Cloud Ita Bags, Enamel pins, and Ita Keychains -- with clear windows!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Free Bonus pin for all Bag Backers/Preorders and Project Status
over 4 years ago
– Sun, Aug 22, 2021 at 09:58:49 PM
Blah News: Shipping Target moved to Late Oct :(
First, the not so great news: The manufacturer missed their ship date again and timelines are bumped. :(
I realize this is another disappointment for many of us, myself included. Although I was told that shipping would happen early this month, they needed additional time in manufacturing, and the production manager has informed me their new target date to ship to me for fulfillment is 20 Sep -- add a month for sea shipping, and that put us in late Oct/early Nov for starting fulfillment to Backers and Preorders. Not exactly what I had planned... but it can't be helped. I am thinking that this production manager grossly under-estimated the time needed for this project -- it's also apparent that this particular factory has been slow for other clients as well. Regardless of this, we need to remember that this project IS finite and it WILL be COMPLETED EVENTUALLY, come hell or high water (and the high water will literally come seeing that these bags will be crossing an entire ocean; pretty apt idiom actually!)
Latest Production Photos: (to show that, YES, progress is actually being made...)
Keeeeep on truckin' in production
Production items have begun packaging for shipment. We did make some major decisions about quality control and packaging of the bags for shipment safely from the factory (i.e. preventing hardware from scratching or smearing windows on the bags). Some of these we did will make more work for us in fulfillment (extra unpacking/repacking/organizing), but we decided that protecting the product and keeping quality high was priority #1.
Good News: Everyone's Getting a Free Bonus Pin :D!
As a big thanks to everyone for their patience through this looooong production process, everyone who purchased a bag is getting a FREE bonus pin to kickstart their ita bag collection (or add more to an ongoing collection)!
(we'll reveal the design when shipping begins -- we kinda want it to be a surprise!)
The funding for this freebie is pretty much coming out of Kittynaut's pocket. It's on the house; no need to pay anything extra, shipping or otherwise! We wanted very much to give backers something extra nice in light of the disappointing timelines with this project.
We do hope very much that our fans and friends will be delighted by this news~
Other news: Latest Side Projects and Preorders :U
New on Patreon.com/kittynaut: Zodiac Magical Girls Series is wrapping up soon! We're shipping Cancer (below) to anyone who joins by the end of August. We also have a new Deluxe Tier and Mini Pin Tier!
I have received some questions about the Kitty Ita Bag and where it's at. We haven't put too much more work toward this so we can focus on the Cloud Ita Bag project. But now that we can see the end of the Cloud Ita Bag project, we have vetted and found a new manufacturing partner for our next bag project, and they are presently developing prototypes.
You'll be able to update your address up until we actually begin to ship bags -- you'll receive an email from backerkit with a 48 hour warning when we lock addresses. This is not coming for awhile yet, so there is plenty of time to update.
That's all I have for today -- if you have any questions, please email us at [email protected] (if you emailed us recently and didn't receive a reply, please email us again! We should be all caught up on emails, and we want to make sure everyone is taken care of!)
Cheers,
Kittynaut
Production Update, Test Video, New products
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Jul 08, 2021 at 09:41:11 PM
Production Status
Hello all! Just wanted to follow up on the last update -- regarding production, there are no changes to the estimated timeline. As per usual, we're keeping our finger on the pulse and are in contact with the manufacturer nearly daily to make sure production doesn't hit any snags and we can make decisions fast. As of a few weeks ago, we did receive some progress photos from the factory to verify that things are coming along.
Factory photos~
We also compiled this little preview image showing all of the bags in the ... flesh? Well, it's vegan leather, so veganflesh. No wait, that's worse.
ANYWAY, Bags and keychains! Which ones do you like? I'm still partial to stormy + lightning bolt, but I also REALLY like Aurora lilac with the star and midnight black with the moon.
Various bags with keychains attached
By Request: Small Bag Tests
Although we anticipated that our small bag had minimal risk of having durability issues, we did perform additional testing to verify the bag's durability. We even made a little video about it! (special thanks to my friend and fellow artist @Jeanadraws who posted her bag test results as a Tiktok a few weeks ago for the inspiration to share this data via a platform like Tiktok -- it was such a good idea we decided to follow suit. I do hope more visibility to fellow makers will promote the idea that testing and transparency is good!)
We loaded the smallbag with 8lbs of weights and performed a repeated lift test (20 cycles) and a long-term hanging test (4 hours at 8lb). Rationale for this weight: this is as much weight plate as we could possibly fit inside of the bag. During normal use, much less weight is likely to be in the bag. We repeated the test for both the cross-body strap style as well as the backpack style. The bag passed all testing, with no damage noted. (note there is a tiny loose thread visible in this video, but it's attached to the strap stitching and was present before testing started).
In addition, we have been repeating tests of all of our large and small prototypes (there are several of them that we've iterated through with minor changes to the interior) just to get additional data points -- we are seeing similar results as the battery of tests we talked about in the last update. All in all, the product is durable. :)
How to Change your Shipping Address
It's easy to update your shipping address before we begin to ship. All you need to do is access your survey via the link sent originally in your email. :)
Print Colors we adjusted (but forgot to share about)
I realized that a long while ago, I mentioned in an update that we were in the middle of tweaking our print colors -- well, here they are! Our trials and adjustments. :) Color matching is a bit difficult at times because it's so subject to variations (and the leather substrate color can make a difference). We worked hard to make the colors CONSISTENT most importantly.
There were actually a few more versions before this where we fixed up the sizing and position of the print.
saturn
Rainbow
General Kittynaut News: Summer Hiatus
This hiatus WILL NOT IMPACT the Cloud Bag project
Our Shop will be on vacation from JUL 8 - AUG 4! Details are at the link below.
Anyway, I think that I covered all of the most important points for now.
Kittynaut Preorders and Pin Club Pins
I haven't plugged my other work in awhile, so I thought I would show off some other projects I've been working on. Maybe you'll find some nice pins here to add to your collections. :)
First, we have our latest Patreon Pin: Gemini and little birbs! (you can get this by signing up for a tier at patreon.com/kittynaut). Expect to ship in Aug/Sep
We also have preorders open for this pin. It's dedicated to anyone who owns a uterus, especially those of us with not-so-well-behaved ones (stares in PCOS).
Whew -- Okay, I think I 've covered as much as I can for now! happy july, all!
Kittynaut
Production Status, Product Improvements, And more
almost 5 years ago
– Sun, Jun 06, 2021 at 11:06:24 AM
Hello everyone! Please be prepared for a relatively long update~
Product Improvements
A number of product improvements have been made in the past few weeks/months and I wanted to take time to document them here. These improvements are all about functionality and are relatively minor for the bag's aesthetics (you'll see what I mean soon). If you're not into that, feel free to scroll on ahead to the next section :P
Note: none of these awesome improvements have held up production timelines significantly (we’ve staggered production steps strategically to prevent time loss). These product improvements are implemented in order to get the best product possible and as a result of some observations of my own long-term use and testing of my prototype cloud bags (I use them every day!) As a designer, I have absolute commitment to making the absolute best product possible -- after all, we're making thousands of these, so we might as well be awesome about it!
Reliability: I use this term repeatedly to refer to the overall useful lifetime of the product and how well it will hold up physically against use (wear and tear).
1. Improvement: The interior pocket on the large bag now has an elastic band along the opening. The small bag will not have this elastic band.
Rationale: in long term testing, I noticed that a full size switch console+case+joycon caps would fit rather tightly into the pocket. Over time, this extra stress meant that the stitches could tear and/or that the pocket material could stretch. We tried to make the pocket a bit bigger, but that made it kind of baggy and not as nice looking.
So, we added an elastic band to the top of the pocket -- this makes the pocket more reliable over time because there is less stress on the stitching and material of the pocket. We didn't add this to the small bag because unlike the big bag, we don’t have a big wide pocket inside, and we want to keep post-Kickstarter changes minimal unless absolutely necessary.
2. Improvement: Insert Design -- we have added stitching around the edges of the inserts to improve their durability/quality, and we made the inserts easier to insert pins into. The appearance is also improved (though this is a minor benefit since these stitched edges will be hidden inside the window frame in normal use).
Rationale: the inserts are composed of multiple material layers. Without stitching (seen in the initial prototype), they are held together with an adhesive plus an oiled/painted edge. Adding the stitching around the inserts will hold the accessory together better and thus lead to better reliability against bending/moisture other external stressors. Additionally, this extra stitching adds to the aesthetics of the inserts (because it requires more manhours and material to manufacture, it is arguably more "premium" of the two options). As for making pins easier to insert, this was feedback we noted earlier on this project from one or two comments (and, we have seen feedback for other bags regarding this).
With the prototype, the inserts were quite thick and heavy, but in the improved design, the inserts have had their interfacing (the inside material) changed so that pin posts can make it through more easily.
-- Please note that pin post design isn't consistent between pin manufacturers (some posts are sharper, some are longer, some are barbed for a better hold), but this solution is an overall improvement that should cover most cases (in my personal collection, at least, the improved inserts work better overall). Long term testing showed that pins stay in place neatly on these new inserts with rubber clutches, and are unlikely to fall off during normal use. If you do have trouble with your pins staying in place on your inserts, we recommend that you use locking clutches.
-- There was one more item that I wanted to note regarding inserts. Some people have asked me if the inserts were self healing; I had noted during the campaign in the comments section that they are NOT self healing (we wanted to use the same material for the bag+insert for visualconsistency). I considered this idea for a future bag project, but I am not sure when or if true self-healing inserts will be available (at least with our supplier(s), for the time being).
3. Improvement: Ita Keychain -- changed the attachment hardware to improve durability
Rationale: the old design of the ita keychains feature a clasp with a leather attachment directly in the eyelet hole. The leather was packed into the hole very tightly, and long-term use (especially twisting) could cause the material to wear away and eventually break. None of our keychains actually broke, but we determined this was a possibility, and we wanted to avoid it as best we could.
We improved thedesign by adding a small jump ring which allows for turning, but will still keep the keychain hanging forward by default as intended. We tested many different solutions, and this one was the best one that maintained hanging angle (not spinning or tipping forward).
Please take good care of your ita keychains and be relatively gentle! As with any keychain, it can only withstand so much pulling before the attachment fails. But, the new design is an improvement for reliability (and is easier to repair!), so hopefully we've mitigated risks of failure as much as possible through design. :)
--
We hope that these noted improvements are pleasing. Please let us know if you have any questions/comments/concerns via email -- hello (at) kittynaut (dot) com
Bag Testing
Aside from actively using a couple of my own prototypes over the past few months, we did recently perform some prescribed durability testing (I wish I had known about these test methods sooner, but better late than never). Our worst case testing case is the big cloud bag because it can fit so much more stuff than the small bag (it'll be under more load), so we'll focus on that data--
We loaded the bag with 20lbs of dumbbells and performed a repeated lift test (20 cycles) and a long-term hanging test (4 hours at 20lb). We repeated the test for both the cross-body strap style as well as the backpack style. We also performed a jerk/drop test with a load of 10lb for 20 cycles. The bag passed all testing, with no damage noted.
You can do it, lil cloud!
About the weight used of 20lbs -- This is definitely a worst case scenario (maybe even a bit excessive), because loading the bag with more everyday items (books, ipad, switch console, etc) tends to not exceed a load of 7-9 lbs at full crammed capacity.
These results gives us additional confidence that the bag durability should be satisfactory -- we anticipated passing easily because we focused on designing for this before we even made our first prototype, but the testing confirms it!
Production Status: Not Done; Ship Date Pushed out to Fall (cries)
Production is presently still underway. I mentioned previously that all of the wallets have finished production, we hit a few snags here and there in May that required some back-and-forth and work, but we managed to get through them. Presently the manufacturer is continuing to work through all of the bags and keychains.
I had prior that said that shipping to backers was likely to start in June/July, however, since production has not finished yet, and we still would have a month to wait for sea shipping, we sadly need to bump that ship date out again. We're in contact with the supplier nearly every day to keep updated on the status, and presently they say production will finish in this month or in July; adding another month or so for sea shipping, and we're looking at August/September(depending on shipping speed) to ship to backers. I do apologize for the delays and and disappointment this may cause. :( It hurts me too (more on this below).
-- About fulfillment strategy:
As planned previously, Kickstarter backers will ship first, followed by fall preorders, and then spring preorders (this is NOT changing). I wanted to add additional transparency for our fulfillmentplans here to avoid any confusion (based on some feedback we've seen on other projects) -- Regarding the order of shipments WITHIN each wave (Kickstarter, fall preorders, and spring preorders), larger or smaller orders will not necessarily ship first or last, nor will it by done by backer #.
We WILLbe shipping primarily in groups of similar products. This is based on our own fulfillment experience and this is how we fulfill other product drops fast -- it makes packing easier, more fast and efficient, and less prone to packing mistakes (it's easier to say "today we're fulfilling orders with small blue bags, starting with people who picked raindrop keychains" instead of reading the tiny text on a packing slip, running to the area where there are 200 boxes of product, dig around for the product, recheck the packing slip... "oh whoops it was a BIG blue bag"... you see where this is going).
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Delays are Pain for Designers
Finally, I wanted to share some more... personal feelings about this project from the perspective of an artist/designer (particularly re: the manufacturing delays).
If I wanted to let my backers know anything, it is this: believe me, I hurt from delays too. Not having my kickstarter/preorders backers fulfilled means many bad things for business -- I can't start selling my stock of cloud pins, nor can I begin to sell additional cloud bag stock. I can't run another bag campaign or focus on new bag designs (e.g. Kitty Ita bag -- remember himb? he's sitting on my shelf glaring at me every day to get working on him again). This is aside from the pressure and anxiety one gets from their project being late -- it also hurts financially and artistically because time where I could be producing/selling big, new things is lost.
Kittynaut is my source of bread and butter, so I realize this is personal. I am saying this publicly not for anyone's sympathy or pity, but because I want backers to know that I have vested interests in NOT delaying a project, and I don't want anyone to think I am dragging my feet or self-sabotaging.
If I can promise one thing to everyone, it is my absolute best.
Cheers!
Kittynaut
Production Update: ongoing, updating addresses, notes
almost 5 years ago
– Tue, May 04, 2021 at 02:24:36 PM
Production - continuing as normal, no additionaldelays noted
Hello all! Just wanted to check in briefly and say that production on the bags is continuing. We're in contact with the factory pretty much every day to keep an eye on any snags or unexpected developments. :) We want this to go as fast as possible so we can get everyone their cute bags and pins in their hands! As of now, the date noted in this update hasn't moved (targeting shipping Jun/Jul and Aug depending on which order wave you're part of).
The good news from production: all of our wallets have finished production, and they will be shipped along with the bags when the bags and keychains and inserts are all done.
Thank you all for your patience as we continue through this process; we've been fortunate to have understanding backers through the delays and our team is truly grateful for it.
Note regarding updates;
We are presently trying NOT to push updates on Kickstarter more frequently than monthly (at least during this production stage of the project), not because we want to avoid you guys, but because there is very little news that is noteworthy at this stage and all 2000+ backers get these updates in their inboxes (we don't want to bore you to tears or spam you guys).
Updates will likely get more frequent when we get closer to actually shipping to backers and during the shipping to backers process. (We'll be begging y'all to make sure your addresses are updated, giving fulfillment updates, and all that good stuff. :) stay tuned and bear with us!)
Note regarding preorders;
We have closed our second round pre-orders as of last month; thank you all!
You'll be able to update your address up until we actually begin to ship bags -- you'll receive an email from backerkit with a 48 hour warning when we lock addresses. This is not coming for awhile yet, so there is plenty of time to update.
Cheers Everyone!
Kittynaut
Clarification: Adding Items to your Order + Shipping Costs
about 5 years ago
– Tue, Mar 30, 2021 at 10:03:56 PM
About Placing Additional Orders and shipping refunds...
Hello all!
There seems to be a little bit of confusion I caused in the last update, so I'm going to try to explain a little more thoroughly about the perk I mentioned:
If you are a Kickstarter Backer (you filled out a Backerkit Survey) or a Preorder Backer, and you wish to add additional items to your order, you will need to place an additional order (via the preorder store, link in Kickstarter page) because the existing orders are currently locked. However, we will refund the shipping costs on your second order so you don't need to pay the shipping twice.
2. After placing the order, send us an email asap with your order information (an email address and your name should work fine), and we can make sure you don't pay shipping costs twice (*).
IMPORTANT: when placing two orders, please make sure that you update both addresses if you need to do an address update. Sorry for the inconvenience.
To be clear, we are not refunding everyone's shipping -- we are allow people who place additional orders to combine shipping to save money. :)
Hope this helps make sense of this, sorry for any confusion we caused in the last update!
Cheers,
Kittynaut
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*Details about payment methods and refunds -- if you pay via PayPal, we will refund the shipping costs to the PayPal account. If you pay via credit card, we will comp the shipping cost before the card is charged -- this means that if you see $12 of shipping charges at checkout, those will be subtracted from the actual amount charged later -- please note that all credit cards are charged later than at checkout, usually within a few days. Shipping is refunded on the transaction with lesser shipping costs, or the second transaction.
