Never Fear, Balloon Girl is Here!

Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be in a comic book. Ok, not really but the band Beebs and her Money Makers was having a contest for their album release to dress as your own superhero and the winner would be put in their comic book. Of course I couldn’t resist and I came up with the new superhero Balloon Girl…notice the echo when you say that?

Her powers consist of making people happy since most people smile when they see balloons, being able to fly since she has a cape full of helium, balloon missiles that are surprisingly more powerful than they appear and finally when all else fails she makes a loud popping sonic boom sound to scare off the villains.

Of course her weaknesses are running with scissors, static cling and no pockets in her super hero suit.

The album release was the House of Blues in Downtown Disney. A lot of people were around for other Downtown Disney venues and were not dressed up. This made Balloon Girl a wee bit nervous at first and thankful for her mask disguise. But then she arrived at the HOB and met Pink Girl, BBQ Man and a plethora of other super heroes. There was no doubt that the HOB would be safe this night with so many powerful superheroes on hand.

Tourists were even stopping her to ask for pictures as if she worked for Disney. Balloon Girl didn’t mind and posed with the kids and even let them hold her ‘deadly’ balloon missiles.

Suddenly Balloon Girl’s balloon senses started tingling (yet another balloon girl power…sounds familiar though doesn’t it) and she was recognized by a group of friends that also happened to be attending the event. But said friends were very supportive and happy to see her and support her cause. (Note to balloon self – need a bigger mask).

Balloon Girl received a lot of compliments and won the contest! She was so happy you would have thought she had just won Miss America. But in her humble opinion being in a comic book is even better than that!

At the end of the night Balloon Girl, Super Estonia Girl and Electro Man scoured the parking lot for Balloon Girl’s invisible jet and headed out in search of more adventure.

Overall I….I mean Balloon Girl… had a blast and she can’t wait to see her comic book character!

Cat “Never in the same place as Balloon Girl” Cathy

Nude Nite - Take 4!

Every year I attend a trendy 3 day art event called Nude Nite. As you can probably guess from the name all the art featured is based on a nude theme but done in a (mostly) tasteful way. But this year instead of just attending I was an artist and a model in the event!

As I wrote previously, the director of the event liked my idea of making balloon dresses live at the event. My balloon partner, model and I quickly got to work making dress forms, coming up with dress ideas and accessories and lots of practice twisting. It was a busy and a stressful week of practice and performing at Nude Nite. I twisted for 6 hours straight on two nights at the event. I was so into the twisting that I totally skipped dinner on those nights…hopefully this will help my diet.

The last night I needed a break from twisting so I spent most of the night modeling one of my creations. It was fun to be in so many pictures and to joke around with everyone. I had a balloon weave top that didn’t look like balloons since they weren’t inflated so I had to explain to everyone that it was made out of balloons too. Then I explained that everything was made out of balloons…even my boots! After everyone looked down at my boots I would let them know I was just kidding about the boots. I also joked that you could find the outfit at Wal-Mart and that it was $10 per balloon pop.

We had 5 dresses by the end of the event and we let patrons try them on and take pictures. We were a big hit! I spent a small fortune on balloons and supplies for no compensation but I enjoyed it and improved my twisting skills and now I can consider myself and accomplished artist and model. I’m happy I tried it and I hope to make fun dresses for special occasions in the future. I’m pretty sure my model had a good time even though she was working very hard too. My partner on the other hand is still undecided as to if he had fun but I appreciate his help and hope we can twist together again soon!

Cat “Do These Balloons Make Me Look Fat?” Cathy

Twisting For Art

For some reason I can never seem to just sit still and relax. I always seem to have some scheme up my sleeve (or wrapped around me in this case). My current scheme is based on a hobby I’ve had for 15 years. I bought a balloon making kit way back when and I’ve been making balloon animals and hats ever since. It’s a fun little hobby and always a hit at parties.

I was totally content with my limited balloon twisting skills but then someone sent me an email showing balloon dresses and the challenge was on. I’ve tried a few times to make dresses with limited success. It’s quite a commitment of time and balloons to make one. With an event called Nude Nite coming up in Orlando which involves art based on a ‘classy nude’ theme I came up with the crazy idea to submit a balloon dress as art for the show.

Thankfully I was able to enlist the help of a friend with much better balloon skills and we made a sample dress for the show. Surprise… Surprise… Surprise… it was accepted! So now I’m busy setting up the theme for our ‘art work’, practicing my twisting skills and getting my balloon dress model ready.

I’ve always prided myself on my smarts and my athletic skills but I never really thought of myself as an artist or thought I had any artistic skill at all. So the idea of being an artist in a big art show is just amazing to me. It will definitely but fun and challenging and gives me yet another item to add to my bucket list. It just goes to show you never know what life will throw your way. Keep your options open and don’t be afraid to try new things and stretch your abilities…and stretch your balloons too!

Cat “Let’s Twist Again” Cathy