The first of the finger puppets came about because I had a lump of leftover papiermache pulp. I sat and played about with it, made a ball of it and then moulded it around my finger.

Slowly the form started to take the shape of a beetle, so I moulded wings and then a face. I then put the puppet on the window sill and forgot about it.

A couple of weeks later I found it again and started to paint the face, she reminded me of a worried old lady and so became the Ladybird of the nursery rhyme. Her antennae are glued in wires with a blob of acrylic glue on the tips then all painted black.

Ladybird Ladybird fly away home,

your house is on fire, your children are gone.

All except one,

And her name is Ann,

And she hid under the baking pan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladybird,_Ladybird

Having made Ladybird I thought that I would have a go at some more. I made a batch of pulp and moulded some more bases for puppets. Sadly I made a mess of the pulp and lost all but two of the bases.

I had been looking at the Isle of Lewis Chessmen and thought that the basic shape leant itself to a knight of similar proportions. It followed that he needed a companion and so St George and the Dragon were born

Little Bear was born from the offcuts from Baby Mouse (see Glove Puppets page). I have a wonderful book of soft toy patterns, there is a delightfully simple pattern in there that I adapted so that the bear is animated by using your index and middle finger in the legs.

This is a favourite puppet with both my boys as they find it very easy to operate and he comes to life very well.

Making Soft Toys for Children. Pamela Peake.

A Dragons World Book

ISBN 1850280290

Sadly I suspect most of her books are now out of print, but various book retail sites have a good selection of second hand copies listed. Pamela Peake's books are excellent, easy to follow and I would recommend them to anyone who wants to start making their own toys

The Quick Brown Fox, followed naturally on from Little Bear. I had a lot of the gaberdine wool left and I wondered how adaptable the bear pattern would be to other shapes.

The fox was less easy to produce, particularly the pointy nose. Not something I would attempt again in this material or this scale.

Having said that I am fond of him and intend to make him a gingerbread man companion puppet, that gaberdine wool was a truly wonderful find.

I am particularly fond of foxes, both in reality and in fiction and folk lore. We currently have a young cub who makes a detour through our garden each morning, he studiously ignores our existence.

Unlike my father's fox. She comes each day for her half tin of catfood. She then sits and waits until my father takes out the biscuit box, she then shares a digestive biscuit. Once elevenses have been partaken of, she trots off about her business