Sew Much Love

I was contacted recently and asked if I'd contribute some of my puppets to a new charity project called Sew Much Love.
I thought it was a great concept for a charity project and a worthy cause so Humphrey and Florence have gone off to be part of the project.


There's still time if you would like to contribute to this project. Even if you don't know what to make there are links to tutorials on the Sew Much Love website.
So please check it out and contribute if you can!

Fiona Dionaea

Fiona Dionaea was my entry to this years Jungle themed puppet contest at Puppet Project.
Sadly she didn't make the top 10 tho.
You can see the top 10 and vote for the winner at the Puppet Project site.








Fiona Dionaeaâs parents cultivated her talent for singing and acting from a young age and her talents quickly grew. Plucked from her jungle home just as her abilities ripened, she made a name for herself starring in some of the greatest movies of the 30âs and 40âs including numerous Tarzan films. She was always first choice among directors for the roles of lead carnivorous plant, and stood out from the crowd when placed among other exotic plant extras. She put down roots in Hollywood where she remains firmly planted to this day. Her career has blossomed although her talents have wilted in more recent years. She puts her continued youthful looks down to regular pruning and a strict diet of liquid plant feed with the occasional insect or small mammal that wanders too close.

Happy Easter!

It's a little Early, but Happy Easter everyone!

I designed these easy to make duck finger puppets for Easter a few years back, now I offer them to all!



Print off at the original size (from the Extras page or Flickr) follow the directions to make them and have finger puppet fun! ;)

Congrats on 6th place Rufus!

Much to my surprise and delight, Rufus the troll, came 6th in the Etsy best toy contest!
Out of 60 entries I was really amazed he was so high up!
It seems voting was pretty close too, so he wasn't far behind the winner in votes!
Congrats Rufus! \ ^_^ /
And thanks to anyone who voted for him! ^^




He's still needing a new home, so if anyone wants to buy this popular fella please visit my Etsy store!

Make a Moving Mouth Puppet!

You might imagine making a moving mouth puppet is tricky, but it's really not, and now it's even easier because I've designed my own simple pattern for a moving mouth puppet!



It's a 14 page PDF which you can buy from my Etsy store

Using the pattern you can make a troll or lion puppet, or use it as a base for your own creation!
As well as the full size pattern the PDF pattern includes step by step instructions, photographs and diagrams.



They're lots of fun to make, and play with!

While probably not being up to a professional standard for a mouth puppet, because of the flexable foam mouthplate they are very expressive puppets!



If you want to try out one of my patterns before you buy, check out my free patterns on the Extras page!

Free Halloween Finger Puppet Tutorial

Here's my gift for you this Halloween, a free pattern and tutorial!

Skull Bird is a fun finger puppet for you to make, and he'll be perfect for when you go trick n treating this Halloween!

He's super quick and easy to make, and you can make him by sewing from felt, or by gluing from cut paper depending on your skills!

So what are you waiting for, go get the pattern and get making!
Free Skull Bird Pattern and Tutorial


Skull Bird is also avaliable in 2 designs on T-shirst from RedBubble, so you can look the part too this Halloween!
Skull Bird design 1
Skull Bird Design 2

Also check out my other free things to make on the Extras page!

Ninja-Bear, Bear-Ninja!

Ninja-Bear, Ninja-Bear,
Sneaking here, peeping there,
Where's he hiding? Could be anywhere!
Oh, where is Ninja-Bear?

He's... heeeere!


Is he a bear in a ninja suit, or a ninja in a bear suit?

Bear-Ninja (or Ninja-Bear) will never reveal the answer, even if you were fortunate enough to be able to catch hold of him!

Sneaky and mysterious, he could be hiding in your bowl of cereal, or laundry basket right now and you'd never know he was there!

Ninja bear is so cute he's deadly!

Ninja Bear has popped up as a puppet:


A plushie:


He's quite numerous on T-shirt designs!


*These and more avaliable from RedBubble*

And now he can be all yours in the form of this adorable hand made phone charm!


Which is up for sale right now on Etsy!

shiro art in New York!

I have 3 peices of work in the Railroad Ties/Sweet and Seldom Seen 2 show that's on now at the Kismet Gallery in New York!

For the Railroad Ties part of the show which had to be related to railways in some way I did a pair of paintings titled 'Life On The Line'

Inspired by the fact that railway lines, used and disused are great places for wildlife, a great place for my lil stoat Kit and probably many of his friends to hang out!

For the Sweet and Seldom Seen part of the show I sent these 2 sculptures of Kit, unimaginativly titled 'Big Kit, Little Kit':


And finally I also sent Sydney!

Hope you're having a fabulous time in New York and making lots of influential friends Syd! X3

And they're all for sale, so snap up some shiro art state side right now!

The show runs from today until 24th September so if you're in the area please go an check it out!
For more info visit the Kismet Gallery Website.

This Lil Ninja Went To Market...

But first, this lil ninja stayed home...

I asked my Mum to check my Ninja Puppet tutorial for mistakes and while she was at it, she made a ninja puppet!
But not just any ninja, he's a mini tomato ninja finger puppet!



Isn't he cute! X3
As you can see he's tiny, and very good at hiding among tomatoes.
If you want to make one just use my free Ninja Glove Puppet pattern but greatly reduced.
glue on the felt and don't add a lining, tho he'll prbably still need a bit of stuffing in his head!

And please folks, watch out for mini ninja lurking in your veggies! 0_0

It's ninja all round again today, this Lil Ninja is up for sale on Etsy now!



He's one of many slightly miss-shapen but totally lovable Ninja prototypes that have been popping up everywhere here!
It's funny really, I managed to make a complex toy like oscar almost completely right first time, but getting this simple lil ninja's shape right is proving most taxing! ^^"
So, expect more ninja prototypes on Etsy in the future! ;)

Free Ninja Puppet Sewing Pattern!

After making some pretty complex toys I decided I wanted to relax and design something quick, fun and easy, the result was a ninja glove puppet!

He amused me so much I decided to take the oppertunity to make a free tutorial of how to make him so I could share the ninja puppet goodness with the world! \ ^_^ /

He's really easy to make so even novice sewers can have a go, and if you have any problems or feedback about my tutorial, please let me know!

Here's the cover to the pattern booklet so you can see him.
Sorry for the rubbish photos, the light was bad by the time I finished making him! ^^"

You can download the pattern and instructions on how to make him on the Extra page.

Please feel free to tell your friends about this tutorial, or write about it on your blog or forum, spread the word! ^^