Pinmaking learning curve and a surreal day

Today was absolutely surreal - the supplier of the two recent pins said that, if we could get the next designs all approved by this evening, I could have them in time for MagicCon. Which is on 26 April. O_o 

What followed was an absolute frenzy of emails, design templates, corrections, more corrections, and even more corrections. And we actually made it!

A lot about the frenzied correction process had to do with my being too confident with my lines. I'd gone overboard with lines, as you remember, and thought I could put in way more detail than in the Maedhros pin. Well - no. The first production design the representative from the supplier sent me (left) looked almost piglike, because she'd taken over every line and just made them bigger. That was pretty scary. Feanor and Finarfin looked about as bad. Not Beren and Luthien, funnily; the profile worked far better on them. 

So I went back and simplified the designs again, using the same fattish lines that I'd used previously. If I didn't know how gorgeous they'll look in the finished pin, I'd have been devastated! But I know by now that the production designs look very unrefined, and will turn out great. 

I just paid for 200 of Beren, Lúthien, Feanor, Fingolfin, and Finarfin, and 150 of each of the Silmaril to be made. O_o Eru help me.

It was pretty hilarious, by the way, to write back and forth with them about "Is Fingolfin's hair all right now?" - "Is the colour on Beren's cloak okay?" - when they probably have no idea who Fingolfin and Beren are. XD 

So, from two weeks without sleep for fear the pins would be bad, and one night without sleep because I was so extatic with how good they were, I'm back to two more weeks without sleep for fear they might be bad.

... But not really. 

In other news, all the pins you ordered until this morning have all gone out - the Germans among you might have them tomorrow! 

Aaaand welcome to new Patron, Chris!