I'm A Balloon Artist

When I first started thinking of a name for my page, someone suggested balloonist. I liked the word, but for some reason, I looked up the dictionary for the meaning of balloonist.

It was not defined as one who sculpts balloons to into various shapes and decorations.

The definition given by Merriam-Webster's online dictionary means someone who "operates or rides in a balloon".

Other words like 'balloonry' and 'ballooning' have similar meanings.

Wonder if balloon twisters or artists will gain a definition in the future dictionaries. We're all classified under 'Entertainer' but don't have a specific title.

For now, I'm happy to be a balloon artist.

Big caterpillar that I made some time ago with FlowerClown's

caterpillar design.

Balloon cubes

I've seen these balloon cubes around and only recently found out how they were done. I gave it a go using balloon scraps . It was a practice, but it somehow turned out into this fun little balloon cushion that the girls had fun taking turns to sit on!

I'm still not too sure how the geometry of it works, but it was fun to see it turn into a shape!

The balloon rounds really make the whole thing very stable and firm. I have to get the sizing of the cubes and round balloons accurate to make it sturdier. 

My 5 y.o. has been asking me to make a balloon sofa for them and I think we are not too far from it. :) Perhaps it can be done in the near future!

The finished product :

My girls taking turns to sit on it :

                

Hoot the Owl

It has been a tiring week and Friday really didn't help being the end of the week. It's the last work/school day for our week. Little miss 1yr 8months was cranky this morning. Went to playgroup and 1 little girl wasn't very happy. In the afternoon, a friend posted on FB that her son threw a tantrum. Met a few other difficult children this week too. I needed a break from my tired children and so we sat down to make balloons.

Decided to make a Hoot character this afternoon because I know of children who adore Hoot and I have been meaning to make it for some time already.

Well, this little buddy is going to brighten up a little boy's day soon! Would you like one too?

As the motto of Balloonaholic goes, "Bringing smiles to everyone through the beauty of balloon sculptures."

Cow

 Moooo!

Finally made a cow. For some unknown reason, I've been meaning to make a cow since half a year ago. Never got round to doing it. Why? I don't know. Every time I sat down to make something, the cow slipped my mind. So, just a few days a go, I decided that I'm putting all other learning projects on hold and make myself a cow.

This brown one was made from memory of pictures I had seen on internet. Not too bad, for a first attempt. But the horns didn't seem right, so I thought I had better look for some instructions on how to make the horns.

And so, I came upon Ralph Dewey's cow head instructions on BalloonHQ and followed it. So now, the cow looks a lot more decent, doesn't it?!

Ok, I did recycle the mouth balloon. :)

And the colour change? Well, that was because my 5 y.o. insisted that cows are white. I told her that the cows we see in the farms and big grasslands were all brown or black. But no, it has to be white.

So, white it is and I think I'm quite happy with this. :)

Flower bouquets

There are many reasons for flower bouquets and here are three of them :

This first one was for my niece who turned 6. There were 4 flowers but the other two were hidden behind. I added another base to it eventually to stabilise it. She said that she hated pink but likes blue and purple.

This second one was for a friend who wanted to bring something bright and cheery to her friend who was in hospital. Her friend can't have fresh flowers and so a bouquet of balloon flowers were ordered for her! She likes the lady mouse and I made it into a vase holder. 

This last one was for Australia Day. It was raining and pouring and looking so gloomy, I thought it would be nice to have something sunny and Australiany in the house.

The next time you need a bouquet of flowers, let me know!

Princess theme

My 5 y.o. has been crazy about princesses for awhile. Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, etc. She would ask for dresses that can open up when she twirls and would hold a wand made of paper or toilet paper roll, etc.

So, here are two photos of what I had made for her over the last two months : a wand and a princess.

These designs are very versatile. It's a one design fits all. Just change the colour of the princess' hair, face and arms, dress, and you get a different princess.

I'm learning how to make different hairstyles and hope to present other hairdos in the near future.

Race cars!

Was on a race car mode for about two weeks in January. It started with a request for a friend's husband's 40th birthday. She asked for a race car and supplied photos of her husband's remote controlled race car model.

Took me about a week to look through photos of other balloon artists' works and trying out on my own. I got frustrated because I couldn't get the body to look right. I nearly gave up. My husband said that maybe I should just keep it simple. So, off I went to find a simple race car design. There are many video tutorials and pictures and I came up with this cartoony car :

Somehow, the simplicity of it clicked and got some parts of my brains connected and managed to deliver a pretty cool race car in time. This car is a normal pillow length long and 3 soft pillows high. Added a remote control. You can see it in the 2nd picture. The car stands at half the height of my sofa!

Funny thing is, for the following 3-4 days after making the car, all that I could remember was the tyres/wheels. Even now, when I think of race cars, I think of the wheels. I like them the best!

This race car is by no means an award winning one and I can see areas for improvement. But it certainly brought out the creativity and adrenalin in me! Made it in a day - about 4 hours during the day with children interrupting me and a full 4 hours at night. The 4 hours during the day could've just been an hour without children trying to help.

Next time when you have a birthday or anniversary or a celebration, let me know! I would like to make something special for that special day of yours.

More animals and insects

A few animals and insects for this post...

Saw a youtube tutorial on a ladybug bracelet and had always meant to try it. Finally found the time to work on it! This ladybug uses 5 balloons! Something I don't usually want to try because of the number of balloons that go into  one little sculpture. But, as with everything, I just had to give it a go. As I made it, i felt all the more that this ladybug is worth every one of the 5 balloons. Pretty and cute!

I have seen these butterflies being made on a few balloon twisters' portfolio. I was reluctant to make one because of the usage of hearts. But I cannot deny that they are the cutest and easiest butterflies around too!

I learnt to make this adorable penguin through a web jamming session. It's a bit more work than the usual ones with slightly twisting techniques. I like the little ear twist at the top of the head. It allows for more attachment to be made. I can see flowers and hats attached!

This monkey on a tree was made when my girls were playing outside on the driveway. The trees were swaying and I had balloons on my hand. :)

Huggable Dragon

I was working on a dragon design and here's the transformation progress.

This little creature came up first and my then 4 y.o. could tell me that it's either a dinosaur or a dragon. My husband said that it's too cute to be a dragon, but nonetheless, a cutie.

I wasn't totally happy with it and so made the wings bigger (dragons do fly, don't they?), same coloured feet and a different colour for the belly. So these two  are the same, one in a sitting position, another in the flying position.

Someone mentioned a yoshi dinosaur, I looked it up and made something based on the picture. It's not a yoshi, but I like this dragon version the best. It looks more like a dragon than the previous ones and so much more volume to it. I call it the Huggable Dragon.



Perhaps when I get the time and skills have improved a bit more, I'll give the Chinese dragon a go. It's a more complex design compared to the Western one, but I'm sure it'll be a wonderful piece of balloon art. Till then, I'll keep twisting and learning and hone my skills. It will be a project shelved for attempt sometime down the road in my balloon twisting journey.

Christmas Angel and Candy Cane

Made another angel for Christmas and a candy cane that I gave to a friend.

I made a few more of the angels for our 2012 Christmas lunch with hubby's family. All the children received an angel in their gift bags along with other little Christmas gifts.

Still twisting.. :)

Whoa, it's been more than a month since I last entered an entry! I'm still here, still twisting, just haven't had time to blog.

Will update a few photos over the next few days.

January has been a really busy month. There was a the new school year to get ready for, and a friend's husband's birthday gift! I love that balloon I made! A race car! You'll have to keep an eye out for my update on that!

Anyway, it's been quite a learning curve from a single balloon creation to multiple balloons creation.

I'm loving it and I hope you are too.