Purrista Pawfee: Coffee Cat Kickstarter

Just a quick entry here to let you know that I’ve launched my next Kickstarter. This one is to fund the cats of Purrista Pawfee. The star of the show is Catpuccino – a kitty and coffee shaped plush. Once again, I’ve got stretch goals lined up that continue the theme. Danish Pawstry, Mewcaron, Biskitti and DeCat are all waiting in the wings.

I’m hoping to get these plush funded and delivered here in time for me to sell them at CatConLA – an amazing convention all about, you guessed it, cats. I had an awesome time last year and am already paid up for a spot again to sell in the artist’s village this year.

As I need to get the plush order in before Chinese New Year shuts down the factory for February, I’m only running this Kickstarter for 21 days total. Final day is Monday, January 25, 2016. As of writing this, I’m getting close to 50% funded for Catpuccino and it’s only day 2!

Even if you can’t pledge at this time, please help spread the word to any friends you have who love cute, cats, coffee or all three!

Thank you!

Otakon 2015: Artist Alley Review

This was my second year at Otakon and things got off to a rough start and I didn’t make goal, but I survived. I kind of have mixed feelings about this weekend. At least my flight got me there without a hitch like what happened with Anime Boston!

Steamy rolls out the unwelcome wagon for Hammy.

A highlight of the weekend was that I got to meet a lot of artists I correspond with online in the Facebook artist alley group. I also got to finally meet Tonya from Shinedown Productions who’s been doing my Punny Buns plush. She brought me the final Hamburger Bun prototype on Saturday. I had Hammy out for display at my table and got a lot of positive reaction to him. Honey Bun didn’t make it to this con due to luggage space. I was able to get some pre-orders for him. I’m excited for 2016 when I have the Punny Buns with me for the con season. I think this will really help me get to the next level with Kimchi Kawaii.

I had planned on bringing over 100 plush, but due to the fast turnover time between Anime Expo and this one, I didn’t complete as many as I would have liked. I did rush through a bunch so I could send them ahead of me. Plush sell well, but boy are they bulky. Shipping has now become a part of my artist alley prep. I guess it keeps me on track, especially for east coast cons since I have to factor in cross country shipping time.

Sales seemed slower this year on the first day compared to the previous year and general sales all weekend seemed lower for everyone I spoke to in the AA. This year, Otakon only saw about 28,000 which was a significant drop in attendance. I think there were two main factors in this – they did away with one day passes so that meant someone who wanted to just come on say, Saturday, still had to pay around $100 for registration. Also, even though it was months ago, the riots in Baltimore seemed to keep some people away as well.

I had hoped that with the increased plush variety, I would make a certain sales goal, but I came in well short of it. Honestly, it was a bit disappointing with all the work and headache I had leading up to this con – extreme time crunches, other obligations cutting into prep time, wrong items being shipped, items missing all together from orders, etc. This is the last travel con for my 2015 season and I’m pretty happy to be putting the suitcases away until next year. I’ll have the Punny Buns arriving from the Kickstarter so will be focusing on that and getting ready for my dealers booth at SacAnime on Labor Day weekend.

My plush did sell out and this was the first con where I actually sold out of the Sweet Dreams Strawberries by the second day. Usually, those are a hard sell – lots of people think they’re super cute, but they just won’t buy. However, the prints were slow to move and I had a hard time selling the deco den phone cases that I carry.

Even before this con, I’ve decided to discontinue them as it’s just too difficult to keep up with the new models coming out every year. Plush making is also taking up a significant chunk of my time. Additionally, the market is just getting flooded and a lot of people are underpricing their cases which means I can’t compete. Side note to artists: PLEASE don’t undervalue your work! It just hurts you and your fellow artists and gives the buying public the expectation that they shouldn’t pay more than $5 for anything we do (ends soapbox).

So to sum it all up – for those of you considering selling at this con, it has had the potential for good sales, but this year was just an off year for whatever reason. It will be interesting to see if they lower prices or bring back the one day pass again for next year which could up sales again. They will also be moving to the D.C. area for 2017.

Also know that Otakon has some of the longest artist alley hours out there. Friday was from 1pm – 11pm. Saturday was from 10am – 11pm. Sunday is more normal in hours. If you can swing it, I definitely recommend bringing a helper to give you breaks or make sure you are neighbors with friends!

Punny Buns Kickstarter: Two Weeks Left

I’m currently running a Kickstarter to add to my plush inventory. This one is focused on the Punny Buns – my cute line up of bunny characters that are all based on bread and pastry themes.

Catpuccino Pre-order Event Extended

I realize that ending a pre-order event at the end of the month is a bit rough, so I’ve extended the Catpuccino pre-order until February 6, 2015. Don’t miss out on your chance to save $5 and get the free Coffee Cats button set.

Also – everyone who orders before the cut off date will be put into a random drawing for an additional plush of their choice from my current stock! This includes Catpuccino! Yep, you could get a double shot, lol!

Head over to the Storenvy shop to place your order.

Votes Needed! Decide the Next Kimchi Kawaii Project!

I’m looking for feedback on the next big Kimchi Kawaii project for 2015. I’ve created two series of characters: the Punny Buns and the Coffee Cats. The winning group will go into a crowd funding campaign for spring, 2015 in hopes of funding as many as possible. The one not chosen won’t vanish, but fund through a longer process of pre-orders.

Regardless of the outcome, Catpuccino is still in pre-order and I would like to order this one by the end of January for targeted arrival in March.

So comment below which group you want to see win! I’ll be tallying stuff up Jan. 2!

Pre-Order: Catpuccino Plush!

This has been by far the busiest holiday season I’ve ever had. The Storenvy shop has been keeping me on the go since before Thanksgiving which has been awesome.

Anyway, just a short entry here to say that I’ve finally put the Catpuccino plush into pre-order status! This is a 12″ tall plush made of soft minky fabric. It’s the first in what I hope will be more plush from the Coffee Cats series.

Right now, I’m offering this at a special pre-order price of $30 (+ shipping) and a free Coffee Cats button set. Once required amount of pre-orders is made, I’ll be putting them into production.

As this is a pre-order event, please note that there will be a significant delay. Once the plush go into production, it will be about 2-3 months for manufacture and shipping.

Ordering is being done through my Storenvy shop 🙂

Final Hours on the Kickstarter!

Hi everyone!

I’m coming up on less than 70 hours left in the Sweet Dreams Kickstarter and as of posting, I am 86% funded for the strawberry plushies. Just want to continue to express my gratitude to everyone who’s pledged and shared my project over social media. You guys are awesome!

Sweet Dreams Kickstarter is 86% funded as of posting!

 

Meanwhile, I also got in the photos of the Roary plush with the final embroidery. At this point, unless there is a miracle, Roary won’t be going to production at the close of this project. There is just too much money to raise for him and too little time. I do want to add him to my line up eventually. I’m aiming to set aside con profits over the 2015 con season and then have him for 2016.

Roary plush with final embroidery.

If people want to see him BEFORE then, I’m going to need a ton of  social media help and pledging. I’m going to continue marketing the Kickstarter actively to the very end, but as I’m a one person business with a full time job, there is only so much I can do. If you know anyone who’s been waiting til the last minute tell them it’s coming up pretty fast! Remember, these plush will ONLY go into production with full funding!

Sweet Dreams Kickstarter Update – 13 days left!

 

I’m in the middle of getting inventory ready for my artist alley table at Sacanime, but wanted to post a quick update here regarding the Sweet Dreams Kickstarter.

Shortly after Otakon, I got in updated photos from the manufacturer for both the Sweet Dreams Strawberry plush AND the stretch goal, Roary my tiger mascot. They are both getting their details embroidered now.

Updated image of the Sweet Dreams Strawberry plushie. Chocolate has been rounded off on the bottom. Details are paper in this picture for placement reasons and will be embroidered in the finals.

Updated prototype of the Roary tiger plush stretch goal. Details are paper for placement, but will be embroidered in the final version.

Big thank you’s to all who have pledged already and/or shared my project!

Anyway, I’ve got just under two weeks left and stand at 40% funding at the time of writing this. Remember, these will NOT go into production unless full funding is reached by September 9, 2014. I hope you’ll check out my project and consider pledging. Pledges won’t be charged until after the 9th only if the project funds.

If you can’t pledge, but still want to help out – please share the information about this Kickstarter. I’m a one person small business so there is only so much reach I have on my own.

With everyone’s help, we can make this happen!

SacAnime Summer 2014

Just sneaking in with a quick update (it’s been crazy busy here lately). I’ll be at SacAnime Summer next weekend at the Sacramento Convention Center. Come see me at table AA94 – near the Art Show. I will be promoting the Sweet Dreams Kickstarter which will be in it’s final push.

Speaking of the Kickstarter, we are  38% funded as of posting. There are 16 days left so we still have some ways to go. Please help spread the word as these will ONLY go into production if we get full funding by September 9, 2014.

Sweet Dreams Kickstarter. Help fund professional manufacture of a popular Kimchi Kawaii plush original.

Why Invest in a Kickstarter Project?

I am currently running my Kickstarter to fund full manufacture of my Sweet Dreams Strawberry plush. I’ve been trying to keep up with hand crafting production, but it’s been tough with the fact that I’m a business of one AND working a full time job (still dreaming and working towards doing this full time). The minimum order of manufactured plush is 500 and that adds up pretty quickly, along with overseas shipping. So that’s why I’ve turned to Kickstarter to hopefully crowd fund my project.

Promoting the Kickstarter at my table.

For those of you not familiar with Kickstarter and how it works here’s a quick run down. People post projects there that have a set funding goal and a deadline to reach full funding by (mine is Sept. 9, 2014). People can pledge to help out the project at various levels that are set by the creator, but no money exchanges hands until successful end of the campaign. Often, there are rewards offered at each level, many of them exclusives to the project to further entice pledging. If the project fully funds by the deadline, then everything goes in to production and the pledges are collected. Rewards are sent out by the creator within the time frame stated.

If funding is unsuccessful at the end, then no money exchanges hands. And sadly, this often means that the product doesn’t go into production.

I ran a project earlier this year to fund some other plush – ice cream sandwich panda bears.Funding was unsuccessful so that was the end of that as I couldn’t afford to pay for manufacture on my own. However, I got a lot of people asking where the panda bars were and when I would post them for sale both online and at my artist alley tables.

So this brings me to reason 1 why you should pledge:

Without people like you, it won’t happen!

If you really want to see these for sale in future venues, I’ll need the help either through pledging or helping to spread the word to potential pledgers to get these fully funded. Don’t assume that everyone else will take care of it! If everyone is assuming that everyone else will pledge, that means we end up with zero movement.

Reason 2: Price per item will go down!

I’ve been hand crafting the strawberries and as stated above, it’s a lot of work and time invested. I’ve been selling them for $30 to cover materials and labor. I know that can make some people wince, especially when they can get a mass produced plushie that’s larger for that same amount. If I can outsource these, I’ll be able to drop the price to $20.

Reason 3: It helps a small business grow!

Plushies are very popular. I mean, who doesn’t love cute plushies to hug? I’m trying to take my business to the next level and plushies can bring in the income needed for me to grow. I intend to use this Kickstarter in the purest sense of the word – to kickstart things. I just need that little boost to start the momentum. I fully intend to take profits from plush sold to reinvest in more cool products for Kimchi Kawaii.

Reason 4: There are exclusive items!

Many of the backer rewards are getting a lot of oohs and aahs. Remember, these will NOT be sold after the Kickstarter closes. So get them while you can. And some of them are only in limited quantities.

Reason 5: There is a really cool stretch goal!

Stretch goals are something that open up once the primary project is funded before time runs out. I have my tiger mascot, Roary as a stretch goal for this one, but we can’t work on him til the strawberry fully funds.

So there are my main reasons to pledge for my Kickstarter (and many of them apply to ANY Kickstarter/crowdfunding project). A lot of us are just small time, independent artists without a huge corporation backing us, but our dreams can be just as big.

If you can’t contribute financially, I hope you’ll help spread the word over social media or by word of mouth. Getting the word out is also a step along the road to a successful Kickstarter.

Let’s make the dream come true!