BOTANICA: A Tarot Deck about the Language of Flowers

Fulfillment Almost Complete!
over 3 years ago – Sun, Apr 04, 2021 at 11:53:02 PM

Happy Easter, friends!

On this most floral of holidays, we're here with a long awaited shipping update. Things are going well!

 We are very excited to report that we're almost finished shipping out rewards packages for BOTANICA! (I know -- we can't believe it either.)

We're above 95% shipped now. We have a very small list of items we need to restock to fulfill our last few orders. That should happen in the next two weeks.

If you haven't yet received any tracking information, now is the time to (a) check your spam folder for any mention of BOTANICA, and then (b) email [email protected] and ask them for an update on the status of your order. We and our fulfillment partners will be sure to track it down for you! For any other issues, please email us directly at [email protected]

For those of you who have received tracking numbers but are still waiting for your shipments to arrive, we're asking for a little patience. Due to COVID, Fed Ex is still facing unprecedented delays and short staffing, with bottlenecks at various routing points. Unfortunately, it's not rare right now for a Fed Ex shipment to take up to 2-3 weeks to arrive. There's nothing we can do to speed it up, though if you call Fed Ex with your tracking number they can sometimes give you more info about what's up with your delivery. If your package is lost in transit, we will absolutely replace it! But please give it a little extra time to arrive before assuming it's lost. This is all just part of the sheer joy that is shipping 15,000 packages in the midst of a global pandemic! We're so grateful for your patience and understanding, as always.

Our last continuing delay is on our lovely terrarium-housed Enchanter editions. None of these have shipped yet, and they won't for another few weeks still. We've had a number of supply line problems, and Kevin had some personal issues and material challenges with the original paintings he's produced for these sets. (For those interested -- the varnish he used on the paintings turned out to be too sticky to ship the paintings safely. But he's revarnished them, and they're drying now!)

We're sorry that our longest delay has been for our highest-tier customers! We're unbelievably grateful for all of our Enchanter-level backers, and that's why we want to make 100% sure to get you the most gorgeous rewards possible.

On that tip, LOOK AT THESE ORIGINAL CUSTOM PAINTINGS Kevin produced for the Enchanter editions! We're actually wildly jealous of anyone who gets one of these. The herbs and flowers that Kevin painted were chosen by the backers themselves!

The only silver lining of the Enchanter delay is that we do have another ten unsold copies, so if you want to get on board you can still do so. Just message us here or at [email protected], or put in an order directly at beehivebooks.com. Kevin can still create a custom painting of an herb or flower of your choosing!

Of course, with this many rewards being mailed out, it's inevitable that some small percentage of them will be lost, damaged, misprinted, or otherwise flawed. If you have any problems whatsoever with a package you've received, please just email us at [email protected] and we'll get you fixed up with a replacement or anything else you might need. (One small thing to note if you think you have have a damaged deck -- if you see something like film grain or scratching on the surface of the art, or shifting black textures, this may be a feature of Kevin's paintings, which were created on wooden panels and intend to show the grain of the wood, moreso on some cards than others. You might want to compare your cards to the digital PDF, to see where what might be mistaken for printing errors are intentional aspects of the design.)

Thank you all so much for your patience. We're almost there! You all have been such wonderful fellow travelers throughout this journey.

SO many of you have been posting your decks, readings, unboxing and other BOTANICA experiences all over social media. It's so amazing to see how you're all using your decks, and what they mean to you. That feeling makes all of this hard work feel so worthwhile. Please tag us on if you do decide to post anything about BOTANICA so we can enjoy and share your experience! We're @beehivebooks on Instagram and @beehivebks on Twitter, and Kevin is @kevinjaystanton on both.

Our hope has always been that that a world full of BOTANICA decks might be a very slightly brighter, gentler, more magical place. I'm not sure if it's the flush of spring, the gradual acceleration of vaccinations, or what -- but somehow, it feels like it's working.

Wishing you all roses and rebirth,

The Beehive Team

BOTANICA is Halfway Fulfilled!
over 3 years ago – Tue, Mar 16, 2021 at 01:04:25 AM

Dear friends,

Less than a week shy of the vernal equinox, BOTANICA is busting out all over.

We're shipping out hundreds or thousands of packages every day, and moving fast towards completing fulfillment. We're currently just over 50% fulfilled, with around 5,000 packages en route to their happy forever homes.

Virtually all of the rest of the packages will fulfill over the next few weeks. We still think, with the exception of some small loose ends, we can finish this in March.

If your order has shipped, you will have received a tracking number in your email. Respectfully: please don't email us just yet asking if your package has shipped. If you haven't received a tracking number in your email, and the email isn't in  your spam folder, your package hasn't shipped. But don't despair -- it will very soon!

It's of course understandable that you're all eager to get their decks! We're just as eager to get them into your hands. But we're literally getting hundreds of emails a day asking if we've shipped packages, and the answer is usually just a simple "no" -- if your order had shipped you would have received an email with a tracking number. The bulk of "has my package shipped" questions is making it harder for us to deal with customer service requests that require action. We're pretty much as tiny as a company can be, and we're just not equipped to answer this many customer service messages in a timely fashion -- but we'll get to them all eventually! Thank you as always for being patient with us. 

Please direct all customer service queries to [email protected], and CC us at [email protected].

Once we reach close to 100% fulfillment in the next few weeks, we'll send out an email letting you all know. If you haven't received your tracking info by then, that'll be the time to email us asking what happened to your package! Please know we are committed to getting all of you your decks as soon as humanly possible!

There are still a few final pieces we're getting together and are not quite ready to ship. The BOTANICA jackets have not yet gone out, but we're hoping to get those ready to go this week or next. We've also had a couple of supply line issues with some of the contents of the ENCHANTER editions, so none of those are quite ready to ship. But they should be in the next few weeks!

Here are a couple shots of Kevin modeling these sweet sweet jackets. We can't wait to get ours! (Message us here or at [email protected] if you'd still like to put in an order for one of these.)

TLDR: Hold tight!! We're really almost there. Hoping to send a no-fooling April Fool's Day 100% fulfillment celebration post.

We've also had a few questions about a version of our deck being shipped via a monthly subscription box called Lunarly, so I thought I'd clarify that here. We made a deal with Lunarly last year to create a simpler, less luxe version of BOTANICA to include in their subscription box. These are not the same decks you all are receiving. They're on a thinner paper stock, they don't have the same gold foil-stamping and edge-gilding, the finish on the art is different, the box is a simple paper tuck box, and they don't have any extras or bonus items included.  Our plan was to fulfill all KS orders far ahead of the Lunarly sets -- we assumed by the time Lunarly decks shipped, you all would have had your cards for months. But unfortunately, as you all by now know, these long delays happened. We had already signed a deal with Lunarly, so we weren't in our rights to delay their fulfillment. So our decks and their decks shipped at the same time, once all the cards finally arrived in America, and they're arriving everywhere in no particular order according to the vicissitudes of the mail. This was our mistake, and we should have budgeted more time for a margin of error in shipping -- you all are the ones who made this project happen, and we would never prioritize any other customers above you. It's a lesson learned for us. Thank you all for being so kind and understanding about it.

FINALLY -- and most thrillingly -- a new unboxing video!! Here's Kevin unboxing the DARK ALCHEMIST edition! We honestly can't believe the sheer quantity of cool stuff that comes in this box.

We also wanted to send out a quick shout-out to the countless backers and fans  who've send us lovely messages about BOTANICA! Now that so many of you are receiving your cards, we're getting absolutely inundated with emails, social media posts, videos, and heart eye emojis coming from every which way. Our readership is our community, and seeing the way that people engage with these cards and bring them into their lives and Tarot practices is really beautiful and moving. Please don't hesitate to share your experience of BOTANICA with us! We love to hear from you.

Thank you all for your patience! I can't believe it's been less than a year since we launched our original Kicktarter, trying to raise a sum of $30,000 for this fledgling project. Time flies, and yet last April feels like two hundred years ago. Thank you for taking this journey with us. Our destination is near, and who knows where we go from there.

Wishing you all love and vaccines,

The Beehive Team

Fulfillment Beginning Imminently! (ft. an unboxing video!!)
over 3 years ago – Sat, Feb 27, 2021 at 12:50:32 AM

Hello friends!

Sorry for the lag on a new update! The decks have been stuck in customs in the port of NYC, and I kept waiting to have some good news to share, as they could clear any day.

Thankfully, that good news finally came! The shipment cleared customs today, and is now in the queue to be picked up and trucked to our fulfillment center in New Jersey by early next week, at which point fulfillment can begin right away!

We don't expect the process to take more than a few weeks, so barring more unexpected delays, we still currently plan to fulfill this entire campaign in March! We'll let you know if anything gets pushed back.

We'll start sending out tracking numbers as the packages get packed, so keep an eye out for one in your email at some point in the next two to three weeks.

Our own copies for the office are arriving in Philadelphia on Monday, and we can barely wait. Believe me when I say that we relate to and share your eagerness.

To whet your appetite as delivery draws nigh -- here's a little unboxing video from Kevin, featuring the Herbalist edition!

We're still working on some of the other video rewards, and plan to have those for you in March as well! We have some fun and exciting ideas for how to go about some of them!

Thank you for your continued patience, beloved Botanists! We're almost there!

Josh, Maëlle, Violet and Kevin

An Addendum on LOCKING FINAL SHIPPING ADDRESSES
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Feb 05, 2021 at 11:13:57 PM

Sorry to blow up your inboxes, friends. I neglected to mention one important item in the update from earlier this afternoon!

We're submitting all of our orders to our fulfillment partner on Monday morning so they can begin printing all the postage, and stocking all shipping materials. So:

This weekend is your last chance to change your shipping address. If you have moved since filling our your BackerKit survey, please inform us by email at [email protected]. If we don't hear from you before Monday at 8AM, your rewards will be sent to the latest address we have on file.

That's all! Thank you everyone. Have a great weekend!

-Us

Getting Close to Fulfillment!
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Feb 05, 2021 at 10:28:25 PM

Hello friends!

A quick note from our HQ in Philadelphia, where we're finally starting to thaw out from our weekend blizzard.

We're right on the brink of fulfillment of print rewards now! A container ship filled stem-to-stern with Botanica decks is approaching American shores, currently scheduled to arrive two weeks from today. After we get everything through customs, it should just be a matter of days before we begin fulfillment! We don't expect the fulfillment process to take more than a few weeks.

You all have been so wonderfully patient through a long and slow winter full of delays, but we're really finally getting there!

We've sent out all PDF format digital rewards, so please let us know if you're still waiting on any of those. Email us at [email protected] or message us directly on Kickstarter.We're still hard at work on the video rewards, such as Kevin's HOW TO READ BOTANICA video and discussions of the cards, so keep an eye out for those coming soon.

We currently expect this project to reach total fulfillment in March. The last two possible variables are slow passage through customs  and further COVID protocols from our fulfillment partner or the state of New Jersey. The former is possible, but it shouldn't delay us much. We don't anticipate the latter, as infection numbers seem to be going steadily down for now in this area, but obviously we can't guarantee that won't change.

We will keep you fully up to date on any changes in the schedule. Thank you for staying on this journey with us!

We also wanted to share our newest project with you! We're continuing our Illuminated Editions line of gorgeously illustrated and stunningly designed new takes on classic fiction with artwork from Jim Woodring, The Balbusso Twins, and Kent Williams. They're taking on A VOYAGE TO ARCTURUS, THE GREAT GATSBY, and the translated Japanese folk tales of Lafcadio Hearn, respectively. Here are a selection of images of the titled available through the campaign.

I thought some of you might be interested in joining us on this new adventure!

Relatedly -- we've had a few folks ask us why we're continuing with other projects before fulfillment BOTANICA. That's a very reasonable question! So I thought we ought to address it here. 

As a publishing company, it's our nature to work on a number of projects with overlapping production schedules. It's understandable that folks think we could be putting more work into getting BOTANICA fulfilled, but that truly is not the case -- any delays are at this point entirely out of our hands. This project is fully printed and produced, and currently on a boat on its way to our fulfillment partner who will ship it out. There's really no more labor on our end besides keeping up with customer service and updating you all on here. So the new projects are not sucking up precious time that could be spent getting you all your decks faster. We're doing all there is for us to do -- continuing to publish cool stuff while getting your rewards out to you as fast as possible.

Thank you all once more for being the best community on Kickstarter, and arguably anywhere else in the history of the world. Sending love -- and soon, flowers!

Josh, Maëlle, Violet and Kevin