It has been such a blast this mini tour of Lancashire libraries and community spaces with Ada and her story, The Seven Ravens. We have been hosted by the SpotOn, Lancashire's rural and library touring network. This morning saw our fifth performance to an audience of 33 parents, carers and children in Skelmersdale Library followed by a smashing welcome in the afternoon at Parbold Library.

On Monday this week I was in Crieff. I shared two performances of 'Nosferatu', one of which was dementia friendly, at the Richmond Care Home. Thank you to the wonderful care staff, particularly Suzie and to Strathearn Arts for its support. It was a most enjoyable day! #Nosferatu #Puppetry #StrathearnArts #RichmondCareHome #Crieff #Storytelling #PerthandKinross

This September I will be delivering this weekly course for Edinburgh Acting School at Summerhall Arts. The above pictures are of some of last terms students presenting the story they created in their final class of the course. We spent the term looking at lots of different aspects of storytelling - our voices, our bodies, our relationship to the audience, the use (or not) of technology, preparation for performance, rehearing, feeling confident, visual storytelling, object theatre and puppetry.

I had the privilege of travelling down to the home of Puppetcraft in Devon to take a week long marionette carving course with John Roberts. This is my second training course with John, the first being in 2016 which took place at the Little Angel Theatre in Islington, London. There was a class of three - my colleagues being both fun to be with and wonderfully supportive.

Ada and Little Toy are bringing their stories to Beacon Arts this Sunday. Ada is going on an epic adventure to find her seven brothers and Little Toy is risking life and limb on the high seas in search of best friend Gem. Don't miss them! Little Toy is at 11 am and Ada's story - The Seven Ravens - is at 1.30. Click on the links to book! #puppets #stories #fairytales #families #storytelling #objecttheatre #beaconarts

Last week was glorious, so very sunny and also extremely challenging. Me and my wee van travelled down to Totnes in Devon to spend a week woodcarving with John Roberts of Puppetcraft. There were two other woodcarving students - lovely folk - and we spent an idyllic, if very hardworking, week designing and making our own marionettes. This was the second time I had done this course with John - the first being in May 2016 at The Little Angel - and it was really good to revisit the processes and to approach the week with a better understanding of puppetry and even a little bit of wood carving experience under my belt. Very happy.

Relaxed focus... exploring core principles. Unlock Your Performance: Explore Puppetry for Actors at EAS Studios Hello everyone! I'm delighted to invite you to a workshop I'll be leading at Edinburgh Acting School Studios – a great opportunity to explore new avenues of creative expression and expand your acting toolkit through puppetry. Giving Life to Objects: In the puppetry training for actors…

Lissa Of Joyrides on the promenade with 'Betsy', the electric bike, and two lovely clients snugly wrapped up against the sea breeze in gorgeous crocheted blankets. We are preparing for Tragic Carpet's first performance of Nosferatu at The Seagrove Centre next week. The Seagrove Centre is a great resource that provides support to people living with dementia. I am helping Tragic Carpet reach this new audience, an audience that often doesn't get the chance to participate in high quality arts.