I’m getting quite a few emails about the baby – no, it hasn’t arrived yet! It’s overdue now, and I am getting more uncomfortable by the day, so I really hope it comes soon…

I will make an announcement here as soon as I can, but if you want to know right away I suggest you follow me on Twitter, which is likely to have the news first as I can update it easily from my phone.

That’s my personal account and not usually business-related, so you may also have to read about the weather and what I’m eating for lunch in the meantime :D

P.S. Please don’t be offended if I don’t follow you back – I can only keep up with so many people!

I’ve wanted to make a granny square style crochet rug for a long time, and these last couple of weeks of putting my feet up have been the perfect opportunity.

I started by sorting through my yarn chest and decided to go with a cream/pink/mauve/green/teal/grey palette. I already had about a third as much as I needed in those colours, and bought another dozen or so balls to top up. (It’s pleasing to use up yarn I already had, especially as a lot of it was partial balls not suitable for starting whole projects with, but it’s also fun to shop for new yarn!)

I’m using the Circle of Friends pattern, which I found it by browsing through the flickr “granny square” tag until I found a design I liked the look of. It looks very plain on the pattern page but I like the effect when made with a variety of yarn colours.

So far I’ve made about a quarter of the squares I need for a generously sized lap rug. I won’t get it finished before the baby arrives (which could be any day now!) but that’s OK, I’m enjoying the process and not in any hurry.

P.S. If you’re a Ravelry member my project page has more information on the yarn, pattern, etc. This is the first time I’ve used Ravelry and I must admit it’s quite addictive!

01) Instructions for making Chocolate Space Invaders using a silicon ice cube tray, which we just happen to already own! I particularly like the part where you clean your chocolate-y squeeze bottle by adding hot milk to make hot chocolate :D (via Craft)

02) The U900 Japanese amigurumi ukelele band (!) videos have been all over the blogosphere, but I just want to make sure none of you miss out… watch Diamond Head, Walk Don’t Run, and check the related videos for even more!

03) I was very grumpy a few days ago and these baby anteater photos cheered me right up.

04) Gorgeous cupcakes from bellacupcakes on flickr, love the rich colours! (via Epicute)

05) And more amazing Brain Slug cupcakes from thesmallcatclub on flickr. Do you think anyone has ever used the phrase “cherry buttercream brains” before?

06) Color Me Katie’s beautiful sidewalk chalk footprints are immensely cheering.

07) The San-X website offers a huge selection of colouring in pages, desktop wallpaper, icon sets and printables. It is in Japanese but not difficult to work out!

08) I’m starting to pay attention to nifty stuff for children, like the play kitchens made from old entertainment centres by Giggleberry Creations and Sutton Grace. I won’t need to do this particular project myself as I think (hope!) my parents still have the awesome play kitchen my Dad made for me when I was tiny, but there’s definitely the possibility of other play furniture in a similar vein… (via Buzzfeed)

09) Embroidered Tim Gunn by Totally Severe, need I say more? (via Mr X Stitch)

10) One more food link: Giga Pudding! It’s a HUGE creme caramel, with a great promotional video. It’s my birthday on Thursday, if only I could have a Giga Pudding Party!

Closing up shop this evening was bittersweet. I’ve taken a few holidays here and there, but this is the first time in four years of N&B that I haven’t been accepting orders!

It feels very strange, but these last couple of weeks have been rather busy with all of the last-minute work to take care of, and I’ve been looking after JSR who was in a motorcycle accident a few days ago as well (he will be alright *phew* but needs some help), so I’m glad I didn’t try and keep going any longer.

Now I should have a little while to rest my puffy feet and take a lot of naps, and then there will be a baby!

P.S. Thank you to everyone who commented and emailed on my recent ideas post! All of the suggestions had some supporters, and I’m not writing any of them off at this stage, but it seems that notebooks and larger format lettersets are the most popular ideas so I’ll be looking at those first when I get back to work :)

Nut and Bee will be closing on Wednesday February 10th at 5pm (New Zealand time, check the equivalent in your local time zone here) which is just under 48 hours away.

At that time the shopping cart will be disabled, though I will still be available by email for customer service or general enquiries, and posting miscellaneous things here on the blog! Re-opening is scheduled for early April :)

I’ve been tossing around a few ideas for new products I could introduce this year, and figured it would be a good idea to ask for your feedback. Everything is just ideas at this stage, and I haven’t done detailed investigation of raw materials or costings, so please don’t be upset if something doesn’t happen or ends up a bit different!

Possibilities include:

* Adding a mini-sheet of 4 or 6 coordinating stickers to the lettersets.

* Lettersets with larger paper, approximately 6×8″. This would fit nicely in the current size envelopes when folded in half, and I’d combine 8 papers with 4 envelopes (and perhaps stickers, as above).

* Or the opposite, teeny-tiny lettersets! About business card size – little things are super cute. I wouldn’t be able to print on the envelopes, as my printer freaks out about feeding very small sheets, but I could use nice coloured ones that coordinate with the design.

* Postcards. I’d offer them individually, with a discount for buying several like with the buttons and magnets. (The main problem with these will probably be choosing which designs to print, I have to do them in bulk which limits the number of designs it’s practical to have in stock…)

* Gift tags. I intended the write-on labels to substitute for gift tags, but given how many requests I still get for them it seems there’s a demand for a more traditional kind as well! Would a flat shape or a folded mini-card be preferable?

* Post-it notes. I haven’t got quotes for printing these yet so they might be totally unreasonably priced, but it’s an idea!

* Blank notebooks with illustrated covers, again I’m not sure how realistic pricing will be on these but I’m keen on the concept!

Please leave a comment if any of those ideas sound particularly interesting to you, if you have any feedback or suggestions about them, or if there’s anything else you think might fit into the N&B range well!

(I’m already planning to re-introduce recipe cards in the coming months, as I think I’ve figured out a way to produce them satisfactorily, and t-shirts/tote bags are also underway subject to logistics…)

Ghost Forest

I’ve been working on some larger drawings lately – they take a bit longer than my usual size, of course, but it’s fun to do something a little different!

These new illustrations are designed to eventually be 8×10″ prints, but since that will require sourcing new paper and packaging materials they won’t be available until the relaunch :)

I’ve had a few queries recently about what will be happening with Nut and Bee while we welcome our imminent bean.

I didn’t want to make plans too far in advance, as I didn’t know what these last weeks would be like, but I’m getting to the stage where work is very challenging – especially in this weather, what was I thinking having a summer baby?! – so I’ve decided that my final working day will be February 10th.

After that I will still be contactable by email for customer service queries, and I will be posting miscellaneous things on the blog, but the shopping cart will be disabled and I will not be accepting or shipping orders. (I can’t make any exceptions to that, as it’s a legal requirement that I do nothing other than minor administrative tasks while I’m claiming paid parental leave!)

I plan to open for business again around the beginning of April, though the exact date will depend on when the baby makes its appearance and how quickly I manage to find a satisfactory work routine. I have fantastic family support lined up, so I am hoping for a smooth transition back.

If there is anything you would like in the next couple of months, please place your orders soon! I’ll post another reminder closer to the time. Thank you for your patience, and all the excitement and joy you’ve already shared with us :)

We are back from holiday! The weather in Christchurch was so much nicer than Auckland that coming home was slightly bittersweet, but it’s still nice to be back in our house, even if we are melttttttting in the heat. Roll on autumn…

01) I love the idea of a meal planner and grocery list in one. I try to have some idea of what I will cook each week, but it usually involves lots of printouts and bits of notepaper and isn’t very organised! This DIY tutorial includes downloadable/printable PDFs.

02) Lovely art process videos from Geninne D. Zlatkis. To see the whole piece watch Watercolours 1, 2 and 3; then White Ink 1, 2 and 3.

03) Three remixes/covers of the Mr. Plow song from The Simpsons by Moby. Hee!

04) Baby porcupines are pretty high up my all-time-cutest list after seeing these photos.

05) More Lego! (I’ll stop soon.) This time it’s an awesome Howl’s Moving Castle.

06) I made a little squeak of glee when JSR sent me the link to this upcoming Professor Layton action figure. I adore the DS games, and he looks just perfect. Plus, it is hilarious to me that his “action” is to sit down and have a cup of tea!

07) Scott Teplin’s Alphabet City is a set of 26 meticulously drawn fantasy houses in the shape of the letters of the alphabet. The more you look, the more there is to see.

08) Luxirare’s food/art yoghurt parfaits featuring spheres of juice are mindblowing.

09) My new favourite word game for the iPhone is Moxie. It is very soothing; I play a couple of rounds before bed each night.

10) Slow motion Maru. Wait until he shakes after his bath about halfway through. It is the BEST.

Fly Spy