The sweetest thing in crafts
by Amy Williams
A young Auckland woman is making a name for herself with her quirky range of handmade stationery.
Nut and Bee, designed and produced by Annette Lauder, sells lettersets, notepads, badges, magnets, bookplates, stickers, limited edition prints and t-shirts.
The appeal of the products is their cute animal designs, with angora rabbits, pufferfish, bears, monkeys and unicorns all making appearances.
In Nut and Bee’s whimsical world, even a milk carton or a roadcone has its cute side.
Annette, 25, says Nut and Bee evolved from her hobbies of collecting Japanese stationery (think Hello Kitty and friends) and drawing “slightly silly” pictures.
After completing degrees in computer science and commerce, she’s now pursuing a library qualification and working at the University of Auckland as well as running Nut and Bee from her apartment - a busy schedule, but one she enjoys.
“It’s a good feeling to be doing something productive with my spare time,” she says.
“But really, I have lots of design ideas and I enjoy drawing them out, so it’s not a chore.”
She’s been designing and producing the range for almost two years and hopes to make it her fulltime career in the near future.
“I usually get up early and work on Nut and Bee for an hour or so before work, then some more in the evening if things need to be done. And every now and then I just have to take a day of leave from work to catch up, ” she adds.
New products are also on the horizon, with postcards and possibly gift tags next on the list.
Nut and Bee designs can be bought from the site, and a range of other online stores.
Annette is also expanding her list of “brick and mortar” stockists, which currently includes a US bookshop and Wellington Zoo’s gift shop, as well as exhibiting regularly at bimonthly indie craft market event Craftwerk.