Don’t miss out, my latest round of tea towel pre-orders is open now, closing tomorrow!

Four greeting cards on a pale wooden surface. One is open so you can see it is blank inside. Another you can see the details printed on the back. The front of the other two cards are an illustration of a giant kea dismantling the aerial from the Sky Tower and a Pūkeko in a lab coat in front of Otago University. Text reads "Let them know you care by sending them some happy mail. All cards are blank inside." In the corner, The Sewphist's logo.

In other news... after a card? We have those now! You can now order any of @thesewphist.bsky.social's greeting cards from Bird and Beach.

birdandbeach.co.nz/product-cate...

New email just went out, and there's not just one, but two ways you could save when you pre-order a tea towel this weekend!

Not subscribed to our emails? It might be time to fix that... but here's today's missive, just in case you want to avail yourself of a tea towel deal.

I'm off to write an email to my loyal subscribers, but you're hearing it first: if you use the coupon "MumsTheWord" you'll get 10% off pre-ordered tea towels this weekend from birdandbeach.co.nz

(I'm ordering fabric Mon/Tues, so I've got time to stitch them before Mothers' Day.)

Moment of truth: I decided to finally get around to adding greeting cards to the website, but now it's a matter of will my laptop run out of batteries before I do. The newsletter might be in the morning...

I'm off to write an email to my loyal subscribers, but you're hearing it first: if you use the coupon "MumsTheWord" you'll get 10% off pre-ordered tea towels this weekend from birdandbeach.co.nz

(I'm ordering fabric Mon/Tues, so I've got time to stitch them before Mothers' Day.)

Hands up if you'd be keen on a tea towel pre-order in time for Mothers' Day.

Autocorrect got the better of me, but you and I know that that second URL should be birdandbeach.co.nz, right?

PS the last few Calendars are now only $10, we may be only a quarter of the way through the year, but you get about 65% off!

… and birdandbeach.co.nz

Where you’ll find cool stuff like coasters (printed by me) and tea towels (stitched by me).

FYI today is a very special day!

It’s the day when you can make a small business owner do a happy dance because you’re their first customer of the (financial) year. 💃🎉

If you’re a small business in Aotearoa, feel free to add a link to this thread too. The more first day sales the merrier!

Elisabeth is an illustrator and textile designer, Ryan is a photographer and illustrator, they do pretty much everything together in life, including running this new small business focusing on homewares made with our own art.

You can browse our wares at Birdandbeach.co.nz

Just popping up to remind you that you have a couple of hours left to nab yourself some coasters or tea towels at stocktake sale pricing - $10 per coaster, $36 for a mix and match set of native birds; or $25 for tea towels (normally $35, artisanal tea towels, stitched in-house).
BirdandBeach.co.nz

Front cover of the Bird and Beach 2026 New Zealand Calendar, featuring an illustration of Oriental Bay in Wellington by Ryan Nielson.

Two piles of coasters on a teak sideboard, with one in front with a glass of a cloudy drink on it. The coasters feature Aotearoa native bird illustrations by Elisabeth Witbrock.

A tea towel with an illustration of Pōhutukawa by Elisabeth Witbrock on it. It is hanging on a line from a balcony overlooking the Hutt Valley.

Pssssssssst...

Tomorrow is the end of the financial year. And there is still 3/4 of the calendar year left, so please, help me not have any calendars left to count by Wednesday? They're now only $10!

Sweet little deals on tea towels and coasters too, just for tomorrow!

birdandbeach.co.nz

Front cover of the Bird and Beach 2026 New Zealand Calendar, featuring an illustration of Oriental Bay in Wellington by Ryan Nielson.

Two piles of coasters on a teak sideboard, with one in front with a glass of a cloudy drink on it. The coasters feature Aotearoa native bird illustrations by Elisabeth Witbrock.

A tea towel with an illustration of Pōhutukawa by Elisabeth Witbrock on it. It is hanging on a line from a balcony overlooking the Hutt Valley.

Pssssssssst...

Tomorrow is the end of the financial year. And there is still 3/4 of the calendar year left, so please, help me not have any calendars left to count by Wednesday? They're now only $10!

Sweet little deals on tea towels and coasters too, just for tomorrow!

birdandbeach.co.nz

A dark loaf of sourdough peeks out through the folds of a disco-dancing kererū tea towel.

Sitting in the car with warm loaf of bread in my lap while R pops into the supermarket to pick up some toppings before we go call on my uncle and aunty at their campground.

I did read this when it came out! I've been naughty and not checking this account because everything is a bit chaos around here at the moment, but rest assured, my tea towels are a cotton linen blend and do the job nicely!

Two freshly-baked loaves emerging from one of our kākāriki tea towels. In the background is a glass “lettuce” bowl of garlic butter made with parsley from the garden. All sitting on an end block chopping board.

#Kai

#SundayDinner

Artist designed and made tea towel from birdandbeach.co.nz/product-cate....

End-block chopping board from @paullecomtephoto.nz.

Homemade sourdough and garlic butter from our kitchen.

Sometimes simple is perfect.

4 greeting cards on a blue background. You can see the front of the Pūkeko in a lab coat and Kea Nui cards, the back of the Disco-dancing kererū card, and the blank inside of what must be the Soccer Goalie Takehē card. Again, there's a pen for scale and context.

The cards are all blank inside, so if you want to add your own cheesy message, such as "I kea about you", go ahead and knock your socks off!

Two floral greeting cards featuring original illustrations by Elisabeth Witbrock - Nasturtiums, and Pink Roses, on a blue background

Greeting cards featuring native bird illustrations by Elisabeth Witbrock, on a blue background. Featured are the Tauhou, Tūī and Kererū designs, with the kākā one open so you can see the blank inside (but not the illustration, sadly). There's also a pen in there for scale and context. Product photography, it's an artform all of its own!

The other thing to know is that if you're after greeting cards to send to someone special, Elisabeth hasn't quite gotten around to loading them up on this website yet, but you can find them at www.thesewphist.com/product-cate...

Hey hey, I've been way to quiet, but as soon as I'm done with that painting... that'll change.

In the meantime, we have just a few calendars left, so you can nab them now for $19 + shipping. Available on our website (click the card below) or our Felt store (felt.co.nz/shop/birdand...)

Sorry we've gone really quiet... we're in the painting stage of the workroom renovation, so all our stock is packed away while Elisabeth finishes all the trims (some amazing friends came to help Ryan paint the walls to make sure Elisabeth didn't overdo it with her dodgy arm).
It's coming together!

Bird and Beach New Zealand 2026 Calendar: Montage of the Front cover (Oriental Bay, Wellington); back cover - 12 thumbnails of illustrations of landmarks across the motu; and the May and December pages, showing Lake Wakatipu and Rangitoto Island. All art copyright Ryan Nielson.

It's that time of year when it's hard enough remembering what day it is, let alone whether you're supposed to be back at work yet.

Here's our very scenic solution to this very real problem!

We have a just a handful of calendars left; they're now $25 + shipping.

birdandbeach.co.nz/product-cate...

Bird and Beach New Zealand 2026 Calendar: Montage of the Front cover (Oriental Bay, Wellington); back cover - 12 thumbnails of illustrations of landmarks across the motu; and the May and December pages, showing Lake Wakatipu and Rangitoto Island. All art copyright Ryan Nielson.

It's that time of year when it's hard enough remembering what day it is, let alone whether you're supposed to be back at work yet.

Here's our very scenic solution to this very real problem!

We have a just a handful of calendars left; they're now $25 + shipping.

birdandbeach.co.nz/product-cate...

Speaking of updates, did you know that we also have a Felt shop?

So far we've listed the calendars and some of Ryan's prints there, but over time Elisabeth will get herself sorted and add some of hers too.

And website header updated with a sneaky bit of on brand alliteration. 😊

Welcome to 2026

May your New Year be filled with sun, sand and birdsong!

We need to update the website header, but FYI Bird and Beach are back from our holiday, please feel free to order anything you want from our website!

Birdandbeach.co.nz

Panorama of Lake Donne, in Hakatere Conservation Park, under a bright summer sky. Not the lake I swam in, but plenty of high country scenery to soothe the soul.

My actual swim was very brief, and I got congratulated on my bravery as I came back out. Laughs all around as I explained that that was today’s shower taken care of.

As we head into the festive season, I wish you all the kind of break that involves a swim in a lake in lieu of a shower!

Elisabeth

Cue a parental explanation that I was probably letting my body get accustomed to the temperature, and that sometimes that’s an essential part of going for a swim.

She wasn’t wrong… But also, I have never felt as strongly that I was being described just like one does wildlife in that moment.

I officially checked off first swim of the season this morning.

As I waded into the lake, I spotted a pūteketeke resting on the pontoon, so I was taking it very slowly.

There was a family picnicking on the shore, and a young voice piped up “She’s not moving!”

Thank you!