28th February - Calvin and Hobbes

It is the last day of the month and that means I have done a bigger balloon model, recently I found out that both Ron and I like the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, it follows the antics of Calvin, an adventurous 6 year old boy and his stuffed pet tiger Hobbes.

I wanted to base my Calvin and Hobbes on a well known picture of them, this can be seen here.
I started with Hobbes first and made his face (which I am not happy pleased with but its ok), then his body, arms, hands, legs and finally his ears and tail. Next was Calvin, first I made his body and arms, then his hands and little shorts and trousers, finally his head and hair.

Hobbes took me well over an hour to make and Calvin probably took me about 30-40 minutes. 

It took me another 45 mins to photograph them and then another 1-2 hours to draw the log and Photoshop them into the scene so in total this 1 Balloon model took me nearly 5 hours over the course of 2 days to make. Hobbes is made from 14 balloons and Calvin from 7 balloons, a mixture of 260s, 160s and 350s, a 160 is a balloon that is 1 inch diameter and 60 inches long, a 260 balloon is 2 inches diameter and 60 inches long. 

http://www.childrensentertainer.biz/

27th February - Top Hat and Bow Tie

Its 2 balloon models for the price of one today, a top hat and a bow tie, the hat is made of 13 x 260 balloons  (12 black and 1 white). The bow tie is made from 2 x 260s, It would make an excellent Mad Hatters hat I think with the addition of a price tag.

26th February - Shark

This Shark is made of 3 balloons, first there is a grey 260 for the lips and part of the body, then another grey 260 for the fins and tail, finally I added in the teeth and eyes with a white 260. Its not the normal shark I would make when requested as its a lot more complicated but I like it. 

25th February - Little Bear

I am home from the worlds largest magic convention in Blackpool with 3800 balloons purchased from various places. I made this little bear after seeing Graham make some other little bears on the balloon chat forum. He is made from 3 balloons, all 260s.

24th February - Squirrel

I was asked to make a squirrel by Nikki and Martin today so what do you think of this little chap? he is made from 6 balloons, I started with a blush coloured 260 for his cheeks, then added the nose, next came the head, legs and body, followed by arms. Finally I added the nut, ears and tail. he took me about 20 minutes to make.

23rd February - Crab

Its day 2 of the worlds largest magic convention in Blackpool and I thought I would make something with my new balloons to do with the seaside. Mr Crab is made from 3 x 260 balloons and he took me about 2 minutes to make. 

Sneak Preview

Hey everyone, here is a sneak preview of tomorrows balloon, and the next days too, oh and the next day. . . and the next.

22nd February - Zebra

Its day one of the worlds largest magic convention in Blackpool and I have not purchased any balloons yet so here is one I made at home, this zebra is made of 2 balloons, 1 white 260 and 1 black 160, then I go mad with a sharpie pen. this is always one of those balloons I get asked for as a joke because people think it would be difficult to make, it takes me a couple of minutes to make.

21st February - Retro Space Gun

This reminds me of the type of space gun that comic hero spaceman Spiff would use (Calvin's alter ego in Calvin and Hobbes), it is made of 3 balloons, a red 260, a yellow 160 and a blue 160. I am off up to Blackpool today to visit the worlds largest magic convention where I can stock up on balloons and get inspiration for some new and exciting designs, also this means I will be doing a lot of mobile blogging so fingers crossed it will all work.

February 20th - Owl 2

I made a small owl a few weeks ago (Jan 11th) and decided to make a different bigger owl, this one reminds me of the one in the Disney Film Sword in the Stone, I think his name was Archimedes.

This one is made from 5 balloons, 3 brown 260s, an orange 260 and a bit of white 260.
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19th February - Camel

Now I dont want you to get the hump but here is a camel, he is a one humped camel (dromedary) with water carrier things on his back (I know the name of the type of camel, but not the water carrier things, maybe they are panniers?).

Humpy here is made of 1 x 160 balloon for the body plus 2 x 160s for the panniers. he took me a couple of minutes to make. I would now like to say hello to the young lady in Queen Alexandra hospital who I made a pink tortoise for today, I hope you get better soon and thanks for looking in.

18th February - James Bond

On the day that Skyfall is released on DVD I have made a James Bond for my friend Jamie, this James Bond is definitely not Daniel Craig, I think he is more of a Timothy Dalton or George Lazenby, maybe even a Roger Moore.

I usually start with the head on these types of balloons and work downwards but with this one I made the upper body first and did the head last. James Bond is made of 9 balloons, I made his shirt with a 350 first and then his jacket and sleeves with 2 x 260, then I added in the legs and feet with a 260 and his belt with a bit of left over from his sleeves.

Next I made his hand and gun, both from 160s, and fixed his other sleeve in his pocket with a bit of dead un-inflated balloon. Finally I made his head from a 260 and added the hair with a 160. In all he took me about an hour, I had to have 2 attempts at the body because the first version didn't look like a jacket.

17th February - Snake

Its an easy balloon today, a simple snake, he is made from just 2 x 260 balloons, one for the eyes/tongue and one for the head and body, he takes me about a minute to make.

16th February - Cat

Its Julies Birthday today and she likes cats, so here is a pink cat for you Julie. This is a much different cat to the one I did on 1st Jan and I learnt it from a youtube video by Dylan Gelinas, an expert Balloon modeller in the USA , its much more complicated and made of 4 balloons.

I used a pink 160 for the ears and arms, a white 260 for the face and chest, then 2 pink 260s for the arms, legs and tail. it took me about 15 mins to make.

Coming up on Monday I have a cool balloon made especially for Jamie.

15th February - Toucan

Here is a Toucan, he is a bit of an experiment, I have seen a few balloon toucan pictures and they never look like a toucan and I think it is important that a balloon toucan should look like a toucan. I have tried my best to get is looking right but I am still not too sure, I needs a bit of work, does it look like a toucan?

Anyway, he is made from 7 balloons, plus an extra one for the perch, he is made from a mixture of 160 and 260 balloons and took me about half an hour as I was making it up and did several different things before arriving at this.

Here is a joke - What do you call 3 Toucans? (answer below)

Answer - A six pack

14th February - Cupid

Its Valentines day so here is my Valentines themed balloon, its cupid with his bow and arrow. This is made up of 9 balloons. The first thing I did was to make his face and ears from a 260, then I added the hair (260), next I made the body out of a 350 and added a 260 for the arms, the legs were another 260 and the nappy/diaper was a 350. Finally I made a cloud from a 350, a bow from a 260 and an arrow from a 160.

I cant remember how long he took, probably about 30-40 mins, the hardest thing was to position him correctly and then make him float in mid air for the photo.

13th February - Seahorse

Here is a simple seahorse from just 2 x 260 balloons, it took me just a couple of minutes to make.

12th February - Peas in a Pod

I am really peased with how this one came out, oh sorry I meant to say pleased. Its the peas in a pod from Toy Story 3, This was pretty easy to make using just 2 balloons, a green 160 balloon and a green 350 balloon, It probably took me a couple of minutes to make.

11th February - Saxaphone

Well, Yesterday my Dennis the Menace balloon got liked by Nigel Parkinson (he is the current official artist for Dennis the Menace in the Beano and on TV) so to celebrate I will play you a tune on my Balloon Saxaphone, do do do do do doooooooooooo.

This is made from 6 (maybe 7) balloons, it is a mixture of 160, 260s, 350s and 647s and it took me about 30-45 mins to make.

10th February - Dennis the Menace

Stu Monroe recently gave my blog a plug and so this balloon is dedicated to him, Stu is an cartoonist, he has a brilliant cartoon strip called Ray the Otter and has drawn various cartoon strips for the Dandy (including Beryl the Peril) and currently draws for my favourite childhood comic, the Beano.

So as a thank you and congratulations for your achievements, here is Dennis the Menace, He is made from roughly 1 million balloons (well it seemes like it), actually its 15 balloons, firstly his face is a 260, then his hair is in 2 layers, a first flat layer of black and then the spikes added on top, this took 4 x 160s.

Next came his body, 1 red and 1 black 260, his shorts are another 260 and then his legs and shoes are 2 more 260s. Now I added his arms (another 260). finally I made a catapult from a 160, 2 hands from a 160, socks from another 160 and a nose from a last 160.

Denis the Menace took me about 90 mins, this was mainly because I didnt really know what I was doing and was making it up as I went, next time I make him I think I would make his body broader (he is too skinny),

9th February - Polar Bear

So, this is meant to be a Polar bear, I am not too sure if I like it, I guess he is ok, he is made of 2 white 260 balloons, 1 for the head, front legs and part of the body, ans another for the body, and back legs, the nose is just coloured black with a sharpie pen.

8th February - Chameleon

This chameleon is made from 8 balloons, firstly I made the face from a green 260 and the body from a green 160, then I added in the eyes which was made from a yellow heart shaped balloon.
Now I added a red 160 for the tongue and 3 green 160s for the legs and tail, I used a scrap of dead balloon to fix his curly tail in place and finally I added a brown 260 branch for him to sit on.
He is pretty big but didn't take too long to make, probably less than 10 mins

7th February - Photographer

As many of you know I am a keen photographer and during my time using flickr I discovered a photographer called Andrew Whyte, I have to say his work is awesome, I mean really awesome, you should check out some of his long exposures sometime ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/andwhynot/ ).

Anyway, Andrew was kind enough to give me a plug on his facebook page and so in return I am saying thanks by dedicating today's balloon to him.

Mini Andrew is made up from 11 balloons, firstly I made the face and hair out of 260s, then a 350 for the body with a 260 for the sleeves, the trousers and belt are another 260 followed by another one for the shoes. next I added another 260 for the lower arms. that part took me about 20-25 mins.

The camera was much harder, it took me a while and 3 attempts  to work out how to make a camera so this took me about 40-50 mins, first the lens which is made from a 350 and a 160, then the camera body which is a 350. finally the tripod is made from both a 260 and a 160.

So thanks for the plug Andrew, If anyone else would like to spread the word about my blog then I would really like that, you will probably end up getting a balloon dedicated to you (Stu, yours is coming up in a few days).

6th February - Flamingo

I have been making balloons for about 18 or 19 years now (not constantly, I did stop for dinner) and about once a year I get asked to make a Flamingo, I usually manage to make something that sort of resembles a tall bird thing with a beak. Anyway, the time has come to work out how to make a flamingo look like . .well a flamingo.

So, this one is made up of 6 balloons, and in the order I made this, first a black 260 balloon for the beak, then a pink one for the neck and head, here I added in a small white bit for the eyes, now i used 2 pink 260s for the body and then added the black one in for the leg. As I had never made him before he took me about 15-20 minutes to make.

5th February - Starfish

This balloon is pretty simple, it can be made with just 1 x 160 balloon if you don't want the eyes, I however used 1 and a bit 260 balloons plus a scrap of white for the eyes, it took me a couple of minutes to make.

4th February - Alligator

My daily balloon - 4th February - Alligator

Here is an alligator, he is made of 3 x 260 balloons (plus a little bit of left over orange balloon for the eyes) and took me about 3-4 mins to make.

3rd February - Acoustic Guitar

Here I am with an acoustic guitar, it didn't sound too good when I played it but that's because I cant play the guitar, my instrument of choice is the triangle.

This guitar is made up from 3 brown 350s, 1 mocha (dark brown) 350, and a tiny bit of left over black 160 for the bridge.

2nd February - Groundhog

Its Groundhog day and news just in is that Punxsutawney Phil did NOT see his shadow, this means Spring will arrive early this year (woohoo).

So I was a little unsure as to exactly what I groundhog looks like other than an over grown guinea pig. I did manage to find a photo here so based him on that.

He is made up of a multitude of balloons, but don't ask me how many or what kind as I was kind of making it up as I was going, I can tell you he took me about 15 mins to make, by looking at him I think its 2 x 260s, 1 x 350, 1 x 160 and a scrap of black for the nose plus a scrap of white for the eyes and teeth.

1st February - Bunch of Flowers

Its my Nans Birthday today, her name is Florence and she lives in Jersey, I am not going to tell you how old she is as that would be rude (she's 93), for her birthday my Auntie Caroline suggested I make her a bunch of flowers, sadly I cant really get them to her in Jersey so I will make her some more when she visits later in the year. Happy Birthday Nan xxx

These flowers are made up of 15 balloons, 4 green 260s for the stems, a red 260 for the bow, 2 green 160s for the leafy bits (foliage? is it called that? I am a man, its not something I should know) and then 8 x 160s for the flowers.