This is my new character, McGarrett.  Here's his biography:

McGarrett is a dog.  He is no more, but no less.  He's just a dog.

But what is a dog??  A dog is an animal that is loyal to the end, loves you no matter what, and lives every day of his life to just be with you and your family.

That's exactly what McGarrett is.  He's a dog that loves to be with his family.  He's a bit goofy and tends to be clumsy, but he's full of love and life.  He loves to eat...dog food, cat food, bird food, people food...if it's edible, there's a good chance that McGarrett likes to eat it.  Sometimes, even when things aren't edible, there's a good chance that McGarrett likes to eat them...things like slippers, pillows, and the dining room table.

When McGarrett isn't eating, he likes to play catch.  His favorite thing to catch is a Frisbee.  He's not very good at catching them, though.  They tend to hit him in the head and fall to the ground, where he then picks them up and brings them back.  He's much better at catching sponge balls, but he doesn't like that as much...it must not be quite as challenging.

McGarrett is a great dog who can be quite mischievous at times, but, what dog isn't mischievous at times???

You can pose his ears in any position that you want, because they have wire inside of them.  He's made out of dalmation fur, and I've had a really rough time finding more of the fur to make more of him, or legs for him.  I was able to source some from Mendell's, but it's not quite the same.  It's a bit nicer, but also a bit pricier.  I'll be ordering some soon to make one with legs out of it and to see how well it works out. 

It's also a bit hard to tell, but he has a black pom-pom for a nose.  It's stuck right at the end of his snout.  The only difference in the pattern for him from the standard Simple Sock pattern is that I used the alternate body, but chose NOT to put a foam insert into it, and instead of the stiffened felt mouth plate I used foam core. 

What do you guys think??

I think he is great!! Makes me want to get out my spotted fur!

He is adorable!

Cute, cute, cute.  You might try here for fur.  http://www.crscraft.com/products/product.asp?pid=90029&L1=2&L2=13&L3=0&L4=0&L5=0&cat=&sub=&class=&searchOffset=x

Love the eye choice. Did you cut off the stems and glue them or are they through the fabric?

Julie

Cute, cute, cute.  You might try here for fur.  http://www.crscraft.com/products/product.asp?pid=90029&L1=2&L2=13&L3=0&L4=0&L5=0&cat=&sub=&class=&searchOffset=x

Love the eye choice. Did you cut off the stems and glue them or are they through the fabric?

Julie

They're through the fabric.

I forgot that the OTHER change I do to the Simple Sock is that I add a piece of foam at the top of the head to give it a bit more rigid skull.  Normally I glue that foam in place on the mouth plate, but by using these eyes, the stems not only held the eyes on the head, but they also held the foam for the skull in place. 

I will check that site for fur.  I will also be ordering some more eyes from you soon, Julie.





Thanks for the compliments everyone!

CRS Crafts is a great place for all types of supplies. 

We also have blue iris with black pupils in stock now also.  If you want to purchase 10 or more mixed colors I can discount the price for you.  You are welcome to email us.

As far as the dalmation fur, if you get the sku# off the bolt where you purchased the fabric and call the main store or online department (if chain), sometimes you can order it from their warehouse.  I've done this before with www.joannfabrics.com and www.hancockfacbrics.com.  Always write down as much info. about the fabric off bolt when purchasing.  Sometimes you can even locate the manufacturer.

Great looking puppets on your site.  How are sales?  Do you only sell through ebay, etsy?


Julie

CRS Crafts is a great place for all types of supplies. 

We also have blue iris with black pupils in stock now also.  If you want to purchase 10 or more mixed colors I can discount the price for you.  You are welcome to email us.

Awesome.  Other colors would be great for some of the ideas that I have in mind. 

As far as the dalmation fur, if you get the sku# off the bolt where you purchased the fabric and call the main store or online department (if chain), sometimes you can order it from their warehouse.  I've done this before with www.joannfabrics.com and www.hancockfacbrics.com.  Always write down as much info. about the fabric off bolt when purchasing.  Sometimes you can even locate the manufacturer.

Yah, I have learned that the hard way.  I bought a yard of the dalmation from JoAnn and didn't save the receipt.  When I went back to get more it was all gone.  The girl told me if I had the receipt she could order me more.  I'll be saving all my receipts from now on. 

Great looking puppets on your site.  How are sales?  Do you only sell through ebay, etsy?


Julie

I was trying to sell through Ebay and Etsy, but wasn't getting much luck.  I've sold about 10 total puppets, which isn't bad...but I'd like to sell more.  The part about it that is a bit discouraging is that, of those 10, 7 of them have been to the same customer.  He's a great customer and I love that he really likes the puppets, but I would like to get some more customers as well. 

My Ebay auctions always had TONS of watchers, but then never any bidders.  For example, I had my Yeti, Jr up there for weeks...he had up to 7 watchers, but didn't even get a single bid.  I've decided to hold off for a little bit while I build up my character inventory, then this coming new year I'm going to list a bunch of stuff. 

thats it, im officially a Mcgarret fan, what a cool biography too!!

I must agree with Jeezbo, your bio's are great!  Ever thought about writing?  You have a gift!  Hang in there. It just takes time for a new venture to take off. I'd say know your customer.  Not only who you'd like to sell to, but who is doing the buying.  Are they buying for kids even though that's not who your marking to.  What are they using them for?  All these things will better help you market your work. 

My opinion of ebay is most people are looking for a bargain, garage sale prices, not what you want to sell for and what I found with etsy was it was a great low cost place to spot light your puppets because it comes up pretty quick on the search engines, but again I found that most folks where looking for toys for their kids around $25-$35.  Not to say that others have not been more successful at either place that was just our experience when we first started out several years ago.

Julie

The person buying most of my puppets is a Minister and uses them in puppet ministry.  All of them that he has purchased he has kept for himself, minus the one I'm working on now, which I believe he is giving to one of the kids in his ministry. 

I agree with your assessment of Ebay and Etsy.  I had things listed on Etsy for the three months and didn't sell a single one.  Got quite a few views, but no sales.  I've tried the gammut (sp?) of pricing options on Ebay.  I did the "start it low and see where it goes" and it went nowhere.  I did the "set a mid-level price like $35 and see where it goes" and it went nowhere.  I tried the "maybe I'm selling myself short and people see the low price and think it's cheap so let's try selling it for $55 and see where it goes" and it went nowhere.  Right now I'm just kind of taking a break from selling. 

I guess I shouldn't say Ebay has let me down totally.  I sold my first puppet on there, and that was to the guy that's bought all the others from me.  I also sold a second one on there a few weeks ago that the customer was really happy with. 



Thanks for the compliments on the bios.  I really like the puppets, and while I'm putting them together a story just kind of comes together in my head.