Anyone out there?

On Christmas Eve, I had a shoulder replacement. Here is my initial x-ray to see why I was having years and years of shoulder pain. It reveals that I had two bone spurs, a lot of osteoarthritis, and the ball on my humerus was worn flat. Years of hard work taking care of animals, plus puppetry—many hours with my arms up over my head, and sometimes using puppets that were way too heavy to begin with—took their toll. The exhaustion of performing just became too great and I truly just pulled away for a few years.

But now I’m back, it’s a new year, and we are in the middle of Coronavirus Quarantine. My husband and I work out of our home anyway, so nothing has changed too much, but now, people are looking for things to view online, and I am thinking maybe it’s at last time to dust off the puppets and work on that online show I have always wanted to do, and started and dropped and started and dropped over and over.

 

Now is the time!

Happy Halloween from Misty and Me!

This is an old pic, but Misty and I wanted to thank everyone for coming out to A Tour of Southern Ghosts this year!

If this is your first time on this site, please remember to go out to the main site(click the purple link that says LizVitale.com) and you will see my Halloween Countdown, Dragon cartoons, and much more!

Boo, Y’all!

Puppatoons, the early years!

I may finally build these dragons.

So these were some small dragon hand puppets I had planned, and may finally now build. They just seem like such a nice little group.
Their purpose was to be like a theater class of kids who were assigned to put on plays by Mrs. Fiddlehead, who was the teacher we never saw.

Back to Building!!

After a long absence, I finally started building puppets again. I have a little bit better ways of working and scheduling myself now which has made things tons easier.
I was getting very burned out on my art therapy with seniors after dealing with many, many deaths. I think that is all I want to say about that.

My first new commission was for my dear old friend Brett Roberts, who I have made several little puppets for before.  He wanted a miniature, puppet version of the character Honk seen in the old 1970s show Far Out Space Nuts.

Honk was a full body suit character played by Patty Maloney, and I really like the character, so I was happy to do this one.

Here is the original character,

And my puppet version! Beep beep!

 

 

 

Happy Halloween!

It’s that time, at last, everybody!

Here’s our pumpkin display for this year. I try to add a new fake pumpkin each year, and I also carve a real one..or two, as sometimes the first one I carve doesn’t last.

Halloween 2017: Teal Mo Pumpkin!

This year I decided to be a part of The Teal Pumpkin Project.   The Food Allergy Research Project, or FARE, estimates that 1 in 13 children have food allergies, which means they go trick-or-treating, and almost every house is offering candy, and the kids get home and can’t enjoy their bounty.

That royally stinks.

A Tennessean mom named Becky Basalone once thought that really stunk, too. So, what if Halloween could be made a little more fun for kids with food allergies?

Eventually her idea took root like a pumpkin vine and grew to become the Teal Pumpkin Project, a nationwide effort to encourage folks to offer up some non-candy or food treats on halloween night. Participating is easy: Place a teal-colored pumpkin or a sign on your door(or in the yard) and offer trick-or-treaters stickers, glow sticks, rings, pencils and pens, small toys, etc., as well as candy for the kids who can have it if desired.

First promoting the idea nationwide in 2014, Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), a non-profit advocacy group, runs a very informative website that includes an interactive map showing teal pumpkin house locations.

FARE even has its own licensed Teal Pumpkin Project products such as foam pumpkins and painting kits at partner retailers— CVS, Michael’s, Party City and Oriental Trading Company. For its research, education and advocacy programs, FARE receives a portion of the sales.

Want to participate? Here’s how:

• Paint or buy a teal pumpkin and put it where trick-or-treaters can see it.  Or just put out a sign (free downloadable versions are at FARE’s website).

• Get some non-food treats. Suggestions from FARE include: glow sticks, bracelets and necklaces; whistles, kazoos and noisemakers; bubbles; vampire fangs; playing cards and bookmarks.

• If you choose to give out candy, too, put it in a separate bowl. Offer both options to all trick-or-treaters —  and do not be surprised if children with no food restrictions take some of the non-food items, previous participants say.