Thanks for the bump PlottMom, and thanks everybody who has chipped in!!
As for how it works since it's pretty clear I won't be hitting my goal, and I have no problems with being 100% transparent:
Because I chose to NOT go with "all or nothing funding," whatever money has been donated will still come to me (with a big chunk of it going to IndieGoGo; they take less if you hit your goal.)
I have already overspent what has been donated on supplies and tools, and have yet to order the diamond point Dremel attachments that will allow me to carve into tool steel to make my custom stamps, along with plenty of other supplies I don't have yet...
What this means for the business is that I won't be able to start offering the custom stamps until I can come up with that cash. The idea of the IndieGoGo campaign was to be able to start out with the money right away and invest in making my custom stamps, then fulfill what could basically be considered to be pre-orders... rather than working to get the money from sales of basic tags and THEN invest in making my custom stamps.
Since that has not panned out, I suppose you could say that plan is moot, and the timing on my creation of custom stamps and my ability to offer them has been pushed back.
I have two possible options right now.
1) I might be able to engraving into the tags and hand draw custom designs, but I need to continue opening boxes at my house and try to find my engraving bit and test that out before I offer that as a definite solution. This has the upside of being able to deliver some of the cool, custom designs to people more quickly. This has the downside of being unable to be repeated. I could never be an animator because my ability to draw something the same way twice is, uh, crappy. So every time I drew a jump, for example, it would be slightly different. (Of course, this is possibly a pro as well, because it raises the "hand-made" aspect.) But as I said, I'm not sure yet how well that will work because I haven't found my engraving bit, which I bought to etch glass rather than actually engrave anything, sooooo I've never tried it. But that is one possible solution I am exploring and going to work on tonight provided I can find that stupid engraving bit (everything at my house is currently crammed in my kitchen and laundry room because my floors are being refinished.)
2) I am only producing tags with my commercial stamps until I can get the extra funds to buy the additional tools and stuff that I need to make the custom stamps. I am unsure of how long it will take to get the custom stamps made... at this point I am thinking perhaps I can have them made and ready to use by June.
Everybody who has donated will be getting a gift certificate (or several) for ANY tag they want - basic, custom, one of the guitar pick tags, anything at all regardless of the price, free shipping included, to be used at any time, as a guarantee that they will be getting their tag/tags as promised.
Everybody who has donated and does not want to wait to use the certificate for tags, because I know some people donated with the specific hopes of wanting the custom stamps, will also be getting an offer for a 100% refund of their donation. I will still be happy to deliver their drawings and prints even if they take the refund as a sincere thank you for being willing to help out.
So that's how it works.