15th August - Miffy

Here is Miffy, she is the little rabbit created by the Dutch artist Dick Bruna, This sculpture is based on one by the Korean balloon artist Hyun-Gu Park, thank you for the inspiration. - http://www.balltoon.com/. Miffy is made from 6 balloon, the head is an 11 inch round balloon, the ears arms, legs and body are 260s and the pink and neck balloon are 160s. 

I now have 2 tutorials available on MDB extra, the cute bunny and now the plane. they are both available for free on the blog or you can purchase the PDF for a small fee. You can keep up to date with all the MDB news by clicking like on the facebook page at -  https://www.facebook.com/MyDailyBalloon

14th August - Meerkat

This Meerkat is based on a design by the amazing Twistina, I saw this a while ago and stored it in my brain to use later on, I have made it slightly different to Twistina's, there is a lot more detail in her design and I changed the neck and feet to make it easier for me. Thanks for the inspiration Twistina - http://www.twistina.co.uk

This meerkat is made from 6 balloons, 2 x 260s make up the body, thighs and most of the face, the eyes are a scrap of a 260 and the rest of the balloons are 160s. 

On another note, I have created a new sister blog to My Daily Balloon, its called My Daily Balloon extra and it is where you will find any tutorials and extra hints and tips. At the moment there is just one tutorial for a rabbit and you can find it at - http://mydailyballoonextra.blogspot.co.uk/

You can keep up to date with all the MDB news by clicking like on the facebook page at -  https://www.facebook.com/MyDailyBalloon

7th August - Merman

This little Merman is based on a design by Cody Williams, Cody made a merman based on the character 'Gil' from the children's TV show 'Bubble Guppies'.    Now I have never heard of the Bubble Guppies and I am not too sure if we get it here in the UK, maybe its on some random sky channel? anyway, I liked the design but ended up making a few changes, I had to change the body as I didn't have any the balloons Cody used and I changed the tail just because I preferred a different style.

Thanks for the design Cody, he is brilliant. He is made from 6 balloons, a mixture of 160s and 260s. You can keep up to date with all the latest news and sculptures by heading over to Facebook -www.facebook.com/mydailyballoon and hitting the 'like' button, then feel free to share it with your friends.

22nd May - Mr Tickle

Here is one for the kids (of all ages), its Mr Tickle, I used to love the Mr Men so I had to do some of the Mr Men characters at some point in my blog, 

Mr Tickle is made from 6 balloons, I started with an 11 inch orange round balloon and created 4 raisin twists, 1 for each arm and leg (if you don't know what a raisin twist is then the clue is in the name, it involves a raisin sized scrap of tied up balloon put inside an inflated balloon and then used as an anchor point)

I then added the hat, this is made from a bit of 350 and a 160, it is then attached to the knot of the orange balloon. The Arms come next, these are 2 orange 160s attached to the first 2 raisin twists, then the legs are made from half an orange 260 each, again they are attached to the last 2 raisin twists.

If you are unfamiliar with balloon modelling and balloon sizes then here is a guide - a 160 balloon is 1 inch diameter and 60 inches long, a 260 is 2" by 60" long, 350 is 3" by 50", you also get 5" rounds which are exactly what it says on the packet - 5 inch and round, then there are 11" rounds. There are a host of other shapes and sizes including donuts, bees and hearts but keep watching and I will tell you about those when I use them next.

You can follow My Daily Balloon several other ways,
either head over to Facebook -www.facebook.com/mydailyballoon and hit the 'like' button
or follow me on Twitter - @magirob

1st May - Snoopy

The other day Stu posted a comment on Facebook asking to see a Snoopy balloon, I have had a design in my mind for a while so was happy to have a go. Snoopy is one of Stu's favourites and he told me that if he could go back in time and meet any historical person it would be Snoopy, Well I can tell you Stu, Snoopy is alive and well, he resides in California in Knotts Berry Farm with all his friends.

In total the whole sculpture is made from 15 balloons, I started by making the Kennel, it is made from 9 x 260 balloons, Snoopy is made from 6 balloons, his face and bode are both white heart balloons, there are 3 raisin twists involved in holding them together, his nose is a bit of 260 and his ears and collar are 160s, finally his legs and arms are a 260.

You can follow My Daily Balloon several other ways
Facebook - www.facebook.com/mydailyballoon and hit the 'like' button
Twitter - @magirob

Check out Robs other blog - www.highestpoints.co.uk - Robs quest to visit the 235 highest points of every county and unitary authority in England, Scotland and Wales.

14th April - Dolly

I have made a few of these recently when I have worked in a few local hospitals for the kids on the wards. It started when one girl asked for a Barbie, so I made this and the little girl was over the moon.

This Dolly is made from 6 balloons, although I am often able to use up some scraps with this one. I start with the skirt which is a 160 and then add a bit of a 260 for the body, Next I add the legs from half a 160 and then a scrap makes the shoes, now I use the other half of the 160 for the arms and use some scraps for the face and hair.

27th March - Guinea Pig

Its Florrie's birthday on Sunday, she recently made a request for a balloon and gave me a choice of 2 things to make, I am saving 1 of the requests for her actual birthday but I thought I would have a go at the other one as well, a guinea pig. Now the problem with making a guinea pig is the fact that they are essentially a blob, I could if I wanted to just blow up a short balloon and draw a face on it as that is what a guinea pig looks like so it was difficult to work out what to do with this one, I think he looks OK tho.

I actually used 6 balloons to make this guinea pig but now I have made it once I know I could make it with just 4 balloons, in this one I used 4 x brown 260s, 1 x white 260 and 1 x dark brown 160.

26th March - Tiki Tiki Bird

A couple of weeks ago Graham posted a photo onto the balloon chat forum of a balloon model made by someone who attended Twist and Shout, the annual Balloon twister Convention in the USA, I loved the model so much I just had to have a go at making him. I have no idea who made the original balloon and I cant even find the photo in the forum now but if it was you who came up with the design then let me know and I will credit you.

This Tiki bird is made from 6 balloons, I started with the blue 260 for the head feathers and wings, then added the beak and feet from another 260, next I added the chest from a white round balloon and then added in the eyes from a white 260 and a black 160, finally the branch is a 260 with a raisin twist to attach the birds feet to.

17th March - Leprechaun

Its St Patricks day today and to celebrate I have made a leprechaun with his pint Guinness and pot of gold, It also happens to be international hug a ginger day tomorrow so I think my little leprechaun will be looking forward to that.

My Leprechaun is made from 17 balloons, I started with his face and hair from 2 x 260 balloons and then added the hat which is made from a 260 and a green heart balloon, next came his body and arms from another 2 x 260s and his legs and belt from 1 more 260, his hands are a 260 and the pot of gold is made from a 350, a 160 and a gold coloured 260, the Guinness is a 260 and 2 x 160s, finally I added his shoes and his belt buckle. The rainbow is made from 6 x 260 balloons (5 colours and 1 to hold them together)

I would also like to say happy birthday to Alexis, she is 16 today.

8th March - Tortoise 2

I made a Tortoise a few weeks ago but he was a very simple tortoise, this one was far more complicated and I have to learn a new type of twist to make him. He is based on a Tortoise by an expert balloonologist called Pascal Grooten from Belgium, he makes some of the most amazing balloon models around (Google him - Pascal Grooten)

Anyway, My Tortoise took me well over an hour to make, I started with a 5 inch round balloon and I twisted 4 raisin twists into the balloon roughly where the feet were going to go. I then made 4 individual feet which are made from a brown 160, these are basically an elongated tulip twist with 2 pinch twists holding it together.

Next I added the green 160 for the rim of his shell and I added the head next which was a 260 and a 160, plus a black 160 for the eyes, in total he is made from 6 balloons.

5th March - Lighthouse

Well it is St Piran's day today, the patron saint of Cornwall, Phil (who lives in Cornwall) suggested I make something related so after spending some time trying to make a Cornish Pasty I ended up making a Lighthouse instead.

This lighthouse is made from 6 balloons, there is a 350 which makes up the central core, then 3 x 160s wrap around that making the stripes, there is a bit of yellow for the light and the small bit of left over read for the top, finally a white 260 for the roof.

2nd March - Gloria the Hippo

Its Mabel's birthday today, she is one of my nieces and she is 8 years old, yesterday she requested that I make her Gloria the Hippo from the film Madagascar, so Happy Birthday Mabel and I hope you like my attempt.

It seems that most hippos like to do ballet so that was the look I was going for, She is made from 6 balloons, firstly I used a 350 to make her body, then I added her head with another 350, next came her legs which was half of a 160 and then her arms were next from a 260, her hands are the other half of the 160 and then finally the tutu is made from 2 x 160s.

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.

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.

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.

21st January - Red Angry Bird

This is a first time balloon for me, I have never played the Angry birds game but hey, I figure I would have a go. He (or she?) is made of 6 balloons, 2 red 260s, 1 white 260, 1 yellow 260 (beak), 1 black 160 (eyebrows) and a white 160 (eyes).

4th January - Jester Hat

Here is the first of many hats that I make, I call it a Jester hat, I think that is the best description anyway. It is made up of 6 balloons.