The Beginning. This is how it all began. Beryl's Ark was born about 1976 with the idea for a wonderful puppet that could also be a pajama bag for the smaller generation to put on their bed. For many years we made these pajama bag puppets in the shape of dogs or puppies, and they came all the way up the arms of the smaller kids, so we shortened them to about 12" in length, and made them more realistic. WOW! Did we ever 'scare' folks with those, with many of our customers thinking they were real dogs or puppies. The tails of the dogs or puppies would wag every time a potential customer would come past any of our booths at these wonderful craft shows! We were even invited to show our things on the Michigan ARTRAIN, in Grand Haven, MI. one year! What a fantastic time that was. We made so many friends! At the end of our first run, in about 1986 we had sold a tremendous amount of puppets, and we had also established a great customer base for our stuffed animals and baby blankets, all of which were made from faux fur!
In 1986 we moved from Muskegon, Mi. to the middle of Michigan, between Saginaw and Flint, and 'retired' all of our patterns. Then, about 2004, after surgery, we brought them out again, doing a couple of craft shows a year. Displaying a few stuffed animals, and of course all of the puppets, including charming hand puppets, in the shape of dogs, bears, rabbits, raccoons, mice, elephants, koala, monkeys, and several other animals. This blog will partly be to show you some of those wonderful animals and puppets.
