A Rainbow of Balloons

Bespoke Balloon Design!

2011-10-06T21:32:00.000+09:30

Recently I had a custom balloon request, based on the girly-girl designs. The request was to create a balloon mini-me for the lovely Sakura.

She was thrilled with it. What makes this even more different? It travelled to the other side of Australia to get to the recipient! At least now I know it can be done! :D

I don't know that it is something I'll pursue further, but I loved the chance to bring a special balloon creation to her (and it was for her birthday - how cool?!).

Ahem.

In other news, I'm having a serious think about what I may include in tutorials if I can get a PDF happening. I'm experimenting with different hair styles so I can offer as much as I possibly can if I go down that path. I've had my first bit of serious outside encouragement... It gives me the drive to succeed!

Are there any suggestions on what you'd be interested to see?

Sweet Little Balloon Girls

2011-09-16T19:24:00.000+09:30

Whoops, it's been over a month since my last post! Mostly quiet on the ballooning front, but I've had a healthy dose of motivation these past two weeks and have had fun coming up with the following new cuties:

Hard to pick a favourite... But I think it's her!

Meet Angela, the Angel!

The little lady who started the craze

The most recent and most elaborate, the fairy!

I've had some fun trying to work on a small scale, but really upping the cuteness factor. Their heights would be approximately between 25-30cms.

I have an interesting challenge to create a custom balloon sculpture and send it to the other side of Australia, my first experience sending through the post. I really hope it works!

You may have noticed my lovely new Facebook logo off to the side there (customised by me because I loves my rainbows!)... I do updates there much more often if you are itching to see more ;) Also often I post more than one picture if you're interested in seeing different angles etc.

Because of the very positive comments I'm getting on this style, I've seriously been considering putting together a PDF for sale with step-by-step instructions. Let me know what you think! The more encouragement, the likelier I might actually do it! hehe

Thanks for reading! I will see you next time <3

Caricature Time!

2011-07-13T19:32:00.000+09:30

I've always had an urge to create. It's fun watching something evolve from your own mind! Probably why I enjoy balloons so much is you can make just about anything... but inflatable! Anyway, I digress from the topic at hand!

I decided I wanted to create a colouring-in page for myself, as it's something that is kinda a lot of fun to have one of you (also can become a give-away, colouring contest etc..)

Once I drew myself a few times, I decided to draw some friends too! Since then the requests keep coming..! I didn't realise how popular they would be at first, but I love giving my friends a reason to smile.

Now I have quite a few requests! It makes me think... If people really like what I do... Maybe I could offer it as a service to others?? Even my sister has requested a family portrait hehe

Right now, I'm enjoying creating for my friends, but there may well be those interested in buying one off me (gasp... hopefully!) Let me know if you're keen hehe

If I do any more pictures (I'm sure I will!) I will be sure to share <3

Rainbow Brite!

2011-06-25T12:47:00.001+09:30

I honor of a new friend who I met at Supanova 2011, Tails from the Doghouse (you looked fantastic, by the way!), I decided to make a posting dedicated to Rainbow Brite! Being an 80's child and a girly girl, it was inevitable that some of my aspirations would include her.

Case in point... In 2008, I made a modern version of her costume. I wasn't quite prepared to make a replica of her outfit, hence the modern twist.

2ndly, I knew that I had to make her out of balloons! Since I was still pretty new to the wonders of multi-balloon sculptures; I had a lot of guidance from a ballooning friend Crystal, aka Jillybilly.

Overall, I am happy with her look... However given that it was a while ago (2008 also) I do believe I need another crack at her. One day, I'm sure!

Supanova Sydney 2011

2011-06-25T12:21:00.002+09:30

Hello everyone!

I'm back and what I fully believe recovered from my crazy previous weekend. Want to know why? I was twisting balloons at a Pop-Culture Convention known as Supanova. I was sponsored to appear by the Star Wars club I am apart of, Novus Ordo Australia. The balloons were given away free as promotion for the club, but also a great way for me to meet new people and show them what is possible with balloons!

For my stand, I edited pictures of some of my favourite balloons I have twisted, printed them out in A3 at OfficeWorks, cut them out (you might be able to tell... I love rounded corners!) and laminated them. They were not the balloons I was offering, but it didn't stop some people asking for them! (I did relent ever so slightly on 3 occasions... but shhhh!)

My costume is that of a Pink Imperial Officer

I offered a variety of designs, namely: lightsabers, Princess Leia, R2D2, Han Solo and a Yoda or two. I was prepared to make other designs, however once people saw Princess Leia.... There was hardly any contest as to which was most pop-ular! Lightsabers though were also fun and not only that, quick and a crowd-pleaser!

I wanted to share with you some of my favourite pictures from the weekend...

Three great girls with R2D2, Han Solo and Princess Leia

When the store was all nice haha (I shared a table also)

The Leia balloon... 2nd day

I decided that I wanted to twist a balloon version of the character voiced by my favourite guest of the weekend, Dan Green. He thought it was fantastic, which in turn made me very happy indeed!

Balloon Yami-Yugi! I was really proud of him, got a fantastic reaction by fans!

Me and Dan Green! Voice actor for Yami Yugi (see photo above!)

I hope you enjoy seeing the pictures from my weekend. I do have more... Let me know if you want to see them!

It was a great experience, and I'm convinced that I need to do it again... one day ;) Look out for my next post.... coming up soon (today even! hehe)

Sharing Time!

2011-06-02T22:06:00.000+09:30

Just a quick post to let you know I will be appearing as a guest poster on one of my favourite balloon twisting blogs, 365 days of balloons! I'm pretty excited about that fact and I can't wait to share it with you when it goes live.

Thanks Mot for the opportunity!

And now perhaps to celebrate... Some balloons I haven't shared before?

A costume and a balloon to match... I designed and made both (the pink, not the awesome Gremlin!)

The Pink Power Ranger... Look closer, she has stubble. I actually made it as a parody for a male friend of him

I love being creative!

A Fascinating time at the Katherine Races

2011-05-26T21:48:00.000+09:30

So much balloon goodness, so little time! On the weekend just passed, I decided to go to Katherine to catch up with one of my fantastic friends before she goes on an indefinite time to the USA. I arrived late evening on the Friday, with my sister and two nephews. Early the next day, Mum and I went to the morning markets to facepaint and balloontwist respectively.

My mother, sister and I. We look like we love pink!

Anyway, to the good bit! I started using new design or two, one of those being a horse. I made it as my cool thing to wear, and I had a few requests for it that morning. No wonder because it was very cool but also it was the weekend of the Katherine Cup.

Adorable and cheeky to boot!

When it was time to head to the races, I created another one to wear; as well as a horse costume for my biggest nephew. Doesn't he look adorable!? The design was inspired by one I saw the twister and Fred's Pass show twist up. Sadly one of his 'lips' popped, so there is only one. It happened whilst I was making the bridle :(

I got a lot of compliments for my fascinator, it was a lot of fun to wear. The top I am wearing is one that I designed and created, it was fun colours to wear!

Funny true story no 1: Well, not very funny but my boss had a horse running in the race, so I gave Brook and I the number of his horse on our wearables; Number 5. Guess which horse won the race? Yes, indeedy! Happy to say I won some money.

Funny true story no 2: When it came time to leave, we put the horse costume in the bin as Brook had given up on wearing it and some legs had popped. As we walked away, I looked back to the bin to find it horse-less. A quick glance around, and there was a tipsy woman wearing it on her head! It was too funny, I couldn't help but laugh :'D

And just before we left for the day, I had my photo taken by the newspaper photographer. It was cool to see myself in there today hehe.

Do the Teapot! (Safer than Planking!)

Was great to see Kate!

Sharing a fantastic hug with my Poppleophegus. I'm her Sonic <3

All in all a really fun but exhausting weekend was had! It was a blast catching up with my high school friends and everything was just fun. I can't believe it's been 10 years.... Can't wait for the November reunion!

Practice of new Designs

2011-05-25T21:59:00.000+09:30

Ever since I met up with the twister at Freds Pass, I felt more inspired to create. I played around with some new designs, gaining inspiration from my inspirations folder.

With the exception of the Giraffe Hat, all the other balloons are fairly small in design. They use the 160 size modelling balloons. For those of you who are not on the up-and up of what these exotic creatures are... We have 2 giraffes (the 2nd one is worn on the wrist), then we have a little bird (who also looks great in dark pink and lime green!), a peacock and finally a seahorse.

Look out for my next post with my horse fascinator! haha... Coming soon!

Meeting a Twister and Fred's Pass Show

2011-05-19T22:56:00.000+09:30

I visited Fred's Pass Rural Show recently, and to my delight discovered they had a talented balloon twister there! I was eager to gain a balloon from him, as I always lament there is no-one to make me a cool balloon gift! After some light stalkage and encouragement from my mum, I gots me my awesome balloon hat! The fabulous fellow was Brendan, of Balloons by Design (based in Melbourne)

He asked me what I might like, and I asked for something that was his favourite and whatever he wanted to make. I think the hat is pretty special and all kinds of great. He was great to have a chat with, and very helpful and encouraging! He and I made balloon ladybugs together, he showed me his design and we tandem twisted and made some young girls happy (okay, one of them was completely unsure but her mum loved it!). He offered to share with me some instructions that he has put together, which I look forward to receiving.

The very next day I had fun re-creating his hat. I know it will be popular (no pun intended!) I got many stares and comments as I wore his, I hope to be able to share that joy with others hehe

Took a few photos that day... but hands down, this is my favourite! With my two Gorgeous Nephews Brook and Dallas. Thanks mum! I love the smiles :D

Happy Easter!

2011-04-26T22:05:00.000+09:30

I hope that you had a fantastic Easter!

Here in Australia, we had a 5-day long weekend. There was Easter, but also ANZAC day on the Monday, and a public holiday for it was on the Tuesday. Not only that, this weekend is a three-day long weekend. Very cool.

Here is the special Easter balloon I made for the occasion:

I was quite happy with the outcome, it was the first time that I tried this original design for the rabbit. It also doubled as a gift to a birthday girl; more on that below!

Also, Tuesday (today) was my little nephew's 3rd birthday. We celebrated at the park, and of course I did the balloons! Not only that, my mother is a talented face painter (I'm sure I've bragged on that before!) and she pulled out her paints and delighted young and old.

My nephew, Brook! He turned 3.

Rawr! Tiger Princess Paris

Something different, no balloon photos of the event! However, balloons made include; a snake, ladybug on a flower, Pooh, Lightening McQueen hat and 1 2 3 skeletons!

Not only that, but I worked with Hyper the Clown at a party recently, which was a fun outdoor event. The Easter balloon I made was the gift for the Saturday birthday. This coming weekend I also have another little one's birthday lined up... Yay! Bring it on, I say!

Tinkerbell and Parties

2011-03-01T19:45:00.000+09:30

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to do a 60th birthday party... For twins! It was a fun evening, I enjoyed creating requests for the young children and those young-at-heart. Incidentally, I was not aware that the party was for a brother and sister, but luckily the balloon I'd made to take along was a parrot and a cockatoo on a perch haha Unfortunately I don't have any photos as I was rushing out the door!

Some of my favourite balloons of the night were a ballerina, and some lady bug bracelets. I had a bit of a challenge when I was asked for a platypus, might need to practice that one for next time!

Other interesting things that happened... I was asked for my phone number (sorry I'm taken!) and told I was fresh... like a minty. Don't ask! hehe

I'd brought some shiny new black patent shoes to wear that evening too, so my feet were a little sore. Not as bad as I thought they might get, thankfully.

What was quite fabulous is that the bar manager at the party was very excited about the balloons, and ordered a special request for her sisters' birthday. (She was also very awesome by trading me food and drink for a balloon of her own after I finished at the 60th.) I thought it was quite clever as she brought numerous gifts for her that began with 'T'. After swapping some thoughts, we thought Tinkerbell would be a great idea.

I put a lot of effort into Tinkerbell for her, as I wanted to be as detailed as possible, amp up the 'wow' factor. I did make up the design as I went, as you can see my inspiration picture below. Thank you to the very talented Bonnie Davis whose head and neck instructions were the foundation for the head.

My reference picture

My client was very happy with the end result, and I really hope her sister will be too. It was a fun challenge, but now... I rest!

Until next time! (and one day soon I will finish my challenged balloons and put up some more!)

Katherine Markets and my Facepainting Attempt

2011-02-18T21:52:00.000+09:30

Okay, so it's been a short while... hasn't it? I wanted to share with you some photos from my latest market that I attended. I feel there is far few pictures of me in action haha so I enlisted my mother to take some photos for me.

We didn't capture too many on the day, as mum is also a very talented Face Painter and took them between her little customers.

Thank you Mum! I think you did a great job ^___^

I had a great time at those markets. What was most fantastic is that there was a stall selling new books right next to us... and they had two balloon twisting kits! Two sweet young ladies (no relation) both told me that I had inspired them and so they brought the kits. I thought it was amazing and I wish them both the best of luck with their twisting!

Here is my recent attempt at painting my bestie's face... a little not a lot of stuff going on haha. I need more practice!

Got to practice more... that's for sure... hehe But it was great fun! I do want to learn to do better though..

A Gushing Review of Geniuses, and Supanova Plans

2011-01-16T15:36:00.007+09:30

Getting ready for Supanova Brisbane 2011. A great excuse to dress up in costume, and make and wear a new balloon dress!

I wanted to share with you my inspiration of what I wish to create. Many of you in the ballooning world should have heard of Marie Dadow. What she does with her dresses is nothing short of amazing. If I can get to her level, I'd be so happy. Her amazing creations have been seen on the Victoria's Secret Runway, shows in Vegas, and my personal favourite; Disney's The Wizards of Waverly Place.

The dress that was made for an episode of Wizards:

Now, I'm not aware of any special event this may or not been created for, but the end result is absolutely stunning. From the colours, to the dress, to the makeup to the wig, to the model.... Everything!:

I hope to do something similar for myself. I have a talented friend who lives in Brissie who is a makeup artist who I will beg and plead for assistance (bribes I won't say no to!).

I am hoping to get a wig from the amazing Katie Bair. I don't know that I have sent a request for a quote with enough time with less than 3 months to go, but I can only hope. Due to the lead time she requires, it's not too likely for late March. I will wait to hear from her methinks (you never know!) then look at alternatives. Even if it's going to be too late for Supanova, I am determined to own one. A wig from Katie is an amazing thing and it will get a lot of wear regardless. The catch is if you order from her design services, you can't request what the wig will look like. The bonus of this is she is very creative and will come up with something amazing, most likely exceeding any expectations. Take a look at some of these examples from her website (there are hundreds there, a true master of her craft!):

(All above images (c) to Katie Bair)

Seriously, right!? They are a work of art, and the three above some of my favourites. But enough gushing.

I will keep you updated of any progress with my plans, or the outcome of my request to Katie. I am planning on putting a post on my other blog, She Said Whaaat?!, on my cosplay costume that I hope to make.

Worthwhile links to admire:

Balloon Art by Just Marie

Katie Bair's Petting Zoo

New Tutorial... Twist a Balloon Ladybug!

2011-01-08T13:09:00.003+09:30

New balloon tutorial @ Youtube... How to twist a Balloon Ladybug by yours truely. Please visit and leave a comment! Hope to hear from you!

I think to try and put more up, I will try and do at least one a month... Maybe more. But at this stage I have a couple of ideas of items to twist and would like to get more out there. So we will see!

Sad story... I recorded the whole tut... without hitting record on my computer *sadface* so this was the 2nd video I made and hence why I have two in the end haha! I was going batty but I originally had a shout-out to my Ballooning friend from NZ, Magic-Ian, which I forgot to put into the 2nd :( So I am sorry, Ian.... But there is then next video! haha

Colouring Page

2011-01-03T14:53:00.004+09:30

I've created a colouring page for you to download. Would love to see anything that you'd like to submit. Don't forget to email it to me @ soniastwisted.gmail.com! The artwork is by the very talented Hugh Freeman.

FAQ's

2011-01-03T13:11:00.004+09:30

Being in the twisting business, there is inevitably questions! If you have any questions that are not answered here, or any suggestions, drop me a line!

Do you use special balloons for this? Mine keep popping easily!

I started with a simple kit from Woolworths, which came with a pump, small booklet and about 20 modelling balloons. The pump and booklet were very decent; as for the balloons, well they were useable, but the balloons of mediocre quality (I still use the pump to this day!) That began the start of my ballooning career!

The brands I highly recommend are Qualatex or Betalatex. Qualatex can be purchased from Spotlight, however due to the higher domestic cost I chose to buy my balloons in bulk from the US.

How long have you been doing this for?

I started with a kit I purchased in my lunch break one day at work in 2007. After getting bitten by the bug and buying all the books I could get my hands on locally (3 only!), I just kept twisting away. Things became more serious in 2008 and I haven't looked back.

Your hands must get sore!

Not really. My shoulder muscles, that's where it's at!

What's the biggest thing you can make?

Balloon dresses for sure.

What started you making dresses?

In 2009 I studied fashion design at Charles Darwin University. One of the units we were asked to do a short presentation on what we did as an artist. I decided to combine my love of fashion designing and balloon twisting for mine. It went down well!

How long does it take you to make a dress?

My very first one took me 6 hours, and the longest has taken me about 12. I've gotten faster as I've done more, and more complex in design.

Don't you ever worry about someone popping the dress while you wear it?

My level of worry is low. Even if someone where to do so, contrary to what you might think the dress will not suddenly deflate. I think people would be more worried about me getting upset if they popped anything! Everyone is on good behaviour.

How do you get in and out of the dress?

There are what are called 'Balloon Buttons' created by pinchtwists that begin a row, and the last bubble of the row is left loose to wrap around that pinchtwist to put on and off. Also a trusted friend to help me get in!

How do you make the dress?

On one of my dressmakers dummies, or if they are not available, I have made to with male mannequins which have worked well. If preparing to attempt this, you need to work with something close to the body shape of the person who will be wearing it.

I'd love to get started in making my own balloon dress! Do you have instructions or a DVD you could recommend?

I can't recommend Marie Dadow highly enough! It was instructions that helped to get me started. She's made balloon garments that have graced the Victoria's Secret runway (!) and Disney's "The Wizards of Waverly Place". She was even sweet enough to give me some tips personally on success and they really did improve my art. Check out her Balloon HQ profile to be inspired by her amazing work!

Again if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me and I will add them to the list.

Balloon Tutorials!

2011-01-01T20:38:00.004+09:30

Alright! So the plan is to come up with some more balloon twisting tutorials. I have a couple in mind and they are:

Snowman Wand

Reindeer Wand

Ladybug

Skeleton

Okay, okay I know what you're thinking! Christmas just passed and here I am talking about making some tutorials only now. Well stop thinking about that fact! haha Any thoughts?

Australia's Got Talent

2010-12-19T13:18:00.005+09:30

One fine day whist driving to work, I actually listened to the radio for a change. Whilst I listened and wished I'd left home just a little bit sooner, an add came on. It was announcing that 'Australia's Got Talent' was coming to Darwin for season 5 auditions. Now the first thought that came to mind was not'boy oh boywhat song should I sing?!' but something more appropriate: 'Hmmm... I might make and wear a balloon dress to this thing?'. After all, I'd like a fighting chance at this opportunity! (I'd probably opt to audition with 'Take a Chance on Me' by ABBA, and blow any chance on me!)

With some discussion with my work colleague, we decided it would be infinately cuter if it was not just me, but also a cute little girl in a balloon dress to help amp up the 'Awwww' factor. After some thought, I asked my good friend Stacey if her sweet daughter Shayla would be interested. And so it came to be.

And so, of course I was sick that week. I had just flown home from visiting some great friends in Sydney and managed to catch a cold. This was Monday. On Wednesday, I had a children's Christmas party to twist at, which was two hours of non-stop twisting and then off to my 'real' job. Then Saturday I had a good sleep in, caught up with some friends and started twisiting the balloon dress I would wear the next day. At four in the afternoon. I know, I know... I like to punish myself I guess! And so there I was twisting madly away at my bestie's Christmas Party. The dress took about 6.5 hrs, and then I went home and got to work on Shayla's. I was in bed by 1:30 in the morning.

On the Sunday, off I went to a balloon twisting event for Family Day Care's Christmas Party from 9-1, and boy was I exhausted at the conclusion. I thought I might be able to leave by 11:30, but the solid line prevented that. Apparently I had some people waiting hours in line, which was great for my ego, but I was pretty sore by the end of it! A massive 1000+ attended the event, and there was so much for the children to see and do which was great! A couple of sweet sisters that I made a balloon lady bug and butterfly for came back and gave me some magnets they'd painted and then later a sausage with sauce. They were unbelievably sweet! As I twisted on, I was nervous that I might be late for the auditions, but tried to keep pretty optimistic. After the Christmas party ended, I was even more exhausted but had to keep on going!

I finished some embelishments to Shayla's dress, and off we (Myself, Corinna and Shayla) went to Crown Plaza to which we were rewarded with position 48. I was relieved as we weren't too late with all my effort in vein! Whilst we waited, I fixed some parts of the dress that had deflated overnight and then we got dressed. When we were called to ascend the stairs, there were still many people waiting upstairs. After we went to the registration desk, they very generously told us that we should go on next, as they could see we could not sit down comfortably and there was still a few hour's worth of waiting time. So I was extremely greatful.

After our picture was taken, we waited to go in next. Inside the room there was the Executive Producer and three other people. I was given the opportunity to speak and then made a wand for Shayla's outfit. They seemed pretty positive which was great, and they even remarked that it was something like what Katy Perry or Lady Gaga would wear. Left feeling pretty great, it went even better that I would have hoped. My biggest worry was being told we were too late to audition or the dress not fitting, luckily none of which happened.

No-one will find out how you went until February 4th and will only hear from them if you've been successful to go further. My proposition to them was to put on a balloon fashion show if successful, which would be a huge task but I'm willing to give it a go!

So that was a really long post and I applaud you for reading for so long! Thank you if you did read to the end, I really appreciate it. Don't forget to keep those positive thoughts rolling! ;)

Have you heard the Word?

2010-12-19T12:17:00.007+09:30

The bird is the word. Or for me, the buzz-word! At the moment, my most favourite balloon to make is the balloon cockatoo. You have seen it in my posts before, but I want to share with you some more pictures of the feathered friends I have created!

I had placed an order for some Balloon Magic issues, and some balloons at the same time. One of my foremost goals in doing so was to get the issue where Patrick shared with us hisballoon cockatoo. Don't ask me how I forgot to include it in my order! At the time I also ordered a bag of 660Q's for the bird bodies, and they were out of the black bee bodies that I use for the beak. But all is good as I could still make my birdies! haha

Here is the first of the very large birds, accompanied here by Josh. It was his goodbye from Darwin night, and jokes were abound about the choice of balloon. Good, bad and groan-worthy!

Then there is the balloon bird as a delivery piece to my friends Kylie and Kevin for the birth of their son, Jordon. My camera had flat batteries unfortunately so all I could use was my mobile phone for pictures.

The bird has also been used as a delivery piece to my local vet, and it was well-received! It's also fun to experiment with different colours. Suffices to say, I will never get tired of going to the birds :D

Hehe, I love this picture of the balloon bird with my little Minette Valentina (aka Mousecat). No matter if its balloons or sewing, the cats like to get involved, much to my dismay! But oh my gosh they can sure be cute!

A question to my balloon twisting friends.... What is your favourite balloon to twist?

Updates to follow..!

2010-12-19T11:34:00.002+09:30

It has been so long since I posted, my apologies. Things have been fairly busy, including weekends for a while now. Not always with balloons, but something there to keep me busy! My regret is that I have yet to do the balloon challenges, although I did attempt to do the Hot Air balloon one. Need to start again!

In an effort not to just bombard you with one post with 1000 different thoughts... I will do some separate posts and hopefully it will be better reading ;)

More to follow!

Amazing Geos and their Uses

2010-09-01T14:42:00.006+09:30

I can't get enough of the birds! They are fun to make, and the level of realism in them easily seen.

I've made two like the lil fella on the left there <-- 'chewing' on a branch. He is supported by a Geo balloon that has water in the base for balance. I made the 2nd one to give to my Vetinary Hospital, it was well-received. I've made them a couple of balloons (a cat and Easter Bunny) because they are just that awesome.

Another balloon that I did recently is a little more risque, in the form of a Pole Dancer. I've done two, for my instructors at SheMoves. I didn't have time to get a photo of the first, I was running late for the lesson as it was! Pole dancing is a great way to get fit, definately building my upper body strength.. Just need to work on my core strength more.

Thanks to Ian for my next balloon challenge, which will be a hot air balloon.

In the near future I hope to do some more balloon tutorials. One written on drawing faces, and another YouTube tutorial, either a doll or a frog. Look out for those coming soon! Does anyone have other suggestions on what you'd like to see.

Gone to the Birdies

2010-08-17T20:58:00.006+09:30

Birds of a feather... flock together. So what happens when they're balloon birds? haha Sorry but I just had to say it! I'm really digging the balloon works of Patrick Van De Ven, whos balloons I recommend you visit. I gave a go at his Cockatoo without any instructions, ad then had to give a parrot a go. Next I will do is a Galah methinks!

The cockatoo was a gift to my friend Lynette for her 29th birthday (also a necklace I made her... not out of balloons though!)

Next up is a balloon Princess I made for another friend's 29th. I fell in love with the works of Bonnie and again tried her princess body design, using a heart with two raisin twists to attach the puffy sleeves to. The attaching of the head gave me the most grief and I still consider this to be a work in progress. I feel I can do more justice to the design. Will be one I will try another time for sure.

Hmm... Purple is a theme here

Last but not least, thanks again to my friend Magic-Ian who challenged me to create balloon boat. I thought the most fun option would be a pirate ship! I used an internet image of an inflated boat to give me a base to work with (think more bouncy castle style than modelling balloons!) Overall I am happy with how it turned out... But I feel it is too plain and lacks that special something. None-the-less, I like that it puts me outside my comfort zone and gives me the ability to expand my repertiore of balloons.

A'hoy there me mateys!

If you think you have what it takes (and believe me, you do!) Please leave a comment and make a suggestion to a balloon creation you'd like to see me attempt.

That's it for the time being, thanks for visiting and see you next time! :D

Balloon Pretties

2010-07-24T20:52:00.007+09:30

Why hello there! Ready to see some of the latest balloons? Hopefully you're reading because you do! First up here is a doll shown in three views. She was given to a young girl at her birthday party. She is quite large, you can see in the picture with myself...

Next is a fruit basket that I made for a friend who I work with, a Produce Specialist. Sadly he's moved away, but I couldn't resist making him this. (Hey, giving fruit baskets are usually the thing to do, isn't it? hehe) It went down well. It was a fun evening, managed a few rounds of pool which I always enjoy. Nearly won too! hehe My favourite item in the basket is the cherries. They have an uniflated 160 tulip twisted into some 160 scraps. Very cute! The other fruits are bananas, a red and green apple and purple grapes. The bananas and grapes are anchored to a pinch twist in the bottom of the basket with uniflated scraps, and that helps the other fruits to stay in place. The basket design comes from a lovely friend of mine, Crystal. A lovely and generous twister in the US of A.

Lastly, here is the latest balloon dress I made. I really like the end result, even though I was waiting on a balloon order that was delayed. I didn't get my balloons on time, but I did finish my dress. This one was made as an entry into the Royal Darwin Show, a wearable garment for $30 or less. This one features a fancy collar and three yellow balloon buttons. I really wanted to wear this dress as I like everything about it! The colour one of my favourite things. It is a new Qualatex colour, Wildberry. Likeable, isn't it? Qualatex is my favourite balloon brand for colours. I love that they have new ones coming out, and love it when they are pink!

The last balloon offering I have for you is a girl with a flower. I was inspired by the beautiful metallic fuschia balloon for Betallatex. It was one of many balloons received recently in my shipment from the US of A. The method of using a balloon geo for the base is from my friend Mark (Papa Balloon).

I'd like fo finish by saying how much I love all my balloon friends. Alas, I may never meet them but they have touched me and made me a better person, both with my balloons and as an individual. Thank you to all of you, I'm very lucky to know you all. Also thanks to new friends! Thanks Magic-Ian for your challenge of a balloon boat! Be sure to see it in my next post... Doesn't that sound like I've already made it?! haha well no, but it will happen!

The Busy Month Ahead

2010-07-05T21:47:00.005+09:30

Sorry for the lack of updating! I've got plenty of news in my latest posting....

There have been a couple of things happening in my ballooning world lately! Let me get you up to speed on what has been the go...

The first is that I have an official website! Very exciting. I would love for you to visit, it is at http://www.arainbowofballoons.com/ and has been up for about 3 weeks now. Feels like longer! I would love for you to visit and let me know what you think!

I recently did balloons at Malak Family Day Care open day. It was actually a bit larger of an event that I had been anticipating, but all went down really well. A heart and flower wand that I recently developed appeared to be a hit for the afternoon. Really easy to make, and judging by the amount of requests, quite popular. I'm thinking of putting together a tutorial as it really is so easy and cute.

Speaking of tutorials, I have created another one for YouTube. Please check it out, and don't forget to leave a comment! It is on how to make a heart wand, however it is different to the one that I mentioned above.

One thing that I love about the month of July is that this is when the Show season happens! Soon will be Katherine Show, and then the weekend after that the one for Darwin. I have been asked if I would facilitate a balloon twisting workshop for kids at the Katherine Show, just need to get in contact with the powers that be.

Before the Katherine Show will be Katherine Tick Market and Mataranka Market which I will be attending this weekend. Please make sure you come and say hello if you are there! My talented mother will be doing facepainting also. It looks set to be a busy month of July!

PS... I am planning on making my 6th Balloon Dress as an entry into the Darwin Show. I'm looking for suggestions... should I try an anime-inspired dress, or rather something that just screams Pretty? Leave a comment with any thoughts!

Much love! xoxo

In Sleep He Sang to Me, In Dreams He Came...

2010-06-01T17:33:00.006+09:30

I apologise for the lack of updates lately. There haven't been too many instances lately where I've made some balloons. However, thanks to a birthday party and a balloon challenge at my favourite balloon website, balloon-animals.com/forum, I have done some further twisting and have gotten excited!

Firstly, I did a birthday party for a good friend's daughter. She turned 1 that day, and the theme was 'Under the Sea'. She wore an extremely adorable lobster costume! Ava, that is, not her mum! hehe the night before the party I premade the Mermaid, and the next day I thought she looked a little lonely and so added the Octopus!

Under the sea, under the sea!

also on the Friday evening I made the little lady below for a co-worker. I recently started a new job (actually, that happened today!) and I left it on her desk as a farewell balloon. I left her with a note saying "Remember me when this you see" hehe kinda cheesy but fun! I was trying a slightly different method with her hair.

Will you remember me?

Lastly, thank you to Travis who challenged me to make some balloons with the inspiration of music. Apparently he had been listening to The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack whilst creating balloons and that led me to my musical inspiration! I present to you Ms Christine Daae and the Phantom as Red Death:

I was quite pleased with how Christine came out, less so with the Phantom. I'd come down to my last 160 red working on him, and so he has black where he needn't and no cape. Ah well. He's to mysterious and awesome to be made into a balloon parody!

I have a party on this weekend for a friend's daughter on Sunday, so bring it on!

.:Feeling Inspired!:.

Please help me renew the excitement of discovery by challenging me to a balloon. No-one took up the last challenge, so if you feel up to it, please do so!

This week in Balloons...

2010-04-28T18:38:00.008+09:30

Hello LoonyBalloonies!

My sweet nephew Brooke turned 2 on Monday. I can't believe how fast the time has flown by! He had his birthday in a local park and I made balloons and ate yummy chocolate crackles. Little kids parties are the best! Not good conditions for the balloons, but any balloons that burst were repaired fast.

Just to help pretty up the post here is a picture of Brooke!

Supanova Brisbane 2010 - Balloon Dress Time!

2010-04-15T15:50:00.009+09:30

Had a fabulous time in Brisbane recently at Supanova Pop Culture Convention. 'What better place to wear a dress made out of balloons than at a Pop Culture convention?' one might ask oneself. My answer to that is not too many other places! Having said that, no surprise that I was the only one there in one!

Included are some of the construction photos and some of my favourites that I have found online through my friends. The dress itself took over 10 hours and 100 balloons. At the end of it all I had to pop as I couldn't take it in the plane haha.

The last picture is of the dress once all the white bubbles had been popped. I think it looked rather artistic, so I just had to take a photo.

More construction pictures can be seen here. Also please visit A Rainbow of Balloons on Facebook!

For my next dress, I'm thinking something Anime inspired... hmm.... Any suggestions? Please leave a comment!

YouTube Tutorials

2010-04-06T18:35:00.005+09:30

I have finally created a YouTube tutorial for a balloon animal. I chose to do it of a little bunny rabbit, of which you can see him in my previous post.

After creating and uploading which was a little more drama than I could have used, I caught the bug and created a 2nd tutorial on a balloon flower. Are there any suggestion of a balloon tutorial that you'd like to see? Let me know and I will consider it!

Balloon Bunny
Balloon Flower

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T16:52:00.009+09:30

I hope you have all had a wonderful Easter! Personally I got up to not much at all, but had the opportunity to play with some balloons! I made the small display of rabbits in a basket and took it into work for the day, offering the Bunnies free (to a good home of course!). I am happy to say they all found homes. I am considering creating my first Youtube video to show the design of the rabbit, please leave a comment if you would like to see me attempt one.

.: Going Supanova! :.

I'm excited for the up-coming weekend where I will be attending Supanova Pop Culture Expo. Hope to take some photos to share, and am also planning to create my 4th balloon dress. I will also have a little princess with me to join me in the fun!

.: Challenge! :.

Given that I am currently on holidays, I am up for a challenge! The first person to leave a comment, please suggest a balloon sculpture you'd like to see me attempt. I look forward to your challenge..

Sailor Moon

2010-03-15T14:48:00.011+09:30

Back again after a short delay!

Definately time for a new posting! In the last few months things have been fairly slow. In January I had the twisting workshop with the kids with a school holiday program. About 30 kids in total, luckily not the 60 that were a possibility!
Also during this time I have done a birthday party for a 40th that was fun! Ended up the night dancing to some Michael Jackson and MC Hammer.

Speaking of birthdays... I had my own on the 13th of March... another year older and wiser! I just wish I had someone to make me balloons on my Birthday :0) I ended up making this almost like a present to myself!

Just about everyone has seen the iconic Sailor Moon, if not if she was made of balloons she'd look a little something like this!

Not quite content with just one attempt, I've also tried V2 and this is how that turned out... (made about 20 days apart).

The 2nd version was inspired by some pictures I saw on a Japanese balloon art site. There were some extremely cute versions of some magical girls from what a little detective work was revealed to be called Heartcatch Pretty Cure. From what I can see I am enchanted by the costumes, I think I know what my next cosplay might be...

Photo/design credit to Unknown artist

2009-12-17T20:11:00.013+09:30

Wow, how exciting! Today I couldn't wait to get my hands on the newest issue of That's Life! magazine. In case you didn't know, I feature in the magazine with a Christmas Balloons article, the focus on my dress. I created it especially for the intention of appearing in the magazine.

I wanted to share with you some of the photos, which I have been wanting to do ever since I had the fun of making them! Thanks to the very lovely Corinna, for being my photographer for the day. Pictures were taken at Nightcliff beach.

And the picture that didn't stand a chance of making it! haha The sun was in my eyes!

The ladies at the magazine were all very lovely, and I really enjoyed the opportunity to create a balloon outfit for the occasion.

Everything including the present and the top of the boots is made from balloons! (I bet you guessed that already haha)

The other request for the article was a balloon Christmas tree. Whilst I am happy with the outcome... I know it could be better. We can be our own worst critic.

Here are some more photos, of the tree and the awesome that is Corinna...

.: Do you Facebook? :.

If so, please visit A Rainbow of Balloons on Facebook! I'd love to see you there <3

And finally...

.: Challenge Response! :.

Thanks to the wonderful Prue who suggested a balloon Yoda! He was an interesting challenge, and my favourite part is his mini lightsabre :D

Stay tuned for when the next challenge might be issued!

Birthday Time!

2009-12-06T19:29:00.006+09:30

.: Birthday Fun! :.

Today was a happy day as I had the opportunity to help a young girl celebrate her 5th birthday! I arrived at the party with a pre-made balloon for the little girl of honor, Olivia. I had the first opportunity to wear the dress that was created for me through my university course.

It was a fun afternoon with about 15 or so children in attendance. It was a mid-afternoon affair and outdoors, and as a result it was rather warm. Luckily, I was undercover with a fan directly overhead as I was really starting to glow!

I've also included the balloon gift that was created for the guest of honor, and I absolutely love the opportunity to create pretty and girly balloons. Boys things are fun too of course, but they just don't have that pretty edge!

I hopefully from this opportunity have others for me around the corner. I have been approached to do a balloon twisting workshope with a local after school care in the New Year, which will be my first event of 2010! I'm looking forward to it... but possibly 60 kids will be in attendance! Yikes! But we will work it so that they work in smaller groups. But it should be great, I look forward to it.

Which reminds me... I will need to order new balloons soon! I also have some of the latest balloon twisting dvds on my wishlist from some of my most admired balloon artists.

Finally, the countdown is on! Only 2 issues of That's Life! magazine until my national balloon debut! Exciting and scary at the same time...

Speaking of time, see you next time and thanks for visiting!

on a final note...

.: Challenge! :.

Unfortunately no-one took up the challenge of suggesting a balloon form for me to create. Will you be that person? First one to leave a comment can tell me what I should challenge myself to make next!

Dresses and Balloons!

2009-12-01T13:12:00.017+09:30

Due to a request made, I am more than happy to share some of my other work aside from ballooning. Not surprising is the fact that I've combined two of my favourite things and they can work so well together!

Just recently I completed a year long course in fashion design which involved shoemaking. Here I am sharing some pictures from the final exhibition.

The first dress is a creation designed and fabric selected by myself, made by a fellow student. The final result is a creation that I can wear whilst ballooning. To display the garment, I made a balloon characature of myself in a balloon dress holding a balloon dog. That was fun! I'm planning on wearing the dress for the first time at a birthday party this weekend.

Next up is a dress that I designed that features a 3-layered tulle petticoat to give it bounce. I call it 'Dessert Time' as it invokes images of yummy treats. Don't think I'll wear this dress ballooning though!

Aside from drawing inspiration from desserts, it was also inspired by a dress worn by Kate Miller-Heidke and my love of rainbows (unfortunately I could not find the right rainbow, so used pink/cream instead).

If you happen to like the look of the delectable treats, they were a custom creation for a wonderful lady situated in Brisbane. I'd be more than willing to share the source if requested!

The course run was a fantastic opportunity to receive invaluable knowledge through Lynn Ferguson our pattern drafting and construction techniques mentor, and Marlene Kranz a wonderfully quirky lady driving our design side, who has worked for Vivieen Westwood. Not only this but she taught a shoemaking class as well! It was truely a great year of learning.

Above is a shot of my final shoe in progress. Don't worry, it has a friend!

Business, Bali, and Issue #51!

2009-11-26T19:39:00.004+09:30

Again, sorry for the slower updating. Will let you know about what I've been getting up to!

Has been what seems a busy month of doing things, this and that. In the news of ballooning a few exiting things to share!

.: Bali :.

Whilst I was on holiday recently in Indonesia, my mother (a facepainter) and I visited children at Gianyar Orphanage, a home for special needs children. This was our 2nd visit to their home, and we had a lot of fun with the children. There was a lot of fun and smiles all-round! Popular were cincin bunga (flower rings) and princess wands. The children love to play with the balloons themselves and have a blast too. I'm hoping to translate some instructions from English to Bahasa Indonesia to leave with the children so that they may have instructions. We left two bags of balloons, a pump, and a facepainting kit and you can be sure that we'll be there to visit again.
We were lucky enough to see the children have their dance lesson in traditional dance, and we were invited by their dance teacher to visit the dance and drama school the next day. It was a fantastic opportunity to see the children of Bali in activities that you'd not usually see, and their beautiful smiles sure showed how much they loved the face painting! (I was out of balloons sadly at this time!)

Also I finally have a business card! This came about from my holiday in Bali, and I took the opportunity to have some quality ones created. Best of all, it features one of my favourite things... A rainbow! That really made me happy.

.: That's Life! :.

Next, I'd like to tell you about something that has been in the works! I pitched an idea for a magazine article about balloon dresses to an Australian magazine, That's Life! Cram-packed with interesting real-life stories and great competitions. I was inspired to do so by some pictures that someone had submitted to 'The talk' featuring 'bits and pieces from the papers and the net' which featured some amazing creations which I'm sure you've probably seen before.
And so I emailed them about the balloon dresses I'd done, and they emailed back saying they'd like to include me in a Christmas issue if I would be willing to make either a Christmas tree or Christmas themed dress... So of course I said YES! I will be sure to let you all know when it is out! No pictures until after the debut, then I will share them with you.

In other news, I have a couple of ballooning gigs in the works, which includes a birthday party and a balloon twisting workshop for kids. I hope the new year brings new excitement!

Until next time my friends! <3

Busy busy busy! Frog!

2009-10-09T20:05:00.014+09:30

Hello All!
It's been a short while since I've posted as things have been a bit hectic lately will the end of my VET course in Fashion design/wearable art is looming!

The photo to the side was taken on the 3rd at little Paris Stephens' 1st Birthday. I made the flower bouquet for the beautiful little lady and at my mum's suggestion took a few balloons into the resteraunt as a result many balloons were made that night!

On Sunday the 4th of October and it was World Animal Day! I went along and twisted balloons for the children (and some adults too!) whilst my mother by my side did facepainting. It was good day, but as usual it was very difficult to end the line... ended up going a half hour later but my reward was lunch at the Casino! A great way to wind down after a very hot day!

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the event because I was very busy twisting away for the whole time! But popular requests included snakes (the only ones I could go near without cringing on the day!) and girly wands. If you want so see some pictures of them let me know but for now I will save my balloons.

Here are some photos of what I have been doing keeping me busy from updating...

and on a final note.......

.: Challenge! :.

Challenge! That's right, I didn't forget my dear friend Papa Marks' challenge to create a frog. After some time and some false starts, this is the little fellow. In tradition of exotic frogs, I had to do him in pink <3
Now it's your turn to challenge me for a balloon again! First person to reply to the post can request what they'd like to see me make out of balloons! Until next time my friends...

This week in ballooning

2009-09-20T22:25:00.009+09:30

The day's Gone to the Cats...

What happened today? I went to the Cat Association's cat show today to make some balloons for young, and young at heart! It was a bit of a slow day, but I still kept myself busy twisting away! Anything donated went back as a donation to the Kitties. Something I did forget to do though was slip, slop, slap... so as a result I'm in a little pain...

.: Challenge Update:.

Thanks so much to Metanoia for challenging me to do a Dragon! I had some fun with the design, and this is how he turned out:

Keep your eye out for the next challenge if you think you have what it takes! ;) And I will still be doing that frog... Will be working on that one next!

Until next time... Twist on!

What happened at Humpty Doo...

2009-09-13T00:22:00.005+09:30

Today I had the pleasure of twisting balloons (not with Humpty Dumpty) at Humpty Doo! The purpose of today was to fundraise for the very worthy Woolworths Fresh Futures raising money for the local hospital children's ward.

Had a fun time twisting for the kids, not to forget some big kids too! Wasn't too busy but did manage to raise a decent amount from people's generosity. My faithful friend Corinna is a non-balloon twister (hey, I'm trying!) but is always there when I need her! She was sweet to accompany me today and help provide some comic relief. She took some photos for me... but still has my camera(!) so there will be pictures coming soon...

Update!

Here are some of the pictures from the day...

Of Balloon Dresses and Pop Culture...

2009-09-12T22:42:00.021+09:30

I like balloons. And I like dresses. So how much would I like balloon dresses? How long is a piece of string?
When I think back to what inspired me to make my first balloon dress, what comes to mind is some of the beautiful and awe-inspiring images of this website. And this is the website that helped to open many eyes into the world of balloon fashion.

What prompted me to actually create a dress was a class I am currently studying in VET (fashion design-- with actual fabric!) I'd had the strong urge as this time to try one and this presented a very good opportunity.

Here are images of my first ever balloon dress:

But from here I knew I wanted to try more. My next 'excuse' to create a balloon dress was to wear to a market. Not just any market but Mindil Beach Markets. Here are some images of that dress:

To the left you can see the finished dress which is more like a skirt.

To the right is my beautiful mother modelling the balloon hat.

The final chapter of balloon dresses concludes with the third creation:

Picture credits to Foolish Paul

This final dress was created in Sydney and worn at Supanova Pop Culture Convention 09. I wish the 'Pop' part alluded to balloons, yet more so the Popular culture side of things... Here's hoping to shake it up in 2010!

The next time that I have the chance to wear a dress created of balloons... I have a design inspriation in mind... watch this space!

.... to be continued?

Celebration... and CHALLENGE!

2009-09-11T22:56:00.008+09:30

Welcome!

Hi! My name is Sonia, and I'm situated in Darwin, NT, Australia! If you're viewing this page, it is validation that I am successful in finally creating a website of sorts to showcase what I do with balloons. Hopefully it will be an insight for you into the world of balloon twisting, and that there might be something for everyone. Something for you!

For me, ballooning has developed from a fun hobby into something so much more, and I delight in sharing my skills with others. Whether you are looking for a special one-off creation, need a twister for a birthday or a special event; possibly in need of a balloon teacher, please keep an eye on my blog to learn more about how I can help you!

As the content develops, I will share with you many things, including events I have scheduled and new twists I might discover! I've started off by showing you some of my favourite designs which you can see to the side.

As this web log develops, I hope you'll return and help me share in the joys of Balloon Twisting!

And to Celebrate... <3

Have a Challenge Balloon for me? First person to leave a comment can request a design from me and I will give it my best go!*

*disclaimer: The design is for your viewing pleasure and instructions will not be given.