I was a huge Sculpey user when I was in high school—that’s really when I was figuring out that I loved to make three-dimensional characters. So when Denise sent me this photo of her little Sculpey grassies (inspired by my free pattern Grass), I got all full-circle nostalgic about it!

It’s also exciting to see a Mochimochi designs rendered into a non-knitted medium. I would love to see more of that!

Denise was also the winner of our 2nd Mochimochi Photo Contest back in 2008, with her adorable photo of Stackable Cats playing slug checkers. It still makes me giggle!

This weekend my mom and I were enjoying a relaxing drink at a bar when we were startled by a loud BANG that came from the next table over. It was a twisty animal balloon, sitting by itself, that had popped for no apparent reason. (It had come with a group of kids, because this is Brooklyn where bars are all ages all the time.) 

Balloons are so fascinating—they can be sweet and airy, twisty and violent, goofy or graceful. Here’s my favorite ballon image that I found recently (via Architizer), of one of the first balloons used in the Macy’s Day Parade. 

Felix seems a bit heavier than his helium-filled counterparts of today!

I was happy to read all the many different tiny balloon poems that you all came up with over the weekend—some were charming and cute, some were a little sad, and many were ludicrously funny. (It quickly became obvious that balloons and baboons were meant to be in poems together.) 

There were so many great entries that it was impossible to choose just one winner, but in the end, John and I narrowed it down to two. 

you are fat and round
full of air and maybe spit
careful of those pins

That sweet balloon haiku was by Rachel! And here’s our other winner:

I had a lovely afternoon
Running with my red balloon
Until I tripped and let it go
It drifted up; left me below

Then dear Anna heard my cries
And felt a tear in her own eyes
So she knitted all the night and day
For yarn balloons don’t fly away

That one was by Johnna! (And I promise I didn’t pick it just because it had my name in it, although that was a flattering touch!) 

Both of these poets win the PDF pattern for Jumbo Gnome! 

If you haven’t please check out the other wonderful entries in the comments on Friday’s post. Stay tuned for a little more fun with balloons this week!