Black Cat Balloon Blog

Abraham Lincoln

2012-02-20T17:41:00.001-05:00

Happy Presidents' Day! Now get out there and buy a mattress or not get mail or...whatever it is you're supposed to do today. Me, I'll be hiding out until it's time to go get those fancy pre-Lent donuts tomorrow.

Lobster

2011-08-17T09:42:00.000-04:00

Captain America Shield

2011-07-28T15:25:00.002-04:00

I started messing around with this design while working at a restaurant yesterday and a tiny superhero claimed it before I even had a chance to finish. When my 3 year old found the one above (which I'd made last night and left for him to find in the morning) he woke me up with his screaming and jumping around.

Seems all of the kids are into Captain America these days.

So...

2011-07-22T22:33:00.002-04:00

THIS happened today:

http://teamcoco.com/content/conan-finds-something-better-louvre

My Flaming C balloon sculpture flew cross-country last night in a box slightly larger than your average coach-class seat and is currently hanging in Team Coco's Flaming C gallery at Comic Con. If I can't be there at least it is, threatening people from above.

The Flaming C #3

2011-06-15T00:42:00.000-04:00

I like this version much better than the last two. It's neater, cuter and smaller (18" vs. 5'6" or whatever insane size the previous one was.) Also, now I can say I've made him thrice.

Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius

2011-05-27T00:54:00.000-04:00

When my husband and I talk about introducing our children to the classics, we mean old Looney Tunes cartoons. Much to our delight, the kids have taken to it like gangbusters, especially the Coyote and Roadrunner ones.

That sign? That's my best impression of a panicked coyote's handwriting.

Batman

2011-05-23T15:07:00.001-04:00

After getting grilled by a tiny partygoer a few weeks ago on the subject of superheroes and villains, I decided it was time to work on some cute little party-friendly ones. The kid was all "I want Spiderman! No, Green Goblin! VENOM!!!" It broke my heart to tell him all I had was a second-rate Spiderman.

I'll get around to my new, improved Spidey and some other guys soon but I had to kick things off with Batman because he's my favorite.

Potato Head

2011-05-03T14:36:00.000-04:00

I still worry excessively about misspelling "potato."

Piranhas (have taken over the waterpark!)

2011-05-03T10:48:00.001-04:00

This guy's hell bent on getting himself into the upcoming movie Piranha 3DD and delivering the line "Piranhas have taken over the water park!" I'm nothing if not supportive of complete strangers on hilarious quests and I also love awesomely terrible movies. Go check him out!

Peeps

2011-04-24T00:59:00.003-04:00

Yeah, that's a fake Peep with the balloon one. I took this picture last Easter and I'm not sure what I was thinking.

I find Peeps vile. I hate tearing each one from its four siblings, leaving gaping marshmallow wounds on the sides. I hate how it feels to chew them. I hate their smell.

Still, they're darn cute and their appearance (along with the much more delicious Cadbury eggs) heralds the arrival of spring. They're also really fun to whip at people once they've achieved maximum staleness.

I hate them yet I love them. Peeps are Easter's paradox.

Darkwing Duck

2011-04-20T22:36:00.001-04:00

Let's get dangerous. Also, let's cast Nathan Fillion as Launchpad McQuack in a live-action version.

Zorak

2011-04-12T16:45:00.003-04:00

*blink blink*

I've spent the better part of this afternoon looking up Space Ghost Coast to Coast clips on AdultSwim.com. I especially like these two in which a pre-Daily Show Jon Stewart is pumped for information on late-night tv hosting by Space Ghost, deprived of oxygen by Moltar and threatened by Zorak. Business as usual and perfect examples of why I love this show.

Clip 1

Clip 2

Brak's up next.

Leave it to Beaver to drink all the beer

2011-04-07T14:17:00.000-04:00

In celebration of National Beer Day and International Beaver Day:

Perry the Platypus

2011-04-06T09:59:00.001-04:00

I made a Perry the Platypus from Disney's Phineas and Ferb at a Chick-fil-A last night based on a family's description of him. I liked it so much, I came home and did another one right away.

Pterri (Pee-wee's Playhouse)

2011-03-19T10:04:00.002-04:00

Tonight is Pee-wee's HBO show. It's been quite a while since I felt bummed about not having premium channels, but here we are. If you're in the same situation, here's a little something to make you feel better: Pee-wee's Ash Wednesday pageant from CONAN last week. It contains the best stage performance by a can of tuna that I've seen in years.

One last thing: I'd like to thank those who commented on the Pterri pic on my Facebook page using quotes from the show. I know you guys were totally doing the Pee-wee voice in your heads while you typed.

Angry Birds Hats

2011-03-11T23:37:00.025-05:00

Put on one of these Angry Birds hats and try to resist the urge to launch yourself across the room at people (or pigs or coffee tables.) It's impossible.

I was once a professional model for a clown-supply
store.

I am about to be destroyed.

Smurf

2011-03-01T15:21:00.000-05:00

I just learned that autocorrect doesn't recognize the word "Smurf". That makes it kind of difficult to implement my plan of making Smurf my new stand-in for swear words. What the Smurf?!

The Bear

2011-02-25T10:02:00.006-05:00

I dig Conan. Apparently, so does my balloon version of the Masturbating Bear. I made the bear, set him aside (as it turns out, under a heating vent) and then he got down to business.

He's been in my living room for a couple of days now, passing judgement on our tv choices with increasing and decreasing levels of activity. Besides Conan, he seems fond of G4's Attack of the Show and Scooby-Doo.

What didn't the bear like? Justin Bieber's new haircut debut on Ellen. (I guess he preferred the bangs, as activity levels rose during JB's interview with Conan.)

I'm going to miss the bear when he finally deflates. It's like having a dirty, diapered tv critic in my own living room.

(In case the wood-panelled walls have you wondering, yes, I do live inside a magic tree. From the 1970's.)

Bill the Cat and Opus

2011-02-19T09:36:00.003-05:00

During one of his first training sessions* last summer, my associate John accidentally made an Elmo with seriously lopsided eyes. Total Bill the Cat inspiration for me and where there's Bill, there must be Opus.

*Black Cat Balloon Company training session= my husband Sean, our friend/associate John and I hang out in the living room and make balloon animals while watching Tosh.0 or Venture Bros. It's all very official and business-like.

Strong Bad

2011-02-15T14:40:00.002-05:00

I still wear my old Strong Bad sweatshirt (from back in the dialup days when every video took forever to load and play) and we've been known to throw lightswitch raves in our house. Why did it take me so long to start making the Homestarrunner.com characters? I think The Cheat's up next.

Fhqwhgads

Ralph Wiggum

2011-02-15T09:35:00.001-05:00

I pretty much only have two uses for Valentine's Day. 1.) Candy and 2.) Ralph Wiggum valentine-related quotes.

Naturally, I spent most of last night working on this:

I choo-choo CHOOSE you!

ALF

2011-02-12T09:23:00.000-05:00

This quote from Wikipedia cracks me up:

"The production of ALF was technically difficult and demanding. All four lead actors – Max Wright (Willie Tanner), Anne Schedeen (Kate Tanner), Andrea Elson (Lynn Tanner) and Ben Hertzberg, also known as Benji Gregory (Brian Tanner) – have admitted to a high level of tension on the set.^[7]"
"High levels of tension" on the set of a show about a wisecracking, cat-eating alien puppet. I get it, man. I've only had the ALF balloon in my house for a couple of days and I'm beginning to resent it. His popping day is nigh.