So, a while back I ended up getting a request from one of the members of the fine TIGSource forum. He wanted to do an art trade, and asked if I'd like some pewter-bead pixel art. I said hell yes, please. I didn't give him any specific instructions on what to make, so I didn't know what to expect. This is what he ended up sending me:



That giant Pokeball is most definitely going to find its way into my dorm room next fall, and that Bomberman "sprite" is so adorable I could pinch its cheeks.

In exchange for providing me with the bead art, the TIGSource member asked me to make a puppet for him. On a lark last fall I had made up a silly prototype after finding a large supply of cardboard outside my campus dorm (finders keepers). This prototype was actually the reason he wanted to do the art trade in the first place.



So, last week I set to work on the new puppet- no requirements or expectations, just a simple cardboard puppet. This is what I ended up making for him:



All of the materials are super-cheap, and can be found in your local dollar store. The joints are made of a special type of pin. The name escapes me right now, but you see them all the time in folders- the sort with the two prongs you spread apart to lock your papers into place. Anyways, these make excellent joints for the cardboard puppets. The design itself was made in Photoshop, at least six hours of labor combining planning, sketching, and execution. The parts were all made on a single sheet of paper with enough space to allow me to separate them properly.



The strings of the puppet have a special knot at the end, from my Boy Scout days. This particular knot creates a loop that can be adjusted in size- the end can be moved up and down the whole of the string, creating a larger or smaller loop without actually tightening the knot. This is perfect for fitting the fingers onto the string for better control.

All in all, this was super-fun to make. Assuming I did make more, who would you all like to see in puppet form? More importantly, would you be willing to pay for them, on a store like Etsy?