Platypus preoccupation

I've been wanting to try and make zippered pouches for awhile. I think they are cute, handy and a good way to use up leftover fabric from my Lazerbeanz days. I just took a long time to make a design to print on them.

I thought that the kangaroo would be a perfect mascot for my pouches but I had a really hard time drawing one. For some reason, all my kangaroos came out with bitchy looks on their faces. I could not get them to look friendly! Koala was the next likely candidate but the tree element of the koala lifestyle was a hindrance to my layout. I thought of the platypus but wasn't sure if they actually had pouches so I began searching the internet. Well, I did not expect that a quick Google check would lead me to four hours of intense platypus research! They are very perplexing creatures full of contradictions! I actually had a hard time nailing down anything about them. I found sources claiming that they do have pouches and ones that say they don't. I've decided that I personally prefer a pouch-bearing platypus so that is what I choose to believe.

My favorite undisputed platypus factoid is that they have no nipples but still produce milk. They nurse their young with milk secreted from their pores which the babies lick off their mother's coat. That blew my mind. I think I want to be a platypologist when I grow up.

I made two wonky pouches already and I plan to spend the rest of today practicing so I can have some nice enough to sell in my shop soon. I also made Justin a platypus shirt on a whim while he was headed out the door to a concert (see the shirt here.). I'm all about platypus embellishments right now. Platypus could become the new houndstooth.