The Symdala Tarot

Shipping Update & the Case of the Missing Sticker
over 1 year ago – Sun, Nov 03, 2024 at 06:38:18 AM

Hi everyone!

Shipping Update

Shipping is well underway now! I've gotten about 65% of the packages out the door and am working away the rest of this weekend packaging. I anticipate that I should have all of the packages shipped out in a few more days. 

Bonus Goodies Update

I hit a bit of a snafu while packaging this weekend though. Luckily, it's nothing that affects the decks themselves, just one of the sticker goodies. 

To recap the bonus goodies, my plan was to gift every backer 4 stickers and 1 Yes/No coin. The 4 stickers are: The World, Strength, The High Priestess, and The Empress. As I was packaging up orders this weekend, I realized I was out of Empress stickers. 

I've since backtracked to try and figure out why I am short that one sticker, and here's what I discovered: I had ordered 500 of each of the 4 sticker designs back in August from my sticker supplier. I received a package in late August from them, quickly glanced inside at the stickers to make sure they looked good, and then set the box aside until I would need them for packaging. I had also ordered a smaller batch (about 100) of several of the stickers prior to that to make sure they were looking good. 

Fast forward to packaging: When I realized I was out of just one of the stickers, I went back to the original box they had been shipped in and found the packing slip. The packing slip listed 500 each of 3 of the designs had been packed in that box. I double checked my original order confirmation in email and confirmed that I had indeed ordered and paid for 500 of all 4 stickers. So I reached out to my sticker printer to see what went wrong. They informed me that there had been a second, smaller box delivered with the 500 Empress stickers. Now, I have torn up my entire house looking for evidence of this box and have no memory of ever receiving it. (I also wasn't on the lookout for it when it was first sent since I assumed all the stickers had been shipped in one box.) So I'm afraid there's a good chance it may have been porch pirated. 

Some of you that have already received your package received an Empress sticker since I had a small quantity of those from the earlier sample run. For everyone else, here's the solution I came up with:

The Solution

I considered ordering a fresh batch of Empress stickers and pausing packaging and shipping until I had them in hand. But the stickers typically take several weeks to arrive to me, and I am guessing that most people would rather not wait weeks more for their decks because of 1 sticker. (Hopefully that was a fair assumption?) Since I LOVE stickers, I have tons of stickers I have designed over the past few years, most of which are Tarot themed. So my solution for the remaining packages is to include 1 random sticker in your batch of goodies. That way, everyone will still receive 4 stickers as promised, but 1 will be a surprise. (Who doesn't love surprises, right?)

I'm off to package up more goodies. But I'll leave you with a card draw I did for the energy of November: 

Wishing you all the best!

XOXO, Jen

Decks have begun shipping!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Oct 24, 2024 at 07:56:14 AM

Hi everyone! 

This is just a super quick update to let you know that decks have officially begun shipping to you! Yay!!

The decks hit my doorstep a few days ago (42 boxes to be exact!) and I immediately got to work packaging up orders. (So much so that I almost forgot to send out this update!)

Please be patient as it's just little ol' me doing all the packaging. It usually takes me a few weeks to complete all the orders, but I'm already off to a good start. 

I am SO excited to get these decks in your hands! Thank you all so much for making this deck a reality! Wishing you all a wonderful Halloween! 

XOXO, Jen

P.S. If you share pics of your new deck on your socials, please feel free to tag me @ferociousink. I would love to hear how you end up working with this deck! :)

Also, keep an eye out for more information coming soon on a potential class for working with the Symdala deck! :)

Decks Arriving Soon!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Oct 10, 2024 at 08:11:44 AM

Hi everyone!

This is just a quick update to let you know the decks are en route to me as we speak! Whooo!! They shipped from my awesome printer in China on 9/20 and will arrive to my doorstep (or more accurately, my driveway because it's 41 boxes!) very soon.

Typically overseas shipping takes approximately 30 days. So they will hopefully arrive to me in the next week or two. (I'm stalking the tracking information daily for updates, lol)

Locking Addresses

Since I'm gearing up for shipping rewards to you all very soon, I am planning on locking addresses in BackerKit next week. You should receive an email reminder 48 hours before they lock to make any needed changes to your shipping address before that. 

In the meantime, I will be double-checking all my shipping supplies to make sure I'm ready to start packing and shipping your orders as soon as they hit my doorstep. I will also be finishing up and emailing the custom mandalas for those that ordered one.

KS doesn't seem to allow me to share videos in updates anymore, but if you'd like a sneak peek of the box and guidebook, you can see one my printer shared with me over on my Instagram @ferociousink!

Thank you so much for all your patience and support through all the steps of this project! We are almost there and I CAN'T WAIT to send you all your rewards very soon! 

Wishing you all a wonderful spooky season! 

– Jen  XOXO

Updates Galore!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Sep 06, 2024 at 12:14:42 PM

Hi everyone!

I hope this update finds you all well and enjoying the beginning of Fall and spooky season! 

Here's the scoop on the current status of the Symdala Tarot:

The cards are all done being printed!

My printer sent me a progress update earlier this week and all of the cards are officially printed! Whooo! They have now shifted to the tasks of cutting all the cards into the circular shapes and edging them with a matte color.

It's not a high-quality glamour shot by any means, but here's a pic of all the printed cards waiting for trimming. The colors look so vibrant! 

Finalizing the Box

My printer has also sent me several videos of the box mockup. I think it's looking awesome overall! But I am having them adjust the positioning of the rainbow peek-through color. (It's intended to stretch from red to purple from edge to edge on the front view.) They are currently adjusting that now and creating the final boxes. (I was planning on sharing a video clip of the box, but Kickstarter no longer supports videos in Updates, so you all will just have to be surprised.)

Add-Ons

ALL of the add-ons have been produced and arrived to me this past week and I am so pleased with how they've all turned out! Here are a few quick pics:

Timeline

Decks will be shipping to me very soon. They typically take approximately 30 days to arrive to my doorstep. That means they should hopefully be in hand around the second week of October. 

The mandala coins that every backer will receive as a gift are set to arrive by October 15th. The decks may possibly arrive just slightly before the coins do, in which case I will have to wait to have the coins in hand before I ship. Either way, it's looking like shipping to you all will be happening around mid-October. Yay!

Locking Addresses

I have already locked all of the surveys that have been completed from further changes, but I have not yet locked addresses. I will wait to lock addresses until I am ready to ship. That means if you have any last-minute changes to your shipping address you need to make, you will still be able to do so over the next month.

Home Stretch

We're in the home stretch now and I couldn't be more excited to get these decks in your hands! Thank you so much for your support, patience, and encouragement through this whole project! Reach out anytime with any questions.

All the best, Jen

Locking Surveys Soon
over 1 year ago – Tue, Jul 30, 2024 at 07:33:02 AM

Hello all you amazing backers!

I wanted to share a quick update on the project:

Surveys

86% of you have filled out the surveys, which is awesome! Thank you so much for getting those filled out! Approximately 60 backers have not yet filled out the survey. For those who have not seen the email with the survey link come through, here is a link you can use to recover and access your survey. You are also welcome to reach out to me directly here or at [email protected] and I can help troubleshoot. 

Current Timeline

LOCKING SURVEYS: For all those who have filled out the survey, I plan on locking surveys this Friday, August 2nd. If you would like to make any changes to your order or add or make changes to any add-ons, this week is the time to do it. (If you need to change your shipping address after the surveys are locked, not to worry... I can still update your address up until I begin shipping out rewards.)

CHARGING CARDS: As of right now, I plan on charging cards on BackerKit early next week on August 5th or 6th. 

FILES TO THE PRINTER: I am finally sending all the files to the printer this week! (I had hoped to send all the files off earlier, but in classic Virgo fashion, I found myself slowed down a bit by overanalyzing the guidebook and a few of the card designs, lol. I also increased the size of the guidebook by 80 pages, which changed the size of the box. So I've been working closely with my printer to make sure all of the dimensions are exact, so that printing will go smoothly.) The good news is, even though I am delayed a bit in sending the files to print, I am still on schedule to get these decks in your hands by October, as originally proposed in the Kickstarter. Whooo!

SHIPPING: Barring any delays in the printing process and shipping of the decks to me from the printer, I should be able to ship out rewards in October. While that feels so far away to the impatient part of me, that's really only a few short months off and I can't wait to share these with you all! I will keep you all updated as printing progresses and we get closer to that time. 

That's all for now. As always, please reach out with any questions or if I can help with anything. We're in the home stretch now and I'm so thankful to each and every one of you for helping Symdala come to life! 

Wishing you all the best, Jen

XOXO