Family Twisting

I was hired to twist for the Business Admin ND Christmas party Dec 11 and invited my family twisters to help out. Megan and Chris are both learning to be GREAT Balloon Artists. They learn quickly and interact with the kids and adults alike. I am so blessed to be able to share my talent with my family and see how well they carry on the tradition of bringing SMILES to everyone.

December Twister's Meeting

Our Michiana Balloon Twister's Club held our December meeting at Healthwin Home. We twisted for a few residents and then got caught up in the Christmas Spirit and built this sleigh. Everyone pitched in and I hope to get a photo of the group to add in a day or two.

Baby Discovery Party

November 4th we had a "Boy or Girl party". Amanda and Chris had their ultrasound to check on the baby and it was developed enough to determine whether it is a girl or boy. They had the technician write the sex on a piece of paper and put it in a sealed envelope. They took the envelope to a bakery and had them make cupcakes filled with a cream center ... blue for a boy and of course pink for a girl. We met at their house to eat pizza and then everyone got a cupcake. We all peeled off the wrappers and took a bite at the same time. It had a BLUE center ! A new Grandson ... Woooo Hoooo ! I made this table decoration to go along with the theme of our party. Once we found out it was a boy, I popped the pink heart.

After Mickey and his family headed home, Chris and I went to the Michiana Balloon Twister's meeting. We made a lady bug, laser gun, and a penguin. We talked about what to make for our January meeting and a few wanted to learn the Top Hat that I make. When Chris and I returned to his house he asked bout the top hat, so I walked him through how to make it and this is what it looked like. We used different colors to learn the pattern. I think he did a great job !

Afternoon at ND

I was hired to twist last Friday (Oct 29th)for a ND student activity. It was an outside event that the ND Ski Club hosted. They had free donuts, hot cider, popcorn, a table set up by PILLARS and Twister Mike ! This is John one of the Ski Club members that manned the donut and cider table. As always I had a great time twisting for the ND students.

Look A Like

Oct 16th after I twisted at Irish Green, my niece Karol was performing at the Eddy street block party. She sings with the band King Pao and does a fantastic job. I had let her know I was twisting just across the street and she asked that I bring her something. I had been wanting a chance to make a design called a lootle that I learned at a balloon workshop in Chicago. Here is the results.

ND Late Night Gig

I do 2 late night events at Notre Dame and I think they are some of my favorite gigs. The students are creative in their requests and really appreciate my twisting skills. These photos are from the event called Carnival End Zone that starts at 10:00pm and runs until 2:00am.

October Balloon Jam

We had our monthly meeting of the Michiana Balloon Twisters last night. Megan my Granddaughter, Chris my Son In Law, Michael a ND student, and I arrived at 6:30 to start the twisting fun! Of course with it being October we started with a Jack-O-Lantern and then some Ghosties. All 3 of the new twisters were jumping right in and making GREAT balloons!

I found my Perry the Platypus T-shirt at JC Pennys and thought it would be fun to try and make him out of ... Balloons of course !

Cats ! Sorry Sweetie

In all my years of twisting I have never been happy with any of the cat designs I've learned or created ... til now. A fellow twister had a DVD by Jack and on it he had this simple cat design. When learning and simplifying a design I usually make a few to lock it into my memory and here is the herd of cats that managed to survive.

My new apprentice balloon artist "Twister Megan" is doing great with 2 balloon gigs under her belt. I've managed to infect two more people with Latex Addiction, so stay tuned but BEWARE there is no cure for it ! Muaahahahaha

Wow ! Where did the time go ?

Ok ... it looks like I've got a LOT of catching up to do. August 6 I did Dog Days Of Summer Downtown South Bend. I was at the Colfax Cultural Center in the Art Gallery Area, so I decorated my area with At Size Balloons. This dog was about 2 ft tall and 3 ft long using 360 balloons. 360 balloons are 3" in diameter and 60" long.

Then August 27th I did IRISHenanigans which is a late night event at ND. I started at 10:00pm and finished up at 1:00am. I love this gig ! Lots creative ideas from the students and they also have the patients to let me design it as I go.

We are back twisting for ALL the Notre Dame home games. This Friday come see Twister Megan as she debuts her first ND Twisting Gig ... 4:00-6:00 in the Irish Green Area just South of DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.

Mishawaka Library Program

The South Bend Tribune was present at the class I taught for the Mishawaka Library and snapped a few photos and talked to a few people. I had a great time as usuall and the kids all seemed to enjoy it. I hope to have a few more pictures of the Make A Splash balloon display to post in a day or two.

That's all for now folks.
Twister Mike

Twisting at Lakeville Branch Library

This year The Lakeville Branch of the St Joesph Library asked if I would teach a summer program for them ... of course I said YES ! We had about 20 beginning Twisters including 5 parents. I started them out with a simple four pedal flower and then moved on the this cute little fish I found on the internet. Everyone had a great time including me ! I love teaching budding balloons artist.

Next Thursday I'm teaching the same class at the Mishawaka Downtown Library starting at 2:00. The Librarian of the Children's department said that the class is already full. Last year we ran a second class because their were a lot more kids wanting to sign up.

Back Again

Wow ! I wish I could tell you my computer died and that's the reason I haven't been posting ... but that would be a lie. As always, I let other things take priority over taking the time to post ... like ... Oh taking naps. ;0)

This month is when we make our large sculpture for the Mishawaka Library. Their theme is "Make A splash", so I came up the vision and sent out an email to the members of the Michiana Twisters Club with a list of "things" I wanted to put in our sculpture. This group really makes it easy to pull something like this together. We have a lot of talented twisters in our area. I built the backwall and floor and just placed the other's balloon creations where I thought they looked good.

This display should last about 3 weeks, so if you have a chance, stop by the Mishawaka Downtown Library and see it in person.

Passing On The Art

Last Friday and Saturday we had our grand kids sleeping over. Both Betty and I took Friday off and the kids arrived at our house around 10:30am. A short while after they settled in Mattey and Kaden asked if they could try twisting some balloons ... I think Meg was in on the computer. So I taught them a 3 twist dog with a leash and a flower. Both of them did really well, so I think I might have some helpers for future gigs !

Easter weekend we headed over to Doc and Jan's house and Betty asked if I would make an Easter Bouquet for them. Here is the finished arrangement.

This Friday our twister's group (Michiana Balloon Twisters) is volunteering for Notre Dame's Relay For Life Walk. We will be twisting for the walkers 6-8 on the second floor concourse of the football stadium. It is usually a good time as it is pretty laid back and we get to socialize a bit as well as twist.

Missed Last Week

I was attending the 2010 Spring Fling put on by the Clown Forum last week. I was there starting Wednesday afternoon and finished up late Saturday night. Dan asked me to teach a Balloon Twisting Class and to host the late night Balloon Jams. Soooooooo that is the reason I did not post last week ... Yep ... that is my story and I am sticking to it ! ;0)

At the Thursday late night Balloon Jam one of the twisters asked if anyone made a Taz balloon. I used to watch him every Saturday morning, so I tried my hand at making one. The photo is what I designed and he was very happy with it.

Tonight is our April Michiana Balloon Twisters meeting, so I should have some pics for a post tomorrow ! Got to make up for lost time. I love the beautiful weather we are having !!!!

March Madness

This month is flying by ! I was able to actually to do a little leaf raking last night after work. I love the Sunshine !!!! Since yesterday was St Patty's Day I thought I would post my favorite Leprechaun. No not the Lucky Charm's Leprechaun, but one I made for a co-worker's husband ... it was one I made for a Valentine's Day Gift.

This month we are also putting on The Spring Fling which is a weekend clown workshop. It will start on March 25 (Thursday) and run til March 27 (late Saturday evening). I will be hosting a late night balloon jam Thursday evening and then teaching a balloon twisting class on Saturday morning.

Should be a FUN time !

New Vehicle (Not Balloon Related)

This is my new to me Jeep ! It is a 99 Jeep Wrangler Sport that we bought a few weeks ago. It is a lot of FUN to drive. Hummmm ... come to think about it ... it is balloon related because it gets me to all my gigs ! This Saturday I have a Birthday Party to twist at the South Bend Chocolate Cafe. There are pros and cons about twisting there ... they are usually only half hour gigs, but you can spend the money you made before you leave the store ! Mmmmmmmmm .... I love Chocolate and my new Jeep!

Is it here yet ?

I am sooooooo ready for Spring to start. I thought maybe a few bright flowers might cheer me up. Yesterday the sun was shining and things started looking up ... but I know we are not through with the cold quite yet. I've still got to get a hold of when is the best time to post, so it becomes every week instead of when I get to it. :0(

A Spiderman weekend

Wow ! Time flies when you're having FUN ! I missed a couple of deadlines with everything going on. But I now have a Great new ... well new to me ... 99 Jeep Wrangler to get to all my balloon gigs. I put it to good use this weekend with a Balloon gig at Bethel College and a Birthday party in Elkhart. I made the small Spiderman (bottom photo) for Braxdon who celebrated his 4th Birthday and loves Spiderman. I made his Friday evening and then during a couple of slow times, at my Bethel gig, I started the Large Spidy. I finished up that one Saturday evening. I will try and keep to my once a week post.

Twister's Meeting

The first Thursday of the month the Michiana balloon Twister's hold a get together and we pick a theme to work on. With this being February we did do a few Valentine creations. I was helping another twister with a frog design and someone said "aren't we working on Valentine balloons?". So I added a heart to my frog and said "there you go!"

17 Pink Caddies

So Saturday morning as I was twisting the Pink Caddies, Betty says do I want to take a photo of them to post as I missed Thursday's post ! What ???? I missed my deadline ? Crud ! That means 2 post this week. Here is the shot of the ... well almost all of them ... I had to finish up 4 more larger Caddies for a total of 12 small and 5 larger ones. They were a hit at the fund raiser and they even raffled them off during the program. My fingers were a bit sore since I had a school fun fair gig Friday evening that ran an hour and a half over. 5:30-9:00 then we had supper and I started twisting at 11:00pm and stopped at 2:00am. Woke up before my alarm went off and got back to twisting at 7:30am finished up at 9:30, showered, dressed and headed off to pick up my Grandson Kaden to go to roller skating lessons. He did great !

We have our Michiana Balloon Twister's meeting this Thursday at the Mishawaka's downtown Library starting at 6:30 and running until 8:45. I will take some pics and get them posted.

Pick Cadillac

I was contacted to make up table top center pieces for a fund raising event that centered around automobiles and racing. After a little discussion we came up with Pink Cadillacs. I decided to take Don Caldwell's ride in car design and to downsize it for table tops. The first sample was too large ... they want the guests at the tables to see and talk to one another. This is the second sample and I will make one more out of 160s, which are half the size of the balloons in the photo. This week you will see 2 posts as I will photograph the smaller one when I finish it on Sunday.

Wonderful Winter ... Not !

The week passed really fast. Fast enough that I'm already a day late ! Balloon twisting wise it was pretty slow, but that's not a bad thing. December gets pretty crazy with balloon gigs, so it's nice to have it slow for a bit.

I did make a trip last month to a Chicago Jam that my buddy Pete Kovacevich helps put on. It's always fun and educational to meet up with other balloon artist to share different balloon sculptures and how to make them. A few of the Chicago artist make their living as full time entertainers or decorators.

This month's balloon sculpture is an original. I was brainstorming with Betty(my lovely wife) and she suggested a snow shovel since we have done a lot of that lately ! Hence my title ... I really do not like winter. A little snow around Christmas time is great, but then it can disappear as far as I'm concerned ! Give me Sunshine and warm weather ... but alas I am here because our family is here and they bring me my greatest joy. So I guess I can put up with a little cold and snow.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to post the photos.

In the beginning ...

Well here I am creating my own blog. My daughter will get a kick out of it ... I once told her I thought blogs were just a place for people to spew their thought out into the world. After seeing a few well run blogs I've changed my mind and think that this will help me keep in touch with all my friends and customers that enjoy my twisting talents. My hopes for this blog is to weekly journal a new balloon sculpture and any fun or interesting twisting gigs that I've participated in. My daughter-in-law has inspired me with her new program to try and add daily entries to their family blog. (Thanks Kelly!) But I am not that ambitious and think that I might be able to keep up with a weekly schedule instead of daily one.

The other reason for this blog is that I am a terrible journal keeper. There is just something about taking the time to put pencil to paper (besides my horrible spelling skills) that I have not been able to overcome. Our church encourages us to keep journals and once a year Betty gives me a new journal to take to Scout Camp. I can usually make 3 or 4 entries and then get too wrapped up with keeping the boys on track to finish their merit badges. I'm hoping that this will be a better way for me to "journal". I wish that my parents had left me with more information on their lives. The Standiford family has never been very good communicators.

So I'm glad that you've found or been invited to read about my adventures in the Wonderful World of Balloon Sculptures !