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 24 - Chibi'ish Elves

Confusion is the first step toward clarity.

~ Syd Field

This is another "cleaning out the closet" post.

To be perfectly honest, this were some images I had set up for text I had planned to write years ago, and I don't think my memory lasts longer than a few weeks at this point -- sometimes less than the time it takes to walk TO the refrigerator.   

I wasn't going to post them, but then one of the thing I have always espoused on this blog is that it should not be about a perfect build/picture/text, it's about practice and learning and exploring and celebrating some of the amazing designs that others have made.   A failed attempt to me is as equally instructive as a perfectly crafted image. 

These are obviously not chibi, they don't follow the basic form design -- they are more like stacked chibi parts.  More just "mini"? -- I kind of think these are more in line with Matt Falloon's "pico" designs but at this point I would probably need to watch the videos again.

I don't know .. I should be wrapping presents anyways. 

December 23 - Santa Little Body

Tough times never last, but tough people do.

~ Robert H. Schuller

I built these guys a few years ago after the Qualatex (RIP) online balloon convention in 2020, they are based on Stephanie Morace's little bodies (buddies?) she taught there and I didn't want to overuse her design at the time in case she wanted to do something more with it.  The previous post had been queued to send in the far future ... 

Stephanie has a knack for coming up with unique quick and cute designs, not only just an amazing artist - I remember meeting her as she deservedly won "top dog" twister award (remember her amazing dog?) - always smiling or laughing, she is a gem.

I won't lament losing balloon shapes in every post -- but I will at least in the first.   321's ... I shall miss you.  I will always remember the shark teeth, the witches chins ... the .. ghost?  I mean there really honestly weren't a LOT of uses I had for them, but still giving up any markers out of the kit feels like a loss.

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Other Stephanie Morace inspired balloons:

December 27 - Tasmanian Santa

You better watch out, you better not cry
Better not pout, I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is comin' to town

~ Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

An upgraded version of the elf, this is what Buster Balloon actually teaches on his Christmas downloadable.  (I'm not sure if it will be available elsewhere later...)

One of the things I really like about this design in particular is the way Buster uses texture to give separation to the two whites.  You can easily tell which is the fuzzy hat/coat and which is beard/eyebrow.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic holiday!

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Other Tasmanian balloon designs:

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December 20 - Trippmas Ornaments

Down in the workshop all the elves were makin' toys
For the good Gentile girls and the good Gentile boys
When the boss busted in,
nearly scared 'em half to death
Had a rifle in his hands
and cheap whiskey on his breath
From his beard to his boots he was covered with ammo
Like a big fat drunk disgruntled Yuletide Rambo

~ Weird Al Yankovic
   The Night Santa Went Crazy

Presented for the 6th day of Trippmas - here is a balloon concept I saw Scott Tripp playing with recently.  His concern is that it might be too similar to Pico's to share, but I don't think so - this is more of a Smoosh160.

Ornaments perhaps?  These little guys would work great as another minimalist concept.  They remind me of "Little Tykes" toys, those toddler-friendly rounded bottoms that would fit into all of the various vehicles, I could even see them as lego-figures.

Once I copied the elves and Santa, I wanted to try something different and made the Mr. Hankey.  I've really come to appreciate in these minimalist-type balloons is how much freedom they really give you to create whatever you like.

Plenty more days of Trippmas ahead!

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Other balloon designs by and inspired by Scott Tripp:

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December 24 - Pico Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads

~ Twas the Night Before Christmas

Matt Falloon is an brilliant innovator and creative genius, he reaches beyond the perceived limits and creates what he needs to realize his future vision. His balloon setup is somewhat of an Inspector Gadget of organization, he has used his 3D printer and other tools to great effect - not only making both an R2D2 and a BB8, but putting such details into them as distressing the metal structure for authenticity.

His balloon designs are no less creative. I've already worked through most of his Picos DVD in this blog (link), but recently he took a mini (pico?) world tour, visiting as guest instructor to a number of balloon conferences. It was in a montage of pictures that I saw an amazing Pico version of his Santa and I knew I had to try it.

Picos are one of my favorite things to do with those random bits of balloons and scraps that I tend to amass. It's the perfect concept to work with when you're waiting in the car to pick your kids up from dance or swim practice as it doesn't involve massive or even fully inflated balloons, it's precision details as oftentimes you are dealing with partially filled lower pressure bits that require more finesse than you could easily define by measurements. It's a bit of a trade-off - a larger balloon requires details that a Pico does not, but a Pico requires precision that a larger balloon doesn't. A pico with details -- well then that's pure gold.

Actually I'm more frightened if they have a dog ...

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Other posts with Matt's designs:


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December 23 - Christmas Bears

I do not think the measure of a civilization
is how tall its buildings of concrete are,
But rather how well its people have learned to relate
to their environment and fellow man.

~ Sun Bear of the Chippewa Tribe

I have a few more Christmas designs to share and only a couple days to do them before they are seasonally late!

CJ Nelson designed these bears as part of the package he originally made available to supporters of his kickstarter project funding the redesign of his Twister's Cookbook website, but they are also available for purchasing direction now (link).  

As always, CJ does a terrific job not only describing the construction, but also the "why" to his doing things.  I think both of these designs look fantastic, but ... and I know I'm just being fussy ... something about attaching things with glue dots always leaves me feeling a bit like I've cheated, and that the balloon is more fragile.  If I were to build these again, I might add the arms earlier in the process and attach with raisins.

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Other posts with CJ's designs:


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December 17 - Smooshy Claus

 ~ Electric Mayhem 'Zat You Santa Claus?

The inspiration and foundation for this is definitely Smoosh by Scott Tripp (link).

Scott has one of the most humble yet brilliant and creative minds I've ever had the pleasure to encounter.   He is a scientist, constantly tinkering and combining bits and baubles - taking things in previously unseen directions, connecting the dots, philosophizing and thinking outside the box.  He is a master artist and performer that is continually challenging himself to be a better ... him.  His show was the inspiration behind this blogs attempt to better myself as an artist.  Thank you, Scott - for your infectious creativity and nonstop inspiration.

I may have gone off the rails a bit, but again that's the beauty of the concept - make it as simple or complex as you would like to. It gives you a base from which to accessorize and realize your design, and Smoosh is almost deceptively one of the simplest and most versatile techniques in my toolbox. Many concepts give you the basics of making something specific - but Smoosh isn't limited like that, and if you play with it - you can get a good variety of shapes out of simple balloons.

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Other posts with Scott's designs:


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December 14 - Santas

He had a broad face
And a round little belly
That shook when he laughed
Like a bowl full of jelly

He was chubby and plump
A right jolly old elf
I laughed when I saw him
In spite of myself

~ 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

I just returned late from our Joy to the Season holiday concert, so I haven't had much spare time in the past couple days between that and our dress rehearsal.  So I turned to Sergey Loginov for another fantastic and quick balloon - these Santa.

I shouldn't shy away from line work balloons by the mere fact that they are simple in design, oftentimes they take advantage of balloons in ways that are more intuitive than you are required to be in a big build.  This is a good example, Sergey leaves enough air in places and pushes it around to other sections so you don't have to tear off and retie balloons to use in other sections.

I do not mean any offense by representing Santa's in other holidays of the season, I embrace corny ideas.  So I made one for Hanukkah, one for Kwanzaa and one representing Ded Moroz (the grandfather of Snegurochka).

I'm hanging four stockings this year!

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Other posts with Sergey's designs:


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December 4 - Blast Santa

Let no pleasure tempt thee, no profit allure thee, no persuasion move thee, to do anything which thou knowest to be evil; so shalt thou always live jollity; for a good conscience is a continual Christmas.

~ Benjamin Franklin

Sam Cremeens released these faces in his Balloon Blast - Link Faces concept video on balloon-animals.com last year (link).

Sam is one of my favorite instructors, you can tell that he's used these faces many many times before attempting teaching them.  He builds everything with ease and it is described so well as he does so that I bet I could follow along with an audio only tutorial.

The bodies were fairly freeform building, but I am fairly pleased with how Santa turned out, and I think an elf in short shorts is deliciously silly.

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeeeeee...

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Other posts with Sam's designs:


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December 2 - Santa Minion

I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel.

~ Buddy the Elf Elf

I've had these balloons queued for a little waiting for this month. This is the last of the set of Minions from the Seasonal Help set by CJ Nelson. This series was a kickstarter bonus for supporting the website redesign, but they are also available for purchase directly from Twisters Cookbook (link).   I went ahead and made another to play with because I though Santa needed an elf.  The presents are a design by Dylan Gelinas

As with all of these minion designs - I think they look best with that giant single eye monocle.  I have successfully made a two eyed minion using a similar technique with a 360, but I'm not convinced it's worth the effort - on this big version the big gigantic monocle works so well.

His actual name is LLorafallyne, Guardian of the Sacred Hidden Glade of Tears.  For a couple months in winter he works a side job and goes by 'Jangles'.

Other posts with CJ's designs:


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