Hey everyone!
I've just sent out the survey smoke test to 20 randomly selected backers. If you are one of those backers, please try to respond as soon as possible and report back if you have any questions, oddities or problems. That includes missing choices, anomalies with shipping costs, missing freebies, weirdly worded questions that you had trouble understanding, and so on.
You can send feedbacks by commenting on this post or emailing me at [email protected] (preferred since I see it faster)!

Based on your feedback, I will make adjustments to the survey before sending it out to everyone.

And finally, good news for US non-mainland backers (Hawaii, Alaska): I was finally able to find a carrier who ships to you at a comparable price! The shipping cost is reduced for you from 25€ -> 14€. It's still a bit more than the regular US rate but just by two bucks. This also means I can ship to Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands from now on.

I will send the surveys once 80% of all smoke test backers have responded and all their comments are fixed, but I will make another update to announce that.

That's it for today - take care and have a wonderful weekend!
Averil



PS - if you want something from me for the holidays, check out the Holiday Market that launches soon! I got some non-pin goodies there as well that I don't put on BK usually.

Hellooooo everyone!
Reporting back from behind the scenes. I‘m busying with the production back and forth already, preparing files and picking colors.

Let‘s start with something fun: the mini pins! No funding goal will be needed to make them, they can be picked as additional add-on for a reduced price compared to other mini pins sets: 12EUR for 3 pins, each 1.5cm (instead of 15).
Like many other mini pins they are rather simple, but more wearable than the larger pins and great for building creative compositions with other pins! They will also have the same pantone colors as the corresponding elements on the main tea pins.

But of course, before placing my final pin order, something extremely important is still missing: Your pin choices!
Timeline:
We got the survey approved by Backerkit, and I will send them out this week to approximately 5% of all backers as a smoke test. (I will wait until 14 days have passed for technical reasons)
If no problems are to be found by most those 5% of backers, the survey goes out to all backers, usually that just takes a few more days.
What‘s included in checkout and what‘s not
During the survey, you can pick all the choices for pins, stickers, etc that you pledged during the campaign. You will see a final number that you need to pay, as well as all items in your cart, but until orders lock & cards are charged, some things may not show up yet. Here‘s the list!
- Freebies:
— Early Bird Stickers: added
— Pintober Cupcake: added
— Cross Collab Cat Ghost: added
— Cat Head 12+ pins incentive: not added yet (will be added manually after surveys for technical reasons). This means, if you pick more pins during the checkout, you will later be eligible for the free cat head pin even if you didn‘t qualify for it during the campaign! 12 pins, old pins, or mini pins, counted per SKU (that means old mini pin set = 1 enamel pin, but 1 single mini pin is also counting as 1 pin). You will not see it during check-out yet, only after locking orders.
- New add-ons: Cat head mini pin, pumpkin spice mini set
- Shipping cost: added. For non-mainland US backers, I am still searching for a way to lower costs to you guys!
- Tariff cost: not added due to uncertainty. I plan on sticking to my maximum 15% promise. But since it‘s super long until fulfillment, a lot can happen and I also don‘t want to overcharge in case they get lowered a lot, or (let‘s pray) thrown out of the window by courts lol.

Lastly, a reminder to check if your payment went through. Unfortunately we have almost a grand in failed payments - which is not a huuuuge problem since we still have the funds to get the pins made, but it does mean you will not get what you pledged for if you don‘t fix it by the time of fulfillment and it also gives me a lot less padding in case something goes wrong. So please, do check if your payment has gone through!
If your first payment failed and you can‘t fix it in time - don‘t worry, you can still fill your survey out.
You can either: 1. reach out and pay via a different method later 2. wait for the shipping cost charge where I will once more try to charge all remaining balance for all backers, and often this also fixes many issues. 


That‘s all for now. Have a great week, and I‘m looking forward to see your survey responses and finally getting the pins made!! :D

Best
Averil

Hey hey everyone!
PHEW! That was a loooong end of the campaign (did you see the backer train? It went on for over two hours!), and we are finally free.
We did not hit the freebie unlock tier by a mere 37 bucks. That‘s right, we missed it by a tiny amount and because I‘m stubborn, I am not going to accept that, so everyone with 12+ pins will just get a mini cat! Mini pins and old pins included in the count because why not. Only valid for pins pledged during the campaign.

This means we will make the mini pin and you can also choose to add it in the pledge manager as a separate add-on. 

- For the next two weeks, your pledges will be imported to the Pledge Manager, and after two weeks (give or take), I will send out the survey to a small amount of backers to test the functionality, and when green light is given, to everyone else.
- Based on the survey responses of the first 80% backers, I will make my pin order. I will order enough to cover late responses, a reasonable amount of B grades and some extra so everyone can get the pin they pledged for.
- For add-ons like keychains etc please do note that I will not order much extra in the first round. It‘s not a problem to re-order them at a different point in time but may cause delays for your shipment.

Payment
- Your pledge + add-on amount that you picked during the campaign will be charged from your card. Does not include the shipping/tariff cost, or any add-ons you picked during in the pledge manager on top of what you pledged for during the campaign.
- Often the first attempt at collecting payment fails - but you will have many opportunities to fix it! You can still fill out the survey if the charge fails, and then get charged all-in-one right before fulfillment.
- Experiencing problems with your card? Reach out via a Backerkit support ticket or email me directly: business(at)doombloomart.com. I can set up Paypal/Etsy/Shopify payments for you!

Checkout
- During the survey, you can add more add-ons and other items
- New pins mayyyyy be available in the pledge manager! (We have no mini pin set for the pumpkin tea yet, which is a crime!)
- After the survey, you can also preview the total cost of your order with shipping and, if applicable, tariffs (refer to the section in the campaign). You will not be charged until the pins arrive - in early 2026.
- I will announce the second charge when time comes, and will communicate clearly if anything in the shipping/tariff phase changes.

Important reminders
- It‘s your responsibility as a backer to fill out the survey. Without it, I do not have your address and can‘t ship to you!
- It‘s also your responsibility to take care of the payment. If your first payment goes through but your second doesn‘t until the project closes (which will be some time after fulfillment), it will be considered a donation. You will have a lot of time to fix it, as well as many e-mail reminders.
- Please do keep up with the project updates in case of any important changes. Ideally nothing should come up but you never know!

And lastly, for the cat mushroom fans please do have a look at my upcoming Pintopia campaign! Some of the mini pins I had drawn for this campaign that didn‘t make it into the stretch goals will be moved in here along with a cute cat version. I‘ll start publishing the other designs in the coming months!

Super early launch party page (I will make it look less ass soon lol)


Thank you all for being here with me! I had a blast with making these pins and can‘t wait for manufacturing to finish so you can have your new shinies soon :) 
You‘re all incredible!

Now have a nice Sunday everyone!
Averil

Hey hey everyone and happy halloween!
We‘ve been climbing slowly but surely, buuuut given how close the end of the campaign is and the fact that some of you are still hoping for the last few mushrooms, I‘ve decided to just unlock them! All purchasable mini pins are unlocked!
This should give you some security that the mini pins you want are all available without having to constantly monitor the campaign. (And I get to sleep better too lol)
I put 10.6k as the threshold in the graphic but honestly unless we have a mass cancellation, they stay unlocked even if we dip below.
Please note that the freebie pin (the cat) may or may not be unlocked at all. The conditions for that one remain the same. If we don‘t unlock it as a freebie, I will see if there‘s enough interest in it post-campaign to make it anyways and make it a purchasable add-on as well. If the 11.5k tier is unlocked, it will also be purchasable by everyone.

I hope that makes a few choices easier for you all.
Again, even if we don‘t unlock everything, I‘m already more than happy with how this project went and I could never make pins regularly if it wasn‘t for you all!

Also just for shit and giggles let me know what your favourite mini pins is from the newly added stretch goals :D

Best wishes and have a wonderful, sweet, spooky and cozy halloween!
Averil

Heyyy everyone!
What a ride - we have had wild fluctuations but the trend is going upwards. We have unlocked all pumpkin tea pins and the first mini pin, the second is awfully close as well! I think we‘re on a good track to unlock all the mini pin add-ons. You guys are AMAZING and I‘m thankful for all of you.

And despite what I said about not being able to make the pumpkin stickers in time, I actually did lol :‘D Here they are!

You can choose them just like the other stickers! If your pledge level contains any stickers or you have already chosen some sticker add-ons, these will appear as possible choices for you. 

This will be the very last addition to this campaign I swear haha. :D I‘ve never drawn so much on a short notice but it was also very fun. I hope you like them!

I will put the pen down for a few days now, let‘s make the last days a blast and unlock as much as we can 💪

Averil