Glowforge Fire Order Status Page
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Ok guys, rather than have several different status pages I decided to have everything all in one place to make it easier to keep you all up to date on things! Before I get into all the important details, please keep in mind this status page is ONLY for orders placed prior to the Glowforge Fire! (The fire happened in June, and everyone who placed an order during this time has been notified by email).
That being said, let's get into what you need to know! The above graphic is just to help you guys for whenever you wanna check in on things and aren't up for reading the written updates. Each section will get checked off as we move through getting all of your orders finished up! For now, they're fairly simple updates until we get further into things. Regardless though, I'll be making frequent written updates to keep you all informed as to what's going on and where we're at.
The vast majority of you have all seen the email update I sent out informing you of the fire and the overall situation so I won't go into all of that again. However, I did want to thank everyone who has reached out and been so incredibly kind and understanding with this crazy situation and sticking with me through it...This definitely wasn't something I ever anticipated happening, and I'm so sorry you're all being inconvenienced by it as well. But I'm so very thankful for all of your patience with me while I work through this!
I'm gonna go ahead and make my first update below to get you guys up to speed on where we're at, and as I mentioned before I will continue to update as we go. If you guys have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to shoot me an email : ritualsofanoni@gmail.com
Much love,
Sav
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Thursday, July, 13th:
As many of you know, the first step to getting your orders done is getting a new laser machine! For those who follow me on IG, you may have seen in my stories that that step is already done. After lots of financial juggling (and a bit of debt), the laser arrived! However, we are currently waiting on some parts/supplies to arrive before being able to use it.
I won't bore you guys with the technical details, but in order to run these lasers in a more efficient and safer manner, several "upgrades" (like air assists & water cooling for example) are recommended. While some in the laser communities may argue these aren't TECHNICALLY necessary, after what happened with the Glowforge I will not feel comfortable running a laser without these upgrades.
Anyway, a lot of these supplies have arrived but there are a few important pieces we're waiting on before being able to actually install these upgrades. That being said, I do still want to remind everyone that after these upgrades are installed there will be a learning curve for me as I mentioned in my email, seeing that it's an entirely different machine and software. I've been doing a lot of research and have high hopes that I can make this a fairly quick learning experience, but I just want to be transparent with you all.
As soon as the laser is officially up and running, I'll be printing the remaining pieces for the Fairy Frogs needed to finish assembly so I can get those out first! While I'm assembling those, the regular orders mentioned above in the graphic will be printing. Then, as those are being assembled, the "NOT" welcome signs will be printing, and so on.
I'll continue to keep you guys updated as we go, and thank you all again for your support! This has definitely been a pretty rough experience, but you guys have been the absolute best and I couldn't be more grateful. I hope I was able to shed a little light for you all on where we're at and where things are going, and I'll check back in soon!
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Wednesday, August 2nd:
Time for a check in!
A few people have asked why the pieces I have been waiting on are taking so long to arrive! Unfortunately, these items were on backorder. They're essential to the function and safety of the new laser though, so there hasn't been a way to get around that. That being said though, I've been doing what I can in the meantime to have things ready for when they get here! I've also just had my father in law build a table for me to put this behemoth on, that way it'll be easier and quicker to use the machine for all of the printing we're gonna be doing!
As I mentioned in my previous update, I've still been doing as much research as I can in order to familiarize myself with the newer software to keep the learning curve as small as possible when we finally get hands on with it too. I know this isn't a crazy informative update, but as soon as those pieces get here things will start rolling much faster and I'll have more to update you all on!
Anyway, I hope you've all had a great start to the month, and I'll be back to update you all again as soon as everything is officially here!
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Monday, September 4th:
Hey guys! Unfortunately it took FOREVER for me to get those parts in, but I finally got them a little over a week ago! I haven't updated cause right after they got here hurricane Idalia was set to hit (I'm located on the west coast of Florida), so I had to make some preparations for that to be safe. Luckily, the hurricane hit farther north than where I'm at, so we're in the clear! Phew!
Anyway, I've been working on the laser since Wednesday of last week and things have been proceeding smoothly. I have a few more adjustments I'd like to make to the laser itself (working on that as we speak), and then I'll be getting to printing right after that! As soon as we're printing things will start to move much more quickly, and I'll be updating way more frequently as things get done and orders get sent out.
I do want to make a quick note that I had initially intended not to use the laser for literally anything other than your orders, but that was before I knew how long the parts were going to take coming in. Being that my shop is my sole form of income, and I've recently discovered that I'll be moving soon on top off everything else (which I will also be keeping you guys informed of but I'm planning to get everything done before then), I have planned to design a handful of new things that can be made super quickly so as not to interfere with the time it takes for me to complete all of your orders since most of those are a bit more complicated. However, I intend for these to be preorder items so that only the initial first item being made will interfere at all with printing your orders. I just wanted you guys to be aware, so that you all know what's going on and that your orders are still my top priority!
I know I say this a lot, but I really don't feel like I can say it enough...thank you all SO incredibly much for being so amazing and kind during this process. Now that things are finally starting to move along, I'm feeling much better about everything since I can finally DO something. It's been beyond frustrating having to wait for those parts and I can imagine that you guys feel much the same way. But I'm SO beyond ready to get things done, and I genuinely appreciate you guys so much!
As soon as the laser is officially printing, I'm gonna work in the order that I included above in the infographic (which I may update just to make it a bit easier to follow).
Anyways, thank you all so much and I'll be back to update in a few days!
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Sunday, September 17th:
It's definitely been more than just a few days since I last updated. Unfortunately, getting the adjustments right on this laser has been an absolute nightmare. Every time I would print a test card, it would come out janky with wavy engravings, missing items, and improper cuts. I've spent the time since my last update (after finishing a few small things with the upgrade portion) doing mirror alignments, leveling the bed, re-greasing rails, cleaning lenses/mirrors, double checking my wiring, doing ramp tests, testing my focal length, messing with settings, etc etc. I know a lot of this may just sound like a bunch of gibberish if you're not familiar with lasers, but I wanted to let you guys know specifically what I've been doing regardless.
A lot of these things I've done several times to be 100% sure that everything was how it was supposed to be since I kept having problems. At one point I've even taken the whole thing off of the table we built to see if maybe it was shaking a little and I didn't realize it! (Spoiler: that wasn't the issue ahaha). Anyway, after ALL of that I have FINALLY gotten the damn thing to perform properly on a test card today! When I say I almost cried tears of joy I'm not even joking.
So that being said, I can officially get going on actual orders and move things along more quickly. I've had a bunch of you guys reach out recently (understandably so!), and I know it's getting to be a crazy long wait between the original order/preorder dates and the time now being tacked on because of this mess. I just want you guys to know that I take NO joy in any of this and having you guys wait so long. This situation has been my worst nightmare, but I'm doing my best to work through everything as fast as possible. Now that the laser is actually working properly though, I can start pushing things out asap!
I actually mentioned to a few of you that have reached out that I hope to start shipping by the end of this month, into early October. Ideally, I would like to be 100% finished with all of your orders in early October, so I'll of course keep you all updated on here! Speaking of, I have also gone ahead and updated the graphic above these entries to make it easier to follow along and be more specific about what stages I'll be at so I hope that helps you guys a bit!
Also, as I mentioned in the previous update, I do still intend to release a small handful of new designs very soon. This won't be interfering with your orders since again, I will only be making the first initial designs of these (for photo/video purposes) and then listing them as preorders that won't be being made until AFTER your orders are finished. It will also be helpful for me to test out some settings on materials since I've only been able to do simple test cards so far, to get a better grasp for the right settings to use when I get all of your orders printed.
That's everything for now, and I WILL actually be back for another update very soon so keep your eyes peeled! And as always, thank you all so very much for everything! I hope you have a wonderful week ahead of you ✨
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Saturday, September 23rd:
Hey guys! Popping in for an update! This will be a short one, and I actually had this typed out last night but totally passed out before posting it. Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know I'm printing and assembling the fairy frogs currently! Once I've moved to packing/shipping them, I'll be printing the handful of non-preorder items I have open. Then during shipment of those I'll move to printing the signs and so on! I'll be back with another update once we move to the next stage, so I hope you all have a lovely weekend! 💖
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Wednesday, October 4th:
Quick check in! I've finished all the final printing required for Fairy Frogs, and have been busy doing the final bits of assembly and started packing things up! I have also begun printing the regular orders, which I'll be able to finish today and plan to start packing those asap too in order to go out with the Fairy Frogs. I'll actually likely begin printing the "Not" Welcome signs today as well so that I can get started on painting those immediately after I get all packaged orders shipped out.
Anyway, things are getting crazy here in the studio while I continue to pick up speed to get your orders finished! So I'll be back soon with more updates!
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Wednesday, October 11th:
Ok guys, the Regular Orders and ALL the Fairy Frogs have officially shipped! Everyone should have gotten tracking info the other night, and packages were dropped off at the post yesterday. Sometimes tracking can take a bit to update, so please keep that in mind!
Anyway, if you happen to follow me on IG or FB you may have seen in my stories that I've been painting away on all of the "NOT" Welcome Signs! I've still got a handful left to paint on those, but we're moving right along! I've also begun printing the Ghost Kitties, and should be done printing them fairly quickly so I can then move on to printing the Luna Moths while I paint/assemble Ghost Kitties.
I REALLY wanted to have all of your orders out by the end of the first week of this month, but trying to complete several hundred pieces in a few short weeks is definitely proving to be...insane. BUT we're actually over halfway done now since the largest bulk of orders was the Fairy Frogs!
As always, thank you all so much for being so amazingly patient and kind! I'm gonna get back to work, and I'll check in again shortly!
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Friday, October 13th:
Another quick check in! Ghost Kitty printing has officially been completed, and I'm working on printing the Luna Moth orders now. I did update our chart above to show that I've actually started the painting/assembly of the Ghost Kitties even though we haven't gotten the signs shipped out yet, but there's a good reason for that!
The signs require a lot of extra painting, staining, and sealing which also means: extra dry time. I have to wait for the watercolor paint to dry (which takes at least a day otherwise the sealant messes up the paint), then stain the frame and letter pieces and let those dry, then SEAL the watercolor paint and the stained pieces and let it dry, before then gluing everything together and letting THAT dry...so a lot of waiting on dry time for those!
Rather than literally watching paint dry, I've been moving forward with the rest of your orders to keep things moving as quickly as possible. This weekend is gonna be jam packed with getting these pieces finished and shipped, but as of now my current goal is to have at least the vast majority of all orders ready to go out on Monday, with any stragglers going out on Tuesday/Wednesday.
Regardless though, I will continue to keep you guys updated as we get through this last stretch, and happy Friday the 13th! 🖤
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Wednesday, October 18th:
Hey guys! I'm sorry I haven't updated for a few days! I've been working a lot of all nighters and the days have kind of been mixing together. BUT on the bright side....
ALL PIECES HAVE BEEN COMPLETED!!!!
I am so, SO happy I have finished them all!! The past few days I've buckled down extra hard to just get them all completed ASAP. Now I've just been working on getting them all packed up so I can get them officially shipped and on their way to you!
Many of you will already have received tracking info, and those who haven't will be receiving it through the rest of today. I'm going to do my best to get things finished before the post office is closed, but if I don't make it they'll all be going out first thing in the morning!
I'll check back in here when I've dropped all of your packages at the post! 💖
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Thursday October 19th:
IT'S OFFICIAL! All orders have been shipped! Everyone should have gotten their tracking info, but sometimes it does take the post a bit to update it. Everything was dropped off earlier today, but I definitely IMMEDIATELY passed out when I got back home before updating on here!
The last few days have been super intense, and I was definitely running on 3 hours of sleep and gallons of caffeine these past two days in particular but it was so worth it to get to the finish line and get your orders out to you.
I want to say one last, HUGE thank you to all of you guys for being so awesome during this time period. It's honestly been such a stressful time, and you guys have been so kind and supportive and I couldn't be more appreciative! I hope you all love your new pieces, and thank you guys so much for everything!
xoxo,
Sav