January 12 - Stingray

now i can’t believe—
that the bible and qur’an and bhagavad gita are sliding long hairs behind my ear like mom
used to & exhaling from their mouths “make room for wonder”

~ Renée Nicole Good
   On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs (excerpt)

You can't be mad at that one stingray.  

Put in a strange threatening situation, it reacted the only way it knew how with no other options.

You would have to be a very special kind of monster to have a hand in creating the situation, other options, and yet still pick deadly violence.

A monster.

(view other Scoobie Doo)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso:

November 16 - Decomex Deep Yellow

Late last night I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi took away my old man

~ Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell (1970)

As a parent, you understand that a birthday is really more of a celebration of your own accomplishment.  Kept them alive another year!

Today I'm thankful for my mom.

A violin concert when I was probably eleven years old, the first ones where it's all EEEEeeeeee EeeeEEEEEEE!  (And you're supposed to be playing C C?)  In the front row with a tape recorder - that's my mom.

Unconditional support and overwhelming love.   That's my mom.

The ability to find something hilarious (even if inappropriate!) in everything.  That's my mom.

Laughter.   That's my mom.   ❤️

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Decomex continues to impress with every single bag.  These balloons have a great feel, super spongey, nice deep color, they're not as soft as some other brands but they hit that sweet spot just perfectly.  My compliments to their chemist or something?

This is deep yellow.  Not to be that guy ... again, but "deep" as an adjective for color?   Can we dial in on actual colors before we start getting somber greens and sporty oranges?  The color is great, more on the darker side of yellow but not quite Marigold.  Kind of .. auuuuuugggh .. deep.

Overall impression of Decomex Deep Yellow - I love 'em.  I feel like I could build a raft and float away on them they are super sturdy, yet they don't suffer from being a stiff like a decor brand.  I wouldn't add them but I could see myself replacing the bright sunshine yellow with this.

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Other "color day" balloons:

November 13 - Flounder

"The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don’t tell you what to see."

~ Alexandra K. Trenfor

Somewhere in a classroom, a teacher is arranging the balloon the brought in to show off to the class.

Today I'm thankful for Mr. Boma.

A teacher by trade and an artist by passion, Mr. Boma shared a series of lessons on YouTube that are as thoughtful as they are fun.  There's something about the way he teaches - you can feel the classroom experience behind it, calm and certain.

I really appreciate that he includes the 'why' behind things - the thought behind the twist - that's where the real lessons hide.

(view other Little Mermaid)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Mr. Boma:

November 2 - Qualatex Chrome Rose Gold

Did you say your name was Ramblin' Rose?
Ramble on, baby, settle down easy
Ramble on Rose

~ The Grateful Dead (1972)

This is it - the last of the random "extra chrome" bags ever released from the initial line. The last random bag of Qualatex 260s ... in the entire world. 

I mean, probably.  

Today I'm thankful for Qualatex.   

I had the fortune to meet Ted and Betty at a Twist & Shout a few years back and chat with them for a bit.  They were wonderful - humble, kind, and genuinely delighted.  It didn't feel like talking to the people who helped change the world of balloon art or a CEO, it felt like your grandparents had stopped by, just happy to see you still having fun with the toys they gave you last holiday.

And we were.  💕

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Other "color day" balloons:

October 5 - Gemar Orange

I'm Going back to Saturn where the rings all glow
Rainbow, moonbeams and orange snow

~ Stevie Wonder - Saturn (1976)

These balloons were great.  Gemar has the balloon formula down.  My only complaint is they don't (seem to) enjoy being tightly bundled.

Sporangebob Squarepants is a thing.

The fish was a Nao Osaka design, and the egg has become a fairly standard build test at this point.

Overall impression of Gemar orange - they're great, I'd hazard to say even better than Sempertex, and if they could take being in a tight bundle without being too worse for wear, they would be my new orange probably.

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Other "color day" balloons:

September 22 - Manta Ray

"All new explorers must answer a science question. You live in what kind of home?"

~ Mr. Ray - Finding Nemo

I'd like to think that the scene they cut from Finding Nemo is when Mr. Ray found out Nemo was taken by the bu... by the boat.

Cut to a close up on Mr. Ray gliding through the ocean as Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries begins.  You pan back to see a whole squadron (actual term) of them descending on the boat as it tries to speed away.

The anime version could be epic.

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This Nemo inspired fanfic is inspired by an Isopresso manta ray design.  

(view other fish)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso:

July 21 - Clownfish

"All drains lead to the ocean, kid."

~Gill - Finding Nemo

All I could think about when pondering this clownfish was those poor fish from the Dentists office in Finding Nemo who are still floating in their bags.

They were never rescued!   You don't see them again until the *end credits* of Finding Dory, still in their bags - covered in algae, being transported to a marine study institute.

Still waiting for Nemo.

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This clownfish design is one from Tobi Twist's Jojo Cuties collection, modified ever so slightly.

(view other fish or jojos)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist:

July 19 - Scorpionfish

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day.  Feed a man to fish, and you solve two problems at once."

~ Deep Thought Weirds

Scorpionfish are masters of disguise, melting into coral reefs and rocks while they wait for unsuspecting prey.

They are not poisonous, instead their dorsal spines act as a defense mechanism, delivering an immediate and painful injection of venom.  

Then again, I am not sure anyone who just stepped on one would care about the technical difference between "poisonous" and "venomous".

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This fish design is one of the latest from the Isopresso members section, this one had a bit of a fun moment (similar to the grasshopper) where two odd blobs fold together into a sudden perfect face.

(view other fish)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso:

April 8 - Baby Shark

"I'm Sharkboy. Protector of the ocean. Defender of all things deep."

~ The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl

There was a day when you would mention a shark and people used to say "Duh nuh..." in a low, ominous tone.   Then gradually increase in tempo, "Duh nuh ... Duh nuh.. Duh nuh. Duhnuhduhnuhduhnuh.  *SCREAMS*"

Now you mention a shark you get a sing-song.  "Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo!"

Cancel that order, our boat is big enough.

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This baby shark is based on a tutorial by the Balloon Brothers where they show "three" sizes - quotes intentional because baby shark is really just an un-toothy medium and feels like it was added for the zeitgeist.   

I ended up building it downsized to get more of a baby scale, though honestly, with that extra balloon length, I probably could have stretched the body a bit more to offset how wide the face is.

(view other sharks)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Balloon Brothers:

February 16 - Iso Piranha

"When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain."

~ Mark Twain

I'm not saying I'd go swimming with piranhas, but I read that most of the hype comes from a staged feeding frenzy Teddy Roosevelt witnessed on a trip to the Amazon. He wrote about it in his book, and Hollywood ran with it - turning piranhas into tiny razor-toothed villains.

Real piranhas mostly scavenge or eat fruit, but thanks to movies, we think of them like underwater chainsaws. Meanwhile, my Oscars ate fish like the alien from Nope -- Shloop!  Shloop!  Alive and wriggly and screaming (probably) in their belly.    The monsters.

These were taught on Isopresso's YouTube channel, the orange is more true to a piranha's color whereas the purple is a rare version found in .. nahhh it's just purple.

(view other fish)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso:

January 2 - Anglerfish

You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.

~ William Faulkner

Right now, I’m kind of focused on getting back to basics, practicing the essentials over and over again, getting that feel for the right size/pressure bubbles ...  It feels like I need a thousand practice reps just to warm up.  

Thankfully and rightfully so, the world of balloon art has been buzzing with creativity - there’s so much incredible work out there to emulate and learn from, it’s both inspiring and a little overwhelming as I find my footing again.

Darren Saari of SoCal Balloons (link) recently posted this Anglerfish design.   The big chompy mouth is a perfect reminder of how much fun this craft can be and leaves me excited for weirder things to come.

I ended up researching anglerfish a little bit when I realized all I know of them I learned from Finding Nemo.  Interesting fact, males only grow about an inch -- where females can grow up to 3.3 feet.  Like walking to a high rise apartment building to pick up your date that evening, the building.

(view other fish)

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Other balloons by and inspired by the Darren Saari: