December 15 - Jojo Snowman

"Happy Birthday!"

~ Frosty the Snowman (1969)

Something disturbs me about Frosty the Snowman. 

The hat is magic.  It brings Frosty to life.  We have undeniable visual proof - as the children say, he can laugh and play just the same as you and me.

But the magician didn't make the hat - he found it.

Everyone celebrated the snowman that came to life.  Nobody looked for what had just gone still.

... and to this day, Queen Izzha of the Stonebound rules alone.

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Jojo cutie for this one, this was one of the instructions from Tobi's download - but saved for a snow day.  

(view other snowmen or jojos)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist:

November 22 - Jojo Skellington

"Well done is better than well said."

~ Benjamin Franklin

Never have I ever ... Inflated a balloon by ear.

Today I'm thankful for Tobias Stengel (Tobi Twist).

Tobi, the human balloon pump, would have to drink for his signature move.  His short-form videos are fast, fun and full of those quick clever ideas that make me watch them on loop and take notes.

Tobi brings energy and joy into his builds - and he's putting in the work, it's no surprise the world is showing up to watch.

(view other Jack Skellington)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist:

October 1 - Bat

"Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."

~ A.A. Milne

The bumblebee bat lives in caves in Thailand and Myanmar.  It's the smallest bat in the world weighs about as much as a penny.

+2 cuteness points for the alliteration.

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The Jojo bat felt like a "must do" when I learned there was this little bumblebee guy.

The wings were a bit fiddly to get set initially, but stay fairly well once set.  

(view other bats or jojos)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist:

July 24 - Jojo Pig

"That'll do, pig. That'll do."

~ Farmer Hoggett — Babe (1995)

I believe we can all agree that I think a purple pig is the true test of a balloon technique.  Tobi chose to make his in pink, so I had to make some necessary adjustments.  

Not all techniques work for all creatures, but Jojo pig is a cutie patootie with a big ol' snootie.

(view other pigs or jojos)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist:

July 23 - Jojo Bugs

In-a-gadda-da-vida, honey
Don't you know that I'm loving you?
In-a-gadda-da-vida, baby
Don't you know that I'll always be true?

~ Iron Butterfly - In-a-gadda-da-vida (1968)

An idea is just garbage until you take it out, roll it around, poke it with a stick a few times and try to stand it on it's end.

... and in the end, it might still be garbage that has been rolled around, poked with a stick and stood on it's end.

Iron Butterfly was such a confident initial thought.

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These were just a couple bugs I made while playing around with the Jojo Cuties design concept Tobi Twist shared.

(view other butterfly)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist:

July 22 - Jojo Bee

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

~ Muhammad Ali

Bees work nonstop, holding entire ecosystems together as an accidental side effect of their daily hustle.

This is what I try to remind my brain when one decides to land on me.

So far, this logic hasn't outpaced the reflex arc that requests an emergency interpretive dance to fling it off me.

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This is one of Tobi Twist's Jojo Cuties instructions. Iiiiiiiii'm bringing home a baby bumblebee - won't my mommy be so proud of me!

(view other bees or jojos)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist:

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 18 - Jojo Rhino

"Storms make trees take deeper roots."

~ Dolly Parton

In the far reaches of the Mistless Wastes, Dawgs are famed for taming armored giants. Each Dawg is matched with a rhino calf from birth, their connection growing deep.

It is only during the fiercest storms, when thunder cracks like the toppling of great trees, that Dawg and rhino learn to master their fear. Their first terrified cries become a shared roar, a bond - no longer terrified together the roar becomes their battle cry as they charge together across the plains.

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The baby rhino was a design shared by Tobi Twist from his Jojo Cuties collection.  I wanted to play with a couple different face ideas though because it felt more .. "oh I see" instead of "oh!  i see!".

(view other rhinos or jojos)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist:

July 17 - Jojo Baymax

[fist bump]
"Balalalalaa."

~ Baymax - Big Hero 6 (2014)

I LOVE Baymax.

They are making a live-action reboot of Big Hero 6 ... 

Did a bunch of creatives get fired? These live-action reboots notoriously add nothing to the original, and some might argue that they taint the license entirely. I submit for evidence, the reviews of Snow White.

Let alone that it steps on the countless hours of work and heart put into the original, as if there was some hidden flaw they are trying to correct.

A reboot is a lazy cash grab. Make the next episode, you lazy bums!

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But yeah .. I'll go.

This seemed an obvious thing to build Jojo style when fiddling with it.


(view other Baymax or superheroes)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist:

July 16 - Jojo Dog

"The bond with a true dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth will ever be."

~ Konrad Lorenz

You give a proper name - sometimes even spur-of-the-moment - when adopting an animal. "What do you think, guys? 'Arlo'? Arlo it is!"

But after enough time together, you realize you're greeting your dog with a cheerful "Mister Sweet! Mister Sweet!" in a ridiculous character voice.

This is their true name.
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The dog form is one of Tobi Twist's Jojo Cuties collection with probably the toughest ears to match so far, you want to get a wide-to-thin stretch on a 160, so probably best to do all that manipulation before they are added to the structure.

(view other dogs or jojos)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist:

July 15 - Jojo Cat

"As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat."

~ Ellen Perry Berkeley

A certain amount of cat hair in my food is just a fact of life at this point.

I don't push them off the counter. I let them take an interested sniff from what I eat. I realize I am the problem.

Worth it.

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The tiger is one of Tobi Twists's Jojo Cuties, I thought "big cat" and a lion might work as well but ended up going for smaller ears because of the mane.

(view other tigers, lions or jojos

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist:

July 14 - Jojo Cow

"Never kick a cow chip on a hot day."

~ Will Rogers

A cow's eye is like an elephant's, deep and serene - they look at you is if they know secrets and are politely chewing them over.

A cow's moo is like an elephant's trumpet, just softer and closer to a sigh - similar sound played through a shorter, squishier tube.

A cow's poo, though, definitely not like an elephant's.  It's an undignified mushy splat.  It's what a "blapppfffpptrrrt" sound might look like.  

It is ... most definitely NOT ... a pie.

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This cow form is one of the Jojo Cuties instructions for Tobi Twist's instructions.  

(view other cows or jojos

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Other balloons by and inspired by Tobi Twist: