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Update #12: Last of the Backer Rewards & New books
Hello all. The new books finally arrived. I went with the printer my mate is now using and they were able to successfully help me correct the printing issue that was leaving a few of the pages too dark to read. I had to increase the book size (they don't do graphic novel size printing unfortunately) to magazine size but it's beautiful and sturdy and I actually like it better now with the various edge designs I had to add to fill out the blank space in the pages. Everyone who backed me for a book is getting a copy of this one even if you already have the first one I did. This one is just way better. I'm adding prints of the tarot deck art to the packages as a thank you for your patience.
Printing is a small odyssey for me with each product. The quality and cost is always different even with a reliable printer. My mate took a huge step to help fix this for us. He had the opportunity to get a professional grade large printer for our studio. It allows us to print our own giclees, art prints, cards, what have you, from very small sizes to the massive ones. I'm finishing out making backer rewards with our own printer and that is all kinds of awesome.
Speaking of that, by the end of this week I will have put the last of everyone's rewards into the mail. You'll get an email notice with the shipping date. If you have a moment please let me know your stuff arrived and it arrived in one piece. I had two instances where tarot decks that were sent out two of the cards at the front stuck together for some reason. I've sent out replacement cards for those. I'm just worried this happened to anyone else so if it did please please let me know so I can send you the cards so you have a whole and healthy deck. Just shoot me an email at ettadiem at gmail.com with kickstarter in the subject. My account gives me a ping for kickstarter items.
The editing process has begun on book II, Cinder and Ash. I'm hoping to have it available in August. I have regular posts about these things on my website's blog, so please stop by now and then http://bethalynnebajema.com/scriptorium -Below are some camera phone shots of the book and my studio, which is currently stuffed with packaged things. Between my project and my mate's (he had a project called the Infernal Device which is being created for ArtPrize -it's a huge wind powered rotating mural set inside of an antique looking frame -hard to describe but beautiful) project we've had some 600 packages to fill and ship. It's been somewhat surreal. I'm thankful the end is in sight and everyone seems happy with their items so far. I can never thank you enough.
Bethalynne
Update #11: Rewards Update
Hello! I'm putting into the post tomorrow the second batch of backer rewards. It's been slower going than I intended as I didn't figure in enough postage when I was working through my costs. For that I do apologize. If you haven't gotten your reward yet, keep an eye out over this week for envelopes that look like the above. Pictured are the extra items I've been adding to the rewards (additional items to go along with the original reward). The rest of the color corrected books arrive this week as well.
Feedback on the book has been good and the tarot deck is doing quite well. I've begun to edit the second Black Ibis book for the printers. I'm hoping to make that available this coming August. There's been so much going on the past month that I rarely get a chance to just exhale and slack off. I can't say that's a bad thing at all. Besides working on my own projects (that would be this one) I've completed cover artwork for two steampunk oriented books -G.D. Falkson's first full novel Blood in the Skies (to accompany the Air steampunk role-playing game) and Echelon Press' steampunk anthology Her Majesty's Mysterious Conveyance. My art mag Insects & Angels will also be releasing its rather large third issue Professor Vogel's Alternative History Machine. Some of the artwork from these projects can be seen on my site. And ArtPrize 2011 is gearing up - this is a large international art competition that happens to take place in my home town. My entry this year is a large fortune teller's shadowbox that is described in the Black Ibis stories. Most of the time the shadowbox only houses artwork, but during the weekends I have an actual mechanical costumed neo-victorian lass in there offering equally mechanical like fortunes to people who come up to the box.
Anyhoo! I hope everyone has liked their rewards, and those still waiting I thank you for your patience and hope you'll like them as they arrive :)
Update #10: Private Update & Link for Backers
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Posted on June 8, 2011
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Update #9: Rewards
Hello! Pledge rewards will start trickling into the mail boxes of their new owners this week. The books were ordered a bit ago and I'm just waiting for the nice postal man to drop them off at my house. I haven't gotten my shipping confirmation yet so I'm not quite sure when that is, but I'm hoping to get them so I have enough time to get them shipped off before we leave for our convention next week. And the Black Ibis site has been updated with page samples from the book and the complete tarot deck is now online.
In an effort to help support my mate's own kickstarter project, we're offering a special version of the Lovers card that can be had by pledging his project. His project is on a much much larger scale than mine and will need far greater resources, but the wonderful side is one of the MI museum's has already contacted him about possibly giving his sculpture a permanent home when the ArtPrize event is over. And we're just a bit giddy because Neil Gaiman gave a bit of twitter time to it :)
Anyhoo, thank you again. And I leave you finally with some of the artwork from the book and some more tarot cards...
A portion of the graffiti wall artwork...
Update #8: A few notes...
The book is about to go to the printers, I'm just waiting for the last of my doodlers to trickle in with their doodles. The books should be shipped to me around the 20th of this month.
I got my first batch of prints today for the art reward pledges. Some of them will be getting some hand embellishment treatment and all of them will be getting pulled together and wrapped up for shipping to their new homes in the next week or two here. I have a little mini-print version of the tarot deck I want to include with each of these reward packages, as an extra thank-you. Even if you just did the doodle option, if you're willing to pass along a snail-mail address I can try and pass one along to you as well :)
One of the nicest touches I got to add to the first book was a wee intro Brom wrote for me:
"Bethalynne's work is a whisper, a seductive echo that creeps into your head just before you fall asleep and follows you into your dreams. Ghostly, beautiful, sensuous, her work caresses you with painted insect fingernails. She is a painting, a poem, a daguerreotype, a costume of lace and beads, a bejeweled dragonfly, she is a carnival of talents dancing together to craft a unique and haunting voice." - Brom
Color me tickled! If you can, you know, color someone in the shade of tickle. Thank you again and if you have any questions about all of this, you're welcome to write me any time. Oh yes, I'm still working on the proper site for the Black Ibis -but I do believe it will have to go up after I get the bru-hah of the printers out of the way first. :)
The Priestess Card for the Black Ibis tarot deck. The model and clothing designer is Kambriel, with the original photograph by Visioluxus.
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This project successfully raised its funding goal on April 21, 2011.
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A postcard of limited edition artwork from the Black Ibis.
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Your name & doodle will be apart of the "wall art graffiti" at the back of the first issue. You can send me a doodle and your written name or I'll whip something up for you. The artwork wall is basically blank at present, the scenario is one of those rooms somewhere in a club where everyone who has drifted through there has left their mark. In my fictional cabaret, you'll have all apparently found your way into the secret London and left your mark there. This artwork is at the back of the first book.
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A limited edition signed 5x7 metallic print of Black Ibis artwork.
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An 8x10 limited edition signed metallic print of Black Ibis Artwork.
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An 8x10 hand embellished giclee on fine art paper. There's a variety of artwork and with the hand embellishing each print becomes unique.
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Purchase the book and have your name & doodled on the back wall. An extra pledge option upon request.
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A 5x7 hand embellished, mounted giclee on canvas of a limited edition piece of art from story.
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A signed Black Ibis major arcana tarot deck with an accompanying doodle. (Doodle equates pencil sketch.)
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A signed & numbered Black Ibis major arcana tarot deck with a handmade deck box.
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A piece of original artwork (OOAK) from the graphic novel's page artwork.
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I'll illustrate you into the final scene of the last book. At the end of my story the Black Ibis (who is the mythical creature the story is centered around) is quite possibly found. The final cabaret scene is a mural of people I admire, my friends, a few among my family, and if you can see yourself in a turn of the century, purely dark fantasy, neovictorian type cabaret audience, so can you ;)
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An original 16x20 inch mounted canvas giclee of one of the major arcana cards. *The major arcana tarot cards are mostly digital paintings. To create an original piece from the digital composition the piece is printed on canvas giclee paper with archival acrylic inks. I mount this canvas and continue to paint and add beading, metal leafing and things of that nature to make the painting the final and only version of that image.
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Bethalynne is a Michigan native with 15 years of experience as a professional artist. Her artwork has been featured in magazines such as Dark Beauty, Dark Realms, Real Detroit, Cthulhu Sex, and Weird Tales, along with contributions to books Gothic Art Now and John Santerineross’ two coffee table books, Dream and Fruit of the Secret God. She currently spends much of her time juggling too many projects, attempting to be a writer who doesn’t include squirrel references too often and working along side her fiancee –artist Myke Amend. Her current projects are The Black Ibis, a graphic novel, and Insects & Angels, a long time art zine of hers that has recently become a printed magazine.
Hi have you sent out the international orders yet? Just wondering as I haven't seen anything in my email yet. Thanks.
I have. I've gotten all but one package off into the post. I will go look yours up and see if it's gotten hung up in shipping somewhere and send you a direct note about it.
Hello Bethalynne. How is the reward shipping going? My package has not arrived yet and I haven't seen any updates on the progress of shipments lately. Just thought I would check in. Thank you.