SHOP 
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…)
I would love some recipe cards! I’ve been searching for some recently and cannot find any that make the grade.
The larger letter set paper would be great too! I always fill up my sheets so fast because I don’t want to write on top of the cute illustration :-) The addition of stickers to a letter set sounds perfect! Are you able to make shaped stickers on your printer?
In terms of labels, I would love just a regular sized address label for letters, like the size that has 30 labels per sheet. Having a preprinted Nut and Bee design sheet would be wonderful for feeding into my printer to add addresses on.
Would the postcards be similar to your cards that MOO makes? I’ve got some of those and some of your N&B business cards too. I am definitely an avid post-it user as well. Of course I love ALL your products, so I can hardly think of anything negative to say :-)
Can’t wait to see what you decide on!
Posted by Kari on February 8th, 2010
Thanks Kari, lots of ideas there :D
I’m not able to produce anything other than simple geometric shapes on my printer so I’d probably be sticking with circles for letterset stickers. I don’t quite turn over enough volume to justify having custom stickers made by an outside printing company at this stage. There may be some other shapes available though, I will look into it!
I am very nervous about providing anything printable, mainly because when someone’s print job goes wrong I’ll be dealing with complaints and requests to replace the product. It’s annoying to have to think negatively like that, but it’s how it happens :(
I’m thinking of withdrawing from MOO (for a few reasons, no complaints about them though, they are good folks!) so my postcards wouldn’t be ‘clashing’ with theirs. I actually haven’t seen any of the postcards they do, but the ones I’m thinking of making would be a pretty standard format, illustration on the front and writing space with a few little cute bits on the back.
Thanks again! It’s exciting to ponder new things!
Posted by Annette / Nut and Bee on February 8th, 2010
Postcards would be awesome! One of those little postcard books with 20 different designs or so would be awesome as well. Blank notebooks and tote bags and t-shirts would also be pretty great. I’m wearing my Cupcakeosaurus shirt right now, actually.
Posted by Molly on February 8th, 2010
Hi Annette,
I’d LOVE to wear N&B Shirts and also like recipe-cards and tote bags very much. A few weeks ago I dreamt of having some N&B Posters in my home :o) The blank book idea is great, too!
I already ordered some postcards from moo.com – by the way: will the moo-designs be updated soon? I’d love to print business cards with the “cute computer” motive.
Thank you very much and all the best for you and your family.
ALLES LIEBE
Simone
Posted by Simone from Germany on February 8th, 2010
Hi Annette,
I hope you’re reading this and feeling as comfy as can be (I bet you can’t wait for the baba to arrive).
I think some of those ideas are great – I like the gift tags (it not easy to find relly lovely and non-generic ones), little notes to be used as thank you notes etc. (I use some for every order I ship out but they’re really average looking), and definately recipe cards.
I also remember reading about your menu / shopping cards which are a great idea, after watching on Cambell live that it helps save money if you plan your meals / shopping ahead we’ve started doing that – I’m sure there are a lot of other people that do the same.
Another option is printable projects as almost everyone has a printer at home now and it feels so nice and creative as a DIY project (or is it just me?)- the gift tags, recipe cards (so people can insert the recipe onto the template) maybe?
Anyway I’ve blurbed enough.
Hope to see you and the baba (and dada) all happy and well later in the year.
Emily x
Posted by Emily Gerson on February 8th, 2010
The letter sets with larger size paper would be fantastic!! I always run out of room on the smaller sizes :(
Posted by Nova on February 8th, 2010
Notebooks! My kids are obsessed with having little books they can scrawl stuff in.
Posted by Isabel on February 8th, 2010
I think postcards would be really adorable! Is it possible to do smaller stickers? I think your designs are adorable, but I’d want to use a bunch of stickers… I’m a teacher :)
Also, I would totally use an adorable notebook at grad school!
Posted by Tammy on February 8th, 2010
As a side note… I never even noticed you have products available through Moo, so if you do decide to stick with them, you might want to make that more prominent :) I love some of the product offerings that are available through that shop, now that I’ve noticed it.
Posted by Tammy on February 8th, 2010
Another vote here for recipe cards! I would use them and love them forever.
I also see notebooks every so often with pretty art on the covers and then related art on the inside that you can write next to/over. One my friend has a lot of owls on the outside cover, and then the inside has wide-spaced lines and an owl scene at the top of each page. I LOVE these notebooks, and there are far too few of them out there. So maybe that’s something else you could try. :)
Posted by Gillian Smith on February 8th, 2010
I’d love Post-Its, I’m a Post-It freak and so is my Mum … I can never get enough!
Yes re: tote bags & tees too, great to read those are in the pipeline as I’d be keen on them.
Greeting cards? Just blank inside, I’d buy them. The cuteness would remind me of Edward Monkton cards, which I absolutely love. The rainbow spew-ing unicorn (not the technical name I know lol) would be wicked!
Exercise books? I study chem & physics part time, & would love a cute book to write my study notes in. This is along the idea of the blank notebooks I guess.
Just checking a few ideas around – love your work!
Posted by Sus on February 8th, 2010
I love the idea of post-its, blank notebooks and postcards! Best of luck to you and your family when the new edition arrives!!
Posted by Shannon C. on February 9th, 2010
I’d love the larger lettersets, the notebooks (this would probably be the best thing!!) and the recipe cards. Those are practical things I use in everyday life, and it is nice to have a cute or pretty version to brighten the day.
Posted by Miriam on February 10th, 2010
I like the idea of post-its a lot. And if you make Ts, a plea for reasonably large women’s cut Ts as opposed to baby doll Ts! Hanes Her Way makes a good one.
Posted by AKB on February 10th, 2010
I’d love, love, love to see postcards and recipe cards. I also would love to see blank note cards.
Posted by Trisha on February 11th, 2010
I love the idea of the teeny tiny business card note sets! And also the totes and tees sound quite delectable. I love notebooks of any size and shape, so that gets my vote!
I hope your baby brings you joy!!
Posted by MacKenzie on February 12th, 2010
I am interested in the coordinating stickers and the sticky-back note pads. I also like the idea of post cards; however, I would like regular, folded-in-half cards even better.
Congratualtions (in advance) on the newest addition to your family!!
Posted by Risa on February 13th, 2010
Wow! I just read the other comments, went to Moo.com, and realized that you DO sell fold-in-half cards!!! Jeely Kly!! :-)
Posted by Risa on February 13th, 2010
I haven’t read all the comments carefully so sorry if I’m repeating others’ ideas.
(1) wrapping paper.
(2) love the tee-shirt idea.
(3) wall decals. Like the ones on http://www.whatisblik.com.
The main thing is, we neeeed more nut and bee.
Posted by Amy on February 14th, 2010
My vote is for sticky notes or “post-its” (a brand name, so sticky notes would work best) and for the design – food items. They’re office friendly and often times not seen as too “cutesy” + I work in the agriculture industry so there’s a personal interest. Thanks!
Posted by Sarah J on February 15th, 2010
I love the idea of post-its – one of my problems with Nut and Bee is that I hardly ever use paper these days so it takes me ages to get through it and I’d love to use more – post-its would be perfect for this! High-quality blank notebooks would be particularly fantastic for gifts, and folded gift tags would also be great.
Posted by Msconduct on February 16th, 2010
I like the idea of wall or window decals
Tee-shirts especially in kid’s sizes. It is hard to find anything I like in teeshirts for my toddler, but your designs are wicked.
canvas prints of your prints would be cool as well
Love the idea of tote bags too
Posted by Kym on February 26th, 2010