Balloon Chat
Uncategorized Boards => Balloon Review => Topic started by: Graham Lee on October 06, 2015, 08:44:50 PM
I have just sat and watched DVD two that is on flowers, there are 15 designs in all with five in the easy section, five a little harder and then the last five a little harder still.
I was shocked, I did not realise I coloured my hair :o :o Oh no I didn't, I have just gone grey :(
Mind you it was recorded in 2008 so a few years back now.
Well I had a look and again there are a couple of designs that I had forgotten about, so a suggestion,
if you do have some balloon modelling DVD's then take a look at them as there might be things you have forgotten about and can use as like new and they are just sitting up on your shelf.
So from the easy section one design stood out, then from the middle section there were two I wanted to have a play with and then my favourite flower from the last section.
Although I'm having a play with a different design from this section at the moment so might not show my favourite flower here.
So the white flowers are how they appear on the DVD from seven years ago, I think they have a simplistic elegance about them.
The next picture is possibly how I would have made them today if we were making the DVD.
I do explain the 8 petal weave on the DVD but only made a 6 petal flower for this sculpture.
I was just re-sizing the pictures and getting things ready to post the instructions and these two pictures were on my screen, taking up the full size and were so.......
so colourful that I thought I would post. You will see two and three pictures of the came shot, I always do this in case one is out of focus or better than the other.
My screen was full of colour that I expect will not come over here as I had to down size and put into two pictures.
Here we go then with the first instructions for DVD 2 on Flowers, I rather like this design. I will be sharing the updated version,
so the 8 petal 160 with the vase sitting on the 260 or a geo blossom balloon.
Inflate the 160 for the flower and leave approx. 6/7 fingers un-inflated, I made eight 4 finger fold twists.
It is best to pre-stretch the balloon before inflating and then stretch again when inflated,
when inflated just gently pull the balloon through your hand that should be in a fist shape, you will get 3/4 fingers more in length on the 160.
Make the first 4 finger fold twist, this is an 8 finger bubble folded over.
Before each fold twist gently squeeze the balloon to make a softer fold twist, this will make it easier to work with and to manipulate.
Repeat again, pictures below show the first, second and forth twist.
Carry on till you get eight 4 finger fold twists.
Inflate a 160 green to leave 4 fingers un-inflated, make two 2 finger twists and tie the knot through the two twists.
You then have to make these into two pinch twists so take the balloon over the centre twist twice and back, or make in your favourite method.
You then need another 2 finger pinch twist, rather than the three pinch twists you could just have a tulip/apple twist for the centre of the flower.
I think the three pinch twists look bolder.
Attach the pinch twists to the centre of the flower, slip the 160 green between a couple of the petals,
then run the green 160 around a couple of petals and back over the 3 pinch twists to get a tight connection point.
You should have a 3 finger un-inflated balloon left at the other end of the 160 green, I tie a knot in this so that it is easier to make the pinch twists for this end.
You must have a 3 finger un-inflated part of the balloon as you have to make three pinch twists for the centre of flower
and then two more pinch twists in the stem so the flower will sit looking forward.
Push all the air to the end of the balloon and from the knot make two 2 finger bubbles the same as we did for the other end, make into pinch twists.
Then one more 2 finger pinch twist and attach this end to the other flower that you are just about to make as per the instructions above for the first flower.
Twist the 160 green off centre so that one flower sits slightly higher than the other,
I think this looks more pleasing to the eye but please make the flower so it's pleasing to your eye, what do you think looks better?
I stretch the 160 through the hand to make the balloon a little softer here.
From the back of the flower you need a 1 finger bubble and a 2 finger bubble.
I make a 3 finger bubble first from the back of the flower and then twist the smaller bubble.
Then make the 2 finger bubble into a pinch twist, this will make the flower look forward and position the stem downwards.
The side view of the back of the flowers.
The vase/foliage, inflate a 160, I used lime and I left 4 fingers un-inflated when blowing this balloon up. You can decide if you like more or less of this balloon.
Tie into a knot and then twist into a figure of eight.
Twist the centre of the figure of eight into the twist of the green 160 for the stem of the flowers.
Now move onto the base, at the end I will post a picture with the flowers sitting on a 6" geo blossom base which is quick and easy but here I will explain the 260 base.
Inflate the 260 balloon, I used the same colour as the flower so a wild berry. Leave 7 fingers un-inflated and make a 3 finger fold twist,
tie the knot through the fold twist securely and carry on making another seven 3 finger fold twists.
The picture below is four fold twists so half way.
You could just have six fold twists from one balloon or have two balloons and make four larger fold twists in each and interlock those.
There are many ways to get from A to B.
At the half way point you should have at least a 3 finger bubble un-inflated at the end, if not with the next 260 balloon you use leave a little more un-inflated before you start.
We all twist slightly differently.
Take the excess of the 160 lime and secure a few times around the 8 finger 260 balloon used for the base.
See how the green balloon sits with the lime, try to get yours to match.
Inflate another 160 to act as the ribbon, I used pink. Inflate and leave a 4/5 finger bubble un-inflated, we are not going to use all the balloon.
Make a 4 finger bubble and a 2 finger pinch twist and then a 4 finger fold twist.
You then need another 4 finger fold twist, hold the pink balloon up to the base of the design and wrap the pink balloon around the base and twist back into the two fold twists.
On mine it was approx. a 12 finger bubble, try to squeeze the air out of the 160 so it looks a little thinner around the base.
Make another 4 finger bubble and discard the rest of the 160 pink.
I like to shape the bow a little by squeezing the 160, this is the heat friction technique, friction-twist-shaping-t1092.html (http://balloonchat.co.uk/friction-twist-shaping-t1092.html)
The vase/foliage lime 160 has to be shaped with the friction twist as well, just hold the end of the balloon in your fist and squeeze the balloon pushing the air back down the 160.
You can see the difference between picture 35 and 36 where this is done.
The design using a 6" geo blossom balloon.
I took a picture of them both together.
Very cute and super simple
May well be borrowing that Graham - thanks for posting it
For completeness and also as someone did ask on facebook how the flowers were held in place using the geo blossom base.
The excess from the lime 160 that was used for the vase/foliage can be used to tie the flowers around the two pinch twists that are underneath the geo blossom.
You could possibly make two pinch twists in the 160 lime as well rather than use a completely new balloon.
I inflated a 260 with 2 fingers inflated, this was split into two equal bubbles and then pinch twisted together by pulling the knot of the balloon over the centre of the two bubbles.
To weight the geo blossom down you could double stuff a 5" round balloon and either add water to the balloon or sand to approx. a 2" balloon.
The knot of this balloon would then go up through the geo blossom and wrap around the centre point of the flower stem and vase/foliage.
Gently snuggle the two pinch twists into the geo blossom and wrap the excess of the lime 160 around the two pinch twists.
This will be next week's flower that I will post the instructions for, you can add to the look with the yellow 260 or 160 for the centre.
I only put them in the geo blossom so it was easier for the pictures.
Before inflating the 260 pre-stretch the balloon, pull it through your finger and thumb to make the balloon inflate approx. 3/4 fingers longer.
I make the petals 5 fingers and 2.5 fingers, for the first few flowers perhaps try 4 fingers and 2 finger petals. There is a picture later showing the difference.
Or you could do a 5 petal flower instead of the six.
So here we go, inflate the 260 and leave 6 fingers un-inflated, make a 5 finger bubble and a 2.5 finger bubble and push the knot through this twist twice.
You now need to make six of these altogether, the first four being shown here. As I make each twist I gently squeeze the balloon to make each bubble a little softer.
So once you have 6 of these they will look a little like this, the one on the left is a 4 and 2 bubble and the right one a 5 and 2.5 bubble.
Then take a 160 green and inflate leaving a 4/5 fingers un-inflated. Make two 2 finger bubbles and push the knot of the balloon through the two bubbles a couple of times.
You now have to make these two bubbles into pinch twists, so I take the knot of the balloon over the centre of the two bubbles a couple of times.
For me this makes both pinch twists even and with the same pressure inside both bubbles, you can just do the pinch twists one at a time if you prefer.
Then make another two finger bubble and pinch twist this into the two you have already, so making the centre of the flower with three 2 finger pinch twists.
Gentle push the stem in between two of the flower petals.
Once the stem is fully in the centre of the flower we then need a small 1 finger bubble and then three 2 finger fold twists,
all the fold twists go into the first twist at the back of the flower.
You then need approx. a 7 finger bubble and a 5 finger fold twist. The five finger fold twist is a 10 finger bubble twisted back on it's self.
Make the second 5 finger fold twist, I then push the remainder of the lower part of the stem up into one of the fold twists and then back down and through the other fold twist.
This stops the fold twists from being un-twisted
Slightly bend the upper and lower part of the stem to make the flower look like it has movement.
I just put the flower into the geo blossom base to get a nicer picture, but this would finish it off nicely.
If you wanted to add colour to the centre, cut a 160/260 in half and put a 1/2 finger bubble into both.
You could use the end of two balloons or do as I did and add a knot to the end of both so it looks symmetrical.
I made the centre's slightly smaller, approx. a 3 finger bubble un-inflated.
Attach this behind the three pinch twists and pull out into the centre of the three pinch twists.
The flower on the left is the 4 and 2 bubbles for the petals and the one on the right the 5 and 2.5 bubbles for the petals.
I also used a 260 for the stem of the larger flower, please try both and see what is most pleasing to your eye.
Hopefully your flowers will look a little like this?
Onto the last balloon explained form DVD 2 on Flowers, this is one of my favourite flowers, not sure why, I just have a soft spot for it.
Off to make a couple of versions and then get some pictures.
Here we are,
Inflate the 260 leaving 6 fingers un-inflated.
You then need to twist a 4/5 finger fold twist, once you have made a few a 4 finger fold twist will work but start with a 5 finger fold twist to begin.
Make three of these, gently push the air along before each fold twist so the balloon has a little give in it.
Make a 4 finger bubble and then three 2 finger pinch twists.
You then need a 4 finger bubble twisted into the three fold twists and then one more 4 finger bubble back to the three pinch twists.
Deflate the rest of the 260 which is next to the pinch twists, I pull this un-inflated section tight and around the three fold twists,
it helps to make the flower a more solid construction.
I normally add the stem at this point but will show what the underside of the flower looks like without the stem being in the way.
You have to gently push the fold twist up and around one of the 4 finger centre stem bubbles.
Do the same with the other two, remember though I would normally do this once the step was attached to the flower.
The top of the flower should look a little like this.
I have put the fold twists back down and this is how I attach the flower stem, inflate the 260 leaving 5 fingers un-inflated.
Make a small 1 finger bubble and this twist goes around the three fold twists.
You then need another 1 finger bubble and then a 1 finger fold twist.
The knot of the stem goes around the pinch twist,
you have two small bubbles supporting the head of the flower by doing it this way rather than one so making a better stronger connection.
You then need three small fold twists, around 2/3 fingers, these are twisted into the pinch twist.
Push the fold twists up and around each of the 4 finger centre flower bubbles.
I then had a 6 finger bubble for the top section of the stem, you might like this a little shorter or longer, depends what is pleasing to your eye.
I then made a 5 finger fold twist followed by a second 5 finger fold twist,
the bottom section of the stem is pushed up inside one side of the stem fold twist and then through and down the other fold twist so that these fold twists will not come undone.
I put the flower into the geo blossom just to get a nice picture, it's just a push fit.