Friday, January 23, 2015

Kickstarter Shout-Outs and Random Updates :D

Hey everyone!  Sorry it's been rather quiet around here.  I had a lot going on with friends and family.  Here are a few highlights from my week. ;)

On Monday the girls were off from school, and we spent most of the day working on their overloaded playroom.  It's still a work in progress, but we're getting there:


On Tuesday or so, I saw a really cute smallish entertainment center that would have made a PERFECT shallow doll room with storage underneath at Goodwill.  It was a good price, too.  However, I am officially out of room for more furniture in my house (and trust me, I did all sorts of mental rearranging to try and make it fit). ;)  Here it is:

Can't you just picture some scrapbook paper for wallpaper (to cover up the little hole they made for the TV cord) and lots of goodies stashed in the drawers?  According to my mom, it's still there.  I'm being strong and staying away from Goodwill for a while, especially if they lower the price even more. :}

For the past couple of weeks, I've been checking my local Target almost daily for the new Valentine's Day exclusive Mini Lalaloopsy for 2015, "Valentina Hugs 'n' Kisses" (thanks to the Lalaloopsy Fan Club forum for the heads up).  No sign of her yet. :}  Instead, I grabbed a few Care Bears blind bags:

Here they are in the display on the shelf.  They're $2.49 each.

Since I'm impatient, I took pictures in the car so I could open them right away. ;)

Here are all of the possible bears to collect.

And I got: 
Tenderheart Bear and...

...Funshine Bear!  Two of my faves from childhood! :D  Aren't they adorable?

In other news, I've been keeping busy finishing up my artwork for the postcard rewards I'll be sending to my Kickstarter backers.  I received my first postcard order, and they look great!

Sorry it's not the best picture.  This is a sneak peek, though, after all. ;)

I signed and dated each postcard in the corner.

Here's a sneak peek at the other artwork that will be featured in the next batch:


I hope this gives my backers something to look forward to. ;)

And speaking of my backers, it's time to give my weekly shout-outs! :D

This week, my new backers were:

-Aileen Gonzalez

-Kim and Lindsey Z.

-Christine C.

-Janet


(As always, if any of you have a website you'd like me to link to, please let me know in the comments!) :)

I'd also like to thank my local doll club and my Aunt Cindy, who contributed funds toward the conference outside of Kickstarter.

Of course, the most exciting news is that I have officially met my $450 goal with 15 days to spare!!! Hooray!!! :D :D :D This means that I will officially be able to afford to go to Mount Hermon! :D

I was practically hyperventilating yesterday when I realized that this was actually happening!  I can't believe I'm really going!  It was so wonderful to see how the Lord provided the funds in so many unique ways.  I received pledges from both close friends and people I've never met before.  God is good.  Of course, He's good even if I don't get to go to a conference, but I'm so thrilled that He saw fit to allow me to get the funding I needed.

Now I've got to keep writing and get that book finished! :D

I hope to get the mini DAC Frozen post up later today, but Middle Gal is home with a tummy ache, so I'll have to just play things by ear.  Talk to all of you again soon! :)

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on reaching your goal!
Oh, and the Care Bears look really cute.

Linda

Sunny_Harper1994 said...

Hi Beastsbelle!!! It feels weird to say Hannah after being anonymous for so long. ;)
I am sorry I didn't donate like I have said I would but after unexpected health problems I have been tight on cash. Still I support your project and I am so happy you made your goal!! Congratulations! God bless!!

Farrah Lily said...

Congratulations on meeting your goal!! That is such wonderful news and I'm sure you are so excited. :) You are so right about trusting that things will work out when you just let go and believe...it's like the funds are "always there" it's just a matter of trusting that everything will work out, and it almost always does.
I agree that the little entertainment center would make a great doll room...good for you for being strong! I think we all know how hard it is to resist such a good bargin ;)
I had no idea that they had blind bags for Carebears...we really did have THE BEST toys growing up in the 80s. I used to have Goodluck Bear and Friend(ship?) Bear when I was little as well as Swiftheart Rabbit..I will definitely have to hunt around for these the next time I'm in Target :) Hope you guys have a great weekend!

Aileen said...

Congrats on reaching your goal! I'm sorry I couldn't donate more but I figured every little bit counts.

Carrickters said...

Congratulations on meeting your goal. Now we've got to pray about what happens at Mount Hermon, not just for you but for all who are involved.
I haven't seen Carebears for years. I'll have to check the toy stores to see if they have made it to Australia yet.

Sarah Zaidan said...

I'm so glad you made your goal! Congratulations, and I hope you have an amazing time. :D

Karina B. said...

So happy for you that you reached your goal!! God is good. =) I'm looking forward to more posts! =)

AddyLovesWolves said...

I got the tender-heart care-bear too! I'm collecting them and the my little pony blind bags as well.

MyLittleMegara said...

Congratulations, Beast'sbelle/Hannah! (Which would you rather be called?) I'm sooooo excited for you!!!

Mark Patraw said...

Congratulations on reaching your Kickstarter goal, and good luck at the writing conference when you attend!

I don't believe that I've seen, or heard about, those Care Bear blind bags until now and they look pretty spiffy. I used to watch their cartoon as a lad, but I think the only Care Bears toy I have is a Cheer Bear sticker dispenser from Burger King. Man, it seems like every toy property is getting in on the blind bagged/boxed toy craze these days . . .

Regarding doll houses and space, how cluttered are the walls of your home? There are a lot of wall-mounted shelving and knick knack units that can be converted into doll houses too. Alternatively, you could also try going the mini route, I've seen a lot of great shoe box, altoid tin, and matchbox doll houses/rooms from various crafters over the years (I want to try making a matchbox one myself someday).

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Good to hear from you, Linda. :) The Care Bears are even cuter in person. :)

Hi Sunny_Harper1994! Don't worry, I know it will be weird for people to get used to the name change. No worries. ;)

Oh, please don't worry about not donating. I completely understand life and expenses coming up. As you can see, God provided and I have the funds I need. :) I could still use your prayers about the conference and finishing my book, which is just as important as financial support. ;)

Thank you so much, Farrah Lily. :) Yes, I'm super excited! I can hardly believe it's actually going to happen! :D God is good. :)

Lol, it's not always easy to say "no", but I think it helped that Hubby had just worked with me on rearranging things in the house, and I didn't have a specific place in mind. I figured the fact that I didn't want to call him and ask him about bringing home a new piece of furniture that didn't fit anywhere was a good sign that it needed to stay there. ;) Thankfully it was gone the next time I visited Goodwill so I was able to stay strong! ;)

I had the same thought when I saw these. I love that they're bringing back so many of our childhood toys! Of course, in many cases, I like the originals better, but these are pretty cute. ;)

Hope you're having a good week!

Thank you so much, Aileen! Please don't apologize. You're completely right...every bit helps and adds up! :D

Thank you so very much, Carrickters. I would definitely appreciate your prayers as I move forward with this project. I'm excited and curious to see what happens! :)

I hope you are able to find the Care Bears blind bags soon! :)

Thank you very much, Sarah!

Thanks, Karina! :) Amen, God is very good. :)

Hi DJwolf-Addy! I love collecting blind bag figures because they're small and fairly inexpensive. :) I can't wait for another wave of MLP blind bags to be released. :)

Thank you so much, MyLittleMegara! I'll go by either...it's up to you. ;)

P.S. Love your new icon photo! :)

Thank you so much, Mark. It's great to hear from you. :) I'm very excited and can't wait to come back in April and share everything that happened. :)

Lol, yeah, I think people are realizing that blind bags are a hot seller right now. I think they did a great job on these Care Bear designs, too. I know for a while the Care Bears got a new look that wasn't very appealing. I'm glad they're closer to their original 80s counterparts again.

Thanks for the dollhouse ideas. I'm always inspired to try stuff like that, especially when I watch My Froggy Stuff's YouTube channel. ;) Unfortunately, my walls are pretty full in most of the rooms of the house, but I might take another look and see what I can rearrange. The big dollhouse that's going in the girls' playroom is special to them, so I can't see them settling for a different one. ;) Great ideas, though.

Thank you so very much to all of you, and sorry it took me so long to get back to you!

MyLittleMegara said...

Thanks, Beast'sbelle! It's the Disney Store Ice Skating Anna. I call her Kristen. :)

Bella said...

we launched our fund raising campaign on Kickstarter was because of the "all or nothing" policy. We crunched our numbers and knew we needed money to make this happen.