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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

They're here! If you love a good tourist tea towel, have we got a treat for you: Ryan has selected his favourite beaches from across the motu to showcase in our newest release of tea towels. We have one each in stock, so get in quick if you don't want to wait! birdandbeach.co.nz/product/acro...

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

While I was setting up the new tea towels, I realised I had a couple of draft products waiting for photos, so there are also a couple of new card designs up in the store now too. birdandbeach.co.nz/product-cate...

A screenshot from the Bird and Beach website showing product listings for Elisabeth's Pōhutukawa and Kiwi on the Couch greeting cards.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Ryan hasn't approved the product shots yet, so consider this a sneak peak of what's to come - Across the motu tea towels, coming to the Bird and Beach website very soon! (And I've just noticed something I need to change in the image file, but c'est la vie!)

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Did you know... ...we added a LOT of new coaster designs just recently AND not only can you order all the bird coasters as individuals or mix and match sets, you can now also order all the Across the motu designs and Focus on flora (yes - the nasturtiums!) too. birdandbeach.co.nz/product-cate...

Screenshot of the product page for the Across the motu coasters. Available designs are:
Blown away
Camp Bay
Castle Point
Diamond Harbour
Oriental Bay
Rangitoto (pictured)
Solace in the wind
St Clair
Sumner
Taylor's Mistake
Wellington houses.

Screenshot of the product page for the Focus on flora coasters. Available designs are:
Kōwhai Ngutukākā
Nasturtiums
Pink roses
Pōhutukawa

A glass of water sits on a square kererū coaster, with piles of the other Classic Bird Portrait coasters in the background. They are all sitting on a wooden sideboard (closely framed to the coasters) with some pearl fairy lights in the background.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

So lovely to see our first ruru tea towel appreciation post! At this point in time, there are only 2 of these tea towels in existence, but I'll be ordering more fabric next week if you wanted to order one for your very own. 😄

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Not quite done in time to catch the courier today (Ryan took the car to the station this morning so I can’t run then down to Petone), but that’s the last of my orders wrapped for this week. Please feel free to add some new ones to my to-do list for next week! 😉

An order of tea towels and an order of coasters and a greeting card ready to slip into their courier bags.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

And a set of four tea towels that are also hot off the press. A different press to the coasters, but still hot!

Two weka all over, one weka feature, and one kererū all over tea towel, all neatly pressed and ready to pack for a customer order.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

A fresh set of coasters, quite literally still hot off the press!

A set of four Wellington coasters - Wellington Houses; Blown Away (the Wellington sign by the airport); Oriental Bay; Solace in the Wind (the waterfront sculpture, early morning).

All art copyright Ryan Nielson.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Ever wanted to see our full range of tea towels all in one place? Here, I made this for you! I've also just updated all the stock levels on our website. The only ones not available on the website are Across the Motu - we're waiting on product photography. (Ruru is sold out but you can backorder).

The Classic Bird Portraits range of tea towels in our catalogue.

The Focus on Flora and Absurbirdies ranges of tea towels in our catalogue.

The Across the Motu (mostly beaches) range of tea towels in our catalogue. There is also a larger photo of the Wellington Bucket Fountain Tea Towel displayed on a clothesline.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

You’ll have to imagine the bleep, but 100% appreciate @ianhenderson.bsky.social’ s sentiment here: we’re big fans of customers who shop small, shop local, and shop early! 🩵🩵

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

And I did not think this one through properly. Should have rolled that tea towel instead of folding it.

A white tea towel hung horizontally from a clothesline overlooking Huka Falls.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Not me, laughing at the sight of Ryan crouching down to take a photo, then realising that I have indeed crouched down to take this picture.

A man, in silhouette, is crouched down to take a photo. In the foreground, dry, rocky lake bed/shore. In the background, an expansive view of lake Taupō.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Would you like to see what our packaging looks like when you buy a set of 4 coasters from us? Designed inhouse - by Elisabeth, who is showing off one of Ryan's sets here.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Would you like to see what our packaging looks like when you buy a set of 4 coasters from us? Designed inhouse - by Elisabeth, who is showing off one of Ryan's sets here.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Me getting all excited to show you what the packaging looks like on our coaster sets (I've just spent hours refining the cutting file for it so it's so good now). My phone: Battery 2%... ⬛ Me: 😭

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

You know those days where you try to cleverly save yourself 30 minutes work but it ends up taking you 4 hours instead? It's been one of those. But your patience has been rewarded (even if you didn't know you were waiting for this) because so many new coasters now: birdandbeach.co.nz/product-cate...

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Beautiful colours on the coasters I just printed… unfortunately they’re just not the right ones. Time to do a nozzle check.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Tell me, do you use your fancy tea towels, or keep them for good? I’m in the “keep them nice for baking day” camp. They do dry well, but it’s so nice wrapping a fresh batch of scones or loaf of bread straight out of the oven in something pretty. birdandbeach.co.nz/product-cate...

A batch of cheese scones covered in a tea towel with kākāriki on it.

The same batch of scones, except now one of them has been split open and buttered.

Av example of our kākāriki tea towel displayed on a clothesline, overlooking bush and the Hutt Valley on a sunny day.

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onewhitelight @onewhitelight.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Bucket fountain has a cone helmet, blessed to have the blue bucket tip just as I walked past too 🥳

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

When I say I only have one of these on hand, right now there are only two of these in existence. One is in my workroom, ready for me to send to you. The other is in the Pinehaven School Hall, for their Arts and Crafts Exhibition. That’s where you could be first to get your hands on one!

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

It's probably time I was in bed, but I may have just added this to the website... I only have one on hand, but will be doing another fabric order soon, so backorders are available on all designs. birdandbeach.co.nz/product/art-...

A deep purple tea towel printed with an illustration of a ruru sitting on a tree stump, against a background of southern hemisphere constellations (Matariki, Crux, and Orion standing on his head - some artist licence has been applied to their positioning in the sky).
In the background is a view over the Hutt Valley, with bush in the foreground, and a blue sky with fluffy clouds.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Home from gift fair, looking forward to a big sleep in tomorrow, and then lots of follow ups, hopefully leading to you being able to find our cards, coasters, and/or wallets at a location local to you!

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Are you following us on Instagram? We’ve teamed up with the other awesome businesses in our Kickstarter zone at Spring Gift Fair to bring you an awesome prize pack… and the good news is you don’t need to be a business buyer to enter. 😉 Check it out: www.instagram.com/reel/DcsKXpo...

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

One of the reasons @thesewphist.bsky.social grew into @birdandbeach.bsky.social is that Ryan wanted to be able to put his art on tea towels too. He’s promised me he’s going to learn to sew them too…one day. In the meantime, tonight’s sewing includes these samples. Can you guess the locations?

Two pieces of brightly coloured fabric. The one at the back is bright h blues bots and greens, bush and water.
The one in front is yellows and oranges, a sea lion sunning itself at the beach.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Ryan has decided it's time for a new photo for our about us page on the website, which made me wonder... did we ever introduce ourselves properly? Ryan, on the left, likes to make art inspired by coastal landscapes, while Elisabeth (right) likes to draw birds. We also like each other a lot too.

A Pākehā man with dark, curly hair and black-rimmed glasses is wearing a denim shirt, and holding his arm out to take a selfie. A shorter Pākehā woman with long, straight brown hair, the fringe almost in her eyes, is snuggled up against his side. She is wearing a red puffer jacket. Both are smiling at the camera. They are standing on a gravelly beach as sunset nears. There is bush coming down steep hills behind them, a row of houses at the foot and cars parked along edge of the beach, while gentle waves lap against the sands, the colours of the sky reflecting in the water.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Moment of truth… Elisabeth’s tendency to collect vintage suitcases for stock transport Ava’s storage has paid off, and the whole display in her checked luggage is actually going to work!

A brown vintage cardboard suitcase with metal pipes and wire grids sitting in the bottom of it.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I should not be awake and working this late, but here we are. And if you are also up and online right now, you get a sneak peak at tonight's behind the scenes work-in-progress. Bird and Beach will be at Auckland Gift Fair from Sun-Tues, so it's time to produce our catalogue!

The catalogue as a work-in-progress. Shown are the spreads for the Tea Towels and the first page of coasters.

Not all of the headings and product labels have been added yet, so there is some placeholder text in there still.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

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The Sewphist @thesewphist.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

This is what I have to sew over the next week to prep for Spring Gift Fair in Auckland next weekend and Pinehaven Arts and Crafts Exhibition the weekend after (stock has to be to them before I head north). Good news is I stocked up extra on your faves (yes, the nasturtiums).

31 piles of tea towels cut out and folded on my cutting table.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Doing a late-night session at the cutting table so I can sort all the tea towel panels into piles for Gift Fair samples, Pinehaven Arts and Craft stock, and what I can list online. Coming up next, something I haven’t seen in print as a tea towel yet. Can you guess who it is?

Tea towel panels from the bolt. Currently showing is the kererū feature and tūī all over designs, with a hint of tauhou, and something on a purple background with just a few stars showing.

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The Sewphist @thesewphist.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Counting all the cards I have because I am one short for an order and the easy local solution for printing a few at a time is no longer available (they got new printers and they leave tracks 🫠). There’s a couple of gaps for cards I hadn’t had printed yet too, so I guess it’s time for a print run.

A selection of greeting cards of my own design, covering florals, classic native bird portraits and absurbirdies.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Elisabeth would like you to know that it’s a happy mail kind of day. Can you guess what’s in the box?

An open cardboard box. Inside is a rectangular parcel wrapped in black tissue paper sealed with a round sticker that reads “Next State - Bring your creative vision to life”.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Yo! Question time... Does knowing that postcards are $2 cheaper than an envelope to post overseas make you want to buy more of them? Should I be asking Ryan to resurrect and refresh his post card designs? Is this a thing people might like to buy from us?

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Elisabeth hasn’t yet decided whether Bird and Beach will ever get to sell her wallets on our website, but if you ever need one, they are still available from thesewphist.com.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Decisions have been made… while the Greytown market is still happening today, the forecast has been getting progressively worse. Being in a gazebo when it’s raining for a spell is one thing, but when it’s persisting down for hours in winter with increasing wind speeds forecast… We’re staying home.

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should… Any guesses as to what Elisabeth could possibly be working on this evening?

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Bird and Beach @birdandbeach.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Kia ora, Just letting you know that Bird & Beach will be in Greytown on Saturday for the festival closing market. We'll be in one of the gazebos, so if you're coming to look for pretty lights, make sure you don't miss ours! (Note to self - get a new banner printed!)

The Bird and Beach/The Sewphist stall set up in a gazebo at last year's Greytown Festival closing night market.

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