Drawings are for artists.

As much as I love participating in contests, I love holding them, too.

The first contest I held was to explain to me why you deserved a free finger puppet and I'd arbitrarily choose a winner based upon the answer I liked the best. Sort-of like Apples To Apples, where its not necessarily the *right* answer that wins, but rather the answer that appeals to me the most. I think I chose the girl who lied about her grandma and her dog dying in the same week and then quickly admitted that it was a lie and that she really just wanted the finger puppet. I applaud outlandish tales when repentance is so quickly achieved.


So I made a little hand puppet. This shouldn't shock you. I tried lining it. This also shouldn't shock you. I failed at lining it. Now you can be shocked. He turned out pretty good, I just felt like he was worthy of giving away. Not that he's terrible. He has personality. I'm sure he'd make a great friend. And hell, who doesn't want a free puppet, right? I know, I know... that's what they say about having to take the ugly kid to the prom. But, even the ugly kid needs love. I know, I was the ugly kid. I need love, dag nabbit! Love me!

So I have this little drawing going to happen in my shop for the next 20 orders that I get. Their names will get put into a bag, and upon receiving the 20th order, I'll have my (by then) 4-year-old son whip a name out of the bag. Adorable isn't it? We'll make it a big ceremony. Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures and post them to flickr.

I figure if, by having the next 20 orders, rather than the next 20 sales, that guarantees that the odds are 1-20 of winning. Unless, of course you're order #1, 4, 5, 9, 19, & 20. But at that point, seriously, if you're going to buy that many puppets, you're a little more deserving of your odds being increased, right?

I don't exactly expect this to boost my sales any. OK, maybe I expect it to boost them a tiny bit. Maybe someone who wasn't exactly going to get a puppet *right now* would consider getting the puppet they've always dreamed of having a little sooner. (Because the doors are pounding down with people clamoring to get a puppet by Stacey Gordon, right? hehe) AND they'll get a pretty adorable and easy-to-manipulate puppet to boot. If they win, that is. Everyone else will just get the ugly, difficult-to-manipulate puppet that they ordered. (muhahaha)

Right now I'm just wondering how long it will be by the time I get my 20th order in this little race to win a puppet...

Project Puppet Project has been put on hold until all of the bad workmanship on our electrical has been fixed. That's a saga for another blog.

I can't get to my sewing machine. Ah well. I thrive on pressure. I also thrive on forgetting to take pictures of what I have completed.

I *do* have pictures of some new puppets I managed to make while sitting in a car. I thought I'd share. It's a new direction for me, be it ever-so slightly new.

I begin teaching at a new school in a new school year tomorrow. The school seems very open to the arts and puppetry. I'm pleased. We'll see what that's like, too. Not sure that this journal entry is all that entertaining. Ah well, at least you know I have electricity!

I haven't exactly been at home for the last few days. We're having some unexpected electrical work done to our house. I.E. The entire house is getting re-wired & we're getting a new panel and circuit breaker. Sadly, that means I can't work on my Once Upon A Puppet project. My home has no electricity. Last night we had partial electric in the kitchen and the bathroom & kiddo's bedroom, but try to set up a sewing machine on the toilet and you'll just annoy those who need to go. They said it's going to be "a few more days."

The good news is that I've finished the body of my puppet. It looks great! I'm thrilled with the hands, and the mouth-plate. Although, in the future I'll probably add another digit. I'm a fan of 5 fingers. The other good news is that all this time at the Great Arizona Puppet Theater, with nothing else to do (I did all the work last week), I get to sit and make finger puppets. So when I can upload pictures to my own computer, expect a lot of pictures!

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!