Dame Miss Suzzette!

That's right! Behold a new paper puppet! A Victorian tattooed lady paper puppet doll to be exact.

Dame Miss Suzzette is a special lady of Victorian times long ago. With a fondness for the sea and the sands of travel, Suzy knows the best way to show off her tattoos is in her favorite nautical sailor bathing suit!


This paper doll is part of a larger series that includes other Victorian tattoo ladies (and men too!) that I will be making. Suzy is the first of many and pretty much inspired by the photograph below.


The wonderful lady above was a woman called Maud Stevens Wagner. She was one of the first 'tattooed ladies' of her day - basically making a living by being tattooed. These women of their day would show their tattoos off in traveling circuses and curiosity museums (aka dime museums) that were considered entertainment at the time.

Remember, we are talking pre-radio, pre-movies, pre-ladies being able to show their ankles in public. This was also a time were women didn't make their own wage either (let alone vote!). So considering the circumstances of the day, Maud Steven Wagner was one of many few progressive ladies out there! It's a bet most people see photographs of these victorian/early 1900s ladies and the assumption is they were prob just prostitutes! Far from that.


If you'd like to know more about the history of women's tattoos - there is a lovely book called 'The Tattooed Lady' by Amelia Klem Osterud. This book really digs into these women's lives, the roles they countered, and is also filled with some lovely archival photographs / prints too.


Another wonderful book on vintage early 1900s tattoos (mostly for dudes) is "Vintage Tattoos : The Book of Old-School Skin Art" by Carol Clerk.


Anyway, this paper puppet doll has many moving joints and adjustable parts! It can be propped up against other obviously less memorable things, or easily framed. The puppet is approximately 9 x15 inches in size. She is available for sale in both the Etsy Crankbunny shop & the regular Crankbunny store.

Look out also for more ladies! I'm just finishing up all their tattoo work (who would have guessed its so time consuming to tattoo paper dolls!)

Shop is back open! May Sale!

Good news is both the Crankbunny shops are now open! The shops are fully stocked with pop up cards AND paper puppets.




Its been awhile since paper puppets have been offered up for sale so its great they are available again.


DOUBLE good news is also that certain pop up cards are on sale in the Crankbunny shop. The cards that are on sale are labeled in the regular Crankbunny shop (the cards on sale are not available through the Etsy shop).

Especially cool is the Decoder card which is usually $11.70 USD is now priced $9.70 USD for the rest of the month of May!

New Crankbunny fish paper puppet!

Added to the shops is a new paper puppet based on the Crankbunny rabbit fish. The Crankbunny is actually a very magical surprising species of fish. This particular paper puppet holds a gift box that contains a magic shell. The gift box opens up and reveals this glowing shell.



This paper puppet measures 8 by 10 inches and is also detailed by hand with subtle iridescent glitters.... because glitter pens are da bomb yo.

Like all my paper puppets - they are giclee printed on thick archival cotton rag museum quality paper. This type of paper is thick enough to not bend over and will stand/lean on stuff easily. Each puppet is hand cut, titled and signed.

Both the Crankbunny shop and the Etsy Crankbunny store are selling this new fishy paper puppet.

Magical Eggs of Festiveness

So finally time (that evil mistress and/or gigolo) has allowed me to deal with my wonderful lovely decorate egg paper ornaments.

Each decorative Faberge paper egg is beautifully detailed - but is also able to magically transform into a fun paper puppet character. There is a Honey Bear, a Russian doll, an Angel, and a Snowflake God. Each character is ready for some holiday madness and holds it's own small golden egg.





The paper puppet egg ornaments will start shipping November 1st - just in time for the holiday season. Decorate your home, office, some one's desk, loved one's TP stand - hello, these ornaments can make a nifty home everywhere and a simple unique gift for anyone!



Each 3 x 5inch-ish egg is cut, handmade out of paper, hung with golden fabric ribbon and packaged in it's own clear cellophane with sparkly brown backing. Perfect as a lone gift or an additional add-on to that big box you've just wrapped up. There will be complete sets available too!





Pre-sales and many more pictures are up at the Crankbunny shop for the ornaments now. Check it out! Click here! Ornaments start to ship November 1st! (And will also be priced regularly then too)

all the ladies in da houssseee...

First off, this particular lady that's doing the writing is sick. Magically (and not delicious) I woke up with weirdo virus/flu/headachey type symptoms. But anyhoo - I'd still like to introduce two new paper puppet ladies. Lady Fish now has two new friends...she was lonely being the only half female/half animal freak in town.

What I love about these types of paper puppet dolls is how many joints they end up having. There is something so cool about positioning all the arms, legs, head, etc in various different ways with your own fingers.

Lady Spider : A very docile species of spider, this lady prefers to quietly string up golden webs from a heart. The only real way of upsetting her comes from any near hum or sing-song of the "Itsy Bitsy Spider".

I have a thing with spiders and they've showed up alot in my animation work. Lady Spider is a paper puppet doll that is very large. She's basically around the size of an 11 x17 poster - wow! She's my new favorite really - but don't tell Flying Monkey Lady... I'll wake up to a bunch of rotten bananas on my doorstep. For more information on this puppet - click here

Flying Monkey Lady: Raised by flying monkeys - you can only assume the unexpected from this special lady. While this flying darling has a huge pension for bananas, she is usually seen delivering trinkets and big laughs to everyone she meets.

This particular paper puppet also is very large too and with way more movable parts than some of the other Crankbunny paper puppet dolls. My favorite part of her is the banana necklace which is sort of a keepsake to her flying monkey elders who raised her. For more information on this paper puppet - click here



Both these puppets are available in my Crankbunny store and Crankbunny Etsy shop. They are limited edition to 50 - titled, numbered, and signed. Both these match the Lady Fish Puppet perfectly too!

Fantastic and tactile!

Paper Puppet Palooza is showing its lovely face all over the real "non" internerd world. Fantastic and tactile! Since I don't really leave my nest because of all that animation and those shop orders that gotta be done (ok that's a lie) - it was nice to see PPP on the shelves. At Barnes n Noble no less! (in florida, seen n captured photologically by my dad hehe)

Only more proof that the book is available for immediate gratification purposes at your local chain bookstore!

People have also been saying lovely things about the writing and instructions found in Paper Puppet Palooza. Dropping science like Galileo dropped the orange - lets kick it!

"...love this book! Out standing art work and ideas. Very good templates and instructions. Easy to follow and a good jump off place for your own ideas. Great for movable figures to use on cards, altered work, stages, etc and just about any thing you can think up. I scaned the templates on my computer and printed out on heavy paper rather then cut up my book..."
- Very smart and handy in Deerfield, IL

"...Crankbunny's off-beat sense of humor shows on every page of this book. That alone makes it worth purchasing, but the instructions and illustrations are also very clear and clever. Turns out, paper puppet making isn't all that difficult or expensive, but newbies will benefit from the confidence and encouragement this book provides...."
- Totally got it VB.

Feel free to flip through some of the book with Amazon's "Look Inside" feature or Barnes n Nobles "See Inside".

Tony Sarg and his marionettes

Ofcourse somehow neurotic norma (who is a seperate entirely split personality living in my brain... long story, no way of making it short) added into my delicious list an entry about a Tony Sarg book that can be read on google books. For free. How fantastic.

This book is very fun and nerdy to read if you are into anything that deals with puppetry mechanics. And ofcourse I am. I am not a huge fan of actual real marionettes - but I do know how they work and how they are tied (which is one the reason I'm not a fan of them.... all those strings knotting up at a blink of an eye really freek me out). I am a firm believer you can learn alot from things you don't like. Probably alot more than things you do like.

Anyhoozal, Tony himself (read more about him here) included alot of his own secrets in this book.

The Tony Sarg Marionette Book
By Frederick John McIsaac, Anne Stoddard
Published by B.W. Huebsch, inc., 1921
Original from the University of California
Digitized Nov 30, 2007 57 pages

The Crankbunny Shop (or store)

I will now also be selling novelty paper goods through my official super snazzy Crankbunny Online store. That's right... this new years 2009 resolution was to get a little organized and frantic with all the neat 3D pop up greeting cards and paper puppets being sold.

So here is the official introduction! Tada - The store! The shop!


Website - http://shop.crankbunny.com
Things to know:
-Unlike my Etsy shop, this store will be open all year. I frequently shut down my Etsy shop at random times of the year unexpectedly and mainly because of my fulltime job as an animator. This official shop won't get shut down ever.
-Popup Cards and Paper Puppets don't sell out on this site too.
-Prices are cheaper because this shop is easier to maintain and use for both of us.
-I can sell less "handmade" things like my new book on making paper puppets.

Paper Puppet Palooza!

New Paper Puppet book! It is out!



Paper Puppet Palooza is a storybook how-to on making paper puppets and incorporating paper puppet techniques into your own existing work. It is a book for artists, craft ladies, hobbiests, teachers, animators, parents, youngsters, puppeteers, rainy day victims and those who are just into curious creative exploration. The main character in the book - Paul “Peppo” Palooza - guides the reader through each of the step-by-step illustrated projects with a cast of other imaginative paper puppet characters.

For more info or to buy the book visit the book's website - http://www.paperpuppetpalooza.com

Also! To welcome the release of Paper Puppet Palooza by Crankbunny / Norma V Toraya - a limited edition signed dustcover print has been created for the book. This full color large poster print is 11 inch (h) by 26 inch (w), signed, limited to 250.





Click here to purchase this version of the book or/and limited edition print in the Crankbunny store.