Welcome Back!

Hello, fellow readers! So sorry for the long time away, but hopefully with a new semester of classes and teaching starting, I’ll have some more wonderful posts for you!

Just wanted to share a few photos of the wonderful fur I’ve ordered from Mendel’s in California.  They are the only supplier I use to buy my puppet fur, because they are AMAZING! I have been beyond thrilled with their customer service, their quality of materials and shipping, and their vast inventory of fur textures, colors and patterns.  Plus they do so much more than just fur!! Go to their website and check it out. You won’t regret it. PLUS from now until September 5, 2012, everything in your order is 25% off!  WOOHOO!! 🙂

I ordered these furs for my advanced puppet class this fall.  They use them with the Mostro pattern from Project Puppet.com.  The results are wonderful! (and hopefully I’ll be able to upload photos of their creations this summer as well in the next few weeks!) Again, this is the only supplier I use for my patterns, as they are wonderfully designed, easy to follow, and practically foolproof!! (To date, I’ve used all their patterns in the monster and simple series, with students aged 7 to 17, and no one has failed to finish a puppet yet!)

Enjoy the photos below, and check back soon for more updates!

Monster Hair Plug fur – lime green base with teal “plugs”

Monster Hair Plug fur – teal base with green “plugs”

Monster Hair Plug fur — Orange base, pink “plugs”

Puppet Pandamonium

This has been a crazy few weeks.  Between all the items I balance in any given week, I’ve had the wonderful surprise of two different individuals coming to my website, checking it out, and emailing me to order puppets.  I now feel like a bona fide artisan. 🙂

My puppet class I teach is ending next week for the semester, and while I won’t get my weekly dose of teaching and hallmark moments from “my kids” until July (for a two week summer camp) and then September (for the next 10-week semester), this semester’s class has just amazed me with their talent, creativity, optimism, and downright joyful exuberance. I am truly going to miss them in the down time, but luckily most of them have promised to be in the next class, too.

Spring 2012 Puppet Class at the Tusc Co Center for the Arts - Setting up for a video shoot for the final for Puppet class, "Let's Talk about Letters"
http://www.tuscartcenter.org

I’ve been lucky enough to have 2 different opportunities for them to go “fuzzing.”

Let me define “Fuzzing” — one of my students and I have taken the idea of performance art / street art and mingled it with puppeting to bring you “Fuzzing” — or the art of bringing the puppets to the people.  Sometimes it’s formal, like the past two events I’ve taken the kids to.  We have gone to two local community areas and set up a table with our puppets and basically talk to whoever stops by, young and old, let them try the puppets, explain who we are, what we do, basically do meet-n-greet.  (I think it’s important for the kids to be able to give back to and interact with the community.)  Formal or informal, it doesn’t really matter.  Sharing puppets with the community is really just about spreading joy.  And who couldn’t use more of that?