The Chromatic Fates Tarot

Altar Cloths are in! Plus Bags!
over 2 years ago – Sun, Sep 26, 2021 at 03:42:57 AM

Hello backers! Things are slowly coming together for the Chromatic Fates bundles. Our altar cloths have arrived (at least the first major shipment of them) and they look fab. We also have deck bags in the works and I have a sample of those to share as well.

I personally love the cloth and underestimated how large it is. This can comfortably sit over a small table or bundle up card decks no problem and the split-fountain screenprinting technique came out great.

Our deck bags are simple but I’m really in love with this crystalline leaf design that Carly created way back almost a year ago when we were generating ideas for the card back and box designs. We ended up going with a card back that could be reversible, so I’m really glad we could keep the leaf in this form.

I want to thank  gawki  again, as well as  Carly and  Sam , for all their help with our add-ons.

Next update will be back to cards and boxes! As always thank you for your support. Have a wonderful rest of your weekends.

-Stephanie

Charges, and Altar Cloths (!)
over 2 years ago – Wed, Sep 22, 2021 at 07:29:51 AM

Hi Backers! 

I've gone through and individually resent survey links to those of you who don't have your surveys complete yet. Please take a peek around for those. I'm going to charge your cards in two hours- thank you everyone who have filled out the survey! ^_^

If you miss this, or still can't find it, don't be afraid! Your deck is still yours of course, we will just do another round of this later. But if you can get in on the first wave of surveys that'd be easiest for everyone.

In more artsy news, our altar cloths have begun shipping! The fantastic Gawki has both designed them and coordinated with a local printer in her area, and I'm really excited to get them in the mail, and.. probably also pose them next to my indifferent cat for a photoshoot.

You can see some of gawki's work here:  on Instagram! 

In card printing news, my computers are dying! How fun am I right? I'm scrambling to get foil vector files fixed up and shipped off before sending one of them off for repairs. Everything seems catastrophic when it goes wrong, but I'm sure this will be the tiniest bump in the grand scheme of things. We're REALLY close to the decks starting to print.

Thanks for everything! Talk to you next week- and as always feel free to reach out if you have questions, I'll do my best.

-Stephanie

Chromatic Fates: Credit Card reminders, and more pins!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Sep 16, 2021 at 08:22:45 PM

Hello hello! This is a very brief update- I just want to remind everyone that your cards for Backerkit orders (Shipping, and any add-ons you may have put in your carts) will go through THIS SATURDAY. I'll send out another email on Friday.

I've also gotten what is hopefully the rest of our Rainbow Metal soft-enamel pins in the mail. I have to do quality control and counting, and pull out ones where the patina is too defective to make good pins, but hopefully we'll have enough for everyone with pins to spare!

The pins vary pretty widely- some of them are mostly greenish-bluish, some are mostly purple, but most are that nice range of all the colors. I want to thank Carly and Sam again for their work in designing these. Carly did SO much work with design for the project in general, including the card back, and Sam has been an absolute champion with communicating with pin manufacturers. Hilariously, our pins were sent to a Free Masons lodge by accident and had to be re-shipped. We're all learning a ton about this process. 

If you're interested in their work, Carly can be found on Instagram here:  Carly A-F 

And Sam Gauss has an Artstation here:  Sam's concept work 

If you're still looking for your Surveys, please send me a message and I'll try to solve these issues as they crop up. Also- if you haven't received a response from me for an issue that needs resolution, please send me another message via Backerkit or Kickstarter- I'm trying my best to catch up and stay on top of things but this level of organization is a learning curve for me too. I really appreciate everyone's patience and excitement. Manually adding items to orders and sending out individual surveys or card charges IS possible, so if something isn't resolved by Saturday it definitely won't be the end of the world. Fingers crossed I'll have even more positive updates on Friday. 

Have a great rest of your weeks!

-Stephanie

Addendum: Change to Card Charging Date (and pendant info)
over 2 years ago – Sat, Sep 11, 2021 at 10:28:14 PM

Sending out a quick lil update here, we've gotten a lot of folks mentioning that they need more time before credit card payments go through from Backerkit, so I'm moving the charging-your-bank time to NEXT WEEKEND. Saturday morning, Pacific Standard Time. I'll make one or two more reminder posts before then. I should have more info next week as well about our box and deck bag design and other good things as well so I can bundle more updates with boring financial reminders.

Some questions that I have answers to:

Q: I've already been charged via Kickstarter, am I being charged again for the same thing?

A: No, you'll be charged by Backerkit for shipping fees and any add-ons you may have.. added-on.

Q: What happens if the charge still doesn't go through next weekend?

A: If the cards are declined, Backerkit will give me the option to re-try again later for those cards. Please try to make sure your funds are in order to cut down on confusion though.

Q: I haven't gotten a survey yet! Where is it?

A: Check your spam folders first. I've sent reminders very recently. If nothing can be found still, send me a Kickstarter message and I'll try to get back to you ASAP- I'll make sure everyone gets their deck.

Q: I've only recently backed the project through Backerkit; is my deck the same as everyone else's deck?

A: Yes!

Q: Unrelated to credit cards, I really like this gold pendant thing! Can I get it? Can I get it instead of a pin?

A: More pendant info will be available later! We're currently sorting out inventory count mixups with our manufacturer, who sent us too few of one thing and too many of another. It's very likely you'll be able to either trade the pin for the pendant or buy a pendant from our website after that's set up later this winter. Please hold off on requesting this for now, I'm not set up with the proper spreadsheets etc to handle it yet. 

Thanks for your patience everyone! I know these issues can be frustrating to a lot of people. Talk to you soon!

-Stephanie

An Update! Charging Cards, Wallpaper, Pins and Pendants
over 2 years ago – Fri, Sep 10, 2021 at 11:36:36 PM

Hi everyone! 

First off- charges will be made to cards THIS WEEKEND. See end of update for more info here!

I hope you're having a good September so far. I have a brief update on Chromatic Fates! The last remaining cards are completed AND the foil designs have been completed as well! The foil design conversion process is ongoing, so far it's the biggest time sink that I hadn't anticipated, but now it's down to just file conversions into vectors that the manufacturer can turn into metal stamps.

Anyway, thank you for being so patient this summer! I have The Empress and Six of Cups for you to see first, and I made a phone wallpaper of every single card! 

I'm still working on the box and the booklet writing, but I can't wait to show you all the finished designs when they're ready!

Have a look at Six of Cups- Elaine Ryan drew the Six with a great nuance that tilts the card just a little bit into the wistful or unsettling territory. The card of nostalgia, Six of Cups can represent fond memories, compassion, and the return to innocence, but it can also caution us not to become wrapped up in the past.

The Empress is really lush- I left out the typical depiction of wheat from the Waite Rider Smith card, but I included the color in the background, and incorporated the pomegranates from her original dress into the bottom of the card. Empress is a personal favorite, I tried to really convey the feeling of power and confidence and keep the plant symbolism in there too.

Art wise, those are all the updates for now! I do have a small update on the pins- They've started to arrive from the manufacturer and most of them look great, but there are a ton with flaws in the rainbow metal patina. I may have to submit a second order once I do a full quality control inventory.

BUT! We ordered pendants as well as a surprise for our overseas backers, and they came out really beautifully, so we may offer them as alternates to pins. The design was a collaboration between Carly A-F and Sam Gauss' design work, I'll show you below!

For those wondering about when charges will be charged- it's tomorrow night! I really apologize for how long this has taken- advise has varied greatly on when to charge cards, and I decided ultimately to go with doing it after we were officially locked in with our manufacturer. I sent off the card files this week, so I'm doing it after Friday's paycheck time in case that helps anyone out. Expect the charges to go through your bank this weekend.

That's all the updates I have for now! Thank you for being so kind and taking a keen interest in our project, we're inching closer and closer to having everything set up.

-Stephanie