bit before making any firm decisions on how to handle the looming tariff costs. Rest assured, I'll remain transparent with you guys and let you know how this project may be affected as things develop. I won't be cancelling anything, but there is a chance of needing to delay shipment until this all hopefully blows over. Hard to say anything for sure right now, but we'll navigate it together as it comes.
📝 Unsubmitted Reward Surveys:
There are still 9 backers with incomplete surveys, so if this is you, please take a few minutes to fill it out (Shroomie Shoppe - Reward Survey), as this will provide me with your pin selection(s) & shipping address, that are of course necessary to receive your order :)👍 Thanks SO much again to everyone who already submitted theirs so quickly!
Until next update, I hope you all stay safe, healthy and well! And as always, stay shroomy 🍄💖
