After making the Seahorse yesterday, I thought I would have a go at making something else from the book today, as housework is boring

I have always liked his character designs, and love his "Igor" but rather than do a straight  copy, I used his principals to make this Quasimodo figure.

Yay....after an absolutely full up June and July, I have got no paid jobs, (although I can go busking whenever) all this week.

If anyone fancies, or has time free, and you fancy time at the sea side it would be lovely to see you.

(Direct train, Waterloo to Weymouth. Weymouth is the end of the line... any further you fall in the sea ! )

This was a strange one.

The Bride was fine, but they wanted the Groom dressed as Spiderman playing Rugby  :?  :?

Stormy Sam is the mascot of the RNLI, and as we are a busy sailing / fishing town the Weymouth lifeboat is very important to us here.

This week is lifeboat week, which started with the blessing of the lifeboat on Sunday, and on Monday there was a barbecue and display staging a sea rescue with the lifeboat and rescue helicopter.

To raise funds for the lifeboat, which is crewed by volunteers, and funded entirely by donations, last year I made a lifeboat for auction, and this year I made Stormy Sam, the mascot

I made this up yesterday, for collection this morning ...... hope they like her

Got a strange one to make now for a wedding I will be ballooning at tomorrow. A bride and groom , with a traditional bride, but the groom is dressed as Spiderman, and carrying a rugby ball. Will put up a pic tomorrow !

I have been meaning to do this for a while, and finally got round to it.

I know some people struggle a bit with artwork, so I hope these ideas will help make your princesses a bit more friendly looking. It really is only a matter of practice. as some of my early princesses looked positively evil

I have broken it down to a few basic steps, for the simple eye design I use.

1) With a white (Edding 750 paint marker is the best) marker draw, and fill in two oval shapes for the whites of her eyes. Try to keep them level, and rounded, not pointy at the ends

2) Then, using the side of the nib for a wider line,  make a nice curve for the top eye line. Start at the inside, ie next to the nose, and try to make them match as best you can. Then add the eye lashes along this line using the tip of the pen, for a finer line. Start at the outside of the eye, and go to about half way along, The lashes are little curves, not straight lines, and should be parallel with each other.

3) Now you need to choose her eye colour, and draw a circle for the iris, This should be round, and smaller than the white. Don't let it touch the top or bottom edges, There should be a little of the white showing top and bottom. Then add the pupil, a black circle. Be carefull with the positioning of this as you don't want her to look cross-eyed !

4) The final stage is now with the white marker. Add a couple of little dots for high lights. This is only a little touch, but you will be surprised at the difference it makes. This little detail will really make her come alive.

Out of all the pictures people take while we are working, not many actually find their way back to us, although facebook makes it easier for people to send the photos on.

These are some that people were kind enough to send me during the last week or so  

PS I'm the one with the hat on

Another character I am not familiar with, but had to make up last night.

This is my version, although I think Stuart has made some of the characters before.

This was a new character to me, so I blindly said yes I could make him before seeing what he looked like.

His head was a nightmare to make. everything relied on two raisin twists  

The boy whose birthday it was loved it, and his parents sent me these photos. Not sure how he stood up to the sword fighting though

It's all gone a bit Piratey this week.

The cake was made for a Birthday party I was at Wednesday (always nice to get weekday work   ) and the other one was picked up today for an event.

When making smaller designs, a CD makes a great base, with a lolly stick holding it all in, but I made a display bit when there was still the leftovers from a pizza in my kitchen.

Sand in the geo base gave the weight, and the Pizza base gave the balloon a level grounding

At W.H.Smith there is £10.00 off a pack of 24 sharpies (£6.99 instead of £16.99)

I know not everybody will use all the colours, but it is great to have them, especially if you make a lot of princesses. There are great colours for eyes and lips.

It has been fascinating to see the big sculptures Graham has been working on, and I love the way how we balloon guys approach a design in different ways.

I am not a fan of weaving, as I find it bores me, and I do not have the attention to apply myself to it, so this is how I do my big ones  

I made this display for a 50th Birthday Party Saturday

bit of random ballooning at the Wessex Folk Festival this weekend

As today is Earth Day I thought it appropriate to share this from the Frequently Asked Questions page on my website http://www.funtimeballoonsweymouth.co.uk

As we care for the environment all our balloons are 100% natural latex from sustainable sources, non-toxic, and completely biodegradable. They are totally compostable, and break down at approximately the same rate as an oak leaf.

As I do a lot of festivals during the summer, I get a lot of favourable comments from the organizers about this.

If anyone would like to use it, or any adaptations of my F.A.Q. page feel free

It is a little known fact that Pirates have traditionally been well versed in the noble art of Balloon Twisting. This is because it was not something they were inclined to brag about  

At an Easter Party I was at on Sunday someone could not make up his mind what he wanted, Olaf or a shark, so I made him Olaf being eaten by a shark    

Elsa, you're gonna have to build another snowman !

Yesterday I was ballooning at Portland Museum's Easter event, and Portlanders are a strange and weird kind of people, as this clip shows.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnVjkE87FDY

One of the superstitions is that you NEVER mention rabbits or bunnies. This is because a lot of the cliff falls, and land subsidence is blamed on rabbits burrowing under the island. In fact during the war, when meat was scarce, they were called  "underground mutton", never rabbits.

This made it impossible for me to make an Easter Bunny display, so I made this    

There you go, a lesson in folklore, and a pic of a bear who thinks he's a bunny !

I am doing an Easter event at a local museum today, so up early to get the first crop of balloons in.

These scraps I planted about a month ago have come up really nicely, let's hope the Summer crop will do just as well