BirdPlusBird

Hello! My name is Melissa and welcome to my Etsy store. Bird Plus Bird is my creative outlet to combine my favourite things, birds, photography, printmaking, stationery, art and patterns!

I live in Wellington, New Zealand, not far from a wonderful wildlife sanctuary, Zealandia, which is full to the brim of native birdlife. I like my local birds so much that I have several sugar water feeders in my trees, which I fill up every day to help supplement my local birds' diets, especially when there aren't many natural food sources for them. The birds are as loyal to me as I am to them, and every morning they wait patiently in the trees for me to top up their food supply.

I enjoy watching the birdlife flourish in my backyard, but also take any chance I can get to visit bird sanctuaries both near and far, to see rarer and different birds. Our sanctuaries are critically important to the survival of many of our native bird species, they need as much protection as they can get to survive. Deforestation and introduced predators such as possums, rats and stoats are making survival extremely tough for our precious natives, so predator proof sanctuaries are a haven for birds to live and help re-establish populations of our most vulnerable birds.

Whenever I visit a sanctuary I take as many photographs as I can, so I have reference for a drawing or pattern later on. Every drawing is inspired by a bird that I have met in real-life, and because of this all my artwork is truly unique and truly inspired. Through my drawings I want to share with the world how quirky and unique our birds are, and I hope that anyone that views my work can see how much these birds mean to me. I feel so lucky to have seen so many of our rare birds, and I hope to see many, many more!

Everything in my Etsy shop is made by me in my little spare room studio, I print my own stationery, and hand-stitch every notebook. Even my art prints are printed on my own archival quality printer which means I can choose the most eco-friendly paper and print in-house, reducing my carbon footprint.

I am committed to being eco-friendly, I use recycled paper (except in archival prints, where the paper is as eco-friendly as possible, while also being archival), recycled and recyclable packaging (no plastic) and I even source plant based cellophane sleeves. I can't bear the thought of something I create having a negative effect on the environment so I do my utmost to be the greenest person I can be.

Thank you for visiting my little Etsy shop! I hope you enjoy seeing how birds inspire me and If they inspire you too, that's even better!