Merry Christmas!!

Yup... This is just a post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Hope you are all doing well!!!

Choices

So, I did not work much of any balloon gigs this week, but I did go visit some family. Actually, I visited a LOT of family.

I took my girlfriend and we drove up to Alabama and saw a lot:
Her Aunt and Uncle, My mom and step dad, my 2 sisters, my brother, my grandma and grandpa on my mothers side, my nephew, my aunt and uncle on my fathers side, my grandma on my fathers side, my cousin, and all the awesome people and places in between.

It was a great experience I thought... It was really hard trying to see everyone all within a weeks time since they do not live in the same area.

The experience taught me a lot. So, here's my reference to balloons, especially with my experience in line work:

I've found that doing line work gives you two main choices. You can either try to get to as many people as you can or you can spend as much time with each person as you can. You can't really do both.

In reference to family, I chose to spend time with as many people as I could and then I made sure to let them all know that I enjoyed what little time I had with each of them. Some I spent a day or two with and some I was only able to spend a number of hours with. Just the same, it doesn't mean I care any less about any of them. It just means I only had that much time.

Balloons, like life, always offers a choice. Be sure you are aware of what you are choosing, what you are sacrificing, and what you are getting in return.

Wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays over the next few weeks!!
May your quality time also be quantity time.

Your Balloon Man,
Jonathan Fudge

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party... With Balloons!

So, I went to Disney for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party with my girlfriend and some of our friends. And, as you can imagine, some balloons were thrown into the mix.

Before I start talking about the balloons though, you totally have to make it to the Christmas party if you haven't already. There is FREE hot chocolate and cookies. That alone is AMAZING.

Anyway, we started the night making balloons for Peter Pan and Wendy. After I made them simple swords (So we could play "lost boys"), Wendy wanted a hat and Peter wanted a monkey to sit on his shoulder (not pictured).

Yeah, I was just as suprized to get the request as they were to actually see me make it. Well, here's the pic.

After making the balloons, Peter Pan asked us to follow him and wait. Well, we did. He soon returned with an awesome piece of paper or certificate certifying my awesomeness and he and Wendy both signed it for me. So, yeah... that was awesome and totally made my day, let alone all the other cool stuff we did.

On the way to the next section of the park, Briar Fox stole away one of the girls in our group and totally started to flirt with her BIG TIME. I thought it was hilarious, but her boyfriend might not have felt the same way. Just the same, everyone in the group laughed and had a great time with it.

After we chased them around a bit and goofed off, it turned out that Briar Fox, Briar Bear, and Big Al were all going to ride on the Aladin's Magic Carpet ride. So... Lucky us, we were invited to ride along with them and were automatically pushed to the front of the line with them to ride.

Not only that, but afterward, I got to make them a balloon. (What can I say, Briar Fox kept telling us he really wanted a rabit... What was I going to do? I can't deny Mr. Fox.)

This is him trying to catch him. Don't worry though, Briar Fox decided he was too chewey and gave him back to me.

I also made Big Al a balloon teddy bear. He liked it. So, we then went on to watch the parade. What I didn't know is that we were now being followed by one of the park employees....

He soon followed us to Aladin's group where I made a Lamp for Genie and then Abu told us he wanted Carpet made out of balloons. So, I did so. I even added another little "Abu" on there so that he would have some company.

A little scared with the guy following us, I decided to ask why he was there.

Yeah, it turned out that he just liked the balloons and wanted to see what else I was going to make for other characters in the park. So, that was really cool. We ended up having our own private our guide by the time the night was out. So that was REALLY awesome.

Before the night was over, I made balloons for Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Eyore, and a few others at the park as well. Yeah... It was definately a Magical Experience.

Xmas Jam!

So, Kenny and I totally got together and went over some Christmas balloon shapes.

You can see his post Here.

The balloon Jam was only about 20 mins to an hour long, but we made it a point to take pictures of most everything we made. The focus was mostly on Christmas balloons, however we did make a few "Holiday" balloons that we could twist for those that did not celebrate Christmas.

And in addition to the ones below, I also was reminded by Merissa that I could very easily make a wreath or a candy cane. Along the same lines a dreidel, star of David, or other Hanukkah items can be made as well.

Without further adieu, here are some of the pics from the Jam.

This balloon Christmas tree was made from a couple of green 260s, a brown scrap, and a white 260 for the "lights" or "ornaments."

This angel was a white 160, a blush and yellow, and then a diamond clear 260 for the angel wings and halo.

This hat was meant to be Santa stuck in a chimney. I thought it was hilarious. I can't wait to be able to make it at a party or event.

And the last picture are the other shapes made. It was a tiger, santa, monkey, and an elf. The tiger and monkey each have a santa hat on to keep with the holiday season. I could see how adding a simple holiday hat could change any figure to match for the holidays.

On a side note, my trip to Japan was AWESOME! I was able to twist for the locals of Okinawa and had a blast while I was doing it. I also stayed on the military base and twisted for a number of events there. It was wild seeing how even the military base was a different culture than I was used to, let alone the being in a different country.

Until next time...