All Rewards Shipped! (Plus, want t-shirts? Read here!)
3 months ago
– Tue, Jul 09, 2024 at 12:37:07 PM
Hurray! All rewards are in the mail!
We did it! Many of you have already gotten your packages, thank you to those who have marked their rewards as received through kickstarter or commented!
A big batch of international orders went out yesterday, so to those of you still waiting, it won't be much longer!
Items available for sale now!
For your friends who have seen your pins, burned with jealousy, and now want to buy some of their own, tell them to visit my shop where the listings have just gone live! They can't get free stuff like you backers could, but thems the breaks.
SEE ALL ITEMS IN MY SHOP HERE
New Stuff: You'll see a few new things in my shop! These are items that are too large/expensive/cumbersome to keep a stock of, so I print them to order through a partner printing company. Like with t-shirts and apparel, I could never ever stock all t-shirt colors and sizes for all 40 designs in this campaign (let alone my thousand other designs) so I offer them print to order.
I'm mostly setting these up as white linework on colored apparel. If you're interested, take a browse! If you don't see a design listed on the type of shirt/sweatshirt/tank top/mug/poster/whatever that you want, just message me and I'll set it up for you! (Or if you want purple linework, that's also doable.)
This is a transfer decal that I tested out recently and am so impressed with it that I think I'll soon stock more of them. It's like a sticker that you can put on anything (including glassware) and it stays forever (it's even dishwasher safe!) and the transparent parts are totally nonexistent, so it looks clean and feels glossy and embossed to the touch. Plus it's easy for me to stock and ship (since it's the size of a sticker) instead of trying to ship various glassware. You can pop it on exactly the glass or mug you wish!
Bye for now!
Before I get to the recs (because of course there are still recs) let me say one final massive THANK YOU for your support of this campaign, for all the nice comments and mid-campaign suggestions and feedback, and for being a general joy to interact with. And above all, thank you for the book recs.
Recs Ever After
I'm legitimately sad to not have a captive audience for book recs now that these updates will be pretty much stopping! I've gone and made a page on my site where all the recs I've mentioned in these updates are together in a sectioned list, so you can easily read them all, plus read general info for those new to the genre to better understand what nonsense is going on in here! I also added some nonfiction books at the end to make it seem like I'm not a total disaster... we'll see if anyone buys it.
In the meantime, I do have a few new and noteworthy books, and they're all hidden identity related because I truly have a problem.
“Divine Rivals” by Rebecca Ross. MF. Slow burn, rivals to lovers, magic typewriters! They're rival journalists, there's a fantasy war on and she writes letters to her MIA brother and therapeutically sends them via fantasy-mail-delivery-magic. Meanwhile the hero is getting them (her rival) and knows it's her, and finally responds to tell her he's not her brother so she’ll stop, but that starts them writing back and forth and becoming friends. Then it’s a hidden identity, two person love triangle, he falls first (desperately)! There's war-zone drama, and lots of cuteness. CLIFFHANGER that’s resolved in book 2, which usually infuriates me and causes me to despise an author, but for some reason with this book, it felt right for the story. 2 peppers.
(I think Divine Rivals was recced by one of you backers, and I'm so sorry I don't remember who said it! But thank you!)
“Eyes on Me” by Sara Cate. MF. Borderline erotica. She's a camgirl, he's 13 years older and part-owns a sex club. They're stepsiblings, don’t get along, it’s total trash BUT… the romance reasons all added up to straight fire smut. When he first sees her camgirl account and contacts her, he uses a fake name and doesn't show his face, and that little bit of hidden identity continues throughout the story even when they're hooking up in real life, but of course that secret causes the third act breakup. But look, I was here for it. Tons of exhibitionism/voyeurism. The third act had his mental health stuff in it, but the author handled it decently. So all in all... yeah. Rec for the spice. On KU. 5 peppers. (Yes, you heard me, FIVE.)
“Not All Himbos Wear Capes” by C. Roshelle. MM. Irreverent, funny, somewhat satirical! Hidden identity trope to the max! Supervillain and Superhero meet on a dating app, don't recognize each other, start dating and are basically instantly in love, but don't know that they're actually enemies. The drawn-out hidden identity was perfect, no notes. Villain-Hero is a genius, grumpy, dominant, top. Hero-Hero is a himbo, huge and jacked, named "captain masculine", and is a secret sub virgin. (Yes. It’s incredible.) “Good boy”s from the villain, “Daddy”s from the hero, which I don’t usually enjoy, but damnit if the vibes in this one weren’t excellent. So sweet, so funny. On KU. 4.5 peppers.
“Ella Enchanted” by Gail Carson Levine. Warning: May spark a lifelong love of reading in an impressionable child. This was a book I read as a youth and I reread it last year and it’s still excellent. It’s a Cinderella retelling where she’s cursed to be incapable of resisting an order, so she has to do what anyone commands her. She’s coming of age, goes on adventures in her quest to get rid of that curse, meets the prince and strikes up a friendship, eventually goes to a ball while hiding her identity and this poor prince falls in love with her again… omg, I just realized where my love of two person love triangles originated. Thanks, Ms. Levine, for this gem of a book. (And BTW, if you saw the movie, NO, you do not know this story. Couldn’t be more different.) 0 peppers.
If you want some nonfiction recs, visit the new page on my site!
I dropped a pin in my hydrangea bush while taking these photos and then couldn't find it again, but it was totally worth it, right?
Shipping Starting Soon! & Origins Game Fair
4 months ago
– Sun, Jun 09, 2024 at 11:28:29 AM
It's happening!
Let out those breaths you didn't realize you were holding, because the wait is almost over! All pins have been checked, all bookmarks cut, all magnets and stickers sorted into packs, and my mega shipping command center has been assembled!
You should get an email right now with the final confirmation that your shipping address is locking, and in the coming weeks you'll get an email notification with tracking that your shipping label has been created and your package is in the mail! Keep in mind there are 500 of you and one of me packaging things, so it'll take me a second to move through them. Don't be alarmed if you don't get this shipping email right away.
If you'd like to see more photos from the prep process, check my instagram @polliadesign. I've saved some stories to my highlights.
Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio
I know some of you are board gamers who are still with me since the old board gamer pin sets (you are too generous to trifle with me!) so there's a chance that a few of you may be attending Origins Game Fair in a week and a half in Columbus, Ohio. If you are, please message or email me at [email protected] and I'll bring your rewards from this kickstarter to the convention!
Ok, Recs Time
"Hate Mail" by Donna Marchetti - Two person love triangle for the win! Dual POV MF, they are pen pals from fifth grade onward, but they are always mean in their letters and it's like a long-running bit. Then she's searching for him in person, and meanwhile there's a hot guy in her building who seems suspiciously amazing... you know where this is going :) It was a refreshingly different read, I loved it. 3 peppers spice.
"Bringing Down the Duke" by Evie Dunmore - Historical, MF, dual POV, with lots of feminism. She's in Oxford's brand new women's college and is in a feminist activist group, and he's a duke doing duke-related-house-of-lords-lawmaker stuff. Their political interests clash, he immediately loses his mind over how much he likes her, it was very fun and weighed heavily on the class differences and the politics, which was cool because you don't usually see the lawmaking side much in historicals. 3 peppers spice.
"Love Lettering" by Kate Clayborn - MF, single POV (hers), contemporary. I want to comment on this one because, hey, I'm a hand-letterer! The way the romance unfolded was very fun. They met because she sneakily predicted his previous engagement would fail, and he confronts her about it. They proceed to walk around New York City together and romance things happen. He's work-stressed and lonely, she's creatively blocked and lonely, and I loved their interactions. But I think I would have loved this book more if it wasn't my job being written about because it was distracting to keep sighing, "I do not think about serifs this much in my daily life". It's probably what actual owners of small bakeries feel when they watch or read a rom-com about a bakery-owning heroine. But the plot of the book, that was great, and I didn't see the third act twist coming (in a good way). Some spice, 2.5 peppers, it's a slow burn.
"That Perfect Fit" by Lizzie Stanley - Here's your out-there rec: This is a MF coworkers to lovers novella about a hero with a micropenis and a heroine with a shallow vagina. I know you don't need any more information than that. It's light, irreverent, 3 peppers spice, dual POV, and it's exactly what you think it's going to be. Major props to this author.
Cards Charging & Addresses Locking!
6 months ago
– Fri, May 03, 2024 at 12:32:32 PM
Final Stages!
TLDR: Look out for email notifications from backerkit in the coming week about your credit card being charged (if you ordered add-ons) and your shipping address locking.
Everything's coming together!! The magnets look great, the bookmarks feel fabulous, the patches are fetching, the stickers are sticktacular, and half of the pins are in my hands and they look MAXIMUM shiny (and the others should arrive by Monday)!! Things are going so well, it almost feels like... right before the third act...
Crap! I was looking through all these excellent stickers and trying to decide which ones to put on my own kindle and how to place them when I realized.... oh my god you guys, I misspelled "Miscommunications" and none of us realized it this whole time. (It's been this way in images across the campaign all along!)
-Dramatic sigh-
This is the downside of hand drawn lettering: no spell check. BUT I fixed it and ordered a new batch of them. You'll be getting stickers with properly spelled "miscommunications".
Everything else has come out real nice, and I'm super excited to see the rest of the pins next week! I'll send pictures in the next update!
... Still here?
Well ok, if you insist! Here are a few noteworthy books I've read lately.
Hello Stranger by Katherine Center - This was a rec from Andrea in a previous update's comment (Thanks, Andrea!) Speaking of miscommunications, this is the best execution of a miscommunication I've ever read. The heroine has brain surgery and the part of her brain responsible for identifying faces is swollen and she can't see faces. Perfect time to meet the hero, whose identity she promptly gets mixed up. He's super into her. She thinks he's the jerk who lives in her building. He doesn't know. It's wonderful. This is a story where you see the third act breakup coming from a million miles away and yet you can't wait to watch it play out because it's perfect. This book is MF, clean/sweet, two person love triangle, five stars.
Rent: Paid in Full by Jesse Reign - MM, 4.5 chili peppers, college roommates, grumpy sunshine. Hero1 is anxious, grumpy, antisocial, and has to move in with Hero2, who is a rich, bisexual, happy go lucky jerk. Hero1 hates it. Hero2 is immediately into him. One of the many things making Hero1 anxious is his money stress, so naturally richboy Hero2 offers to pay him for sex. Yep. There's banter, there's a ton of smut, there's angst and bisexual awakenings, there are great descriptions of anxiety. You'd think this power dynamic would be too unbalanced, but because Hero2 is so over the moon crazy about Hero1 and is very vocal and genuine about it, it... somehow works. Romance-wise.
Unhinged by Vera Valentine - OK WAIT THOUGH, bear with me. Yes, it's the door book. Yes, she has sex with a door. But I tell you what, I had this thing sitting on my TBR for ages and when I finally bit the bullet and read it, it was way better than I thought it would be. It's a crazy stupid novella, the hero is literally a sentient front door and he's in love with the woman who lives in his apartment and wants to protect her from the creepy murderous apartment superintendent. This will take you an hour to read. You'll say "oh my god, what?" out loud. You'll laugh. Why is he a door? It's explained. The boxes all get checked, don't worry about it. MF, 3 chili peppers (? She has sex with a doorknob, how many chili peppers is that?), good boy.
Orders Locking, Cards Charging, Magnet Previews!
7 months ago
– Tue, Apr 02, 2024 at 01:09:10 PM
Quick update! You should get a notice via backerkit as well, but orders are going to lock in two days (Thursday, April 4th) so if you want to make any changes to your items, make them now!
Credit cards will be charged in the following week (After April 6th). Again, you will be notified via backerkit right before this happens.
Shipping addresses won't lock for another month or more, and you'll hear from me again before that.
Everything is moving along with manufacturing, the pins themselves have been molded and are now in process. Magnets, though, are already in my hands! (And on my fridge!)
Hopefully your wait to get these pins in hand isn't quite as difficult as the skeleton is making it look!
It feels wrong not to end an update with some mention of books, but it's been a mixed bag lately and I haven't read anything particularly noteworthy that hasn't already been mentioned in previous updates or comments. (Ok, fine, I reread Choosing Theo again, sue me.)
Reward Surveys Arriving!
7 months ago
– Tue, Mar 12, 2024 at 11:48:15 AM
Check your inboxes! Surveys should be arriving right now! Make sure you're checking the email address related to your kickstarter account. The email will come via backerkit.com.
For those of you new to kickstarter, this isn't a survey like the one in the middle of the campaign where I was collecting your opinions. This is the final survey for you to select the specific reward items that will be mailed to you.
You'll be asked for your shipping address and to pick the styles for all the pins and other items included in your pledge tier. If you want to add additional items from this campaign or previous campaigns, you'll be able to do so immediately after your last survey question. You may be charged additional shipping if you're in a sticker-only tier and you add on any items heavier than stickers, so just keep that in mind!
If you have questions about the survey or add-ons, feel free to comment on this update (especially if it's a question someone else might have, too!) or message me via kickstarter or email me at [email protected].
Can't find the email or you lost it? Locate your survey here.
Are you a retailer interested in bulk pricing? Email me at [email protected] ASAP!
Going Forward
Once enough of you have responded to the survey for me to get a fairly accurate item count, I'll place orders with my manufacturers! You'll hear from me again when I have lots of photos to share, and again when I lock shipping addresses and prepare to ship the rewards out to you. This will likely be sometime in June. You'll also get notified via backerkit when anything significant happens (like your credit card is being charged, when addresses lock, or when your items have shipped).
"Yeah, yeah, but what books are you reading?"
Here are the noteworthy ones:
"The Sea Witch" by Rebecca F Kenney - MF, little mermaid rewrite where the hero is the tentacled sea witch 'villain', heroine is basically Ariel, and after they make a deal and he turns her human, he has to help her navigate human society. Very spicy, excellent ocean vibes, tentacles, mutual pining. I loved this hero. I also gobbled up the two other villain/fairy tale retelling sequels. Check CWs though, there are some non-con baddie threats in this series.
"My Roommate is a Vampire" by Jenna Levine - MF, homey vampire rom-com with light spice. He's clueless about modern society and needs help. She moves in and doesn't know he's a vampire. Contemporary vampire hijinks and cute letter-writing ensue.
"The Fae Queen's Captive" by Sierra Simone - FF, borderline erotica, novella, kidnapping, insta-love, fae politics and aphrodisiac bodily fluids, just a very filthy quick read like tossing back a halloween jello shot.
"Ice Planet Barbarians" by Ruby Dixon - MF. They're on an ice planet. The heroes are barbarians. Fated mates. Breeding trope. They don't always speak the same language but everyone's horny all the time. I read 7 of them and then had to take a break and read something where the heroine doesn't get pregnant at the end haha. This is romance popcorn.
"Have you read anything lately that wasn't delicious trash?"
... No.
