Hello again, Shroomie gang! Hope you've all been well :)

You may have noticed that surveys have not locked yet, and that cards have not been charged. This was intentional, despite the previous update giving a specific lock/charge date, BECAUSE: I wanted to give you all a chance to check out and snag this brand-new pin design that's getting added to the collection:

We can all thank a super wonderful backer, Starbask, for pledging for a custom pin tier and coming up with such an adorable concept! Fun fact: the four cats tucked into the scenery here are based off of this backer's real-life kitties, two of which love to climb while the other two are content to flop and chill on the ground :) The big pink tree is also based off of their favorite real-life crab apple tree that's filled with childhood memories. It was so special getting to personalize a design like this, and I hope you all love the new pin as much as we do!

This design is not only packed with a large amount of color layers, but it'll match the bigger jar scenery pins in size at 2 inches. It'll also be hard enamel with double back posts and my engraved logo on the backside. Unlike the other jar pins though, this design will shimmer brightly in a rich rose gold plating to really bring out and complement the vibrant colors of this little garden. 

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.

✨ You can also quickly access your survey by having a direct link emailed to you here: Shroomie Shoppe - Reward Survey

👉 EDIT: The "Cat Cottage Garden" pin is also available as a pin selection choice in the main survey questions, so you can either select it as one of the pins that you pledged for, or grab it as an additional pin in the Add-Ons section!

Since this final pin just now got finished, I'm of course extending the close-off date for orders, and won't be locking them down or charging cards until April 17, 2025. This gives 2 more weeks for you all to make any edits to your orders and get your payment method ready for charge.

Don't worry too much though, even if you find yourself wanting to add something else to your pledge further down the road, there's always the Shroomie Shoppe - Pre-Order Store, which if you use, I can easily combine that order with your main campaign pledge (and I'll manually refund the shipping cost on any Pre-Order store purchases so that you're not paying for shipping twice)!

I've been super excited to share the new plushie updates with you all :) Especially since the big blue shroom is getting a sweet upgrade! In my initial sample, the bottom of the mushroom had a flat piece of carboard, cut to the shape of the design, in order to let it sit flat and stand up on its own. However, after having the sample in person for a short while, I noticed that the bottom board easily got bent and distorted, which made the plushie not stand very well on its own anymore. More importantly though, this stiff sheet of cardboard made the overall plushie really ... non-cuddle-able. The big fluffy mushroom cap at the top is SO ridiculously fun to squish, hug and snuggle with, but I couldn't ever comfortably snuggle with the whole plush due to that obnoxious board layer at the bottom.

Never fear though, a solution has been found! I've been working closely with my plush manufacturer over the past month, brainstorming different ideas. We ended up adding a layer of beads just to the bottom of the mushroom, so it'll be slightly weighted now (just under 1 pound)! This not only lets our Shroomie friend sit flat like in the design, but it now stands securely, tall and proud on its own now that it's no longer top-heavy.

Check out this clip from the factory (I WISH I could upload a video here instead of a GIF so you could hear the satisfying smack sound of those weighted beads hitting the table 😆):

This plushie is going to be SO great in person, guys. I truly cannot wait for us all to get to squish our fuzzy lil new mushroom friends in-hand!

And speaking of lil fungi — here's the latest on the Mini Mushroom Plushie:

As you can see, the image quality isn't the best 😅, but I'm really pleased with the larger mushroom cap, darker face and embroidered lines under the cap, and the addition of blush! We also shrunk the legs a bit to make them fit that signature stubby Shroomie look, AND ... a small loop has been added to the top of the cap, so you guys are now free to add your own keychain attachment!

The biggest thing of course, is still the color of this mushroom. Personally, I'm actually digging the look of this vibrant red on the current sample, but we agree that it doesn't match the original artwork. So, we've been discussing other color swatches, and found a new fabric color to test that should fit the deeper burgundy color of the art much better. We're going to try a new sample using the G81 fabric (you can see a sliver of it in the top left of the pics above) and see how it compares to the G55 color previously used. Stay tuned!

❓ Even though this Mini Mushroom Plushie is currently a bit of a brighter red than the artwork, what do you think of the color? Do you still like it, or do you only want to see the plushie in a deeper burgundy palette?

All of the Shroomie Shoppe pin designs have already long-been approved and are ready for production :)👍 Now that this final new pin (Cat Cottage Garden) is complete and sent off to the factory, everything will officially begin! I would've liked to have the production process started sooner, but with a crazy busy life schedule right now, it took me a bit longer to finalize and confirm all of the pantone colors + more recently, design and complete the new cottage pin. But the ball is rolling now, and I'm really stoked to receive and share production process pics as they come in!

Stickers have also been ordered, and should be the first finished items that we see, since they're much quicker to produce than our other items.

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I'm here to help and answer questions if you need any assistance with your orders / surveys! Take care, and stay shroomy 💪🍄