Thursday, April 3, 2025

April 3 - Hermit Crab

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

~ Charles Darwin

Most creatures build their homes, carve out burrows, or grow their own shells. Not the hermit crab. It's a lifelong renter.

Some crabs wait for an empty shell, others try to muscle their way into an upgrade. The real estate market is ruthless for a crab.
--
This is another tutorial from the members section of the Isopresso YouTube channel, it is a lot of pieces that come together into a crab.  I really like seeing an effective use of a weave, and could easily see myself building this again in some more fun colors.

Crabs are super fiddly to take pictures of -- 6 limbs fitting and supporting a structure.   
 
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Wednesday, April 2, 2025

April 2 - Crab

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

~ Theodore Roosevelt

It is said that during the battle between Hercules and the giant hydra, a crab pinched Hercules on the foot.

It was not a giant crab. No weapons, no assistance - it wasn't poisonous. It wasn't exceptionally fast, it wasn't even purple - there were no visible advantages at all.

It was a normal crab - and instantly obliterated.

Whether it was sent by Hera or simply joined the fight uninvited, the gesture didn’t go unnoticed. Hera honored the crab's sacrifice with a place among the stars as the zodiac symbol.  
---
This design is from the Isopresso YouTube members tutorials - having built his other crabs it's interesting to see how he is able to construct the more stylized shape of this one.  I felt it sort of looked like the zodiac symbol when done.
 
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Tuesday, April 1, 2025

April 1 - Crab Speedrun

Metro Man: "Fargin' dag, crab nuggets!"
Megamind: "What did he just say?"
Minion: "Crab nuggets?"

~ Megamind (2010)

There are some balloon animals with hundreds of different designs.  Either the animal itself is wildly varied in nature, or balloon artists just can't resist reinventing it.  Crabs fall somewhere in between - recognizable, but with just enough room for creative interpretation.

This was almost an April Fools prank. I planned to post them separately with an "almost forgot!" -- like Dory for a day.  Then I did the math. What seemed like a fun little prank seemed like itw as going to be annoying spam.  

You have been spared from bad comedy. This is my gift to you.
--
These designs are from varied YouTube instructors, there are similarities between each of them, I attempted to pick ones that felt different from each other.  

Featured:
ChiTwist
Mr. Pockets
Cecilia LadyBalloons
warrenann
Dylan Gylenas
Balloon Sage
Creative Balloon Handmade 
Isopresso
Michael Floyd
Balloon Art Kanesan

 ChiTwist

link
Mr. Pockets

link
Cecilia Ladyballoons

link
warrenann

link
Dylan Gylenas

link
Balloon Sage

link
Creative Balloon Handmade

link
Balloon Twisting Fun

link
Isopresso

link
Michael Floyd

link
Balloon Art Kanesan

link

(view other crabs)
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Monday, March 31, 2025

March 31 - Dave's Wearables 4

Insert quote here...

*** POST UNDER CONSTRUCTION ***

[Intro paragraph. Reference Tonka trucks?]

[Description of the digger. Emphasize the scoop. People love scoops.]

[Wrecking ball truck deserves a sentence or two, reference Miley song? << NO.]

[Summarize construction, attempt wit, possibly a pun.]
----
These construction vehicles are more showcasing Dave Brenn's most recent video collection "Double Stuff Ride Insides" available on his Patreon site.

The size is enormous, the arm articulation is brilliant - this design is ridiculously awesome and fun to play with. 
 

(view other wearables)
Other balloons by and inspired by Dave Brenn:



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Sunday, March 30, 2025

March 30 - Dave's Wearables 3

In the town where I was born
Lived a man who sailed to sea
And he told us of his life
In the land of submarines
So we sailed onto the sun
Till we found a sea of green
And we lived beneath the waves
In our yellow submarine

It starts when you're building the hull, like a whisper in the back of your mind.  Hmmm mm mmmmm hmmm hmm hmm mm mm.

It doesn't matter if you're blasting a playlist, a podcast, or in total silence.  It finds a way in ... and grows.  It echoes inside your skull, bouncing and bouncing, louder and louder until the pressure is unbearable.  You don't want to say it.  You try not sing it.

But eventually.  Inevitably.  Resistance wears thin.  

WE ALL LIVE IN A YELLOW SUBMARINE!

------
Dave showed us this simply stunning pirate ship and mentioned using the cannon portholes in a submarine which was certainly the inspiration.  And yes, the earworm chanted in my head the entire time ... 

I love the pirate ship design but some of these really do look best with a human inside - and the mast can be a little bit wibbledy-wobbledy without someone's arms in the rigging.   The dinosaur looks a bit like a prehistoric camel and could have used some more work, these fatty balloons are really hard to pressure fit into each other - that neck had to be tied down to get a normal face angle.  
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Saturday, March 29, 2025

March 29 - Dave's Wearables 2

"True teaching is not about giving answers. It's about showing the paths."

~ Noam Chomsky

I don't use 646/660s typically, so the opportunity to use some old stock balloons to practice a fun new design idea is super appealing.  Let's play around with Dave Brenn's "Ride Inside" a bit!

Dave made a great point about color choices.  My instinct is to treat every color like it matters, but in practice, some are just more usable than others.  Black, white and the natural tones like mocha or grey tend to be the most flexible.  Rainbow-y colors can actually be limiting - pink, for example, feels like it should be a pink "thing".  A pink rocketship works, sure, but without context it makes you wonder "why?" (and honestly, it was a practice attempt while watching, I wasn't trying to make a crude joke (tho ... USS Phallus?))

I feel like I've seen the bathtub idea used before, if not as balloons at least as a costume.  In fact, I bet the Spirit Halloween Store would have a bunch of corny ride inside inspiration ideas ...
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Friday, March 28, 2025

March 28 - Dave's Wearables

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."

~ William Arthur Ward

Dave Brenn is a great teacher. 

He doesn't just teach how to make "forms of things".  His lessons are full of those extra little bits of magic - clever tricks, smart shortcuts, and unexpected details that make you better without even realizing it.  I would count his Patreon site as one of the best values in educational content out there.

His recent series, "Ride Inside" balloons, begins simple in concept - but is once again elevated by that special Dave magic and his real-world experiences using these designs. 

I cheated a bit on the length a few of them.  Since they are not being worn, I made their bodies a bit shorter - they weren't being poofed out by a torso.

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Thursday, March 27, 2025

March 27 - Swan

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."

~ Maya Angelou

The phrase "swan song" comes from an ancient belief that swans are silent throughout their lives, only to sing a beautiful, mournful song just before they die. Certainly badass - a graceful creature, a tragic melody, a final performance.

This swan design is from the Matt Falloon's BAC-exclusive "Birds" collection, and became another partial answer to the lingering question of what I am supposed to do with these remaining geo balloons?  

I also experimented with recreating the shape, which you can get close using normal balloons, but there is a certain tension in the center when using a geo that this shape really benefits from.

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