August 26 - Saxophone

Bom-bom-bom-ba-da-baaaaa!
Bum-bum-bom-ba-da-daaaaaaaa...
Bom-bum-bum-bada-buhhhh-buhhhhh-bah-buh.
Bom-bum bum bada dadaduh da-dadaduh da-daduhduhduhduh...

Way down here down in Baker Street.
Hmmm ... .mmm mmooor ...on your feet.
Mmmmmm ground mmmhmmmm around ...
mmmmhhhmmmm about everything.

When you wake up it's a new morning ...
The sun is shinin' it's a new morning.
Your nohmmm, go mohmmm oooooon.

Bom-bom-bom-ba-da-baaaaa!
Bum-bum-bom-ba-da-daaaaaaaa...

~ Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
   (lyrics as sung by me)

I saw an image of a saxophone similar to this on Pintrest but wasn't able to find anyone in a reverse image search to give original credit.  (If anyone knows who to credit with this or anything I haven't credited in previous posts, please list them!)

The saxophone has a reputation for being a sexy instrument for some reason ... when I close my eyes and think about the sound it makes, I hear 'conversational goose'.  

(view other musical balloons)

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August 25 - Baunnies

Alice: "How long is forever?"
White Rabbit: "Sometimes, just one second."

~ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

Bling Bling had an interesting set-up in their jam room - instead of a sponsor, they had 3 balloon companies with their wares set out in front of them and All-American Balloons set up right in the middle of it all.

Ignoring the fact that there was an actual vendor in the jam room, the fact that each of the tables had a representative at them made me feel like I was ... sampling product rather than playing?

I can't simply "use" the balloon, I have to consider it. Note the yellowness of the color, the texture - the pressure, the length. Stare at it like a woodcarver trying to see the little wooden boy inside. THEN twist.  Its way too many steps for one prone to overanalyze things...

These bunnies were something that the always amazing Dennis Bauyon threw together in the Bling Bling jam room, two-balloons only if you practice!  (or if you're been saving your scraps like you should be!)

 

(view other bunnies)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Dennis Bauyon:

August 24 - Gemar Mocha

Gitchi-gitchi, ya-ya, da-da
Gitchi-gitchi, ya-ya, here
Mocha chocolata, ya-ya
Creole Lady Marmalade

~ Lady Marmalade

Digging through some other browns, I've had this bag of mocha for a while.  The color is fairly close to the old Qualatex mocha, but I had a bit of a frustrating time working with these.

I could tell on initial inflation they had aged poorly, like they were inflating fully stretched out.  I might have given up completely had I not been chuckling to myself about making that big Brown E first.

It was on me to use them, complaining about them not standing up to the travails of time would feel hypocritical at this point in my life.

Overall assessment of Gemar Mocha - I'll give them pass on the fragile because of the box of ignore I stuffed them in for so long.  Gemar has been fairly consistent on the feel of their balloons overall.  In a blind test it's the best looking mid-brown like this (chart on blog).

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Other "color day" balloons:

August 23 - Grapes

"When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become."

~ Henri Nouwen

These grapes were a design shown on the Isopresso channel, one of his 'beginner' series.

Honestly, this is a great beginner balloon.  Making twenty similar sized bubble grapes smooshed together like this feels like I'm practicing musical scales - or I'm doing a good workout at the gym thinking about the process.  I'm sculpting for the future if not for today.

They're probably not ripe anyways...

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso:

August 22 - Baby Hearts

'Cause you'll be in my heart
Yes, you'll be in my heart
From this day on
Now and forever more

~ You'll Be In My Heart (Tarzan)
    Phil Collins (1999)

This baby heart technique is something I remembered learning ages ago, but a lot of techniques have little nuances to them - how tight you make certain things, etc. I feel like a baby one balloon heart is one of those techniques that I should keep fresh and get some reps in to practice making them great.

Antonio Bécares has a PDF that teaches it on his website (globosaltea.com) - which feels a bit retro at this point. But it fits, like a sweet fedora and a glass of red wine in an outdoor cafe. This one's good, not a lot of words but a ton of images.
(view other hearts)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Antonio Bécares:

August 21 - Ugg Boot

"Ugh, as if!"

~ Alicia Silversone - Clueless (1995)

This is just a reskinning of a Santa shoe/winter boot design.  

"Reskinning" is a modern and socially accepted tech word, anyone who has played Fortnite or used Winamp knows it.

But when you're talking about replacing an actual something with leather, I suppose you are being literal ... 

... and have the lambs stopped bleating, Clarice? 

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This uses a bit of that Tuftex Cocoa from last weekend's color post, but since it's a separate design from the Isopresso channel, it felt worthy to stand (heheh, that one's for me) on it's own.  A fun build actually, and you can see the difference in color - that 160 is Sempertex coffee.

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso:

August 20 - Chucky

"Hi, I'm Chucky.  Wanna play?"

~ Child's Play (1988)

A doll with the knife.  Wearing OshKosh B'Gosh.   "Should we run or should we punt him?"

I feel like Chucky was from an age before we tried very hard with horror movies.   An animated soul of a serial killer, simple - neat, motivation accomplished with lazy writing.

We deserve something more.  This could be wonderfully "Dark Pinnochio", there is moral compromise - there is evil with purpose.  Nope, they gave us a girl doll with a knife for a sequel.

I don't think I've ever seen a Chucky movie.  If I'm honest, I kind of hope to keep the streak going.

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This was another design taught by Sam DS at Bling Bling Jam this year in his class - Getting Over Over-alls, not to be confused with the class - Getting Under Underwear, which might be awkward.  "Vegas"

(view other fish)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Twistin' Sam:

August 19 - Gramophone

"Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart."

~ Pablo Casals

Do you brew your own kombucha?  

Have you used the word "mi'lady" conversationally?

This might be for you.

78 RPM. Pure, unfiltered, acoustic glory.  A brass horn bigger than grandpa's old hearing aid no need for that new fangled electrical nonsense.

Because music should be a hand cranked experience - and not everyone is worthy.   Huzzah to you good sir!  You simply deserve the best!


(view other record players)

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August 18 - Ghost Wands

I don't believe in the stars or the planets
Or angels watching from above
But I believe there's a ghost of a chance
We can find someone to love
And make it last

~ Ghost of a Chance - Rush

Joe Mock showed how he builds a quick ghost wand at Bling Bling Jam this year, but honestly a big takeaway might have been how solid these two and three-color flower bases look.  They've got a polished, layered feel - you could use a plain round on top and literally drop it like a mic.

I've decided that wands are better than bracelets.  Wands are a display with a handle built in.  They're interactive, they demand motion.  They're built to be swung and pointed and bonk the next kid on the head.  (*Disclaimer: no kid party experience.)

Also, if you squint - it kind of looks like a little magical tornado swirl pushes these guys in the air.

Lil' Devil and the Hampire felt like appropriately creepy wand mates.

(view other ghosts)

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Other balloons by and inspired by the Balloon Brothers (Joe Mock):

August 17 - Tuftex Cocoa

"I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!
 I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!"

~ Sonny the Cuckoo Bird

Brown is an important color in a balloon bag, it's one of those colors used almost everywhere but there is a big range of colors in the group - and when you call something "cocoa", is that like a mocha or chocolate or toffee or ... is that fudge .. and all the sudden I'm hungry.

Cocoa is pretty dark actually, kind of halfway between Mocha and Chocolate (chart on website)

These balloons feel great, Tuftex should try and get every color texture dialed in to match this - great elasticity, durability and color.   

Overall opinion of Tuftex Cocoa - they're fantastic, they really hit it out of the park on balloon texture, easy enough to inflate, super durable, milk chocolate colored.  Delicious.
 

... what do you mean three pig skins?

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Other "color day" balloons:

August 16 - Yip-Yip Martians

"If we in public television can make it clear that feelings are mentionable and manageable, we'll have done a great service for mental health."

~ Fred Rogers in defense of PBS funding

"Bah."  "Nana?"

"Nope nope nope nope."

"Bah."  "Zooka?"

"Nope nope nope nope."

"Bah- loon?" ... "Balloon."

"Balloon!" "Balloon!"

"Uh-huh, uh-huh."

"Yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip!"
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This is trying to copy one of the awesome things that were just littering the floor of the Twist & Shout 2025 jam room one morning, I took a picture with the intention of ... today I suppose, yip-yip-yip-yip-yip!
(view other aliens)

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Other balloons inspired by Sesame Street:

August 15 - Tulip

"Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower."

~ John Harrigan

Flowers are one of the most obvious thing to build with balloons - yet I spend very little time making them.   

I suppose part of that is not knowing where or how to photograph them.  The outdoor tray, being visually stunning itself, ends up distracting from the flowers in this case.

These tulips are something Isopresso demonstrated on his main channel, simple and sweet.   Another one to check off the list, gotta twist 'em all!

(view other flowers)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso: