Hi. Well, I'm not a pro or anything like that. Actually, our team just had it's first puppet performance two weeks ago. I started it at my church. I saw a girl using one with the children about six years ago...just the look on their faces had me hooked! I went to you tube and found out how to make a simple one, then joined here after some searching on the net. I searched around and found some patterns and started making my own. I now have a pretty good collection. I watched a LOT of you tube puppet performances to learn how to use a puppet. And, of course, I came here and read a lot of posts. Now we have a team and are doing shows. They are not perfect, but the kids think they are! :)Good luck!

I guess something inside me always knew I would be involved with puppets. I would buy books on puppetry and had never held a puppet. When my church decided to start a puppet ministry, I signed up and started from scratch. I became the creative director, coming up with ideas for songs. I also began building some of the puppets we needed and eventually took over as director. Continued this for about 15 years, until we left that church and moved to a new one. Too old and tired to start a new puppet ministry, but still build a few puppets. My avatar is a clogging chicken I made as a group of five.

I grew up with puppets as a kid, but never knew how to actually use them. After my dad had his first stroke, he wanted to do something for the Cup of Cold Water booth at the fair. So I started learning how to properly use puppets and how to make my own. Unfortunately they weren't interested in the help after all. But I did co-found the (failed) Saturday Night Puppet Block on Blogtv and did a live show of my own for awhile.

Thank you, Pockets, Nynah, Cruppetman, and VampireWombat for your background life stories.  These are helping me picking up my puppets I've created and making them talk.  And wanting me to make my future theater if I can!  I will too.  Thanks. 

Well for me I started as a builder i wanted to build for Henson. I had all these puppets i made but no way to show how they worked. So I got on camera showing how they moved and performed and sent lots of photos. Henson would then send a letter back giving me advice on my performance but nothing on my builds of the puppets. I was confused but continued this for a few years each time they always responded to me as a puppeteer. I eventually really liked being a puppeteer and when i did get to work for them it was as a puppeteer. I did hang out in the workshop on set quite a bit too though! They don't do this anymore I'm not sure why but I heard it was because people took the letters not as constructive criticism but insulting. Its just what i heard not sure if that's the real reason. Pity they really helped me.

I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped doing letters anymore because they spend too much time wading through the roughs to find the diamonds. A bit like acting agents being inundated with submissions.

However there has been news that they're offering some sort of workshop at the moment, part audition part educational I think. Andrew's posted about it on PuppetVision.

Well for me I started as a builder i wanted to build for Henson. I had all these puppets i made but no way to show how they worked. So I got on camera showing how they moved and performed and sent lots of photos. Henson would then send a letter back giving me advice on my performance but nothing on my builds of the puppets....

...They don't do this anymore I'm not sure why but I heard it was because people took the letters not as constructive criticism but insulting. Its just what i heard not sure if that's the real reason. Pity they really helped me.

Wow! I would love for someone from Henson to critique my stuff. Sometimes I feel like the people that are offering critiques are going easy in order to be nice.

Henson would then send a letter back giving me advice on my performance but nothing on my builds of the puppets.

Wow, personal feedback from Jim Henson. How very cool. He may or may not have been the be-all and end-all of hand-puppetry, but wow. The same would go if it were Bill Baird, Sergey Obraztsov, Shari Lewis or Burr Tilstrom. Anytime you can learn from one of the greats, you are privileged indeed.

For Christmas in third grade, I got a "push button string puppet" The first puppet I ever owned, made by Knickerbocker, it was a marionette. The controller was a plastic paddle with four little levers. Push the short end of the lever, the other end rose and pulled the string controlling the arm or leg. I suspect that my parents noticed that I really liked the kids' shows that included puppets. Much, much later, I built my first puppet, and then put him in a box for about a decade. I started using him in church for my time with the children during worship. I discovered how much I enjoyed this, and went from there.

My parents and I attended a church convention when I was a child. They saw puppets and were hooked. Mom came home and she and my grandmother made some puppets (which I still have), researched all the training available (not much), and they began doing puppets in our local church. Years later my husband and I planted a church and I decided we needed puppets.  Started with the ones my parents had, and added a few. I was the sole puppeteer.
Almost 20 years ago we moved to the area where we now pastor, and decided we needed a puppet team. Started researching puppet making. Took the team to a One Way Street Workshop (Creative Ministry Solutions) and a Puppet Production Workshop. Used their techniques and suggestions to train the team (and many teams across the US since). Made some puppets for the team. Then was asked to design puppets for a curriculum company.  Started selling puppets and never stopped.  I teach a few classes per year as well.  I've been asked to visit several countries and teach puppet making. Hoping that will happen in the next 1-2 years.