STROBE 2.0

If you've ever been to a Henry + The Invisibles show, you probably remember a "special guest from a far away planet" who sings 'Only Human'. A few years back, Henry Roland asked me to make a puppet that was silver with an alien shaped head. That same night, STROBE was born. Since this night, our beloved STROBE has performed at hundreds of shows and over time, he gradually lost his luster. Inevitably, STROBE needed reconstruction. So without further ado, I introduce to you a new generation of STROBE...STROBE 2.0!

STROBE 2.0

Here is the original STROBE with his stuffing taken out. 

This photo shows STROBE and STROBE 2.0! Both puppets are made out of the same fabric. 

You can see that his luster is lacking and the mouth board needed repair from all of the singing!

 

Construction began!

Time to add the brains!

He's almost done. One special thing is missing...

Henry gave STROBE's old glasses a spit shine. No, I'm not joking.

As you can see, it was an emotional moment taking the glasses off! STROBE is a solid member the Phunk Fam! He's brought many laughs, joys, and heart-warming moments to the H + TI shows.

I felt much better as soon as I placed STROBE's old eyes on the new puppet. It reminded me of the saying, "The eyes are the window to the soul." 

We look forward to many new memories with STROBE 2.0!

Click here to listen to the song, 'Only Human'!

Warren's Best Friend

Last year, when my cheerful friend Maggie was expecting her first baby, she asked me to create a puppet for him. Since she was expecting a boy, she requested a boy puppet, but left all of the creativity up to me! She trusted me to design a friend that would be perfect for her little boy, Warren.

So, I kept asking myself, "Where do I begin?" Well, if you know Maggie, she glows with enthusiasm. Since she is such a bright and bubbly person, I knew I had to parallel her high-spirited energy! I happily introduce to you "Warren's Best Friend"! All the way from Pooga Planet (the place in space where all my puppets originate)...Welcome to the world, little one!

What's not to love about this little guy? 

"Warren's Best Friend" is complete with a bright teal t-shirt, baseball cap, and lime green hair! Besides constructing his body, I really enjoyed sewing up the accessories. To take a vision in my mind and produce that vision with my own two hands is ultimate fulfillment. 

He's very confident, creative and has no problem expressing his emotions! 

All of my puppets are complete with their very own birth certificate! Actually, it's a birth album, known as "Birth of a Puppet"!

I know Maggie will use this puppet to the fullest! Her son, Warren, has lots of puppet play time in his future. Did you know that puppets are a wonderful and different way to interact with your baby? You can play peek-a-boo, read stories, laugh and talk! All of those things are perfect ways to introduce social interaction at a young age. I can't wait to hear about all the fun Maggie and Warren are going to have!

If you like this puppet, please like my Bettina Danger Facebook page! Send me a message and you could have one of these cuties in your own home!

Smiley Face Puppet

Have you ever been told 'turn that frown upside down'? For some reason I always think of a smiley face when I hear that expression. This next puppet is my version of a smiley face puppet!

My lovable friend, Dana, is just beginning a new stage in her education career as a school counselor! I know that she is thrilled to begin her new position and I am confident that she will be wonderful. I've had the pleasure of working with Dana for the past few years and her passion for student learning just radiates off of her! I was not surprised when she told me she needed a "Smiley Face" puppet because Dana herself is always smiling! It's a perfect fit!

At Dana's elementary school, the faculty, staff and students participate in different activities to promote kindness. They wear smiley face t-shirts on Monday to promote kindness throughout the week and the school even has a "Wall of Kindness" where students are recognized for their kind actions. So, I can totally understand why Dana needs this puppet!

Let me tell you a little bit about my inspiration for the design:

When I sat down to draft a plan for this puppet, I started to think about all of my favorite "smiley" icons. The one that stuck in my head was my boyfriend Henry's 1971 vintage smiley face heart character piggy bank. I knew that the puppet wasn't going to be exactly like this, but my favorite part of the piggy bank is the pink heart that sort of puffs out from the chest.

Next, the school t-shirts have a smiley face similar to this picture so of course bright yellow fabric was a must! The trickiest part about my puppet design was making this 2-dimensional picture come to life as 3-dimensional puppet.

Lastly, I wanted to check out the history of this well known happy face! It's earliest appearance was in the late 40s/early 50s. In this picture, the smiley was used in a film called 'Lili' in 1953. I particularly like the *You'll love* heart.  I won't go on and on about it, but click here if you want to read the Wikipedia article. I'm always fascinated with the history of these types of things because smiley faces are everywhere but they had to start somewhere! : ) <------Smiley face! See, they are everywhere!

And without further ado, I present to you....

Kindness Kathy! 

I believe this is the name Dana has picked out! Love it! She doesn't know this, but Kindness Kathy already made a new flower friend. I can't seem to separate them so she is going home with Kathy. Positive energy attracts positive things!

Here is a close up of her heart. See how it puffs out! *LOVE*!

And just one final and appropriate thought to remember....

I hope you like her Dana! I'm sure you two (well, three) will have great year at your new school! : )

Perfectly Purple Popcorn Perfectionist

A few months ago my friend challenged me with a task to make a truly unique puppet. She is a phenomenal writing teacher and is planning on using the puppet to help grow her students as writers. How awesome is that? It gets better. Her class is always thinking of ways to make stories "pop" as they move from kernel essays to popcorn essays. 

Now, I have a puppet called "Pop" and you might remember him. You can find him on my puppet page. Even though he initially seemed like a perfect fit for this puppet, I try to keep all my creations unique. My friend also mentioned that her puppet should be a boy and that she loves purple! So, after much thought, the "Perfectly Purple Popcorn Perfectionist" was born!

They are always a little shy before they meet their owner!

He's equipped with a red and white vest, bow tie, and popcorn yellow buttons inspired by a traditional popcorn container.

I had to see if he liked popcorn....

 ...and he does! The Non-GMO kind of course!!!!

This handsome friend is complete with his very own birth certificate!

Of course, I believe everyone should have a puppet no matter what your line of work, but if you are a teacher, you definitely need one! Contact me for your own before the school year starts!

So all in all, I hope my friend and her new class of students are going to grow attached to this little guy. What do you think?