Hope you had a cracking Easter

Although I ate more chocolate than I should have this weekend, I did manage to fit in some more traditional eggy treats too. I wanted to share the story of how I acquired this cute Boiled Egg & Soldiers plate as it represents everything that is wonderful about Etsy.

(Photo from The Village Pottery)

Those of you that use Etsy to shop online will already know that it is a treasure trove of unique and lovingly-made things. However, the ability to create your own circle or 'favourite' other people's items or shops can lead to all manner of new and exciting conversations and interactions. It truly is a social community in ways that loads of other online sites only claim to be.

After reading about The Village Pottery in one of Etsy's brilliant regular emails (which never fail to introduce me to a new designer that I like) I favourited this spotty plate. I have a thing about all things polka dot as well as being a massive fan of a boiled egg and buttery soldiers brekkie. Seeing that I'd favourited her plate, the lovely Jen at The Village Pottery got in touch to say she loved my bibs and that they would make a perfect gift for her young niece - could we do a swap? What an ace idea! One of my Happy hedgehog bibs was dispatched and I think it's a great swap-a-roony for this lovely egg plate.

Now I'm looking forward to a whole new world of Etsy swap-a-rama!

Jen's studio is based in Bristol where you can drop by and even sample homemade cheesecake in the on-site cafe or you can check out her great hand-thrown ceramics at The Village Pottery store on Etsy.