mermaids and beach treasures...

have you ever wandered along the beach and spotted a curious-shaped pouch tucked amongst the high tide debris? a mermaid's purse has a mystical quality about it, conjuring up merfolk and selkies and other legends of the sea. as the egg cases of many sharks, skates and rays, it is perhaps a little less magical, but i think still a treasure nonetheless. this particular mermaid's purse will last a lot longer than one washed up by the waves, hand stitched in canvas and linen with a little linen skate nestled inside. and of course it has a bit of sparkle; i mean, it is a mermaid's purse after all. the purse is open at one end so the skate can be pulled in and out.



i have to give complete credit to dawn for giving this idea to me. once she suggested it, it was like a light bulb went off: of course! it didn't take me long to delve into my books, researching these treasures. expanding my natural history knowledge of the west coast is just as much fun as figuring out the construction of each new creature. this mermaid's purse and skate are in the shape of a big skate, the most common skate along this coast. full grown, it can be up to 2.4m (8 ft) long. and it's now available in the shop.

now what creature should be next?