Bird and Beach

@birdandbeach

Ryan likes to make art inspired by coastal landscapes. Elisabeth likes to draw birds. If you like birds, or beaches, maybe you should follow us in case you also like what we make. 😊 Located overlooking Te Awakairangi in Aotearoa New Zealand.

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Bluesky

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Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· 6d

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.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· 6d

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”.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· 10d

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?

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Jul 24

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

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Jul 23

TFW the thing is 90% perfect…

A round coaster with Elisabeth’s illustration of a kākā printed on it. The print quality is stunning… except that it wasn’t taped properly when it went in the press and is about 9.5mm offset, with a white unprinted crescent on the left-hand side.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Jul 22

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.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Jul 11

Nearly pack up time for me tonight, but isn’t this a joyful site?

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Jul 11

Oh look, it’s Bird and Beach, and we’re actually doing proper business activities today! You can find Elisabeth this evening in Te Hūpēnui | Greytown, in the Market Stalls outside the Town Hall, along with Jen from @ponylane.bsky.social (she has the cutest decorations).

Bird and Beach set up in a market cart in Greytown. There is a large inflatable gingerbread man next to the cart.

Our market display includes tea towels, notebooks, purses, coasters and art prints.

The Pony Lane stall, laden with felt Christmas decorations. Jen is wearing a green scarf anda Christmas crown. She is waving at the camera.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Apr 30

One of the advantages of doing small batch production in out own workroom is there’s no one to blame for manufacturing whoopsies but ourselves. And when we find something that doesn’t meet our quality standards, often we can fix it on the spot instead of relegating it to the seconds pile.

A hem on of one of the tea towels hasn’t had both folds catch in properly near the corner.

The same hem, except Elisabeth has unpicked a short section and restitched it so it is all neat.

And that same corner from the right side, with the re-stitched section barely noticeable. You can also see a section of Elisabeth’s illustration of nasturtiums that is printed on this fabric.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Apr 30

Tonight’s pile of productivity! I tried to do a behind the scenes sewing video tonight, but apparently if you delete the original video so you can save the edited one because your phone memory is full, iMovie doesn’t like it… Anyway. Who wants a new tea towel? birdandbeach.co.nz/product-cate...

A pile of freshly-stitched Bird and Beach tea towels folded and sitting by my sewing machine. The top one shows a portion of Ryan’s Bucket Fountain design. Peeking out beneath it is a Tauhou from one of Elisabeth’s designs.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Apr 12

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

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Apr 11

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...

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Apr 10

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

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Mar 30

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.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Mar 2

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.

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

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Feb 8

#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.

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.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Feb 5

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!

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.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Feb 5

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...

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!

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Jan 7

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.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Dec 21

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

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.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Dec 5

I’m also really chuffed with how beautifully the fabric shows the details.

Detail shot of the tabby cat snuggled under the Kiwi’s wing.

Detail shot of the Kiwi’s head. There is light reflected in his glasses, but you can still see the feathers and eyes behind them.

While the tv (not shown ( is a decidedly old-school CRT from the 70s, complete with rabbit ear aerial, the remote grasped in n his wing is for a modern smart TV.

Detail from the pōhutukawa tea towel of a section of leaves with the buds about to burst through. On the flowers already in bloom, the tips of the stamens have a speck of yellow pollen.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Dec 5

After a long day battling InDesign and my printer, all the tea towels are neatly pressed snuggled up in their packaging, ready to send out to their new homes. Am I allowed to be just a little bit pleased with how well they’ve come out after all that work?

The newest four designs in their wrappers: Bucket fountain; pōhutukawa; Kiwi on the couch, and; IYKYK (if you know, you know).

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Dec 4

While we're at it... We've only got a few of the calendars left, and the last date for ordering in time for holiday gifting is Wednesday, 10 Dec. If you thought you needed one, now's the time - the price has dropped to $25 + shipping. Get them while you can! birdandbeach.co.nz/product/2026...

Front cover of the Bird and Beach 2026 Calendar features Ryan's illustration of Oriental Bay in Wellington.

Copyright Ryan Nielson

Back cover of the calendar shows all 12 included images, all illustrations by Ryan of some of his favourite places around the motu.

Copyright Ryan Nielson.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Dec 4

Thought you’d missed out on tea towels for the holidays? Fear not! All the pre-orders have been stitched up and inspected, so the contingency spares are now available to purchase, and we raided our market stock for you too. Limited stock, don’t miss out again! birdandbeach.co.nz/product-cate...

A pile of tea towel blanks folded over on themselves, IYKYK (grey and coloured squares reminiscent of the tv test pattern) on top. Behind them in the table are a selection of other designs folded and in their packaging (which shows the image on that tea towel).

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Dec 3

Elisabeth has been busy in the workroom today, and all but one of the pre-orders have been stitched up. If you’re starting to regret missing out on the pre-orders, we’ve got your back: we ordered a few extras, in case of misprints. Once the pre-orders are all stitched, the spares will go online!

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Dec 2

Time for the reveal! How many tea towels did I get stitched this evening?

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Dec 2

I wanted to do a video of me sewing the first pōhutukawa tea towel, because they’ve come out so beautifully, but it turns out that the phone holder for my tripod is one of the things still packed away (in a mystery location), and the resulting video might cause seasickness so here’s a photo instead.

A freshly stitched pōhutukawa tea towel on my sewing machine.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Dec 2

Tea towel sewing o’clock update (it’s dinner time). This is what I’ve cut out, and what’s still to cut. Not all that get cut will get sewn tonight.

An ironing board piled up with folded tea towel panels.

Kiwi on the Couch and Pōhutukawa tea towel panels that I’m in the middle of cutting out.

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Dec 2

The sewing starts now… and here’s a peek at my new workroom! Shout outs are to Finlay Building Ltd (my nephew Tim), Illuminex (electricians) and Next State Print, who do such a lovely job of bespoke printing my - I mean OUR - designs!

Bird and Beach@birdandbeach· Dec 2

Guess what Elisabeth is up to this afternoon?