Shipping

Shipping within Australia: [to be added; I have no puppets available for sale at this time while I launch some new designs]. Shipping everywhere else: [to be added; I have no puppets available for sale at this time while I launch some new designs]. For each additional puppet shipped, add another [to be added; I have no puppets available for sale at this time while I launch some new designs] to the shipping cost. Prices quoted include postage and handling.

Payment options

I accept Paypal for international orders and patterns; cheque, money order, or bank deposit for those residing in Australia. Please contact me if you would like the direct deposit details. Please note: I do not charge GST (tax) on any of my products at this time.

Returns and cancellations

If you find there is something wrong with my puppets, I’m happy to accept returns and will refund your payment once the item/s are returned. I do not accept returns based on a change of heart, and I do not refund the shipping/handling costs.

If payment is not received within 7 days, I will attempt to contact you via email or other contact info provided. If no reply is made within 5 days, I reserve the right to cancel the order and place the items back up for sale. I reserve the right to resell any puppets returned to me for a refund.

All of this does not cover downloadable patterns, for which I will only provide a refund as an absolute last resort. I sell these items through third-party sites, so if you have had any problems with the product, please contact them first. I am happy to provide a different method of shipping on request to those who have paid but not been able to resolve the matter with the third-party website.

Care and repair

It’s best to keep the puppet stored in a dry cool place. Due to the nature of the materials, it is extremely important that the puppet is stored flat; the puppet will warp if left in a different position. You can wash the puppets with a damp cloth. Keep away from open flames. Rods should be stored separately to the puppets themselves, in an out-of-the-way place. If the paint has scratched off of the rods, you can touch them up using a matte acrylic spray paint (for use on metals) in an outdoors space. All puppets sold come with instructions on use and care.

If you have broken the puppet beyond repair, I am happy to provide replacement parts. Please contact me to arrange a repair job.

Are the puppets good for kids?

Predominantly I design my puppets for adults - which isn’t to say that younger people can’t use them. But as with most shadow puppets, the joints are easily swallowed, and rods can poke someone’s eye out if you’re not careful. With that in mind, my puppets really shouldn’t be used by anyone below the age of 6. These puppets aren’t toys. They’re for performance. If you want to know how difficult each design is to use, please check the description of the puppet and watch the accompanying video for more info. If you’re at all unsure, please contact me before purchasing. Alternatively, avoid buying a puppet and purchase one of my [other products, to be added].

Can I come see your studio?

Nope. I work from home and it just isn’t sensible to give out my home address. If you want to see my work live and in person, then I’m happy to arrange a meeting in a more neutral setting. A café works great, cause then we can chat and eat and drink. The puppets won’t mind and we can get on with business. For those who are overseas, well, you can take a gander at my puppets via video - actually there are a number of videos on the web which show me doing puppet tutorials from my work space, so you can indeed, see it!

Puppet sizes

My puppets are [in the middle of being relaunched, correct size to be added soon]. If you’d like a different size, please contact me for a custom order.

Commissions

I do not accept commissions at this time. Please do not contact me about making other types of puppets - I only do shadow puppets, since, well… I’m good at it! However, I do dabble in providing patterns and tutorials for other types of puppets which you can find at School of Puppetry, along with info about how to find other Australian puppet makers.

Copyrights and performance rights

My puppet designs are just that: mine. Please respect the fact that artists work hard, don’t earn a lot of money, and love what they do. I happily provide patterns which you can use for your own creations; but my actual puppets are not to be copied.

Patterns (free or purchased) are offered up for the creation of puppets for personal or commercial use; however, the patterns themselves, online content, and any accompanying instructions and images can not be reproduced, copied, transmitted, distributed, or sold online or offline in any form, and no derivative works based upon it can be made, without written permission from me.

As for performance rights (which are completely separate from design copyrights), you’re more than welcome to use my puppets in schools, professional or amateur shows, videos, and in the home: you’re NOT welcome to use my puppets on or in your own merchandise.

Your privacy

I respect your privacy, and do not share your information with any outside party or affiliate (this excludes any information you volunteer to Paypal or any other third party site I use to sell my products on; please check their sites for more details about their policies). Any information I collect is only used to communicate to you about your order/s. I do not accept credit cards directly (only via Paypal) and so do not store any CC information.

On this site, information is collected about the pages you visit, via cookies (stored bites of information that most websites use to improve your visit) and website stat collecting services, along with Google Adwords for the search function.

Puppets in Melbourne can not guarantee to any that files available for downloading will be free of viruses, infections, worms, Trojan horses or any other code that may contaminate or have destructive properties. (I do my best to keep my computers infectious free)