Hybrids are the future

So a friend of mine is going to help me & do the costumes. She used to be a costumer at Disneyland, so I have a huge amount of confidence in her! She's actually a librarian/puppeteer. She's the one that's helped me with the library upstairs at the Puppet Theater. She's also developed her own shows to tour at the libraries in her circuit. (I wonder if that's like hitting the night club circuit at all...)

She showed me (in person, finally!) the two puppets she made from the Project Puppet Roly Poly pattern. I'm surprised that they're so small, but they're really nice puppets. Leave it to a seamstress to produce a friggin awesome puppet. Their costumes are all gorgeous too. She's just an amazing talent & awesome person & I wish she didn't live 45 minutes away. (I want to steal her)

It's also very tempting to just get some Project Puppet patterns & do it that way. There are two that I would need & the sizing seems about perfect for the project. Is that giving in? Is using a pattern admitting that I can't do it on my own? Do I throw away all of the awesome advice I was given & take the so very easy route? It just doesn't seem like something I should do.

I can, however, take elements from the super-rad-happy-fun-time-crazy-butt-Stacey puppets and from the super-traditional-build-a-foam-skull-&-face-then-cover-it-with-fleece puppets and make a hybrid. It will run on a charge & then use gas as a last resort. Go green or go home. Yes.

In 'real job' news. I'm learning a new show. I'll perform the show twice. It's a holiday show. Off I go to the theater to rehearse it for the very first time. Hooray!

being proactive instead of reactive

Of all of the puppets that I've made, I think this frog might be my favorite. I think one of the reasons for that is because I didn't get to keep him for very long. He was shown at a local art gallery in '06 and I wasn't expecting him to sell. I'd made him out of the leftover fabric from a dinosaur costume that I'd made for my son for Halloween that year. At least I think that's where the fabric came from....

I was telling a friend of mine how I am sad that I haven't kept a few key puppets in my building career...the frog, the Phoenix Coyotes Puppets, and a bunny or two. My friend said, "Well, why can't you just recreate the frog?" I thought of a long list of unreasonable reasons to not remake him, one reason being, "I don't have the same fleece." Then thought that I should at least try it no matter what color he is. Green is still the goal, here.

So I've embarked on a make-a-puppet-for-myself adventure. I am not going to post this one to Etsy and I'm not going to use it for any shows (that I know of). I'm taking my time, I'm starting over with things when they don't work right, and I'm allowing myself to put him down without being finished with him. Leaving him alone when he's not finished is actually the hardest part of this project. A) I want to see him done! B) there's a lingering fear that if I put him down, I might never find the time/motivation to pick him up again. So far, I've gone back to him. And, I'm really excited about the whole thing.

I give another workshop to another library for teens & tweens tomorrow..and then again on Thursday & the following Saturday & that ends my library run of workshops. By the way, if you live anywhere near Phoenix, just let me know if you want to know about the workshops in more detail...the Library is paying me to teach, so it's free to anyone ages 12-18.

There. I've updated. Are you happy?

It begins...

After finishing up a large custom order, I've decided to reward myself with starting on the project puppet project. It starts with printing off the pattern (easy enough) and cutting it all out. I got the head cut out and decided to blog about it. Not sure why. Vanity, I suppose.

So far, so good. The directions seem easy enough to follow. So here I go...backwards into the realm of following instructions!