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˗ˏˋ⁩ Bin Buddies🐾 - enamel pins & more ˎˊ˗

Created by Quirkory

Get ready to melt from an overload of cuteness! ฅ^´• ܫ •`^ฅ Our collection features enamel pins, cozy hoodies, and fluffy plushies showcasing adorable animals and their trusty bins 🗑️ Prepare for a cuddly adventure like no other! ૮ • ﻌ - ა

Latest Updates from Our Project:

🗑️✨ Bin Buddies – Final Pins Are DONE!!
8 months ago – Fri, Oct 24, 2025 at 03:05:48 PM

F I N A L L Y!!!
All the Bin Buddies and TrashBox pins are now fully completed!! 🎉🥹

We can’t tell you how relieved and excited we are to say this out loud — it’s been a long, long journey, but we’re finally at this milestone!!! 😭

Right now, our manufacturer is in the process of sorting everything out — separating the pins that go on backing cards, and those that will be placed in mystery bags (like the Trash Box!)

Once everything is packed and labeled correctly, they’ll ship the entire batch to us. Yay!! 🥹


Just look at how GORGEOUS they turned out!! 🥹✨
 We couldn’t be happier — and we hope you’ll love them just as much. 💖


📦 Shipping Update – USA & EU/ROW
Here’s the good news:
 By the time we'll receive these pins, we should be able to ship to everywhere again without issues! 🎉

🇺🇸 For the United States, we’ve already signed all the necessary documents with our courier to activate the DDP (Delivered Duties Paid) shipping method — which will let us send packages again, and without unexpected customs charges for you.

🟢 Now we’re just waiting for the final green light from the courier! 🤞 Everything should go smoothly — but we’ll keep you posted as soon as it’s officially activated.

🇪🇺🌎 For Europe and the Rest of the World, in theory, nothing has changed as of now.
So, once all the rewards are in our hands, they’ll be shipped out normally to Europe and the Rest of the World. ✌️


In any case: Bin Buddies rewards will ship globally as soon as we have the pins in our hands. We’re finally getting there. ✌️


🧠 About September – Why We’ve Been Quiet
Our last update on this campaign was in August, and we had every intention to follow up sooner… but the truth is: we needed a real break.
We took the whole month of September off from social media and public updates, because we were running on empty.
Not just creatively — but mentally, emotionally, and socially. 🥺
We were simply out of energy. And we know that if we don’t stop sometimes, we risk crashing completely.
That said, we haven’t been inactive.
 We’ve been working in the background on logistics, courier communications, and keeping productions moving as best we can.
And, if we haven’t responded to your email or message yet, please know: it’s not because we don’t care.
We’re slowly making our way through all the pending messages, and we will get back to everyone as best as we can.
(In the meantime, you might already find answers to your questions in the updates we’ve been posting — we’re doing our best to cover everything clearly here, too!) 💌
 
We were just trying to recharge while keeping things afloat.
This is something we’re always trying to improve — but it’s part of how we function right now.

>If we ever go quiet, it’s never because we’ve disappeared — it just means we’re working quietly, or we’re recovering. But we’re still here. Always.

 And we hope you can continue to be patient with us, just as we deeply understand that not getting regular updates can be frustrating.
We appreciate you — more than you know. 🖤

📌 If you don’t see an update for your specific campaign yet, please know we’re still preparing and writing those as we speak. These things take time and energy — especially when everything is interconnected — so please be patient with us and avoid sending additional messages or comments asking about it. Every update is coming, and we’re doing our very best to share them all as soon as we can. Thank you for your understanding regarding this too! 💜 


❤️ To those of you who’ve stayed patient, supportive, and kind throughout all this — even quietly — we see you, we feel your warmth.


Thank you again to everyone for sticking with us through all of this. We know the delays have been frustrating, we TRULY do. And you don't know how much we’re so grateful for your ongoing support, patience, and trust. 💌


If you decide to leave a comment, we kindly ask — as always — that you do so with kindness and sensitivity. 🌷

 And even a small cheerful message or some encouragement goes such a long way for us. It’s what helps us stay grounded and keep going, even when things get overwhelming. Thank you for being that light!



We can’t wait to start packing these lil’ trashlings for you soon!! 🦝🗑️💕


With all our love,
 Inari & Mako
The Quirkory team~

🇺🇸📦 Important update for all our US backers/customers
10 months ago – Fri, Aug 22, 2025 at 09:45:31 AM

We wish this wasn’t the update we had to write today, we're devastated. But sadly, like many other small businesses based outside the US, we’re being forced to temporarily suspend all shipments to the USA, effective immediately —until further notice.

This decision is not voluntary, nor temporary out of convenience. Due to new international trade restrictions, and following a formal notice from our shipping carrier, all DDU (unpaid customs) services to the U.S. have been suspended starting August 23, 2025.

This comes in response to the abolition of the de minimis import exemption pushed by the Trump administration, which will make every single international package — regardless of its value — subject to sudden and severe customs fees, often between $80 and $200.

Worse still, there’s no infrastructure in place for small businesses like ours to cover or pre-pay these fees the same and with DDU service removed by our courier, we physically cannot ship to the US for now — even if we wanted to.

 👉 What this means for us:
As a brand whose customer base is over 89% U.S. based, it’s not just an inconvenience. It’s literally devastating.

💔 How this affects us — and why we’re heartbroken
If you've been following us for a while, you already know: the past two years have been incredibly hard and emotionally heavy.
But 2024… 2024 has been the hardest year of our lives.
We went through multiple heartbreaking losses, one after another.
Our 4 beloved companions got sick, one by one. We fought for them. We sacrificed sleep, comfort, and thousands in medical expenses to give them the best possible care — but we lost them anyway.
And with every loss, a piece of us broke too.
And at the same time, we were trying to keep our work alive.

Work, which had always been our one steady ground — suddenly turned into chaos too  — and completely crumbled.
Our long-time trusted manufacturers, who had never let us down before, began failing us in ways we never imagined: delayed communications, endless waiting. We were left with months of silence, and no choice but to start over from scratch.
We had to test new unknown suppliers — and ended up with defective products.
We lost money, time, energy. We had to redo entire collections multiple times, spending every last cent we had.
Every last bit of our personal savings vanished in the whole process.

We were physically and emotionally exhausted — and as we kept trying to stay afloat, the multiple burnouts we were facing, eventually turned into physical illness.
Still — we kept going. We kept creating.

 Because we kept telling ourselves:
“As soon as we get all the items, if WE just work extra hard, if we give it our all, we’ll finally be able to ship everything and get back on track.”

But now… this.
A decision completely out of our hands — cutting us off from the country where most of our customers live.
This new law is like a giant wall placed between us and you — our supporters, our community.

We’ve always been transparent with you, and today is no different:
👉 This is not just a shipping issue. This is about our entire livelihood.
👉 Not just our work, but our ability to survive — to eat, to pay rent, to afford care for our last living animal still with us (only our bunny Mini-kun is left).

And it’s not something we can climb over with just more effort.
It’s out of our hands.

🛠️ So what now? This is NOT the end.
We want to be very clear about one thing:
This is not permanent. This is not “the end”, for now.
We are still committed to doing everything in our power to make all the rewards happen, and we hold on to hope that things will work out. For now, it’s a pause, not a goodbye.

We’re working on trying to find solutions — actively — and we are fully committed to bringing this project and all our creations to life as much as we possibly can, even if this adds to the already huge delays.

Here’s what we’re doing already:
🌀 We're exploring alternative routes (like DDP or intermediate delivery hubs, PO box reroutes)
🌀 We're planning to speak directly with US-based fulfillment centers/warehouses
🌀 And yes — we will continue the currently ongoing production wherever possible. We are fully committed to creating every single item we promised, even if shipping will be extremely delayed.
🌀 Additionally, any new campaigns we had in the works will now be postponed, suspended, or blocked for US backers until there is more clarity. This breaks our hearts, but it’s the only thing we can do

We know this might sound like a lot of uncertainty — but please know this:
💬 We are not giving up. Not on you. Not on what we built. Not on this dream.

 And beyond the immediate crisis, here’s what we are planning for the future, in order to stay afloat and avoid complete shutdown:
 
  • We may set up US-based print-on-demand options for some of our creations
  • We’ll soon open digital versions of many of our works — from wallpapers to coloring pages to art printables
  • We’re planning to reopen limited shipping for certain flat items like stickers or prints using flat mail (which seems to be exempt — for now)
  • Most importantly: we’re also working on coloring books through Amazon’s direct print service. This is something we had already started developing, and now more than ever it feels like the right path — turning our art into something therapeutic and accessible worldwide. 


🌱 How you can help (if you want to):
We are a two-person, neurodivergent team. We work from a tiny room, trying to create beauty and connection despite the chaos around us.

And right now, we’re at risk of losing everything we’ve built — and everything we’ve survived to keep alive.

If you want to help us make it through this:
💾 Support our upcoming digital releases — we’re making many of our designs available in digital/printable form (wallpapers, sheets, planners, etc)
✉️ Grab stickers or prints — when we’ll reopen flat mail shipping for US customers (as soon as we’ve adjusted the shop)
📣 Engage with our posts on socials: leave a kind comment, send a message, or share our work — a kind word goes a long, long way... it means more than you know 
🌍 If you’re outside the US — your continued support is more crucial than ever! And we thank you deeply for being here 🫶
🎁 Even symbolic support helps us keep going

Please stay with us. Your patience, your presence, your faith in what we do… it’s everything.


And we'll do our best to keep you updated, as clearly and as honestly as possible.

Right now, we’re hurting. We’re tired. And yes, we’re scared.
But we’re still here — because of you.

And we will fight, with all we have, to keep creating and delivering the magic you believed in when you chose to support us.


💬 Last but not least: thank you.
Thank you for believing in us. For staying, for waiting, for understanding.
We’re doing our best, even when we’re at our worst.
And this time — we really, really need your help to get through it.
This is not goodbye.
It’s a pause, while we fight to make things work.
From the bottom of our hearts:
Thank you for being here. Thank you for still caring.



With all our love (and all our hope),
 Inari & Mako 🐄 💔🖤
quirkory

📸 Production Peek: more pins almost completed!! 🛠️🐾
11 months ago – Wed, Jul 30, 2025 at 05:39:16 AM

We’re back with a meow-nificent production update today — the Bin Buddies enamel pins are continuing to come to life, and we couldn’t wait to share these photos fresh from the factory! 🎉

Here's another round of Bin Buddies (and Trash box) in progress — some nearly finished, some still getting their final touches!

It’s hard to put into words just how much work went into this collection — over 70 enamel pins, each one with its own colors, markings, and personality. Even when some shared a base mold, they all needed individual attention. Seeing them finally take shape like this feels incredible.  😭✨


Take a peek below —


This new batch of photos shows off some almost finished pins, fresh from final polishing and ready for screenprinting — and honestly? Seeing them all lined up like this feels surreal. There’s something really satisfying (and a little emotional 🥹) about watching tray after tray of our chonky kitties, each with their own colors, finally ready to take their final form!!
You’ll spot some of the color variation here. The smooth metal, the clean enamel fills, the plating quality... we’re genuinely so happy with how everything is turning out.
Seeing this new progress makes everything feel so real — and it means we're getting closer and closer to the moment we can start organizing all your rewards!

---

This is just part of what’s currently in production. Some pins have already been completed and shared in past updates, others are still in progress, and the Trash Box pins will also get the blind-bag packing "treatment" in addition. But more on that later!


📋 We’ll be sharing a second update in a few days to give you a quick recap on rewards & fulfillment progress! 


As said, we’re getting closer and closer to the finish line, and it feels so good to finally see these come to life 😭🌟


As always, thank you so much for your patience and support while we get everything just right. 🦝🗑️


More soon!

Magnetic Bins Preview is Here! — They Finally Did It 😮‍💨
11 months ago – Wed, Jul 23, 2025 at 07:12:31 AM

✨Magnetic Bins shots are finally here!!✨
We just received two quick preview videos from the manufacturer showing how the magnetic bins turned out — and we love them!!! 🥹💖
They definitely had quite a few struggles getting these done properly over the past months, but it was worth it 💪

 As planned, the Sakura versions are gold plated, while the Standard Bin Buddies come in black nickel plating — just as intended! 🌸🖤

Here are two quick screenshots for a sneak peek 👀
Sure, the bins could’ve been positioned a little better in the final shots, but oh well… manufacturer logic™ 🤣


🎥 Video preview below 👇
📎 Video 1
📎 Video 2

The manu also told us they’ll be sending more photos later this week — let’s hope they actually keep their word this time! 😪


We’re honestly so done with all the back-and-forth and truly hope we’re finally at the end of this chaotic journey ahhhhhhh 🤞😫


But hey — things are looking up, and we can’t wait to show you more very soon!! 💕✨

✨ Bin Tote Bags have ARRIVED! 🦝✨
12 months ago – Sat, Jul 05, 2025 at 07:48:18 AM

They’re finally here!!! 🖤 Our long-awaited Bin Buddies Tote Bags just landed!!
 
A little behind-the-scenes:
Some of the shipping boxes arrived looking pretty rough — one even showed up open, completely smashed and soggy from being soaked and mishandled, and the courier didn’t even bother taping it shut again 🙃

But the good news is: we’ve counted everything and nothing is missing! All totes made it safely despite the dramatic cardboard disaster. Yay!🥹

Anyways, we're in love: the colors, the details, the mini trash keychain(!!), the lining... everything came out just as we pictured even in this bulk production😭💕

📸 Look how cute they turned out!
  •  That embroidered Bin the raccoon face?? ADORABLE.
    (Okay okay, we know we're biased… but still 😅 There's only one Bin 😌)

  •  The little attached trash-shaped pouch? Functional for small objects AND lovely.
    (Yes, we're hyping our own design – but how could we not?! 🐝)

  •  The custom printed lining is full of trash 😆 (pizzas, banana peels, apple cores... all the trashy treasures you’d expect from Bin)  🍕🍌🍎
    (We had way too much fun putting all that trashy cuteness in there 🤣)

  •  Plus, woven label + rubber charm tags = chef’s kiss 😏
    (Okay, we'll stop tooting our own horn now — but we’re just really excited!)


Here's a little video too ˎˊ˗


Now onto Tote-Bags fulfillment updates!
We’ve just created a shipping group for all backers who ordered only the Tote Bag (or the Tote Bag plus some in-hand, ready-to-pack items).
That means: still no apparel, no pins in this round!

🧾 This segment currently includes 13 backers.

📦 We’ve started the locking address phase (automatically closes in 48 hours), so please double-check your email if you’re part of this group – this is your moment to confirm or update your address!

💳 We also started charging cards for this segment. So far, only 2 payments failed – the system will retry a few more times, but if it keeps failing, unfortunately, we won’t be able to ship those rewards.


We’re super happy to finally start shipping this part of the project, and we’ll keep you updated as more segments go out soon 💪🖤 Thank you for your support and patience, as always! Hope you're having a lovely weekend~



And let us know what you think of the totes – we can’t wait to see your photos when they reach you!! 🐾🗑️