I was supposed to have made this announcement on June 21st, the first day of Summer. But, it was also Father's Day and the whole thing got procrastinated. I could say I planned to procrastinate when I entitled the contest, "The Great Procrastinator's Finger Puppet Contest" but that would be a bold-faced lie for if I had planned to procrastinate I'm quite sure I would have put that off as well and we would have had to wait until the first day of Autumn for our winners to be announced.
In all fairness to me I would like to mention here that Summer itself has procrastinated its appearance. I was at the Duluth Harbor watching a tall ship come in yesterday (putting off writing this) and I was very glad to be wearing a long-sleeved turtle neck.
It was a sultry 56 deg. F. as I steadied my camera and took this photo.
If you look closely everyone on board is knitting. (NOT, but back in the heyday of the Tall Ship there was a heck of a lot of textile play going on I assure you! It is widely believed that knitting began with men. They were sailors making their nets. )
Oops, a digression, imagine that.
How the two winners were chosen: There is a random winner and a 2nd winner that I just pick. I decided to discover the random winner first as that would automatically reduce the number of entries from which I had to try and choose the 2nd winner. HERE I WILL BE BRUTALLY BLUNT. There are several entries that I'm crazy about and, as I suspected might be the case, the random winner was actually one of my favorite entries.
Congratulations GRUMPY CRUMPET. Your entry happened to be #10 of 16 total entries. The random number generator at random.org selected you and good thing too because as much as I was crazy for your entry I might have chosen to take a pass on attempting to make the mandatory bagueatte of wool that your finger puppet carries at all times. As I am now forced to attempt this feat I might cheat and make the baguette of apoxie. Either way I'm sure it will be quite delicious!
NOW, down to the hard part, subjectively choosing one other finger puppet to make from the remaining entries. Here are some of my favorites:
- Sarah's Wendy-O, the celtic witch. I love making witches and I've never made a celtic one;
- Beads and Yarn's Mamarazzi, or what I like to call the point and shoot fingerpuppet. Can I ever relate to what you described!
- JuneMoonToon's Everspring Fairy who perches on your finger reciting poetry. That's great! What's also great is your blog of written work and lovely pictures!
- Annita EVERYBODY take a moment to click on this link and see the fantastic knitted characters!! Annita your short rows and shaping all done with stockinette stitch are super-delightful. I love the way you sculpt with knitting!
- Becka Rahn "a finger puppet on artist's time who apologizes for spacing out on a deadline." Sounds like I would have to create a self portrait and I don't like looking in the mirror. What I do like is checking out your blog and seeing all the creativity!! Fantastic etsy shop as well!
- Jo James' Abrahand Lincoln. Fantastic idea! Imagine how daunting it would be to make a finger puppet after one of my most favorite presidents for one of my most favorite folk and doll artists! I'm a long-time fan of all things Cart Before the Horse! P.S. I had to come back and add this MUST SEE TO BELIEVE link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVL_UPAn8eU (After watching it you'll know why I'm daunted to even imagine making a finger puppet for this artist!) The art dolls steal the show and well, the music has been stuck in my head ever since I saw it. (Not complaining. I wanna dream in stereo too.)
- Lisa Lectura I love your big-eyed art dolls. Everybody take a peek.
- Angelique I'm crazy for SugarCain humor. The Yoda-eared fingerpuppet with Bette Midler's personality would be larger than life. Let me add that your doll-making adventures introduced me to Paverpol and I dipped some knitting into that stuff and, well it's still drying all these many months later but, hard as a rock it will be!! By the way, I think your paper doll work is terrific.
- Gnomegarden HA! A finger puppet with a small electrode in the tip? That's just BATTS. And speaking of batts your blends are sparkly fun for hand spinners. (Note to those that do not spin yarn: Batts are blends of wool and other spinning fibers that create all kinds of colorful fun. Gnomegarden is a pro a making fiber candy for the textile artist.)
So, you can see it wasn't easy to select from all these antics! I really got myself in a pickle this time but, I did choose a winner: Congratulations go out to......(drums are rolling, commercial breaks are taken, when we return I extend this blog another hour by recaping what I just wrote, then the drums roll some more...)
SARA'S ORGANIZED CHAOS That's right Sara! You will see Suzy the Floozy come to life in finger puppet form under the condition that you promise not to use her for evil. The legal documentation to this effect should be finalized and ready for your signature shortly and the building of this puppet will commense from there.
So, when will these puppets be completed? I don't blame you for wondering that! Certainly you can understand why I might decline to answer. I plan to begin right away! I shall begin with Grumpy Crumpet's french creation and the picture will be posted here. Now, I'm off to google baguette (which I'm not even sure I've been spelling correctly). Wish me luck! And, thanks to everybody who played along!
4 comments:
What a fun post. Of course I would find it more fun if I were getting a puppet, but just being mentioned on your blog has been quite a thrill for me. I never win anything, so I cannot be peaved for not being chosen. You, after all, are also a part of the universe and must follow the unwritten laws. I happen to think that you are a very funny woman too, and I hang on your every word.
As one of the world's great procrastinators, I identify with your struggle to choose and then all that other stuff you have to do such as raising lambs, carding, spinning, and dying, after you choose. (See? I've been paying attention.)
So that Paverpol won't dry? Did you put in the ashes and the bat spit? Perhaps I forgot to mention that. I'm looking right now at a rock hard doll who has been waiting for a costume for two or three years, so I guess after it finally dries you can count on it to hold up well.
Congratulations to the winners. I'm quite jealous as I intend to own one of the Treadler's fine pieces before I die, and bidding on them on eBay gets me nowhere.
*captcha: pothicab: the little car that delivers orders from the drugstore.
Holy crap! I won something!!! My very own real life Suzy is going to sit on my desk and give stink eye to the people who pass my window picking their noses thinking I can't see through glass. This is awesome!!! Thanks buddy!!~! :)
Congrats to Sara! WHat a great idea, and how fun it will be to make Suzy the Floozy!
Thanks Teresa for liking my idea too, and for saying such lovely nice things about The Cart and Dylan's music :) Those video dolls are probably 28 inches high, so you can imagine how big the set is. It takes up half the garage!
Oh I can't wait to see Suzy and her stink eye! :) Thanks so much for the lovely mention of my battiness... I'll be watching for Suzy.
xo Dawn
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