Born On the Forth of July

Here he is. My new puppet that I finished this weekend. Not quite knowing what I was doing when I made his clothes I realized that if he was going to have a hand inside of him that his ears were too long and would interfere with the fingers that control the front paws. I decided to use a small gourd, cut and cleaned out, tucked inside the top of the black fabric and attached it all to the head. This gave him a "neck" and raised the ears enough to get my fingers into the arm holes. Then I found a very cool "collar" (at the thrift store) that just fit his new neck and glued it all together. Look at him. He's so proud of himself.

The prospector just about had a heart attack when I pulled the sewing machine out and sewed the little outfit. I haven't used the machine in years. It was very basic and easy. I did short paws in honor of the Pupster, Carl. I stuffed the arms and some of the chest with Poly fill and if I decide not to use him as a puppet, I can fill him up with more Poly fill and make him into a pillow.

Then I let him take a nap. After being born and all, he was a very tired pup.

Oh, by the way; I had three people offer ideas for his name. The names were Homer, Gourdo, and Jake. I loved them all but, after careful consideration, I Chose GOURDO, because I just think it's cute and I might use him as our greeter for the next gourd show. It just fits. Thank you all for the ideas.

This was so much fun. I also want to thank Mary Jane for the wonderful workshop. Making a puppet is such a personal thing to do and the possibilities are endless. Your feel like you're giving birth to a new little being, without the pain of childbirth of course.

Pooch Puppet

This is a puppet head. At our last gourd meeting one of the members gave a workshop on "How to make a Puppet." We had a great time. Everyone was given a small gourd and two pieces of gourd that were shaped like ears. We learned how to use Apoxy clay to sculpt the eyes, nose and mouth. I had used paper clay and Sculpey oven bake clay before, but Apoxy clay hardens within a half hour without baking and when it's dry you can sand it and carve it any way you like. It's amazing!
When I was done shaping the dog face and attaching the ears I gave the head a coat of Gesso to give the gourd some texture and cover the differences between the gourd and the clay. Then I painted the face. The eyes were the hardest. I don't draw or paint, so this was a real learning curve for me. I went on-line and looked at dog face drawings and did the best I could. I'm happy with the face..., kind of cartoonish but cute. The paints are all acrylic and I used a natural sponge for the fur.

The hole in the underside is for your fingers. I have material to make a black cover( or outfit ) for the dogs body. Black is good for puppets because, against a black background, you only see the colors that contrast. I think I will give him a brown and blue collar and front paws that are stuffed. We'll see about all this, because I'm not much of a sewing person either.
I think he's cute..., in a surprised, old dog, crooked kind of way. Sort of like he just saw a cat run in front of him but he's just not up to running after it, so he just "woof"s at the cat as it goes by.

This was a really fun project.We are all suppose to bring our finished puppets to the next meeting. I will bring my camera and take some pictures which I will post at a later date. It will be fun to see all the different faces that were just beginning to appear two weeks ago.
I haven't given him a name yet. Anyone have any ideas?