Greetings Hoarders,

I have wonderful news! All the pins arrived today 🥰. And I couldn't be happier! 

Check them out! 

They're like little miniature art pieces 🥰😍.

Now that they are here it's time to start sorting them into your pledges. I'll be starting with the 3D dragons and single pin tiers with no add ons as they will be easiest.

With everything here, I will start mailing in batches, in fact the first pins have already been sent!

I am going to start charging cards over the next 24-48 hrs. And addresses will get locked at the same time.


The only addresses I am not locking are hardcover artbooks. If everything goes well I hope to have most packages shipped by the end of next week 🥰.

It sometimes happen that cards fail. So please ensure your cards are up to date. Backerkit has a tendency to store old cards (I know this because it happens to me all the time that it selects an old card instead of my new one). I will only ship your items once I receive payment for shipping. 

These also turned out really well!

Well that's all the news for today. Vote on which pin you think turned out the best while you wait for your pins!

And don't forget to follow my next two pin campaigns.

Derpy dragons - launch 2 July 2024. Early bird & returning backer perks!


Haunted dragons - launching October 11th. Featuring skulls & dragons, 3D lantern dragon & more! Early bird rewards, returning backer perks & FREE collab pins! 

I am so excited to bring these pins to you. They are going to be epic 😁. 

Yours in art,
Therena


PS: My computer is in dire straits and may not be fully recovered. And I rely on it to not only make my aer, but support my family. So I decided that for the next few campaigns I will open up custom commissions with commercial lisence to backers in order to raise the $7k I need to buy both the new computer and Wacom. (Currently I use the Wacom mobile studio pro, but to replace it I have to update my desktop as my c rrent one can't run Photoshop & get the drawing tablet). If you know anyone who commissions artists and who would enjoy my style, please share these campaigns with them. 🥰 

Greetings Hoarders,

I just wanted to stop in with a few quick updates about the campaign. 

All orders have now been locked and I will start charging shipping and add-ons in the coming days. 

Pins are scheduled to arrive on the 15th this week! I'll share another update with photos once they come in as I am certain you are as eager to see them as I am. 

As soon as they are here I plan to start sorting and shipping them in batches right away. 

Please make sure your correct address is in the pledge manager as I will lock them when I charge cards this week!

😢Other important news for those who purchased art books:😢

Sadly, my art computer died on Friday😭. It is currently at the computer doctor and I hope to hear the result of their diagnosis by tomorrow and are hopeful they can recover my files if not the machine 🤞🏼.

What this means for the art book:
I can access all the finished illustrations because they were saved to the cloud on Photoshop, but unfortunately the WIP art is only saved on that computer. So if it's not able to get resurrected, that means I will need to create more art so I can add the step by step section I promised.

Also, my desktop has a tendency to corrupt my .psd files when I try to illustrate on it. (It's ancient)
Which means I will have to buy a new computer and drawing tablet...which as you can imagine as a specialized equipment isn't cheap. (It will come to about $6k+ to completely replace my tools) Nor quickly acquired.

Unfortunately, this might delay the hardcover artbook by a few weeks or as much as a month or two as I try to find alternative ways to illustrate. But for transparency sake, I wanted you to know. (Softcovers are unaffected)

I promise that the art book will make it's way to you. And it will be the best it can be. But I can no longer promise a swift delivery. For this reason I won't charge shipping on those with the hardcover art book add-ons yet.

Which brings me to my solution and call for help.

I was already planning to run the derpy dragons campaign next month, and luckily all the art has already been sent to my manufacturer. But more than ever, I need that campaign to be big so I can replace my computer. 

In fact my newest design couldn't be more appropriate in this case:


These derpy dragons really are my life mottos 😅. And I think that between the side quest one and "Living life in hard mode" it pretty much sums me up.

But this side quest has become my main quest as I fight for my career as an artist the only way I can: by making more art.

So if you love derpy dragons, please consider supporting the next campaign. Not only will I have these designs as pins, but I am considering hoodies & t-shirts with them as well as art prints.

You can follow the campaign here:

It launches 2 July -19 July. 

As always, thank you for your support. I am truly grateful for all of you. 

Yours in art,
Therena

Greetings Hoarders,

I hope you are having an incredible day! I have both some updates as well as exciting news/art to share.

All orders have now been set to lock, which means you won't be able to change your add-ons anymore.

Depending on your tier I'll slowly start charging cards for shipping and locking addresses.
I'll start with the simpler orders first and work my way up.

I am contemplating fully illustrating some of the derpy dragons (below) and adding them to the artbook. If you bought a hardcover, please let me your thoughts if you want even more art in the book.

At this stage we are right on track. Pins should start to arrive in a couple of weeks and I'll start sorting & shipping orders. If all goes to plan I'll have the majority shipped by the end of the month, almost 2 months ahead of the anticipated schedule. With artbook orders & print orders shipping throughout July & early August.

You all have spoken, and almost unanimously voted that you are dragon loyalists! So, I went to the drawing board (literally) and designed new dragon pins!

Introducing "Derpy Dragons"


The campaign launches on July 2nd, and will look much like the Gilded dragon one in terms of tiers & prices. 

I illustrated the first 5 Derpy dragon pins and you get the first look at the finished art!

(Note these aren't exact colours, just the renders and final pins may vary once I've adjusted it for pins)

These were some of the most fun I've had drawing in a while. And I giggled to myself a lot while drawing these.

This entire project was inspired by a backer discussing cute dragon quotes with me. Which is why, aside from these designs, I will also create a community voted dragon pin as a stretch goal!  So start thinking of your favourite dragon quotes! I am also going to make a few custom pin tiers available for those who really need a specific quote /dragon.

Help me unlock all these dragon pins by following the campaign and backing early! I am setting an ambitious goal and would love to fund quickly so I can unlock more pins. All five designs will unlock at $5500. 



And for those who love the fall / Halloween season, remember to follow the haunted dragons campaign which launches in October! This one will be similar to pintopia with free cross collaboration pins. More details coming in a few weeks. 


I'll share some designs for these in the next update for the haunted dragons.

And of course I have my big release for "Star Awakened" coming in September as part of Booktopia! If you love deluxe collector's edition novels and epic romantic fantasy, definitely give that campaign a follow as well!



Well, that's all the exciting news for now. I'll be back once I start getting the pins & more!

Yours in art,
Therena

Greetings Hoarders,

I hope everyone is doing well! A lot has happened on my end and I apologize for not responding to comments right away. I don't get notified when people comment on the projects (I just discovered) and there turned out to be two very important ones made a few weeks ago after the campaign ended I didn't catch. So, I will address those in this update.

But before I get into those, I wanted to thank all of you for completing your surveys! There are only 8 surveys which remain incomplete, but most of them seem to be previously failed pledges, so I will count this as a 100% survey completion! Which means you guys are the most epic of all backers. ♥

Almost half of you had an item in your carts for a returning backer postcard. Somehow when I added it to the segment which was supposed to be all backers who have previously supported my campaigns, these ended up in all the early bird carts instead! *facepalm* Unfortunately, I cannot remove items from the incorrect carts, so if you aren't one of the actual 18 returning backers, then please ignore this item >.< To those who should get it, fear not, I will add these manually to your order when I go through them.

Thank you to Susannah for reminding me to add the Year of the Dragon pin to the first 25 backers over 3+ pins. I have manually added the year of the dragon pin to those 25 people's carts now. So if you were one of the first 25 to qualify, you should now see it reflected in your cart. 

Because Backerkit doesn't have a messaging system, or way for me to receive comment notifications from the campaign, please email any concerns to my email at [email protected]

Over the next couple of days I am going to lock the 3D pin tiers without any add-ons and  charge your cards. This will help me stagger fulfillment and to get your pins to you sooner than later. 

For everyone else, your orders will lock as soon as I recieve the pins from my manufacturer sometime mid June.

I will charge shipping in segments as I ship out the orders. But please make sure your address is up to date by June 10th as I will lock and charge on the same day. 

To those who added on the Gilded dragons art books, I am working on some more art for the book, which means that these orders will be locked last. 

I have so many exciting things (campaigns) planned in the coming months. Because most of the post campaign for pins means waiting for them to arrive, I was wondering how you feel about supporting a campaign from the same creator during this waiting phase? Let me know in the comments!

My next largest planned campaign is in September for my novel which will be a part of Booktopia! I will share more information in the coming months, but you can follow the campaign here if you missed the link in the survey.


Also, as a special treat, here is a super early sneak peek at some of the art I made for that campaign!

These will be the gold foil covers and dust jacket art! I also completed the first 3 end papers!

Following on the heels of the Star Awakened campaign, will be the Haunted Dragons pin campaign. Following a similar structure as Pintopia, several creators from pintopia got together to bring to you another collaborative project! While the details aren't feshed out yet, you can follow that campaign here:


This pin campaign will feature more dragons, skulls, and a limited edition 3D pin featuring the dragon lantern! 
Here is a sneak peek at what I am working on, though this is NOT the final version as I will be removing the bee dragon and either making it a mini pin or a separate pin altogether. Also, the glass from the lamp will be stained glass and semi transparent ^_^

The art for this campaign is about 50% done, and I will share them with you in the coming months as many of them will make their way into the art book. 

Which brings me to my earlier question about more campaigns. I find myself with two months of nothing big. And I am toying with the idea of squeezing in another pin campaign because I have become addicted to creating these shiny treasures!

However, the theme will be very different from all my other art and campaigns. The campaign will be inspired by my older art featuring thimble sized dolls and adorable voodoo dolls.
 

Several years ago, I played a game called Puzzle Pirates, and in many ways the game was the opening scene to my digital art career. I created many of these "doll inspired" fanart and thought they might make cute pins. 

I also discovered these in an old sketch book, and want to bring them to life as little pins. But before I delve into the time required to create these pins, I thought I would ask you guys if there is even interest in these designs. Putting together a good campaign is a lot of work and energy, an if focusing on dragons is the best way forward, that will be where I plan to go. But I also have so much more to offer.  

I would appreciate if you could vote on the poll below to help me guage interest in these pins. (Again, these aren't final images, just the inspiration for the art). Another thing to consider is that these would be in production phase when I launch my Booktopia book campaign. So I will have 3 "open" campaigns in the fall in several stages of fulfillment. I don't forsee there being issues as I try to get all the art done before campaign even starts and most of my post campaign is spent waiting for things to arrive so I can ship it out. 

Phew, this was a long update. Thank you for baring with me this far. I can't wait to share some photos of the pins in the next 2 or 3 weeks ^_^

Have a wonderful day! 

Yours in art,
Therena

Greetings Hoarders,

Have you recovered from the rush which was Pintopia yet? At this point you are probably getting several updates about surveys starting, and I am adding to that pile! 😅 I have just sent the smoke test to some of you (about 5% of pledges). Once I know there are no issues, the surveys will be sent to the rest of you in the next two days or so.

You'll be able to add on any additional pins, select the designs you want as well as add on any of my previous campaign books, art & more!

A few important dates to note:
Surveys will lock May 31st at which point pledges with ONLY the 3D pin will be charged for shipping so I can send them to you ASAP.
Around June 30th cards will be charged for add-ons and shipping for all other pledges.
July 31st is the last possible day to complete the survey or forfeit the pledge. So please complete it as soon as you get it!

I wanted to highlight a few items you will see there which I think you will love!

* limited edition gold foil art prints - these are left over from my first Gilded Dragons art book campaign. And features all your favourite dragons! But as they are limited edition, I only have a handful left. 

Unfortunately it's really hard to take nice photos of the foil and updates don't allow videos, but these look amazing in person! In fact, i have my own set displayed on my wall above my computer!

Another limited item is the Collector's editions of Star Found. With the release of Star Awakened in September, I am changing the covers to match. Which means that these copies in stock are going away and will become limited edition (less than 100).

So, if you loved these covers, and love having signed first editions of books, here is your last chance. Because once these are gone they are gone forever. (Note these are signed, not numbered editions)

I absolutely love this book. I have filled it with 14 illustrations, including a map and chapter headings. It also has 30 pages of bonus content! It has the added specialness in that it was the first cover art I have created during the campaign! It has larger print as well as premium paper with full colour art.

You can also find the eBooks for my novels in the add-ons section!

Speaking of Star Awakened, you can follow the release of book 2 here!

I have placed the order for all the pins at my manufacturer already, and it is expected to arrive back to me mid June! 

In fact, I had pre-ordered the mechanical seahorse and he looks so cute! 

The pin was the final piece to my full collection. He was inspired by a character in my novel, Star Found, and I was so happy when he unlocked! 

I have added this full gift set in the add-ons for you as well if you love him as much as I do. Featuring the limited edition gold foil prints, bookmark & sticker. It'll make the perfect gift for a bookish friend or yourself.

I don't remember if I ever shared my new ilustrations with you guys, but here are some of the new art that will be in it.

I am still debating whether I should draw even more dragons. But that will all depend on my productivity after my surgery next week. I have a few concepts in mind to add to the book.
I still need to format the bonus content for it as well. But my goal is to order these early June so I can ship them together with the pins and once I have final numbers from add-ons. So I have lots of time to make even more dragons ^_^

Do you have an idea for a dragon? Let me know in the comments and it just might happen!  

Did you miss the campaign, but still want to claim some of the dragons for your hoard? Then you are in luck, the pre-order store is open!

Please note: DO NOT go here if you are a backer! You get access to the pre-order store through your survey, unless you want to pay twice for shipping!

Well, that was quite the long update! I'll share more as the weeks go by and items arrive or art gets made. And if you are as curious as I am, I will share some stats on which dragons won the popularity contest! I can't wait to see which ones you guys pick ^_^

Oh, I almost forgot! 

You guys were SO CLOSE to unlocking the final two dragons, so I decided to go ahead and unlock them anyways! Both the golden glitter guardian and Limited Edition 3D scorpio dragons are available as add-ons and options now!

 

While you wait for your survey to roll in, check out the next Gilded Dragons campaign, Haunted edition coming in October as part of pintober!


These pins will feature dragons and skulls! Perfect for all my gothic dragon loving fans ^_^ 
There will be FREE pins and stuff once again! So be sure to follow the campaign!

Until next time.

Yours in art,
Therena