A special thank you to all who visited with us this year at Puppets Up!

This year Artelle Puppets celebrated our fifth consecutive year as a vendor at the Puppets Up festival, and we are very pleased to have had another great weekend!

Here is Peggy Artelle with Georgie the Monster, one of our new puppets introduced at the festival.

 

Once again this year, we had many friendly faces stop by to take a look at our selection of hand made puppets, which has grown considerably since our first year in 2011. This year our booth was in a new location, only a few feet from our old one (we've moved from the front of the Post Office to the side). We also had a small puppet theatre for kids to try out, and we were pleased that it became a special photo opportunity for many families. We even had a photographer from the Ottawa Citizen take a photo at our puppet theatre, which can be seen here:
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/puppets-take-over-almonte-on-the-weekend-as-festival-enjoys-its-11th-year (look for the photo of the girl with the two snowman puppets)

We also had a visit from a little girl who brought her favourite puppet with her, a leopard puppet that I made a few years back. (The prototype is shown above) She had named her puppet Shadow, and it was well played with which is wonderful to see. For me, seeing kids enjoy the puppets is what makes this all worth while! It really made my day!

 

Our new booth location is right next to the Puppets Up parade route on Mill Street. Here's another view of our puppet display. It's always fun to watch people as they try out our puppets and have a good time, as having fun is what puppetry is all about! Thank you so much to everyone for stopping buy, and to the festival organizers, we had a great time!

 

Photos and text © Mike Artelle, 2015

Artelle Puppets Events Schedule 2015

In the upcoming months Artelle Puppets will be selling original hand-made puppets at the following events. Please join us! Visit www.artellepuppets.ca/puppetstore.php  to see more of our puppets!

Puppets Up International Festival
Sat, Aug 8 & Sun, Aug 9 2015

Almonte, ON (Only 30 minutes from Ottawa)

Sat & Sun, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Please visit the Artelle Puppets booth on Mill St. in the vendor's area.
For festival information please visit the Puppets Up website:

http://puppetsup.ca/

Past Events for 2015

Ravenswing Arts & Music Fair
Sun, May 24, 2015

Minto Park (Elgin & Gilmour)
Ottawa, ON
11:00 AM to 5:00 PM
This is an outdoor event, rain or shine!
http://ravenswingottawa.tumblr.com/
 

Mike Artelle's Canadian Superheroes:
Moose Man, Canadian Crusader, Blue Jay Boy, and Goose Gal!
All are Mike's original hand-made puppets!
See the Artelle Puppets website for more info:
www.artellepuppets.ca

 

Puppets and character names TM and © Mike Artelle, 2015

Artelle Puppets Schedule for 2014!!!

Thanks to all who stopped by the Artelle Puppets vendor booth at various events this past year!

The list of past 2014 events has been archived below. We'll post an new schedule for the 2015 season in the Spring. Hope to see you all again!

NEW! Puppets for 2014! L to R: The villanous Pharaoh Shuss™ the Lion Man, with the heroes, Canadian Crusader™, Zedgar™ the Wild Jungle Dude and his mentor Kazak™!

Like, Peace Dude!

New puppets: Hippy and Unicorn hand puppets with some finger puppets: Alien,

Humpty Dumpty, Gingerbread Man, and a Dragon.

 

New puppets: Chubby Beaver, Pink Bunny and a Giraffe are new for 2014! They are shown with the Polar Bear I made last year. He seems happy to meet his new pals!

For more information about my hand-made puppets please visit the Artelle Puppets website:

http://www.artellepuppets.ca/puppetstore.php

Past Events for 2014:

This Spring, Summer and Fall 2014 I'll be selling my hand-made puppets at a variety of events throughout Ottawa. Below are a few of the upcoming dates along with photos showing some of the new puppets that will be available this year. Please join me at the Artelle Puppets vendor booth during these events!

Sun, Oct 26, 2014

Ottawa Nostalgia & Collectible Show & Sale

Nepean Sportsplex

1701 Woodroffe Ave. Ottawa, ON

9:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Admission: I believe it's $5 or $6

Free Parking

Bus #95 from transitway stops on Woodroffe directly across the street from venue.
PLEASE NOTE: I won't be selling my hand-made puppets at this event, but I will have many collectibles and dolls, including some vintage Muppet memorabilia.
 

Sat, Oct 4 & Sun, Oct 5, 2014

Ottawa Geek Market

"Your ultimate cosplay, comic book, sci-fi, fantasy, steampunk,
horror, anime and gaming shopping experience!"
Sat 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Sun 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Nepean Sportsplex (in the Curling Rink)
1701 Woodroffe Ave.
$10 per day or $15 weekend pass
Children 12 and under are free
"20% of admission sales will be donated to charity"
For information about Geek Market please vist their website:
http://geekmarket.ca/

 

Sat, Aug 9 & Sun, Aug 10 2014

Puppets Up International Festival

Almonte, ON (Only 30 minutes from Ottawa)

Sat & Sun, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Please visit the Artelle Puppets booth on Mill St. in the vendor's area.
For festival information please vist the Puppets Up website:

http://puppetsup.ca/

 

Sun, March 16, 2014

Ottawa Nostalgia & Collectible Show & Sale

Nepean Sportsplex

1701 Woodroffe Ave. Ottawa, ON

9:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Admission: (I'll confirm this shortly, but I believe it's $5 or $6)

Free Parking

Bus #95 from transitway stops on Woodroffe directly across the street from venue.

PLEASE NOTE: I won't be selling my hand-made puppets at this event, but I will have many collectibles and dolls, including some vintage Muppet memorabilia.

Sat, April 5, 2014

The Ottawa Doll Show and Sale

Ernst & Young Centre

4899 Uplands Dr. Ottawa, ON

Meeting Room A & B

10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Admission: Cash donation for Ottawa Food Bank, $2 minimum

Parking: $7

Sun, April 27, 2014

Ottawa Doll Festival

St.Thomas d'Aquin Parish Hall

1244 Kilborn Ave. Ottawa, ON

10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Admission: $5

Children Free

Presented by the Ottawa Doll and Collectors Guild

 http://ottawadollandcollectorsguild.com/

Sun, May 4, 2014

Handmade Harvest Spring Craft Show
Almonte Agricultural Hall
195 Water Street
Almonte, ON (Only 30 minutes from Ottawa)
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Admission: $2, under 16 is free
Parking is Free
http://handmadeharvest.com/

Sun, May 25, 2014

Ravenswing Ottawa 2014
"A Celebration of Creativity in Central Ottawa"
Minto Park
(Elgin & Gilmour)
Ottawa, ON
11:00 AM to 5:00 PM
This is an outdoor event, rain or shine!
http://ravenswingottawa.tumblr.com/
(Look for the Artelle Puppets gazebo with the dark green roof.)

Photos and Puppets © Mike Artelle

Hero Puppets take over Artelle Puppets website!

With a few Hero Puppets projects on the go, I thought it was about time to update the Artelle Puppets website. Check out the new look: http://www.artellepuppets.ca/

Ottawa Nostalgia & Collectible Show

Well it's time once again for me to thin out some my collectibles. I'm quite the horder when it comes to vintage toys, and so I try to sell off some of my collection now and then to reduce the amount of "stuff" I have. This time I'm going all out and will be parting with some of my duplicate Muppet Show collectibles from the late 1970s, made by Fisher-Price!!! In addition, I'll also have a variety of action figures, PVC figures, and other nifty collectibles from the 70s and 80s up for grabs. So come on out to see me at the Nostalgia Show later this month!

Ottawa Nostalgia & Collectible Show

Nepean Sportsplex

1701 Woodroffe Ave.

Sunday, March 17th, 2013

9:00 am to 3:00pm

$6 admission

Children under 12 are free

Free admission for all after 2:00pm

For more info visit http://www.antique-shows.ca/nostalgia.html

Perseus Puppet Show at Greek Church Hall

Artelle Puppets is happy to announce an upcoming performance!

Perseus and the Gorgon Medusa
A Puppet Show

This is a performance of the popular story from Greek mythology about Perseus' quest to slay the evil Medusa, performed by Artelle Puppets. The "Hero Puppets" are realistically modeled to resemble superheroes or fantasy characters. This Artelle Puppets presentation received a Commendation for Design in Puppetry Theatre from the Arlyn Award Society.

Suitable for ages 7 and up, including families, teenagers and adults

Sunday, March 3, 2013 – 3:00 PM
Greek Church Hall – 1315 Prince of Wales Drive
General admission $5

The event is organized by the Parnassos Hellenic Cultural Society.
For more information please contact: Costa Kapsalis 613-726-1808 kapsalis@sympatico.ca

Ottawa Winterlude Ice Hogs Collectables!

Winter is upon us once again! Ottawa is now covered in piles of snow and it is feezing outside. In the Nation's Capital this means only one thing... Winterlude will soon be underway! Of course we couldn't have Winterlude without those awesome mascots, the Ice Hog Family. Oddly enough I've never seen them live and up close, so I've yet to snap my own photos of them. Hopefully I can do so this year. In the meantime I'll share a photo of my favourite mascot collectables...the Ice Hog plush toys!

Shown above on the left is the new 15 inch Ice Hog plush doll from 2010 (wearing the scarf). He is still available by mail order through the official web site for Winterlude souvenirs:
http://www.e-boutiquecanada.com/Winterlude/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=20&Itemid=95&lang=en
If you plan to attend Winterlude, they also sell some of the souvenirs at the Winterlude festival, so you might be able to find the plush toy there as well.

Next to the 2010 Ice Hog plush toy is the plush toy from 1994 (with the light blue and pink shirt). This one is no longer available. I found it second hand at a thrift store a couple of years ago and was quite happy about that! This 1994 plush toy was sold the same year that the "new and improved" Ice Hog mascots were unveiled. From 1980 through to 1993 the Ice Hog mascot looked very different....

Here is a small lapel pin of the 1980s version of the Winterlude Ice Hog mascot. I bought this on e-bay! As you can see he is quite different than the Ice Hogs we know today. To me, this earlier version of the mascot looked a lot like a beaver! A plush toy of this earlier version of the Icehog was also available sometime during the 1980s. Before I had started my Ice Hog collection I had found one of those original plush toys at a thrift shop but left it there, and have been kicking myself ever since!

I'm looking for the 1980's Ice Hog!
If anyone out there has an original Ice Hog plush toy from the 1980s and would be willing to part with it, please contact me! I would be happy to buy it from you (if the price is right). I recall the 1980s Ice Hog plush toy was wearing a blue hat with a white pom pom. It may also have a blue scarf, but I'm not certain. If you have one to sell please e-mail me: info"at"artellepuppets.ca

UPDATE JULY 2022!!! I found one!...

For more info about "The Legend of the Ice Hogs" here is a link to the official Winterlude website:
http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/celebrate/winterlude/ice-hog-legend

Update July 2022: Here's a picture of the entire collection so far!