May 31 - Rattlesnake

I walk 47 miles of barbed wire,
I use a cobra-snake for a necktie,
I got a brand new house on the roadside,
Made from rattlesnake hide,
I got a brand new chimney made on top,
Made out of a human skull,
Now come on take a walk with me, Arlene,
And tell me, who do you love?
~ Bo Diddley Who Do You Love?

Arizona Rick yesterday gifted us all in the balloon forums with his rattlesnake design.

This design is fantastic yet so simple, it's also great practice for making sidewall bubbles and curling balloons!

I confess I only know Arizona Rick through what he's shared on the forums and on his YouTube channel, but from that I gathered he's a talented balloon twisting cowboy masterful at managing the crowd excitement in his balloon shows - oftentimes coming with a gigantic bin of balloons and weaving them into a story or game as he passes them out.  There are a few examples out there of him working his crowd charm worth watching for any entertainer.

He added sprinkles into the tip of the rattle, for the sound effect. Genius!

	360 snakeskin? - I better get my stand in...
Sssssmilessss everyone!

May 30 - Bulldog

“When the Man waked up he said, ‘What is Wild Dog doing here?’ And the Woman said, ‘His name is not Wild Dog any more, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always.'”

~ Rudyard Kipling
   The Cat That Walked By Himself

Archie Cobblepot's name conjures up images of classic literature London, as does his prim and proper derby hat look.  But that's just style, baby.

Archie is an entertainer/clown/balloon artist based in New Jersey, a self-described "nincompoop". Archie has shared many videos through the Twisters Cookbook website, is author of an entertaining daily adventures blog (link), and has recently advertised that he is in a fundraising 5k run for St. Jude's Hospital.  If you purchase any of his video's he will pledge half of the price to the cause, so I'm pleased to say that this is the first of all of his available designs you'll eventually be seeing here. The run is scheduled July 17th, 2016 so there is still time to pledge here: https://www.gofundme.com/runwitharchie

#RunWithArchie

This dog has a great Saturday morning cartoon look, I've only ever seen it built in white - so I was surprised at how good it looked in gray, I bet it would look fantastic in blush or mocha.  Archie doesn't show how to make a body, but does give a couple examples of types you might use.  He also shows some artwork that I didn't end up doing because (lazy) and (excuse).

These were easy to learn from the video and I built the second without watching, though it did take an extra balloon since I was eyeballing sizes.  Archie has a different style to the way he does some things, the eyes and eyebrows are placed in there in a way I probably wouldn't have ever thought to, additional seemingly unnecessary effort - but now I appreciate how stable everything is and the curvature of the eyebrows on the gray dog vs. the white.

I don't know who let them out ... who who who who.	Next level security:  Balloon Guard Dogs
Waiting for the next issue of Balloon Magic Magazine to arrive...

May 29 - Lil' Chango

“Ford!" he said, "there's an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they've worked out.”

~ Douglas Adams
  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Lil' Chango is one of Buster Balloon's designs available at balloon-animals.com.  Monkeys are probably one of the most often created balloon animals and I already know how to make a few of them, so why spend $5 on this video?

I've heard this from many people, which is why I thought I would share the reasons why I buy/build from so many tutorials, but so as not to detract from today's post - it is a separate link.

Buster is fun to learn from, he's a big ball of goof - and shows very clearly how to construct this.  This head structure is similar to the bullfrog, and makes a very effective body, but I wasn't able to get the ears to sit in a way that I like and kept trying to force them not to droop.  Also, I would say this feels more like a "display" than "play" piece the way the arms sit around the loose neck connection.

The purple one has a Tinky-Winky look to him.  With some slight modifications this might be a very effective Teletubbie!

	Tinky-Monkey
He is going to make me some slippers when he's done.

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Other posts with Buster's designs:


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May 28 - Parrot

Parrot Normal

“He's not pining, he's passed on. This parrot is no more. He has ceased to be. He's expired and gone to meet his maker. He's a stiff, bereft of life, he rests in peace. If you hadn't have nailed him to the perch he'd be pushing up the daisies. He's rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an ex-parrot!”
~ John Cleese Dead Parrot Sketch (link)

Bauldy the Clown is a balloon superhero, the better-known alter ego of Richard Rivera.  He has a personality that barely fits in a room, the kind of guy when you walk in you notice because of a big booming laugh or the crowd of people gathered around him as he tells a story. He adds the "wow factor" to his creations, his words - it's really another name for "balloon wizardry". Just look at this madness!

Bauldy (with his well manicured eyebrows) has generously shared many of his designs on YouTube and at conventions, and takes it to the next level. He has a DVD (Bauldy's Favorites) I have on my list to get as well. I feel shame that I haven't yet - he deserves it.

I was lucky enough to meet Bauldy at Florida Super Jam in 2015. I was already a big fan of his YouTube videos, and introduced myself saying as much while he was in front of someone who knew him much better, poor guy had to suffer through "ooOOOOoooOOoooo Baullldeee got a faaAAAAannnn!" jeers, sorry man. :)

He was gracious enough to show a few things in the jam room and I hovered close to try and learn.  This was one of those designs, I love the texture the striations give on the stretched dipped tip of the 321.  And the colors! You could build this in more traditional colors or make it amazingly colorful - this could be themed to any sports team/school/whatever, this is a GREAT bird design.

Parrot Noid	Dox
Carrot (because he's ORANGE! HAHAHA!)	A pandemonium of parrots!
"Parrot Dox, he's his own grandpa!"

May 27 - Owl

Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road
~ Elton John Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

This owl is the last design in Eric Weinstein's Live Balloon's Volume 6.  This Birds and Beaks pdf was a nice initial foray in to world of distortion.  Each is a simple self-contained wrapper around a structure - and are a relatively low "weird" balloon commitment, a few beak colored 646s.   I can't wait ... and I'm terrified to reach Volume #8!

This design in particular hearkens back to that classic Weinstein chubby-cheek style, it's probably the easiest/cheapest of the beak distortions in the set, so I'm not sure why it's included last in the book.  Eric draws on feathers, but I'm not sure I like the look of a fully scribbled on balloon or that it's necessary.  I improvised on the feet a little, but I was able to get them to stand on their own fairly easily.

Seriously, what is Hu's last name?	We are the original angry birds!
I believe it's called irritable owl syndrome

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Other posts with Eric's designs:


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May 26 - Kiwi

That the birds of worry and care fly over your head, this you cannot change, but that they build nests in your hair, this you can prevent. ~ Proverb

I'm still having fun working my way through this issue of Balloon Magic magazine #83 -- this time it's Realistic Kiwi by Pippity Pop.

I know very little about kiwis, I don't even know if you're supposed to peel the fruit or just eat it like a peach, but I did look up some images for comparisons sake and this is pretty much spot on -- yes, I looked in the kiwi wiki (hehe).  This poor bird really is just a small round balloon with a beak.  Hopefully nature compensated for its flightlessness in some unseen way, because it seems like it is really just the equivalent of popcorn in the animal kingdom.

Now that I'm reviewing the pictures I see that I didn't connect the feet properly, which would hide his wing-doodle at the attachment point better.  Also, I am learning to love marriage twisting in sections at manipulation points -- it was really easy to maneuver the feet into the correct position regardless.

Kiwi Herman	One kiwi can't fly, maybe toucan?
He looks like a hairy potato to me!

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Other posts with Pip's designs:


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May 25 - Nicole's Bee

I'm gonna steal you from your hive
Steal you away from every man alive
They can't see what you mean to me, queen bee

~ Grand Funk Railroad Queen Bee

I have had a special request to make a "Spelling Bee" for one of the teachers at my son's school for a while, and it's getting scary close to the end of the school year!

This design was originally published as part of the Frequent Flyers balloon benefit project, but now to everyone in the recent Balloon Magic magazine (#83).  It's interesting to see the similar head structure to the angry birds pig used to create something radically different.

There is actually a contest going on for a couple more weeks to show off the Frequent Flyer builds so I tried to get a good themed picture.

Spelling Bee - Contest Entry
His favorite musician is Sting

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Other posts with Nicole's designs:


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May 24 - Mouse

I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse.

~ Walt Disney

The new Balloon Magic magazine came out last week - and this one features a few designs by Pip Milford-Hughes, better known as Pippity-Pop!  Pip hails from New Zealand and frequently shares her amazing arrangements on Facebook.  She has taught at numerous conventions and since I missed her at Florida Super Jam, I hope to meet her at Bling Bling Jam this year!

This adorable little mouse design uses all 160's so at times it was maddeningly frustrating to build.  There is a high use twist at that neck point that you have to wind your balloons through carefully.

I might have made the ears wrong, but there was no way I could get the inner ear to be pinch twists.  Now that I look at it though, maybe I could have rolled the balloon through and mad a fake-pinch to make them rounder.  I'm not sure it would add to the effect, but it certainly added to the frustration in a couple prior attempts. :)

I like the "hands in pockets" look the body style gives.

Alanis Moussette: ".. and the other one is giving a hi-five."	We are meece! We come in peace! Give us cheese! Please!
They got excited when I called them "Pip's Squeaks"

May 23 - Blossom Buddies

“A thorn defends the rose, harming only those who would steal the blossom.”
~ Chinese Proverb

Jami Stavlo just recently changed her business model and was going to remove her design videos/pdfs from the internet.  Thankfully first she offered all of us a chance to grab them all before doing so.  I bought her "impressive princess" a while back and it was well worth it, so this was an easy decision for me.

One thing I love about Jami's videos is that you can tell on occasion it occurs to her to that she should smile more, and she'll look up and beam a gigantic one right into the camera lens and get back to twisting.  I noticed that I was smiling back at the video every time she did that. :)

I had seen these blossom buddies posted on the forums last year.  This is a fun, quick and easy concept - I could see used for many abstract birds as long as you can get away with some sort of neck.  Not so sure it works with a pig though ...

I've got this, guys!	I may have made a terrible mistake ...

May 22 - Gators

Down in Louisiana,
where the alligators grow so mean
There lived a girl, that I swear to the world
Made the alligators look tame
Polk salad Annie, polk salad Annie
Everybody said it was a shame
Cause her momma was a
  workin' on the chain gang
(A mean vicious woman)
~ Jim Belushi & Dan Akroyd
   Polk Salad Annie (link)

I was just listening to the latest Jam Room podcast, Juan Gonzales was the guest and I was reminded that I wanted to build this.   Juan (pronounced John) is a frequent and creative contributor to the Facebook balloon forums, he is an amazing sharpie artist who would frequently post his "practice" balloons.  He once made a white round into the Violator from Spawn.  So yeah - Good.  I used his "I Hate Sharpie Art" book when I first started trying to practice eyes.

There is an efficiency in Juan's creations and he explains everything very clearly without making it tedious.  You can tell this is the product of a good deal of trial-and-error, there is no struggle to get the main structure to fit into one balloon..

This is from his most recent collection of videos.  The typical alligator balloons look a little klunky to me the way the feet/leg hang off them, it's hard to get them short and stubby and not silly, so having this lurk in water is brilliant.  With this platform, you can mount this on anything you want as well - hat/bracelet/accessory/etc.

I made a 160 baby version and I'm sure this would easily transfer to 360 as well.

They seem so angry...
It's later, here we are!

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Other posts with Juan's designs:


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May 21 - Desktop Garden

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
~ Maya Angelou

Just recently Helen Budinger posted a model of a small garden, and I knew it would be perfect to build for the office, ideal for displaying on a counter top or desk.  So nicely framed with the dandelion center! This model uses a weave Helen had showed me at a while back that makes for a great display stand as well as many other things.

I would probably not be doing balloons at this point if it weren't for Helen.  She was instrumental in encouraging me to bring them to places when I was too shy or thought that they weren't good enough.  I had no idea how well they would be received or the amount of joy it would bring ME to give them away.    THANK YOU!

Accidental Rainbow

In that spirit - I figured it would be appropriate to show that these went to good homes.

For the offices.	At the Dentist.
Choir re-audition bribe (no action shot here, but it worked!)
Clownin' around!

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Other posts with Helen's designs:


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