#5 Best Puppet Site of 2011

Surprisingly, this morning I wake up to find myself listed as the number 5 puppet website on the School of Puppetry's's list of "Best Puppet Site of 2011"! Thanks Naomi Guss!
In other news, the past month has kept me busy with puppet shows and workshops at various Christmas parties and Libraries, working on our new show 'Jack and the Beanstalk', and also working on a series of puppets I'll be selling online in the new year! I'm really excited - so stay tuned to www.puppetoodle.com! :-)

Front page - The Goulburn Post

Today PuppetOOdle made the FRONT PAGE of The Goulburn Post Weekly! It features a great little story about our upcoming paper puppet making workshop and awesome photo by Mary Luckhurst!

(close-up)

Nine new PuppetOOdle workshops!

I'm proud to announce nine fantastic new PuppetOOdle workshops, suitable for your local school, library, community group, party, function, festival, event - or even your local workplace, to help inspire creative thinking, artistic skills, strengthen and build relationships and encourage better communication, confidence and identity.

Big thanks to my brother Jonathan, for the fantastic new website design! Take a look and follow the links to book a workshop: www.puppetoodle.com/workshops

Awesome holiday programs!

This week, Jonathan and I had fun during our holiday programs at ACT libraries! We debuted our new show, 'The Frog Prince', which featured a stack of funny, original songs and special 'velcro' puppets I designed - so that the Prince could magically turn into a frog and back again! The kids also made some fantastic little frog and princess finger puppets and in each performance, the room was filled with love and laughter.

Last week of Puppetry Residency

Today was our last day, teaching the students (Kindergarten up until year 2) at Isabella Plains Early Childhood School 'Communication through Puppetry'. Each week the students became more confident performing and talking in front of the class and excelled at puppetry techniques, that can even take some adults years to learn. Teachers often reported that they would often find their students turning everyday objects into puppet creations during their regular playtime. We had some very special moments together that I'll never forget. We're going to miss those little puppeteers!

I just want to give a big thanks to my brother, Jonathan, for his support and being an amazing assistant/photographer every single week; Liz Wallace - Isabella Plains Principal, for all her wonderful support; all the teachers for their help and assistance in the classrooms; all the students for their continuous enthusiasm and creativity; and lastly, to Krista Schmeling and the team at artsACT for the amazing opportunity.

For the full run-down of our 10-week program, visit: http://www.puppetoodle.com/schools/residencies

FRONT PAGE - the Chronicle

During week three of my ten-week residency project at Isabella Plains Early Childhood School, we had a special visit; Arts Minister Joy Burch! She happily joined in with our eye-focus and lip-syncing excercises with the kindergarten class and learn all about the different emotions and expressions puppets can have! More info at: http://www.puppetoodle.com/schools/residencies

This also gave us a wonderful FRONT PAGE feature in local newspaper, 'The Chronicle'!

(page 8 feature)

(closer image of the front-page photo)

Booked-out library programs

I'm proud to say that my last couple of school holiday programs at the ACT libraries were booked-out in almost 24hours! Not only that - but they were a tremendous success! Our show, 'Rumplestiltskin' was a hoot and all the kids made some very wonderful little Rumplestiltskin finger puppets afterwards! Thanks again to all who came, the ACT libraries, my very supportive parents and my talented brother, Jonathan for the live music and specially co-written songs!

Front page www.the-riotact.com

The popular Canberra online news blog featured PuppetOOdle on the front page! For the full story, visit: http://the-riotact.com

'Artist in Schools' grant awarded

Earlier this year, I received an amazing opportunity - to become an 'Artist in Residence', or rather a 'Puppeteer in Residence' at Isabella Plains Early Childhood School, during term 3. The 'Artist in Schools' program is funding through artsACT and supported by the ACT government.

My theme will be “Communication through Puppetry” - addressing several different types of communication from eye-contact to learning new ways to express themselves, all through the magical medium of puppetry. I'll be updating my weekly projects at the school, here: http://www.puppetoodle.com/schools/residencies .

Feature in The Canberra Weekly

Canberra Weekly featured a editorial with a photo by Cole Bennetts from a very successful, booked out show and workshop at Canberra's Civic Library during the Holiday Program.

First PuppetOOdle show

My first PuppetOOdle show and puppet-making workshop went brilliantly. All the kids laughed at all the right places, they were engrossed making paper puppets afterwards and all the parents were pleased. I don't think it could have gone any better! I'd like to give a big thanks to Civic Library, Canberra for having us, my parents for all the help and support and my brother and partner in crime/puppet business, Jonathan Mettes for the amazing live music!

PuppetOOdle.com launched!

I'm pleased to announce that I've launched my new puppet business, www.puppetOOdle.com! Yay!