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on February 21
Keith Kritselis
Posted project update #15Shipping today! 2/21/12
It's been a long time in coming, but the first shipment is going out today. Woohoo
:-)
In the 2 months since my last update, I've been refining the process and I finally have it to a place where I'm happy with the output. They really look good.
It's been a really wet couple of months for us in Austin, Tx (good), and that humidity causes problems with the dry powder coating paint that I'm using (bad), but I'm getting the hang of it.
Shipments will be going out today and tomorrow, and then every 2 weeks until they are in everybody's hands.
The last couple weeks, I have been transitioning out of prototype mode, and into production mode. I've got the process and workflow done, now it's time to crank them out.
All the cutters in this batch were made entirely by me in the garage. Starting with the next batch, some friends will be volunteering some time to help me maximize the output. I'll know more by the end of the next batch how long it will take to get everybody their cutters.
Thanks soo much for the support and the patience. I bit off a lot when I decided to make them myself. I've learned so much in this process, and the cutters get more refined with each one I make.
One of the benefits to making them myself is that I don't need to get a lot of money upfront to introduce new designs, and during the Christmas break I started playing around with a new cutter.
It's called the "Moon and Stars" design because it makes round and star shaped cookies, and it'll be the first design introduced when I launch the sales website. I've got to work on it some more, but I've tabled it until I fulfill all the kickstarter orders. It's not an original design. It's been around for a long time as an example of tessellation, but it's never been used as a cookie cutter and it'll be a great generic non-holiday design. Let me know what you think about it.
Thanks again,
Keith
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on December 14
Keith Kritselis
Posted project update #14Christmas update
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Margaret Denny on December 16
It's a corollary of Murphy's Law that 90% of a project takes the first 90% of the time allotted, and the last 10% takes the next 90% of the planned time. Keep plugging!
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Michelle McLatchy on December 21
Thanks for the update! I love to see how things are coming along. It's too bad you didn't make your Christmas goal, but there are many Christmas's to come! Have a great holiday season!
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Louisa Tennant Todeasa about 10 hours ago
This was the first Kickstarter project I ever funded, and since I haven't received my cookie cutters yet...3 months after he said he was shipping them, I don't know that I ever will. I guess there is no accountability built in...you are taking a chance that the person isn't just taking your money and leaving you high and dry!
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on November 4, 2011
Keith Kritselis
commented on a project updateThanks everybody for the encouraging words. I keep reminding myself that this isn't rocket science, I just need to find the right tools and techniques.
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on November 4, 2011
Keith Kritselis
commented on a project updateKimberly, I just RSVP'd for the meeting. Looking forward to meeting you. :)
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on November 1, 2011
Keith Kritselis
Posted project update #13I think it's time for a long post...
I missed my Halloween deadline (which I'm really bummed about) and I need to bring you up speed where I'm at.
From the Beginning...So, the project closes and we surpass the goal. Very exciting.
It's going to be about 3 weeks until the funds are released, but I have a lot to do. I find an engineer and he starts creating the CAD models for manufacturing.
I also need to start getting bids and estimates on all the other aspects(packaging, shipping, UPC codes, etc.). My head does not usually work in such an organized fashion, so I reached out to a friend (and backer) to help me. He put together this magical thing called a spreadsheet and we started going over the numbers.
About this time I was contacted by a writer for the Food Network magazine about putting the cutters in their December issue. Very cool. With the great support of the Kickstarters and now this outside confirmation we started looking at turning this into a real business. I have 10 designs total that I would like to sell, and with the focus and encouragement, I'm sure more would follow.
But there were 2 problems with making the cutters out of plastic. The setup costs are $3,000 to $5,000 for each cutter design, and the perceived value of plastic cutters is low because China cranks out millions of plastic cutters for pennies.
A Change in Course...So, we looked into metal. The metal cutters looked and felt a lot better than the plastic cutters, and they had some other benefits. There was no huge setup fee, and no need to order thousands to keep the costs down.
We found a couple places in the US that could make them, and sent a design out for a bid. The bids came back higher than expected, and we realized that a lot of it had to do with the complexity of the design. A typical cookie cutter is a closed loop. They cut one length of metal, bend it into a shape, and weld the ends together. This is how they've set up their manufacturing process, and it works well for them. My Christmas cutter would be 6 pieces of metal and 7 weld spots. There's more labor involved, but the main difference is that the whole process is specialized for each cutter.
Not deterred, we got some metal and equipment, and made some prototypes. They looked good. The metal was too thin, we needed to clean up the edges and be more precise with our welds, but we felt confident that we could do the manufacturing in-house.
Time to Put the Pedal to the Metal...The money is available and we order 200 pounds (half of what we need) of Stainless Steel. We buy a bunch of tools and equipment. The tools we really need won't fit into the budget, so we get creative.
Everything takes 2 weeks to get here.
We're getting samples of printing and shipping boxes. Writing a provisional patent application and researching bulk shipping requirements.
The metal comes in and we start to work with it. The weight and thickness feel really good, but the rigidity is making it harder to work with. We wanted it to be as rigid as possible, because with the repeating pattern in the shape, it needs to match up with each cut. We have to replace some equipment, and we start working on designing the most efficient process to build the cutters.
We make the printed package design and get it off to the printer, order supplies for level bonuses, and start baking test batches of cookies with the new prototypes.
We cut hundreds of lengths of metal and start to hem(top folded edge) and shape them. The edges that stick out have a sharp point on them and rounding them off with a grinder. The individual shaped pieces look great and are starting to pile up, but we're having problems with the welding.
The first spot welder we bought worked great on the thinner metal, but at the highest setting, it's not making a solid enough bond on the thicker material. We buy a second, more powerful spot welder, and it's scorching and melting the metal.
While going through that, the printing and supplies come in and look great. I get your addresses, and I'm ready to get product out in time for Halloween, but the welding thing has me stalled in the home stretch.
So, where are we...?Once I get this welding problem cracked, we'll be able to start the final assembly and packaging for shipping. That's where 100% of my focus is right now.
We’ve accomplished a lot in 75 days, and we're getting there, I really appreciate your patience and support.
Thanks,Keithp.s. Oh, and sadly after working with them for a few weeks, they ended up cutting the piece in Food Network magazine. Kind of a bummer, but I have a contact over there, and I'll hit them up again in the spring with the new designs. :o)
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Suzanne Gill on December 11
I know we missed getting thse by Halloween wich wasn't to big a deal. Any idea on when they may ship out now? I was really hoping we'd get these by Christmas!
Thanks!!
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Christiane Boehme on December 12
Hi Keith, we hoped that the cookie cutters would be here by now, in time for christmas baking. I promised to bake for the school party thinking i have the fast solution of making cookies but it doesn't look like. We have not heard from you for over a month and i must say i am not to happy about that.
I would be willing to come and pick them up if you have them ready since i am in Austin. This way i won't have to wait until the packaging problem is solved and have them on time. Please let me know if that is possible. Thanks so much. Kind Regards Christiane @ janni_boehme@hotmail.com -
Terry Lee Long on December 12
yeah, I'm with Christiane. I was excited about this whole kickstarter thing but after this experience definetly don't want to do another one.. Looks like I'll be making Christmas cookies the old fashioned way :( I do believe your backers deserve an update.
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on October 17, 2011
Keith Kritselis
backed a project
Serie XIX by Serie Project
This project hopes to raise money for the materials, housing and Master Printer to make this opportunity viable for the artists.
Funding Unsuccessful (11/03/2011) -
on October 11, 2011
Keith Kritselis
Posted project update #12Overdue update...
Well, it seems that everything takes twice as long as your plan says it will... especially when you're spending a lot of time in completely new territory.
So we're putting in a lot of work, but we have not started shipping yet.
There have been a lot of issues with tweaking the final designs on the cutters and it affects things like the retail packaging and the shipping containers.
The original size of the Christmas cutter was just a little too big to fit in a standard shipping box, and going up a size increased the cost a lot.
Once we worked through that issue, we could finalize the design of the retail packaging (see attached image) and place the order for the printing and the packaging supplies.
That stuff will start coming in Friday.
I'll be collecting addresses this week so I can start putting together shipping labels.
I appreciate your patience.
This has turned into a second full time job. I'm learning a lot about metal grades and thicknesses, manufacturing processes, packaging for retail, and packing and shipping rates...
It's a lot to absorb, and I'm really enjoying it... if only there were a few more hours in the day. :o)
The next images I'll post will be the first assembled packages ready to ship... can't wait!
Thanks again.
Keith
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Michelle Colvert on October 12, 2011
So excited - cant wait to receive your amazing product! So ready to do some easy baking.
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Kimberly Chapman on October 24, 2011
Capital Confectioners still has nobody to do a demo for our November meeting. Let us know if you want to come show off the cutters. It's the second Tuesday, 7 pm, at Mangia near the domain.
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Stacey Van Keuren on October 28, 2011
You will let us know when you start shipping, correct? I want to warn my coworkers about my package! ;-)
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on September 22, 2011
Keith Kritselis
Posted project update #11A quick update...
Wow, I have a lot to report...
But instead of having one really long post I'm going to break it up into a series that will be posted every few days starting today.
Here are the important things:
- The first batch of cutters will start shipping in the first week of October.
- The cookie cutters are going to be made out of metal, not plastic. There is going to be a long post about why and how we're making a change, but you are going to love these cutters. They cost a little more to produce, but they look and feel so much better than the plastic ones.
- We will have more designs available before Christmas (including a cool Jewish Star design) and Kickstarter supporters will be sent a special link to get it first and at a discount.
- There have been a lot of boring but necessary business things going on too. Provisional Patents filed, domains registered, business accounts set up... yikes...
That's all for now, I'll have a longer post out this weekend where I'll bring you up to speed on the decision to make the cutters out of metal.
Thanks again for your support!
Keith
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Stacey Van Keuren on October 1, 2011
How is manufacturing and business paperwork going? I just like an update, I can't wait to have these for Halloween and to get the Jewish one for my own Hanukkah present!
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on August 26, 2011
Keith Kritselis
backed a project
A Kickstarter’s Guide to Kickstarter by Nelson de Witt
A Kickstarter’s Guide is an ebook that looks at what it takes to launch a creative project online.
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144% funded $1,303 pledged
- 104 backers
- Funded Sep 06, 2011
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on August 16, 2011
Keith Kritselis
Posted project update #10You get an idea in your head...
You tell a few friends, you look into the costs of getting it made... ouch!
You put it out of your head for a few years... but it has a way of popping up again.
You play with it some more and tell a few friends...
This happens a few more times and 15 years pass.
A friend (project backer Gray Miller) launches a Kickstarter project and I enthusiastically pledge, promote, and track his progress. The thrill of seeing it build. Watching the funding level close in. When he successfully funded, I knew I had to join in the fun.
It took me 18 months to launch a project.
It took me forever to settle on the cookie cutter idea and 6 versions of the video script before I had something I liked.
I did some things wrong, and got some things right, but we got to where we needed to be.
$7,168.29 That's an impressive number!
There are other numbers that impress me more.
317 backers
1,219 people 'Liked' it on their facebook page.
3,489 people clicked on the bitly link to check out the kickstarter page.
Those are impressive numbers.
You sit with an idea long enough and it's easy to forget what excited you about it in the first place. Thank you for reminding me, and thanks for making this experiment such an amazing success.
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Now the real work begins.
I have 3 weeks until the funds are released. In that time I need to get the CAD models made and choose a manufacturer. Then I need to work on packaging and promotion while the molds and products are being made. I also need to clean out the garage, or as I'm now referring to it, the warehouse and shipping facility :) Then, get in the products, package, label, and ship... all before Halloween!
Keep an eye out for more updates on this whole process.
One last thing, several of you told me that you are interested in starting a kickstarter project of your own...
Do it! Today! Right now! And tell me about it. I'll help you anyway I can.
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Stacey Van Keuren on August 19, 2011
I agree with Anneliese. I get products from http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/landing.jsp… King Arthur flour all the time!
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Keith Kritselis
Austin, TX
Hello. I'm a creative sort of a fellow, and I'm always coming up with ideas. I have notebooks filled with them. Please help me take this one out of my head and put it into your hands...
Has anyone received theirs yet? I'm surprised the last update was so long ago. I'm excited for when I do them tho!
I still haven't gotten mine, and it's been several months.
This was the first Kickstarter project I ever funded, and since I haven't received my cookie cutters yet...3 months after he said he was shipping them, I don't know that I ever will. I guess there is no accountability built in...you are taking a chance that the person isn't just taking your money and leaving you high and dry!