Pickle Tongue

Here's the new improved tastier version of the talking sandwich puppet!

What I did today....

Saw a picture/instructions in a craft book of a talking sandwich and had to make my very own. Did this with the scraps from around my workspace. Can't wait to make a talking burger. The two glove puppets were fun to make too. (And Joy looks cute testing everything out for me.....)

Messiah Christmas Party

Formerly known as "Open House", this year we had a pot-luck dinner and entertainment in the fellowship hall. I helped the kids with a little Chrismon (a type of religious Christmas ornament) presentation, and they sang Oh Christmas Tree with everyone, then they sang Go Now in Peace (With Ms. Edna puppet joining in too...) The choir did a couple of songs and we were home by 8:00. Here's some pictures.....

CLAMS show

Concerned Lutherans At Messiah (C.L.A.M.S) asked me to do a program for their Christmas luncheon . Edna read two poems and we all sang The First Noel while I showed some shadow puppet scenes on the overhead. It was fun, and everyone had a good time!

Puppet-tree!

Had the opportunity to participate in Onstage Atlanta's Festival of trees. Set-up was yesterday, and here's how it turned out! Here's hoping I sell some puppets!

Joy's Birthday cake!!

Saw this cake idea online, and had to make it for Joy's kitty themed sleepover party. We had 14 7 year old girls over, 8 spent the night. It was crazy and loud and chaotic and they had a blast! Here's the cake. They actually fought over who got which "poop" and everyone wanted extra "poop"......tootsie rolls, that is!

New nose for George pup-pet

Here's my sweet cat checking out his twin....

Here's George

This one didn't turn out quite as realistic as the first (Pippy), but still a nice resemblance!

Puppet construction

Here's the foam as I taped it to the sock. Wish I'd taken more pictures, but once I got going, it was done!

Finished cat puppet

Pippy, for Cyndi......fun to make!

A day in Pine Lake

Today I helped Janet steam clean, vacuum, move boxes, furniture, plants, relocate an empty aquarium...etc. (She's in the process of installing a new heating system and redoing the whole ceiling/walls in the living room. ) It was a lovely fall day, full of photo opportunities. The kitten "Peach" is too cute to ignore, and Max the cat is as friendly as ever. The wooden skeleton was photographed just as I found it, and the turntable green went so well with the surrounding plants. The apples are left-over from Halloween apple-bobbing. --H

Miss Edna's new sweater

I just love that toddler clothes fit puppets! Found this great Christmas sweater for Edna, and gave her new white gloves to match. Looks great for her Christmas show.....whatever that may be!

Comedy/Tragic-Joy

I told her to smile....this was what I got. She'd been grumpy all day!

Pastor Haco von Hacke retires

It's been a great 27 years at Messiah Lutheran church in Decatur! Today marked Pastor's last Sunday before he retires. He'll be back once more for our Christmas eve service. We will miss him and his lovely wife and son!!

Brownie field trip

We all went to Yellow River Game Ranch today. I had so much fun with the animals, I barely got photos of the girls.....Here's the first collage featuring the crazy animals!

History center part two...

This is the Tullie Smith House 1845. There were lots of buildings to explore, animals to see, and a lovely guided tour of the house itself. Here's a few photos.

Trip to the Atlanta History center

It's the day before my birthday and we went to see the Henson exhibit! We didn't get there till almost 4, and it closes at 5:30. Cost 40 bucks to get us all in, so we were determined to get our money's worth! We did a tour of the Tullie Smith farm for 30 minutes, then ran back in to see the Henson stuff. With our final few moments, we dashed around to the other exhibits and got a quick peek at most everything. (Skipped the golf themed one....sorry dad!) I snapped a few pics before I saw the "DONT" sign.....couldn't bear to erase them:) Here's the Henson stuff, farm pics up next!

Atlanta puppetry guild meeting

I had the pleasure of being the hostess tonight! A good time was had by all! ( and Joy enjoyed giving tours of her castle themed room!) I hope I can keep the house this clean for a while......:)

Bein' green on Halloween

Joy did the green make-up herself this time! She did a great job!!

Carpenters in costumes

I had to use Photoshop tricks to get us all together, but here we are!

Avondale Autumnfest

I spent two days by the lake in Avondale selling puppets and doing crafts with kids! It was a blast! The kids made masks and paper bag puppets. I didn't sell as many puppets as I would've liked, but I did O.K.. Joy was there with me both days and had a great time .

Kevin Pittman

Here's my friend and fellow guild member hard at work during the two day Avondale Autumnfest. The kids...and dogs...LOVED him!

Joy as Elphaba (A.K.A the green witch...)

The crazy teeth are actually candy! (I got a box of "body parts" gummies to give out at the festival. ) Joy loved being green all day!! Some folks in the know even called her Elphaba! We're still washing the green off a day later......
The smaller pictures are of me as a Jester and Paul as "Ali-Bubba".

Autumn Community Extravaganza

Here's some pictures from today's festival. Fun, but lacking in entertainment for kids. Didn't sell much, but I met some great people, and handed out lots of business cards!

Flying Scarecrow

Joy is really into WICKED and the green witch right now, so I made this yard art /Halloween decoration for her. I still need to attatch some hands and shoes, add some hay, etc......but you get the idea! (Not a real pumpkin head, but a painted foam one.)

Finished cat mask

Here's Joy modeling the completed mask.

Tire swing

Here's Joy having a blast at the park.

Cat mask

I got a $2.00 white plastic full face mask today and have been transforming it into a cat mask for Halloween. The biggest challenge is keeping the fur out of my nose and eyes! It's coming together well. Still need to add some eyebrow and cheek whiskers, and finish the ears etc.

Business card idea

Comments, suggestions?

Wicked collage

I fought the urge to take pictures during the show....these are from the curtain call.

We love WICKED!! Go see it if you can!!

Wicked sky

I took a bunch of cool sunset pictures out of the car window on the way to see Wicked at the Fox theatre. This was my favorite shot.

Joyride

Here's Joy having fun at the Atlanta Greek Festival!

Camel and Donkey

I'm trying to plan what the Sunday school children will do for our church's "Open house" Christmas event. I had Joy and Briley try these on for size. I think they'll be great in a parade!

Fair Collage

Here we are enjoying the little fair in the mall parking lot! The "busty" pictures of Joy were taken in the ball pit.......too funny!

Karl was here....

Post film festival visit to our house with a day trip to Pine Lake.

Megan and a pickle :)

My sister-in-law Missi was sad because there were no pictures of her daughter Megan on my Blog. Here is one of my favorites taken on July 4th 2008.

Another picture from the slide series....

40

Same day, same slide......

Me and Joy

I was lying on the slide at the park, and Joy slid down head first next to me for this shot.

Muppet Movie Sing-a-Long!

The Center for Puppetry Arts is celebrating their 30th anniversary! This special event was for members-only.(Glad I'm finally a member!) Me and Joy loved singing along with the Muppet movie, blowing bubbles, booooing and cheering and such, as led by Heather Henson and friends up front. We also really enjoyed seeing the new "Henson:Wonders from his workshop" exhibit ......... Wonderful! Can't wait to go back to the center and see it again.

Patriotic Spider....

Snapped this picture after watering my outdoor plants, then noticing this lovely spiderweb......

When in Rome...

This is an episode of uncontrollable laughter in response to a story about a skin graft on someone's leg. The source of the skin graft is the newly harvested foreskin of a newborn. They were discussing side effects, one of which might be a little unexpected "stiffness."

We were at Lee's house in Rome, GA prior to going to the RIFF (Rome International Film Festival).
My brother Karl is on the left of the screen with one of my dog puppets.
The man laughing is my Dad, Leland Staven. The other voice off camera is his wife, Laura. The other uncontrollable high squeaky laugh is yours truly.

RIFF collage

RIFF= Rome International Film Festival

Here are the pictures from our trip to Rome Ga. this weekend to see Karl's animated film!!!

Garbage Monster 2nd place winner!!!

This was a contest I entered because my friend Elise in NY e-mailed me about it. The challenge was to design a "Garbage Monster" to be featured in a video about recycling. I was the first entry, and ended up being a winner!($50.00) YAY! Here's the guy's blog with all the other entries and winners.

http://thegarbagemonster.blogspot.com/

Joy

Here's a nice shot from Fellini's Pizza.....outside by the fountain.

Little Red Joy

Guild dinner

Here's a few pictures from our dinner out after the show. We went to Einsteins....(not the bagel place....)We sat outside but had to move in when it started raining. It was so dark inside I didn't take any more pictures. Joy delighted in all the rain puddles we encountered on our walk back to the car!

The Ugly Duckling

Here's some post-show pics from Michael Haverty's Ugly Duckling. The puppets are tabletop puppets. It was a one woman show performed by Amy Rush. Many musical instruments were built right into the set and played by the puppets and puppeteer during the show.

The missing picture??

This was supposed to go with the last post?

Finished Musclewood talking tree and two frogs on a log!!!

Here they are in all their glory! The frogs are a Bullfrog and a Spring Peeper. I did my research and tried to make them pretty realistic looking. They each have a rod in the back that allows them to jump up and down a bit as they "sing" their songs in the show. Also, my lovely Musclewood tree finally got his grand leafy head-dress! Looks fabulous! The show is being done by the Cobb county water department. I'll post pictures if/when I ever get to see it performed!

The tree finally leaves.....

Yes, it's finished. (Still shopping for the leafy top parts...)

I learned a lot as this tree grew out of PVC, masking tape and scrap styrofoam. Thanks to Peter for all the lessons in paper mache and airbrushing!

Trip to the Coke Museum