Our Mission

Welcome to my blog where I chronicle my efforts in designing and building puppets and their worlds. My hope is that I will contribute to the art of puppetry as I use it to lift up the name of Jesus.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Rejected to Power Pig

My second puppet was a pig I built for my churches puppet ministry. Well the first attempt was a lot bigger than I wanted it to be so I abandoned the partially built head and started over. That was several months back but a few weeks ago my nephew came for a visit and asked if I would help him finish it. His idea was for the pig to be a kind of super hero. Well I taught him how to glue and sew by hand but the look and character are all his design. He's pleased and I'm very proud of him.


Sunday, September 28, 2008

Richelle Rhino Beetle Preview

A new member of the Lilac Hollow gang is in the works. This new puppet is a Rhinoceros Beetle Police officer named Richelle. I decided that there needed to be an adult female figure in the series and felt that a police officer offered the versatility that I needed.


The Rhino Beetle is a neat challenge because of the horns. Getting the rhino beetle look and still having an approachable character is a interesting challenge. So far I'm happy with the look I'm getting. The figure is just about to the point where I'll be starting to fabricate it.
I'll be back in a few days to post more reports on the progress of the build.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Introducing Seth Slug

I've been working the past few weeks on another puppet. He had been planned for a long time but I had put his construction on the back burner. Now a story idea has pushed him to the front of the line. I'm really happy with the way Seth Slug has turned out.



He's a bashful, slow moving, slowing talking, slow everything classmate of Joshua Junebug and his bug friends. Through Seth, Lilac Hollow is going to learn that good things come even to those that don't hurry and scurry around.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

T-shirt Pattern Addition

I decided that our little Peruvian boy just couldn't sit around naked so a made a t-shirt for him. It was my first try at making clothing and it went so well that I've decided I would add the pattern to the puppet pattern package I'm working on. I figure anyone that can build a puppet ought to be able to use a pattern to make a t-shirt. And with this pattern the shirt will be custom fitted to the puppet.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Round Head Puppet Completed


I finished the round headed puppet I was working on. All I had left after the last post was the facial features. The eyes are made of spoons with felt circles for pupils, the nose is made from a little NERF ball I cut in two and shaped on my belt sander and covered with fleece. This was my first time working with fur and I'm pretty pleased with the way the hair came out, its made from black fur and is attached in three pieces so that the hair will all the lay in the direction I wanted it to. The ears are made of 1/2 inch foam covered in fleece.

I decided against adding a tongue or tonsils. Sometimes simpler is better and less is more. I'm also leaving the clothes up to his new owner. The last time a talked to her she was really excited about picking out his clothes.

The puppet is supposed to be a Peruvian boy but realistically he could be any central or south American boy, depending on how you outfitted him.

This week, if all goes as planned, I'll introduce him to his new owner, a teacher that wants to use him to help teach her students. It will be the first time she has gotten to see him. I hope to surprise her with him at school and get to see the students as they meet him for the first time.

It was fun building a people puppet after all the bugs I've been building. But never fear, the next two puppets I have to build are bugs: a slug name Sylvester and a rhinoceros beetle named Richelle.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Round Head Puppet

I've been working for the past week or so on a basic round head puppet. I also plan to make the pattern for this puppet available for a very small fee. A pattern for every part of the puppet pictured below will be included so that the beginning puppet builder will have everything he/she needs to begin getting his/her feet wet in the process of puppet building. Included will also be some patterns and suggestions for other features of the puppet like: eyes, ears, nose, hair and clothing, etc.



General information about the puppet you see that the body and head are constructed of 1/2 inch foam. The mouth plate is made of 1/2 inch foam reinforced with 6mm Foamie craft foam. Finger tubes are installed on the top and bottom jaw to give maximum control of the puppet and the head and body are fully lined. The posable hands are made of 17 gauge wire sandwiched between 1/2 foam and the arms are filled with poly fiber. The mouth is covered in red blizzard fleece and the remainder of the puppet is covered with brown anti-pill fleece.


I would definitely be interested in what you think of the puppet. Thanks.