America At The Seams: The 1st Month

Hey Backers!   It's been over a month since my last update, so wanted to fill you in on how things are going with the America At The Seams project!  

I formally received funding on 4/18 and spent the last two weeks in April designing and working on the reclaimed wood backing that the 5 foot wide artwork will be mounted on.  I purposefully chose old reclaimed wood boards from The Bakery, a co-working space and community of entrepreneurs in Sioux Falls that recently hosted a business incubator program called The Oven that played a key role in propelling this project to where it is today.  (See local NBC affiliate news story on The Oven here).  

Selecting old floorboards & pallet wood at The Bakery.

After selecting a combination of century old floorboards and pallet wood, I sanded everything down to ensure a smooth, clean surface for staining. 

Meet my 3 year old daughter, Nyla, who has been named Director of Quality Control for this project. She comes with little experience and is quite bossy, but she sure brings out the best in me.

After sanding, I secured the vertical wood boards with horizontal 2x4 boards with wood screws from the back and I used a nail gun through the front for extra support.

I went to the local Ace Hardware store and picked out a beautiful maple oil based stain with satin finish.  

After 3 coats of stain, I debuted the project's wood mount on May 6th at A League Of Your Own as part of the Downtown Sioux Falls Art & Wine Walk.  I spent 4 hours that evening talking with hundreds of people about my baseball artwork and this project.  It went really well! 

Wood backing reveal in downtown Sioux Falls.

In addition to creating the wood mount, I commissioned a local graphics designer last week to create the t-shirt rewards that many of you selected and hope to have the t-shirt order placed by end of May.   

I've also had multiple conversations with a book publisher about providing editorial, graphic design, and printing services related to the 50 stories in 50 states coffee table book coming out after the artwork is complete.  

I'll try to send out monthly updates moving forward.  In the meantime, please follow my updates on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

Thanks for the support! 

PS to Backers - really cool project thank you notes are in the mail.  If you don't receive one within the next week, please let me know.

We did it!

My Kickstarter ended this past Monday night with 119 backers and over $17,000 in pledges! I'm humbled and overwhelmed by your generosity and support. We met our 1st stretch goal ($15k funding), which means I'll be developing a project website in the coming months for project updates, pictures, and stories.

It also means I get to give away the United States baseball flag original artwork (pictured in the header) to one lucky backer! I used a random number generator and it goes Backer #89 - Nick Cobb. Congrats!

Kickstarter funding takes up to 2 weeks to process. Once that's finalized, I'll start sending out surveys to get t-shirt sizes, book inscription requests, etc., so stay tuned for that.

Thanks, Nathan Rueckert, Artist & Founder Baseball Seams Co., LLC

5 More Days!

Hey Backers! Only 5 more days left in my Kickstarter! I've learned so much from this experience and look forward to sharing with you my top 5 lessons learned in a blog post next week (stay tuned). Obviously, having the funds to do this is awesome....but honestly, I could have received funding through a bank loan, credit cards, home equity line of credit, etc. So why Kickstarter? Answer: Validation.

I could have launched this and had NO ONE support it. That would have been a clear sign that this crazy idea maybe wasn't that great. But the fact that now 98 of you have validated that this is a great idea, that you support what I'm doing, that you want to see this idea become a reality is what is so meaningful to me...and I'm forever grateful for the encouragement & support.

So that said, we are now less than $100 from reaching our 1st stretch goal of $15,000. If we hit it, I'll hire an awesome website developer to build out www.americaattheseams.com fully equipped with blog posts on each state story, awesome pictures of the artwork as it is developed, and an e-commerce platform for more project specific products for purchase. I'll also be randomly giving away the one-of-a-kind original artwork used to produce the project t-shirt, autographed & framed to one of you backers.

I'd love to see over 100 total Backers support this. Tell a friend this week to get behind this project - even if it's $5. Share it on Facebook or Twitter. Crazy stat of the day: over 50% of you backed this project after seeing it on social media, so please keep sharing! Here's a good Facebook link to share:
https://www.facebook.com/baseballseamsco/posts/10154266231949587:0

2 Stretch Goals - $15,000 and $20,000

It’s time for some stretch goals!  For those newer to Kickstarter, stretch goals are additional cool things I’m going to accomplish if more funds are raised, as well as additional cool rewards you can earn for being a backer.

STRETCH GOAL #1 = $15,000

If we hit $15,000 overall funding, I will use additional funds to create a dedicated project website at AmericaAtTheSeams.com.   I already own the domain and would hire an awesome web developer to give this project a top notch online presence where I will post new pictures, blog posts, and state artwork pictures and stories as they become available.  The site would link to all social media platforms to give you the opportunity to share updates to all the baseball fans in your life.  Distinguished and Corporate Sponsors would have a clear branding presence on this site with links to their own sites.  PLUS….ALL project backers will be included on a “Wall of Fame” page where you are recognized by name (along with where you are from). You can include a short phrase or saying with your name to pay tribute to someone in your life or to give as a gift.

In addition, I’ll do a random drawing for a chance to win the original artwork being used to create the project t-shirt – an American flag made from actual used baseballs shaped into the outline of the US Map. Only one of these exists! Letter of Authenticity will be included. Drawing will be done by a random number generator by Backer number. Family members excluded from this perk.

STRETCH GOAL #2 = $20,000

If we hit $20,000 overall funding, I will hire a professional cinematographer to create “My Story” videos for 2 state stories.  Video would be similar to my own video as seen in this Kickstarter and would tie in that person’s story to the overall project.   I will create a NEW project backer reward to give persons the opportunity to sponsor a video and have their name, brand/logo/website included in the credits.

Keep spreading the word!  We still have 2 weeks to go!

Nathan Rueckert, Artist & Founder
Baseball Seams Co., LLC

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

We did it!!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that as of yesterday afternoon, our project is 100% funded! The support of friends, family and baseball fans across America has been remarkable and I am so appreciative of your support. So now what?

With 2 weeks still remaining in the Kickstarter, I will be releasing a couple stretch goals in the next few days. As stated in my project details, the $12,000 was the minimum I was hoping to raise. I'll detail out what I'll do with additional funds shortly, so stay tuned!

Nathan Rueckert, Artist & Founder The Baseball Seams Co., LLC

83% Funded + T-SHIRT & ARIZONA REVEAL!

Friends - your support has been absolutely incredible.  We are nearly half way through the Kickstarter funding campaign and now have 67 awesome backers with nearly $10,000 funds raised!  Unbelievable.  We still have 18 days left to raise a minimum of $2,000 to make this project reality.  LET'S DO THIS!

T-SHIRT REVEAL

I'm very excited to reveal the project t-shirt design...see pic below.  I'll be having a graphics design guru touch up the image in the coming weeks and really make it pop on the shirt.  The wording "America At The Seams" will be boldly titled underneath the image and the shirt will also include a cool "I'm a Backer" yoke design under the back collar.  It'll be an awesome shirt to wear this 4th of July!  

ARIZONA:  The Story of Dave Stevens

I'll be telling part of Dave Stevens' story when creating the state of Arizona.  Dave holds the state high school record for most career walks and most walks in a single season...a good eye, right?  Sort of.  

You see, Dave has no legs.  He's a congenital amputee and runs with his arms.  His gritty and relentless hustle earned him playing time with the St. Paul Saints in 1996 and to this day, he's the only minor leaguer to play without legs.  My recent Facebook post about Dave has over 1,000 likes and 400+ shares in just one day!   

So thankful for all of you.  This is going to be fun.  Baseball is more than just a game.

Nathan Rueckert, Artist & Founder
The Baseball Seams Co., LLC
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Connect with me here:

www.facebook.com/baseballseamsco

www.twitter.com/baseballseams

www.instagram.com/baseballseamsco

Week One Update - Halfway Home!

Hey all! It's been a busy first week here in Sioux Falls and I'm so pumped to report we are already 50% funded with 25 backers! Awesome! It's normal for the middle of Kickstarter campaigns to have a lull in activity, so I'm very thankful to be off to a great start. Wanted to highlight a couple cool things from Week 1:

1) I was the guest speaker at 1 Million Cups in Sioux Falls this past week and pitched my project to the thriving entrepreneurial community here. Such an honor to speak and had a great response!

2) Our first Distinguished Sponsor jumped on board! Warriors Never Give Up is an organization that offers outdoor adventures for combat and/or disabled veterans. With their Distinguished Level sponsorship, they'll host an "America At The Seams" event after the artwork is completed. Such a privilege to speak in front of some of our nation's heroes!

Keep spreading the word! Thank you for your continued support!

THANK YOU!

Thanks so much for the love! The first 48 hours have been amazing. We're already more than 33% of the way to our goal! Your support means the world to me. Please continue to get the word out...we still have a long ways to go.

DID YOU KNOW....that we are attempting to make history with this project? If successfully funded, it will be the highest grossing artwork Kickstarter project originating from South Dakota. EVER. So let's make history together. Thanks again for your support!