Have you heard the Word?

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..!

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

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

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

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

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...

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!