Tiny Update! 🤏✨
about 1 month ago – Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 10:48:36 PM

Hello Wild Ones! 🌲✨

Just popping in to give you a little update on where I’m at… 

Over the last month I’ve been working away, deep in my art cave and painting the remaining artwork which has been going pretty well. I’m pleased to say it’s almost complete! I’ve been working on 17 paintings simultaneously which I’ve never done before…  

Thanks to all who left a comment on my last update, there were a varying mix of opinions! What I’ve decided I’ll do is share the remaining artwork when it’s all finished, right as it goes off to print with a warning in the header! That way you can choose whether or not to take a peek. It also means I can 100% focus on finishing the deck as soon as possible rather than updating you as I go… it takes quite a lot of time and energy to create mock ups for each card! 😅

Right! Back into my art cave… nearly there! I’ll be back in touch regarding the box and a few other bits and pieces as soon as possible.

Take care everyone!
Nicola x

P.S. I’m working on the card for Imbolc at the moment which features three mice, and look who showed up in the garden… only a tiny baby mouse! It was just sitting on the pathway in the vegetable garden so I scooped it up and put it in a dry stone wall. It doesn’t even appear to have even opened its eyes yet, so please send good vibes it’s way!

Checking In! 👋✨
2 months ago – Fri, Jul 21, 2023 at 11:53:46 PM

Hello Wild Ones! 🌲✨

I hope you are all well and enjoying your summer... it's unseasonably cold and wet here but I know that a lot of you are experiencing the exact opposite! And southern hemisphere friends, I hope you aren't too chilly...

I'm just popping in with a quick update to let you know how everything is going... it's been an exciting week as a bunch of goodies started arriving! All of the additional items have now been ordered and have already arrived, or are currently in the process of being manufactured. Here are a couple of my favourites:

As well as lots of back and forth with manufacturers, I've also been working on the rest of the artwork, albeit a little more slowly than I originally envisaged. Unfortunately making art is a very physical process and I've been experiencing some repetitive strain issues which have slowed me down a wee bit. The mind is willing but the body is weak, as they say. That said, it is all coming along nicely now I've got myself some good painkillers and additional support!

I do have a question for you as I finish the remainder of the cards... would you like to see them in an update, or would you prefer a surprise when you shuffle through your deck for the first time? Please let me know in the comments! ✨

Finally, I will have an update on the box very soon! I had a little setback with the printer I originally chose to work with but thankfully I've found a very capable, enthusiastic and most importantly, environmentally-minded UK based replacement to take this project forward. I'm just working out the final details with them at the moment, but will share with you as soon as I can.

Oh! And I'll leave you with a lovely piece of synchronicity. I'm just about to start drawing the card for Virgo III which will be a roe deer and have been having a few doubts about whether this was the right animal... but look who turned up on my dog walk earlier this morning!

That's all for now folks, take care and I'll be in touch again soon! 

Nicola x

P.S. A few of you STILL haven't completed your surveys... please remember that if I don't have your address, I won't be able to send your rewards! You can access them here! 🙏✨

Amazing Backer Discounts! Final Few Hours ⏰✨
3 months ago – Sun, Jun 18, 2023 at 04:06:01 AM

Hello Wild Ones! 🌲✨

At the end of today, I'll be locking down your orders so that I can get final numbers for decks and rewards. This means that today is the final day you can pick up an extra deck or add-on additional goodies at special backer discounted prices! Everything will be available later on but will go up in price. So! Do you need an additional deck for a friend? Or a mug for your hiking trips? Or a print of your favourite card? You can get easy access to your survey and add on extra items by clicking here. 

And now, to very important business... there are just a few of you who still need to complete your surveys—I sent an email to each of you on Thursday. If you're being asked to complete the survey, it means that either a) I don't have your address; b) I don't have payment information to charge shipping; or c) I don't have either of these! 

If I don't have your address, I won't be able to ship your rewards when they're ready to come home to you! And I need your payment details now because I'm using a different platform to manage pledges and collect for shipping. So even though you paid for your rewards on Kickstarter, shipping funds still need to be collected which is why you're being asked for your payment info again. Even though I won’t be charging for shipping until later in the year, I need this now in order to lock down your order! 🙃 

I'll leave you with a photo of my desk from Friday! I've literally just finished this pine marten piece for Leo I and will be sharing it over on Instagram and Twitter. Hope to see you there!

Nicola x

P.S. If anyone accessed Kickstarter via "log in with Apple I.D." and hasn't received their survey, please get in touch! 

Survey Deadline: 18th June!!! ⏰✨
4 months ago – Sun, Jun 11, 2023 at 06:22:18 AM

Hello Wild Ones! 🌲✨

Thanks to the 80% of you who have filled out the survey. There are still 20% who need to complete theirs! Is this you? 👀

The last day to fill out your survey and make final updates to your order is 18th June, one week today! Please remember that I don't have your address until your survey is completed. No survey... no rewards! 🙀

After 18th June, your reward selections will be locked and any additional items you have selected will be charged on 1st July. If you are having problems accessing your survey from the survey email or from here, please send me a message. I'm happy to help! 

If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on the BackerKit project page at https://the-wild-way.backerkit.com/.

And to keep you in the loop on the creative side of things, I've been working away on the development of the remainder of the cards. Here are a few very early sketches so you can see what is coming... 

And also where it has all been happening! I'm writing to you from my desk right here today...

Thank you all again for being so responsive to answering the BackerKit survey—even though it may not seem like much as an individual backer, it's been tremendously helpful for me!

Nicola x

P.S. You'll still be able to update your address if you need to after 18th June.

Where Is My Survey? And Lunar Calendar 🌜✨
4 months ago – Thu, Jun 01, 2023 at 06:17:08 AM

Hello Wild Ones! 🌲✨

By now, you should have received a survey! Thanks to the 54% of you who have already responded, you're awesome.

If you haven't already, please click on the link in the BackerKit email to fill out your address and take a walk through the pre-order store where you can add additional items to your original pledge. There are loads of goodies! So far, the most popular items have been the wooden card stand, tweed card pouch and the badgers mug...  

Some of you have messaged to say that you can't find your survey or you've not received the email. I would suggest that you...

• Have a peep in your spam folder, it might well have ended up in there.
• Look for an email from Nicola Allan, that's me! 👋✨
• Still no luck? You can send yourself a new survey by clicking here.  

Finally, some of you might have spotted this in the pre-order store but I thought I'd share the lunar calendar that you'll all be receiving with your decks. It includes details of each moon phase for every month along with the zodiac sign and degree of every lunation. I had fun designing it! ✨

Anyhoo, back to sketching out card designs over here, I'll share them with you soon!

Nicola x