December 31 - Frodo

"I'm old, Gandalf. I know I don't look it but I'm beginning to feel it in my heart. I feel all thin... sort of stretched, if you know what I mean. Like butter that has been scraped over too much bread."

~ Bilbo

Nothing lasts forever.   

We learn that early and we repeat it often.

We pretend it prepares us.

It doesn't ...

I don't say goodbye, I prefer to think of this as more of a "setting down carefully" for a bit.  

I love making up art and stories, and I imagine I will continue to do so.  The daily beast is fantastic at making you run, but is equally relentless in the pursuit.  I make my peace with it before letting it pass.  

"Good hunting, friend."

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(view other humanoids)

December 30 - New Years Good Luck Bag

"New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings."

~ Lao Tzu

Fukubukuro is probably the most fun word you'll hear today. Bonus: it's also fun to say out loud.

One of the joys of following balloon artists around the globe is stumbling into cultural gems like this. Fukubukuro ("lucky bags") are how Japanese stores clear out inventory at the end of the year - with surprise gift bags full of mystery items and ridiculous discounts. Sometimes you get something practical. Sometimes you hit the jackpot. Either way, it beats the American equivalent of running with the bulls on Black Friday.

This balloon design was shown on the Creative Balloon Handmade YouTube channel - I thought the design looked interesting, like a bouquet of gold - curiosity got the best of me.

 

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Other balloons by and inspired by Creative Balloon Handmade:

December 29 - Red-eyed Treefrog

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment."

~ Will Rogers

When she kissed him, the princess thought the frogs eyes were simply a biological trait.

It quickly became clear they were the result of poor sleep, late-night binges and entirely too much of the "frog juice".

The curse, as it turned out, was not the problem.

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This red-eyed treefrog is one shown in the Isopresso members section, and though it shares many characteristics of the original frog - the added bit is an advanced bit of twisting that could easily be part of a Matt Falloon video. 

(view other frogs)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso Balloons:

December 28 - Kalisan Dusty Rose

And it's laughter that I feel when I think of you
It's one more dusty rose about to turn
I'll see you when I reach New Mexico
If I'm in the mood to crash and burn

~ Pat Travers Band - Crash and Burn (1980)

I'm not sure what I was thinking of when purchasing "muted pink" as a color.  Was I going to build a giant earthworm?  Was it on sale?   Was it new?  Was it an impulse buy for the free shipping?

The balloon texture is actually fairly nice with one notable exception.  I know I've used a lot of highly technical terms when talking about about these balloons but I need to add another one to the list.  Snap-back?

The texture of these balloons was fine - but when it came to tearing them, it was just shy of dangerous.  Not only was I getting painful snapbacks, but little bits of debris were flying off consistently enough that I was turning my face away when I did it.

Overall impression of Kalisan Dusty Rose - I will be avoiding getting more for a number of reasons.

Other "color day" balloons:

December 27 - Cardinal

"Listen to the birds. That is where life begins."

~ Alfred Hitchcock

The official state bird of North Carolina is the Northern Cardinal.

Something about growing up where they weren't common perhaps makes them seem more exotic to me, but they're such brilliantly red bursts of color in a tree, unsubtle as the leaves change around them.

Like royalty, it presides.  

No bob-bob-bobbing, no chirp chirp here or there - just a final, unapologetic red as the year comes to a close.

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This design is based on the cockatiel design from Isopresso's channel, and something that I always meant to try to build.

(view other birds)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso Balloons:

December 26 - Santa

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear."

~ Buddy the Elf

Someone did the math on the speed, physical strain, and gravitational forces working against Santa as he went house to house delivering gifts.

It was something akin to being squeezed through a wormhole.

He should probably take the next day off.

Same, honestly.

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This Santa head is one taught on the Dave Brenn Patreon.   One of the great things about learning a Santa from Dave is everything else you accidentally learn along the way because he is so good about giving you the "why" and "why nots" of things.  

(view other Santa)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Dave Brenn:

December 25 - Merry Christmas

"Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing, but of reflection."

~ Winston Churchill

Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot,

And the pig, the pig who lived just west of there, did too.

There were no conflicts.

And it did not rhyme.

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This tree is one of the designs on Dave Brenn's Patreon, and as ever is chock full of those extra little tidbits and anecdotes and practical world knowledge that he is known for.

(view other trees)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Dave Brenn:

December 24 - Candy Cane Swords

"Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. I have found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love."

~ Gandalf

They still sing songs of the Great War - of a time when the peoples of the realm stood shoulder to shoulder as the Dark crept outward, uncaring and unfeeling.

Men, elves, craftsmen, bakers and all manner of free folk held the line, united by a single purpose.

And when the Long Night came, every hand that could lift a blade was needed.

The plaque reads:

This shrine is dedicated to Snap and Krackle,

Bearers of the twin red-and-white blades of the Keebler clan,

The last defenders of the Frosted Pass.

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These are *actually* a couple sword designs from the Balloon Brothers balloon tutorial release called "Weapons of Wonder".   

Technically, every balloon is a weapon if you're enthusiastic enough about it, but these are some fun sword-adjacent designs that you might be able to talk your way through security with.  

... and failing that .. stab your way?

(view other swords)

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Other balloons by and inspired by the Balloon Brothers:

December 23 - Star of David

"Never put off till tomorrow what may be done the day after tomorrow just as well."

~ Mark Twain

Okay, hold - cut, cut cut.

Are we seriously running the Hanukkah segment the day after it ended?

We had eight entire days, who signed ... my signature .. to this schedule ... 

Look. Everyone's to blame here.

On my mark.  We roll in 3 ... 2 ... 1.

Happy (late!) Hanukkah!

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This is one of the designs available on Dave Brenn's patreon - better to build now than wait 357 days!

Other balloons by and inspired by Dave Brenn:

December 22 - Sleigh

"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

~ C.S. Lewis

Eventually it grew up, like we all do.

It was given runners and responsibility, and life settled into a bit of a routine - maybe even necessarily so.

But some days, when snow is just right - Rosebud still dreams of the boy.

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This is another great (and recent) design shared by Isopresso on their channel, just in time for the snow!

(view other vehicles)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso:

December 21 - Decomex Pastel Grey

And if I should fall, will it all go away?
I've been kissed by a rose on the grey

~ Seal - A Kiss from a Rose

I feel like I've tested a number of grey at this point, and though the differences between each of the brands are fairly minor in general, I have a strong preference to which is the best grey.

Decomex Pastel Grey.

I've liked pretty much every Decomex balloon color so far, so maybe I came to the party already crushing on them already - but they hit all the marks for me.   Nicely opaque, not too shiney, not too thick, - Decomex is the Goldilocks (or maybe the baby bear) of balloons.

Looking at the chart it's also one of the closer matches to the original Qualatex Grey.

Overall impression, they are my favorite grey.  They have all my love.

Other "color day" balloons:

December 20 - Pig

"Make it simple, but significant."

~ Don Draper

𝅘𝅥𝅯 On the Fifth day of Twistmas,

𝅘𝅥𝅮 Balloon Guy made for meeeee! 𝅘𝅥𝅯

(*deep breath)

𝅘𝅥𝅮 GIANT PURPLE PIIIIIIIIG! 𝅘𝅥𝅯

𝅘𝅥𝅮 Ballerina hippo 𝅘𝅥𝅮

𝅘𝅥𝅮 Beaver stealing candy 𝅘𝅥𝅯

𝅘𝅥𝅮 Moose with lights in antlers 𝅘𝅥𝅯

𝅘𝅥𝅮 And a penguin looking Christmas-yyyyyyyy!

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All roads lead to Rome and all balloon design concepts lead to Purple Pig, which felt like a perfect time to try upsizing Patrick's Holy Snail design concept.

To be honest, I think if you upscale these - they really need to have a body.   

'Goofy pig head' is one thing ... 'decapitated goofy pig head' hits entirely differently.  Dark.

(view other pigs)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Patrick Van De Ven: