February 2 - Snowman

"We shall not cease from exploration,
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."

~ T.S. Eliot – Little Gidding

Nicodaemus the Golemancer had waited centuries for this moment.

The incantations were complete.  The circles restored.  The only missing element of the Ritual of Souls was a suitable vessel - one that could be shaped easily, replicated endlessly, and assembled by unknowing hands.

... and it had just started snowing.

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Big snowstorm this weekend, felt appropriate to build this guy.  Dave Brenn shared him just recently on his Patreon, but like all of his videos, it's more than a tutorial - it's a lesson.

(view other snow people)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Dave Brenn:

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:

December 23 - Scott's Super Smoosh Snowman Shooter

Do you want to build a snowman?
Come on lets go and play
I never see you anymore
Come out the door
It's like you've gone away...
We used to be best buddies
And now we're not
I wish you would tell me why!
Do you want to build a snowman?
It doesn't have to be a snowman...

~ Frozen (2013)
   Do You Want to Build a Snowman

Even though we've already looked at a classic Smoosh snowman, for the 9th day of Trippmas, let me present Scott's Super Smoosh Snowman Shooter.

A contribution to Christopher Lyle's recent balloon tutorial package A Very Yellow Christmas, this has the elements of Smoosh but taken to a more tactile and fun place.  In addition, there are some of Scott's techniques to give your balloon inkwork some added dimension.

The design didn't include arms, but I thought I could get a few more poses with them.

Making a yellow one seemed to be the obvious thing, this is from a download called A Very Yellow Christmas.  So here is a Lyle-man, opting for a pickle nose instead of a carrot.  The snow, that's .. that's ...

... ewwwwwwww.

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Other balloon designs by and inspired by Scott Tripp:

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December 16 - Smoosh Snowman

There must have been some magic in that old silk that they found
Oh when they placed it on his head he began to dance around
Frosty the snowman had to hurry on his way
As he waved goodbye you can hear him cry, I'll be back again some day

~ Frosty the Snowman

The second day of Trippmas, lets go no further in the countdown (count up?) without talking about Smoosh!

It still ranks as probably my favorite balloon concept, so many balloon designs rebel against the natural round shape of a balloon.  This embraces it, it keeps the design simple and leaves all creativity/details to you, it's a lego brick that you can do anything with..

Now this snowman is copied from a design that Scott Tripp shared and is a perfect example of Smoosh in action.  The design sticks close to the concept, even the broom is similar to the bamboo from his tutorials.

Yet if you take a look at the inkwork I copied from Scott, you can see he provided a great amount of detail.  The buttons aren't just round blobs, they are colored with colored button holes and a highlight.  This would work just as well with coal buttons but is the perfect canvas to spend as much time as you like making something.

Dancing snowmen?  Not a problem...

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Other balloon designs by and inspired by Scott Tripp:

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December 3 - Bopup Snowman

Part of the kick of making people laugh was doing something different. We were a rare breed - spotting one of us was like pinning a space alien, or abdominal snowman. There were maybe a hundred stand-ups in the whole country when I was doing it.

~ Lenny Bruce

Really this is a combination of the designs of two people, Pippity Pop and Matt Falloon.

Pippity has the form of the snowman on her recent "Loving Line Work" tutorial, and the main form works well with a balloon concept that Matt Falloon has been sharing recently at conventions and on tour - a bopup. He has allowed me to show off some designs because the concept is safe and hidden inside.

A "Bopup" is a balloon that you could toss around like a ball and will wobble and yet always come back on their bottoms or feet. If you're from my generation you might know the jingle "Weebles wobble but they wont fall down!", this is the balloon version of a Weeble. It's a balloon toy.

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Other balloon designs by Pippity-Pop:

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Other balloon designs by Matt Falloon:

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December 10 - Olaf

Elsa: Olaf, you're melting!
Olaf: Some people are just worth melting for…

~ Frozen

Dennis Scott taught this Olaf design at the first balloon convention I attended, Florida Super Jam in 2015.  Dennis was sponsored by Qualatex and was probably my favorite teacher at the event - he was well organized with bags of balloons for his classes, he was easy to follow and yet pushed (me at least) to build something bigger and better that I thought I could.   I wasn't able to take notes at the same time so thankfully he offered his class notes (discounted for attendees) at a later date (link).

For someone who only does this as a hobby, you can tell that I love the design by having built it 15+ times.  Frozen is still a hit with young kids and this is such a fun/huggable/non-princess design that everyone seems to love.

Mmmppfhh .. okay, I'm warm - I'm warm!

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Other posts with Dennis's designs:


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January 22 - Snowman

"Happy Birthday!"

Do you want to build a snowman?
Come on lets go and play!
I never see you anymore, come out the door!
It's like you've gone a-waaayyyyyyy!

It's a snow day today, but not enough snow on the ground to build a snowman.  What a great day to build Linda Truscheit's new snowman design! (link)

These instructions are for a veteran twister as there are few bits of assumed twist knowledge, but I think we can all agree the results are worth the effort!

The face design is somewhat similar to her adorable soft kitty, but this is a bigger display-type piece.  My favorite part is the way she has the hands clasped, so simple - but it gives such personality to the sculpture. 

I can't wait for Linda's next design - as Olaf said, some people are just worth melting for! 

Downsized and naked (forgotten buttons!)

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Other posts with Linda's designs:


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