In 1998, the inspiration for Blueprints for Life came from attending character education workshops for teachers in Indianapolis. It was the beginning of the journey that led to writing songs and creating puppet characters. Organization was one of the first songs I wrote, and what a thrill it was to find that my students loved it!

Organization continues to be a top favorite among my students even today! Singing about being organized is a great lead-in during my classes as it talks about being organized in every day life. During a lesson, I can also segue into how music is organized and a myriad of other subjects pertaining to organization. The success from this song gave me the idea to continue writing songs for the words pertaining to building character in daily life, such as cooperation and common sense. Over a five year period, I wrote 18 character education songs.

After writing a few songs, I came up with the idea to create puppets. The first puppets created were The Professor, TTAP-N, and Merlock the Mouse. I approached local artist/teacher Aaron Kelsey about creating the characters from my ideas. The picture above shows his artistry. My friend and seamstress Jane Boshears took the ideas from Aaron’s drawings and made my first puppets which are pictured below.

In 1999 I became involved in a music writing organization called Nashville Songwriters Association International. It involved many workshops in Nashville, TN, and learning the craft of songwriting from some of the best songwriters in the industry. By the year 2000, I started a songwriting chapter of NSAI in Bedford. Over a nine year span, we hosted many wonderful songwriters and clinicians.

Through NSAI, I continued to improve my songwriting skills. It was through this organization that my NSAI mentor Tirk Wilder, songwriter of the television show theme “Walker Texas Ranger“, introduced me to producer, Matt Wilder. Tirk and my husband Rob encouraged me to approach Matt about producing a children’s CD. I am so thankful that my husband and family believed in me to pursue this huge dream!

In the summer of 2002, my daughters, Caitlyn, Bethany, and I spent most of the summer in Nashville, TN while recording “Blueprints for Life“. I had the privilege of working with many fine studio musicians that helped bring my songs and dialogue to a whole new level. My good friends Danny and Marie Ray also brought in a children’s choir from their church to sing.

In the picture above are the voices of The Professor – Scat Springs, T-TAPN – Lisa Chamberlin and Merlock the Mouse – Lily Wilder. Matt Wilder came up with the idea of a seal puppet and a name-“Pinniped the Seal“, which was inspired through the song “Organization”. The Nashville production of my songs helped to bring my puppet characters to life!

Artist and IT tech Josh Russell created an animated version of Blueprints for Life in 2003, taking my puppet pals to yet another level. The Professor, Merlock, T-TAP’N and Pinniped went through two more updates. Artist Aaron Kelsey made the latest version of my puppets which have been featured in some local TV shows and countless school programs. Crabbie the Crab and Wormie are two other puppet characters who joined my puppet family. Wormie goes on many of my traveling adventures since he’s so small. He is the favorite puppet of my students at school. My music, puppets, and programs continue to evolve and change over the years. It is a fun adventure!

Blueprints for Life grew into “Mrs. Muncy’s Musical Menagerie” in 2012. I continue to compose songs, create programs, and puppets for my classroom. The past twenty years have been an exciting journey! Let’s see what the next twenty years bring for my puppet friends and me!