Spending so much time on Etsy I sometimes can’t resist buying stuff… Here are my latest purchases. For a while now I have been buying handmade soap instead of those supermarket pumps, and this soap dish from Portugese shop Azulado is just what I needed to keep the soap in.

I just had to buy this Triple Circle Necklace from The Zen Muse. So simple and stylish. I like to think of what the three circles could stand for – past, present and future? My three children? The holy trinity? The virgin, the mother and the crone? 🙂

In January, my brother-in-law and his partner in the Netherlands had their first baby. I had promised to make a quilt, but wanted to send a present straightaway (I didn’t start on the quilt until the baby was born – I like to know who I am making a quilt for). I have decided to only give handmade presents this year, so I searched Etsy for an Australian animal softie – and found this adorable koala from Luna Bird Art. I had him sent to Holland, so didn’t see him myself, but my sister-in-law tells me that it is a lovely, well-made toy and that the baby is intrigued by that black and white thing in her cot!

Looking at all the softies on Etsy made me want to try and make one myself, so I bought this Platypus pattern from Funky Friends Factory, a Brisbane-based Etsy shop. The instruction were well written and easy to follow, and the  first platypus I made turned out really well:

I sent it to our little niece along with the finished baby quilt. My youngest son was very sad to see it go, so I made one for him too. He chose the fabrics:

Robbie named this platypus Luke, after his hero Luke Skywalker! I entered him in the MakeMyMonday draw on the Funky Friends Factory Facebook page and was delighted to hear that i was the winner! I got to choose a pattern for free, and Robbie and I decided on the cockatoo:

Isn’t he just too cute? I hope to show my version soon!

Take care,
Linda