It's the nearing the end of the campaign! With just a few hours left I thought I'd make a final update with some new artwork for the Backer's Choice stretch goals, exciting news about a giant dragon pin, and some updated information for the upcoming Pledge Manager stage!
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Foxfire Kitsune 2nd Color Vote Results:
The results are in, and backer's chose the black and green color variant for the second kitsune colorway! As of this moment, only the deluxe pin artwork has been finalized, but the standard pin and mini pins will be taken to a finish in complimentary colors by the time the Pledge Manager arrives.
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Dragon Tide Designs
The Dragon Tide designs are partially available to look over.
In exciting news, the deluxe pin for the Dragon Tide set will be a massive 100mm and will feature a shimmery gradient pearl shift in the water portions of the pin. This extra large size will make the dragon a real show-stopper of a pin for your pin boards and Ita bags.
In even better news, I've spoken with my manufacturer to get a quote for this larger size. While it will cost quite a bit more per unit to produce such a large pin, I'll be able to offer it at the same price as the other deluxe pins for this campaign! Any pledge that has a deluxe pin will have ANY of the deluxe pins as selectable options in the pledge manager stage, including this the extra-large Dragon Tide pin! (Note: after the campaign and pledge manager selection is over, I'll probably need to charge a bit more for this pin if I sell it online or in person, but those who backed the campaign can get it at the same price as the 3" deluxe pins!) At this time, only the mini pin and deluxe pin previews are available. Dragon Tide will have two color variants, the same as the other Elemental Myth pin themes. The final artwork, including the standard pin/pendant and color selection will be available in the Pledge Manager so you'll be able to see exactly what you're getting!
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Pledge Manager Information:
If you've ever backed a Backerkit or Kickstarter campaign before, you may be familiar with the Pledge Manager. If you're not, the Pledge Manager is an easy-to-use tool that allows you to provide your shipping information, specify the exact designs that you would like to receive, add on additional items, and pay any remaining balances for your pledge. (for most people this will be your shipping charge.) It's a great way to review your order and ensure you're getting exactly what you want.
Backer's Choice Designs: The Kitsune Blind, Foxfire Kitsune, Dragon Tide, and Dragon Tide second colorway will all have final artwork at the time of your Pledge Manager selection.
Pledge Manager Timeline: A link to the Pledge Manager should be sent out near the end of February.
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A Learning Experience:
This was my first Pintopia, and I've had a wonderful time participating this year. We reached our funding goal and then some, and all of the pins in this campaign will have their production costs fully covered and be able to be produced! This is truly wonderful to have happen as an artist, and allows me to do something I otherwise wouldn't be able to do. Thank you so much for supporting my campaign.
During this campaign, I've been learned quite a few things I hope to put into effect for future projects. The most relevant of which is stretch goal preparation:
Preparing Stretch Goals: For this campaign, I offered two Backer's Choice stretch goal themes. (you folks were awesome, and met them in short order!) I love that backers were able to voice their preferences for which themes they were enthusiastic to see. The outcome was not what I would have predicted, and I would have chosen different sets if left to my own devices. However, creating pins in response to polls left me with a lot of artwork to create mid-campaign!
My takeaways from this experience are:
The backer's choice stretch goals were a wonderful way to engage with the community and get feedback I could immediately act on.
Doing two complete theme collection stretch goals (4 designs each, 2 colorways each) as Backer's Choice was a bit more than I was prepared for, at least in terms of finishing the artwork before campaign's end.
If I create another pin project in the future, I should only do 1-3 pins as Backer's Choice stretch goals, and have any additional stretch goals that I want to include be prepared in advance with final artwork ready-to-go. A little bit of on-the-spot artwork creation is great! But having most of the stretch goals ready-to-go would have been a boon to both myself and my backers.
Note: You will see the final artwork for Dragon Tide and Kitsune Blind when you make your Pledge Manager selections. I'm just regretful that I wasn't able to finish the final artwork during the campaign itself!
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A Shout-Out to Dragon Hoard Keepers
I've been chatting with my collab partner Dream Vale Studios for the duration of this campaign. They've been a great partner to work with, and it's wonderful that events like this can bring artists together!
Dragon Hoard Keepers is a campaign to create a huggable 7" companion plush designed to safely stow your favorite trinkets, tokens, coins, and other polyhedral treasures! There's even a mini version of this charming plush friend! In addition, hobby-hoarders can celebrate their love of collecting their favorite things through dragon hoard enamel pins. These dragon collectors hoard their favorite dice, yarn, potions, and more! The pins and plush are seriously cute. You should definitely check the out if you're a dragon-fan, or need a unique way to store and transport your dice!
If you haven't already heard, if you back both Elemental Myth and the Dragon Hoard Keepers campaign, you will receive a free cross collaboration reward from both campaigns with the Fire & dIce collaboration pin set. If you back both campaigns, this pin will automatically be added to your pledge in the Pledge Manager stage if you were a backer of both projects. I will send you the dIce gryphon when your awards arrive from Elemental Myth; Dream Vale Studios will send the Fire Keeper when your rewards arrive from Dragon Hoard Keepers!
The final artwork for the deluxe kitsune pin is now available. The red and white Kitsune with the rose gold metal color is going to be the first set color. For the second colorway, I was hoping to ask for your feedback!
Second Kitsune Color Vote
There is a poll below for the second Kitsune color. In both cases, the smoke will be a sparkly gradient sandblast. The red fox would have copper colored plating for the metal lines, while the black fox would have a silver colored plating. Please vote for your favorite option! Voting will close on Tuesday, February 10th at 11:55PM PST!
Dragon Tide Collection
The second backer's choice stretch goal with an Eastern Dragon and water elements is currently being drawn, and I hope to have some drawings for everyone to look over later this week! The final artwork for both the Dragon and the Kitsune will be available before you make your final item elections in the pledge manager at the end of the campaign.
Thank you so much for your support, and I hope you have a great day!
Hello everyone! I've been working on designing the backer's choice stretch goals. Kitsune + Foxfire and Eastern Dragon + Water were the themes chosen by the community for these additional collections that your support helped make possible!
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Kitsune Collection Designs Work-In-Progress
The Kitsune set has been drawn and you can see the sketched version below. I'm currently working on the final linework and colors for this set. When complete, this collection will have two colorways available. As far as addons go,the mini pin designs will also be available as stitch marker choices, and I'll be using the deluxe pin illustration for another design option for a sticky note pad.
The projected sizes for these designs are:
Mini Pin & Earring - 31mm high
Standard pin & Pendant - 51mm high
Deluxe Pin - 78mm high
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Dragons Forthcoming + Thank You!
The Eastern Dragon and water theme is currently being drawn, and should be available sometime next week.
Thank you for supporting or following this campaign! I hope you have a great day!
Thanks to your amazing support, we’ve received the Stretch Goal funding needed to produce two additional collections beyond the Wyvern Wind and Phoenix Fire pins. I have several themes I’m enthused about, and backers get to choose which two will move forward. Potential themes include Gryphon Rime, Dragon Tide, Kitsune Blind, and Unicorn Glade.
Click here to vote on the poll, or scroll to the bottom of this update post where it has been attached! This poll will end Friday, January 23 at 23:59 PST.
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Will There Be More Stretch Goals?
At this time I am not planning on adding additional stretch goals ***. Once backers decide on the themes for the two stretch goal pin collections, I am going to set to work quickly to sketch, share, and finish the designs so you can view them before the campaign concludes. Keeping the stretch goals limited helps to ensure that the production and fulfillment of this campaign stay on track so we have the best chance fulfilling on schedule so you get your pins in a timely manner!
*** If I become an amazing art speedster and finish the 3K & 4.5K pin collection artwork before February 5th, we can talk :-)
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New Pledge Options for Pin Sets
Pledge options for 3 Variety Pin and 4 Variety Pin have been added, and include a $2 addon discount.
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UK Pledge Option
If you are from the UK and want to purchase items after the campaign, we have a new pledge level for you. This pledge level costs $14 and will provide $14 worth of credit when I make a custom Etsy listing for you during fulfillment. Pledging during the campaign makes you eligible for free promotional pins if you meet the other requirements. These requirements are; being a returning backer (Returning Backer), pledging in the first 48 hours (Early Bird), pledging for 3 or more Lore & Myth campaigns (Lore & Myth Collab), or pledging to Dragon Hoard Keepers (Cross Collab Partner).
• When fulfillment begins, you will be contacted and I will create a custom Etsy listing for you. I will add any items you wish to purchase to this listing. Your $14 credit will be applied, and remaining balance for the additional items, shipping, and VAT will be paid through Etsy.
• This campaign previously offered UK folks the option to purchase items after the fulfillment concluded via a custom Esty listing, but had no way to back during the campaign itself. The issue with this was that by doing it this way, UK folks missed out on the opportunity for the free Returning Backer, Early Bird, Lore & Myth, and Dragon Hoard Keepers promotional pins.
We have reached the initial funding goal needed to produce the Wyvern Wind and Phoenix Fire pin collections. (This includes an alternate color variant for each!) Thank you so much to everyone who backed this project! I did not expect us to reach our funding target so quickly, and I'm grateful for the enthusiastic response!
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Vote on the next Collection Theme for our Stretch Goals
If we are able to reach $3,000 in funding, we'll be able to produce another set of pins with a new theme. This set will include one deluxe pin, one standard pin, and 2 mini pins. (plus a pendant necklace, earring pair, and additional stitch markers utilizing the standard and mini molds!) I had a lot of ideas on where this campaign might go, and wanted to let the community decide what theme will be designed and produced next.
This poll we be used to choose what will unlock as the 3K and 4.5K stretch goal themes if they are reached.
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Extra Goodies
A few extra items made their way onto the page since the campaign launched. Sticky notes, a pendant version of the ouroboros pin*, and stitch markers are now available.
*The armadillo lizard ouroboros pin is exclusive for the duration of the campaign to backers who pledge to 3 or more Lore and Myth projects. We were given permission to reuse the same mold for a pendant version.
