Two winners actually! Check it out - The Once Upon A Puppet Contest Winners.

Thanks to all who participated in the contest this year, from our contest sponsor Puppeteers Unite, to those who entered their characters, to the judges, and to all those who took the time to vote for their favorite puppet. See you at next year’s contest!

Although the contest is over, we still have more contest entries to post on the blog, so stay tuned. We hope the contest as well as the opportunity to see what others have done with the Project Puppet patterns will inspire everyone to keep on building!

Rumpy was created by Doria Martuzzo (using the Glorified Sock Puppet Pattern) and received one judge’s vote. We thought Doria did a great job with her version of Rumpelstiltskin. Take note of Rumpy’s costume, the woolly vest, the belt complete with tiny buckle - a good example of the importance of paying attention to detail.

Doria’s character description for Rumpy is also a great example of how to “personalize” an existing character. She tells us something new about a character with which we are familiar. This approach works because the audience doesn’t have to “start from scratch”, so to speak, in relating to the character. Rather, they are able to add to their knowledge of the character and perhaps view the character from a different standpoint. Doria uses this technique quite successfully!

The character description reads:

“Rumpelstiltskin, who now goes by Rumpy, is the hairy little manikin of fairytale fame who rescued the Miller’s daughter from death (at the hands of her future husband, the King) by magically spinning straw into gold. The “deal” was that she would hand over her first-born child to Rumpelstiltskin, but their bargain was ultimately broken when she ended up correctly guessing his unusual name.

For the past 118 years, Rumpy has struggled with trust issues, depression, mood swings and fits of rage. He is frustrated by the fact that the general public often confuses him with other fairytale characters. Fortunately, he has recently turned a corner with the help of yoga, anger management classes, and twice-a-week sessions with his therapist. Rumpy says he is “ready to leave the past in the past,” and is happily looking foward to the future. He is ready to look for love, preferably with a gal who shares his interests, and eventually have a childikin of his own. To that end, Rumpy has become a wiz at surfing the net and spends a considerable amount of time in chat rooms dedicated to textiles. His screen name is “You’ll Never Guess Who I Am.” Rumpy dreams of being a contestant on Project Runway and is hoping for his big break in fashion design, specializing, of course, in couture woven in gold.”

Meet Pinnose, created by Shawn Duffy from Australia. Pinnose sports a growing nose! Shawn explains that he “used a tube which was spring loaded and that slides back and forth inside another tube” creating a nose that grows right before your eyes.

The description reads:

“Pinnose is a very shy puppet. He is quiet and reserved. But suddenly his nose will grow and he will become very excitable and hyperactive in his mannerisms and his conversations. His talking becomes very rapid and his movements are exaggerated sharp movements and his nose lengthens and also his arms. The more his arms stretch the more out of control they become and flap about.. As he calms down his nose and arms will also calm down back to their normal size. Similar to that of Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde meets Pinnochio.”

Pinnose received one of the judges’ votes. We especially liked Pinnose’s elongated arms. Making the arms longer adds more opportunity for movement and thus more “life” to the puppet when it is performed. Good work, Shawn!