July 31 - Bluey Bling Buddy

"Beware of what you let in; some things don't leave."

~ L.M. Browning

I keep hearing whispers.  Some kind of conspiracy is brewing, "did you see that one episode?" like a secret society.

Still.  Just a blue dog. ... right?

I didn't sign up for this.  I don't want to sign up for this.  But like a thread hanging off a sweater that you know you shouldn't pull, here we are ... again.

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Darren Mortiboy taught a class with a few delivery pieces - a Stitch and this Bluey.   One thing I appreciate about the Darren's designs is they (tend to) focus on a single balloon size, making upsizing and downsizing obvious.

He also shared a base that he uses frequently for his deliveries that works great in every color but brown probably.

Having multiple instructors teach the same design at a balloon convention is "fine".  I don't really mind it, but it certainly makes you wonder if there was either a plan, and if so - was it to shill for the Bluey Megacorp?

(view other Bluey)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Darren Mortiboy:

July 30 - Bling Bling Bluey

"Mom!  Dad!   Bingo!  Bluey!"

~ Bluey Theme Tune

Sometimes I make balloon art and get to investigate fun things, like fairy shrimp or axolotl.

Bluey.  Is a blue dog.

How much deeper do I really need to investigate?  I see some cutesy "booboo knee owie" kind of growing up stuff.

Certainly 45 seconds should be plenty of time to get an opinion.


Grouchy Smurf?  He's just upset when he heard this post was about "Bluey" and it wasn't him.  That was his nickname back in 'Nam.

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Bling Bling Bluey was one taught by Sam DS (@twistinsam) at Bling Bling Jam this year.   I simplified the body somewhat when trying to recover from some unfortunate pops that I don't *want* to blame on old stock ... but I can practically smell the dark blue balloon still when looking at the class picture.

I also was still playing around with Shana's Smurf wands, seemed appropriate here.

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Other balloons by and inspired by Bling Bling Jam:

July 29 - Smurf Wands

"My revenge will be terrible! You'll see! You'll see!"

~ Gargamel - The Smurfs (1981)

According to one story, they are the echoes of abandoned and unwanted children left to freeze in the woods. The white hats and pants? It's snow.

Frozen ghosts wandering the trees, pale blue, luring other children with a faint, eerie, "la la la la la laaaaaaa.."

I mean ... I haven't seen the latest movie, so I don't know which direction they're going to go with it.

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These Smurf heads were something Shana Sharp recently smurfed in a in a video, quick smurfwork, her designs are always the smurfiest practice smurfing.

I smurfed a few different smurfs, just smurfing around .. and then I sm... .. and then I *created* a Shana Smurf.  

(view other Smurf)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Shana Sharp:

July 28 - Spicy Pepper

"What matters most is how well you walk through the fire."

~ Charles Bukowski

Bill Caliente once dreamed of stardom.

He submitted his audition tape to VeggieTales, hoping to sing silly songs and teach gentle lessons about kindness.

"Too spicy for the children" they said. .. and just like that, his dreams were crushed under a bland, cucumber-shaped thumb.

Sometimes revenge is a dish best served .. hot.

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Truth told, this was made during the Tuftex Orange color day experiment - but this guy needed a story.
 

July 27 - Tuftex Orange

"My favorite color to glaze with is orange, because it always glows like a fire under the sun."

~ Dale Chihuly

After the rough Tuftex Pink experience I was a bit reluctant to approach other colors to be honest, so I cheated a bit.

Orange has always been sort of universally thicker - this felt like a safe color to crack open and I'm pleased to say they were fine. 

These were fantastically squishy yet not fragile, easily mouth inflated - these balloons hit the sweet spot perfectly and it builds my confidence somewhat back in the brand.

I've been trying to build the letters as a bit of a quick stress test, sort of quickly/confidently and less carefully - these withstood my abuses well, with just one pinch twist losing air.

Overall assessment of Tuftex Orange, it's slightly more creamsicle than Sempertex orange, but the latex formula is perfectly dialed in here..

 

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Other "color day" balloons:

July 26 - Evil Worm

"You haven't been working, you've been doing your stupid memes and just f'ing around."

~ Satan (South Park S27E01)

Item #: SCP-4547-Ω - Evil Worm
Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures:
SCP-4547-Ω is believed to have left the surface of SCP-4547 during early colonization attempts.  All personnel are instructed to monitor arid and politically unstable regions for abnormal behavioral shifts in high-ranking officials.

Description:
SCP-4547-Ω is a parasitic annelid approximately 4.2 cm in length, pale in coloration, with rudimentary oral structures. The entity exhibits a preference for hosts with plentiful fat reserves, like a bloated cow.

Upon infection, SCP-4547-Ω fuses with the host's brainstem, erasing ethical reasoning and initiating a feedback loop of stupidity.  Autopsies confirm total erasure of moral frameworks within 48 hours. SCP-4547-Ω does not kill its host; it hollows them. 

Migratory patterns indicate that SCP-4547-Ω can survive in arid terrestrial environments and easily move between hosts undetected.  Correlation between SCP-4547-Ω sightings and rapid sociopolitical collapse events is >92%.  Confirmed infection requires immediate site sterilization.

Addendum 4547-Ω-A:
"There's only one rule: if you hear it speak, you're already too late. Burn it all." – Field Commander ███

--

💌 If that was really one of fifty, we are in for an amazing ride - hell in a handbasket? 

(view other worms)

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Other balloons by and inspired by South Park:

July 25 - Bling Bling 2025

"I have learned all kinds of things from my many mistakes. The one thing I never learn is to stop making them."

~ Sand dan Glokta, Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

I feel like before I use anything I learned at Bling Bling Jam 2025, I should at least say a few words about the experience.

"Pretty good?"

Look, I'm not the best yardstick here.  I have never entered a competition, I need to psych myself up before going to the jam room.  ... I did get like 30+ hours listening in on my audiobook series - which was simply amazing, The First Law trilogy.  *chefs kiss*

The instructors and attendees were great, that's the real heart of any convention and they make everything worth it.  I'll save any specifics there (for now) because I did have one significant "room for improvement" thing I feel I need to say before gushing any high praise.

The show seemed to be suffering from not having a "big name" balloon sponsor.  I certainly appreciate those that helped make the event possible, but it should almost be embarrassing to give a room full of balloon artists old fragile stinky stock balloons.  I know it probably wasn't every color, but half a worm is half a worm when you're eating an apple.  I don't think their whole stock is like this, but then again I'll never know now.

On the flipside, a few other classes used decorator-style balloons - thicker, more rigid, and "unforgiving to learn with" if we're being polite.  It's the excitement level of carob.  You'd eat it.  You'd smile.  But you'd secretly wish it was chocolate.

BYOB (alloons) for classes.  

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These were some "hotel room" doodles I made (Isopresso bird) until a severe pop made me feel like 8am was probably too early.  I included a picture of the baggage claim sign ...  Stay classy, Las Vegas.

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Other balloons related to Bling Bling Jam:

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 20 - Qualatex Chrome Mauve

You used to ride on a chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discovered that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal

~ Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone

I remember how excited I was to order my first chrome balloons.  It was a shininess you hadn't seen before in balloons, a breakthrough.  A whole new world of possibilities opening up.

Chrome Mauve? -- Yes please, and thank  you.  Just think of all the chrome mauve things I've been waiting build ...  Chrome mauve stuff.  Like ... like ... 

I haven't opened these in five years since I bought them.  Random colors are not in high demand, you really have to force yourself to work with them - which, I guess, is exactly what this exercise is for.

Chrome balloons (I'm assuming all?) have a different elastic base formula than standard balloons.  The elastic "snapback" is much lower.

Anticipating trouble, I pre-inflated and sized down each one, but they all maintained a surprisingly nice sponginess.

Overall assessment of Qualatex Chrome Mauve - it's pink chrome.  There is nothing in reality that I can imagine that is naturally pink chrome..   I can only picture a pink chrome version of something else.  If I could still get them, I would try to restrain myself.

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Other "color day" balloons: