The past couple of weeks have been exciting and busy, working on new tools and scaling up my methodology. Throughout this journey, I’ve been really lucky to discover the different members of the amazing Kickstarter community, backers and creators alike.

One of the most inspiring encounters was with John and Claire Easely, the creators of Carbon 6 Rings, who launched a very successful Kickstarter campaign in 2015. When contacting John, I learned he saw and loved ‘You Are Here’ on Kickstarter. He immediately offered to help and didn’t ask for anything in return. John invited me to his workshop where we spent two days working on the ring bending tool. Here’s a little peek:

I’m grateful for meeting John and his family. I’ve not only made an amazing ring machine, but also some new good friends!

Running my first campaign, there were often questions. I was lucky enough to be able to turn to Nimrod Back and Elad Burko for some good advice. Thank you for your willingness to openly share your experience and knowledge with me!

I’ve also gotten to know the great team running the growing community of First Backer who featured You Are Here on their newsletter. If you love being the first to hear about new and exciting Kickstarter projects and early bird offers, check them out here 

Lastly, a word to our You Are Here community :)

I’ve emailed the first round of invitations to the You Are Here map builder and I’m in the process of producing the EarlyBird maps. I will continue to invite everyone over the coming weeks. Please don’t worry if you haven’t yet received your invitation, I’m doing this gradually and trying to improve the process as I go forward. You’re welcome to follow along here and on Instagram to see the first jewelry designs made and some behind the scenes shots from the process of creation. 

As always, you are welcome to message or email me with any question.

Much love, 
Talia Sari

 

What an incredible month. 1,206 backers, 1537% funded, it's out of this world!

Thank you for all of the comments and messages showing support and asking about the next steps, I am just as eager as you all are to get this show on the road!
After 24 hours to take this all in, I’ve already jumped back and started preparing for manufacturing. I’m hiring some extra help and finalizing the surveys to be sent to you so you can all start to create your maps.
I will continue to update you here on Kickstarter, but you’re also more than welcome to follow along on Instagram and Facebook for some behind-the-scenes photos.

What you need to know about the next steps 

Your payments have been processed by Kickstarter, if there was any problem you probably received an email notifying you. I will be sending you a survey soon to collect the initial information needed. It’s very important that you reply as fast as possible to help me in purchasing the right quantity of materials Following that, I will gradually send you invitations to the You Are Here platform, where you’ll be able to create your map.

If you have any questions about your pledge, do not hesitate to send me a private message, I’ll be checking them frequently. You Are Here on 'InDemand' You Are Here is now continuing on IndieGoGo's InDemand for those who missed out on the Kickstarter campaign. For a slightly higher price and later delivery than Kickstarter your friends and family can still turn their places into jewelry. See the campaign here

Much love,
Talia 

Kickstarter has been such a special place for me over the past weeks, I wish I could make a map of Kickstarter and take it with me!

During the campaign you have shared remarkable stories about the places you want to take with you, here are just a few: Cheryl will make the map of Santa Barbara, CA - where she was born and adopted, as a good luck charm for her long journey in the search for her family. Princeton will make a map of Minato, Tokyo, where he and his wife first met their adopted son. Mark will make the map of Pennsic. it’s a pop-up city that appears for two weeks every year. Mark’s wife has been going there for the past 26 years as part of her spiritual journey. Every day brings new places and stories of people I've never met, but already feel very much connected to.

As promised, I pin them to my new cork map on my studio’s wall:

 The journey of this campaign is ending soon, and the adventure of discovering your places and holding them in my hands will begin. I can’t wait...

Please, share this campaign with your friends to support my final mile efforts:

 

 

  
Much love, Talia!

Hi guys,
I know I've been a little quiet over the past week, but honestly I'm a little speechless :)
Nothing feels better than getting all this support and love from you guys. Thank you!

Over the past few days I received many emails with touching stories of people and their places. Now "I'm in love with cities I've never been to and people I've never met"...

Since it will take a little while for the campaign to end and for your places to be shared with me, I thought we could share them here, now - with the members of this little "You Are Here" community we created.

What is the place you want to turn into jewelry and why is it special to you?
I would love to learn more about you in the campaign comments...
Every place will get a pin added on my new studio cork map!

The first one is for my current location, Brooklyn NY. I moved here a few months ago with Shay, my husband (and the talented campaign video creator if I may say so myself) and Schnitz, our dog (and the supporting actor in that same video). 
It's taken us a few months to put all the pieces together, and I'm so happy to finally start feeling at home here. Brooklyn, I love you.

Have a picture of your place? You are very welcome share it with your story on Instagram using the hashtag #tsYouAreHere (ts is for Talia Sari) 

♡ Talia