Based around the Children's entertainer market this is the only UK magic convention dedicated for just the
purpose of entertaining children. Alex Powell from The Albion Magic Company is the organiser of this superb
one day convention which is held at the Civic and Wulfrun Halls in Wolverhampton on Tuesday 11th Sept.
The cost for the event is £40 which includes three Star lectures, mini lectures and a buffet lunch.
Gary James from Scotland has been booked to run a lecture on "Running Magic Workshops"
This lecture will discuss fully the details about, "How To Sell" and "What To Teach"
There will be an early bird discount price and a night before party with competitions
and a special announcement to be made shortly, so watch this space.
For more details and to book, (Link)

THE BALLOON GARDENER. Danny Schlesinger will be performing his
fantastic balloon show The Balloon Gardner this Autumn. Danny
has run low on balloons and must grow his own. Seeds of hilarity are sown
as he attempts to cultivate big, bold and colourful latex shapes in pots. Can he
grow a prize winning balloon? The plot thickens with pests, wacky weather and eccentric nonsense. Putting the rubber into shrubbery; this fool for flowers
creates an organic garden of delights. Pop along - it's blooming marvelous!
Oct 8th, New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich. Shows at 11am & 2pm.
Oct 15th, Nuffield Theatre Southampton. Show at 1pm.
Oct 16th, Jacksons Lane, London. Show at 2pm.
Oct 27th, South Street Reading. Shows at 11.30am & 2pm.
Nov 4th, Siamsa Tire, Tralee, Ireland. Show at 2pm.

The Qualatex Halloween brochure has just been released with the bubble balloons having the advantage of staying
inflated for weeks due to their wrinkle free seams and pop-resistant stretchable plastic. No special inflating
equipment is required and the the bubble balloons are safe for use with all high pressure regulators.
Also available in the Qualatex range are the Magical Jack and the Floating Eyeballs

Thelma Levett, Sunday People
Thelma Levett who is a full time children's entertainer from Hinckley has just had a full page feature article in
The Sunday People (Link) and The Mail on Sunday, online (Link) both articles were about her balloon
wedding dress. Thelma was asked to make the dress with a Kate Middleton feel to it for the photo shoot that
took place in Kensigton and Hyde Park. Thelma's idea was the dress would be in the spirit of the Royal wedding
dress although the angle the newspapers and websites took was that it was a replica. The write up then went
worldwide and featured on over thirty websites including Weird News, USA and Shine on Yahoo. Taking up to
four days to make a balloon dress that has a very short shelf life needs true dedication and artistry to accomplish.
The bodice was made and woven from over 5000 un-inflated balloons. To read more about Thelma and the
balloon dress click on the links above or to see more of Thelma's excellent balloon artistry work
then take a look at her website; (Link)

Halloween Feature, Some exciting new designs for Halloween
are being launched by Pioneer Europe following good growth for
this event in recent years and will be found in the dedicated
Qualatex Halloween catalogue due to be released in late May.
A preview of the catalogue shows a magnificent 36" foil "Dracula"
shape and a huge Halloween Moon and Bats amongst the new products. Several new 11" latex designs have also been added
and will combine to make a great eye catching window display.
Each year, Qualatex introduces designs to add to
the portfolio alongside best sellers from previous years.

For those that are not superstitious Euro Jam is having its 13th Edition in Melle, Germany from the
11/13th October. The event is jam packed with Courses, Seminars, Workshops and the added attraction
of a 24hr around the clock jam room. Three full days of pure fun! The cost for the full 3 day event is
200 Euros with day tickets available, there is also the final evening Jam buffet night for an additional 20 Euros.
For more details and to book; (Link)

Paul Belanger and Sheree Brown-Rosner are organising the
second Florida Super Jam for 2012 in Orlando, Florida from 11/14th Jan at the International Palms Resort. There is an early
bird special of $99 if booked by the 1st May or $129 after,
this is the ultimate balloon jam with four days of continuous
balloon twisting available. There will be some great learning experiences with many surprises planned with balloon lectures
for artistes and entertainers, there will also be a chance to
perform your balloon performance show and have it critiqued
from your peers. Then not forgetting the added advantage
of taking in some of the local attractions on offer
including Disney, Universal Studios and Sea World.
For more details check out the website, (Link)

Tonya McNeill's New CD, Fun with 321's
Tonya's Fun 321 CD is now available for purchase, if you were wondereing what
to do with the new 321's from Qualatex and needed some ideas then this is an
excellent CD to get you started. There are 19 different figures and some have
multiple variations so 26 designs in all. All designs featured have a 321 as the
base combined with 260s and 160s. On the CD are: Dragon, Pig, Lizard, Bunny,
Beaver, Elephant (2 versions), Armadillo, Horse, Seal, Turtle (2 versions),
Unicorn, Deer, Monkey (2 versions), Kitty (2 versions), Squirrel, Tiger shark,
Sand shark, Dolphin and Angelfish. The CD is only $25.00 plus shipping.
You can save on the shipping expense and have the instructions emailed instead.
Payment can be made at; http://www.balloonjam.com/tonya/

A Beautiful Balloon Show For Grown Ups!
Masks, clown, extreme balloon modelling and lots of little bits of
paper comes to the New Diorama Theatre in London this March.
After his Peter Brook award winning production of Dr Faustas with
third party last year, John Wright (Director and co-founder of
Trestle and Told by an Idiot) returns to the New Diorama with
a theatrical double bill, Baby Boomers, his first full mask show
since leaving Trestle and The Confetti Maker, his first
collaboration with the renowned clown Frank Wurzinger.
Press night, 1st March, 7.30 p.m.
The New Diorama, 15/16 Triton St, Pegents Place.
Tuesday 1st March-Saturday 12th March, (no performance 8th)
Evenings at 7.30, Sat Matinee 3.00. Press night 1st March
Tickets £10.50 - £12.50. Details and box office, (Link)

The countdown for the Biggest Polish Decoration Convention has started. The
event will take place from the 17/20th of March 2011 near Warsaw. The main
idea of the project is to inform and connect decorators/twisters and create within
three days a flora and fauna decoration in a space of approximately 600 square
metres using 125,000 balloons including round, modelling and foil. They expect
more than 200 decorators and twisters, distributors from Poland and other
European countries to join the creation of the Beautiful World of Insects
themed decoration.Divided into 8-12 parallel workshops, students will
learn different basics and advanced balloon techniques from their team leaders.
The decoration room will be open for 16 hours per day, giving everybody enough
time to practice and finish his sculpture. Parallel with the Big decoration, different
seminars will be given by international teachers. Everybody is most welcome and
invited to join in the fun with all twisters and decorators coming from around the
world to join this event full of passion and creativity.Stay in touch with one of the
biggest and creative European Balloon Events. Details and regular updates about accommodation, arrival and the event program will be announced
weekly in the News at the BalloonsIT Website. (Link)

Twist and Shout (Link) is just around the corner with the added attraction of Fabrizio Bolzoni just
being added to the line up of top instructors. The convention this year runs from the 16/20th February in
Burlington, Massachusettes. Royal and Patty Sorell have yet again put on a full star line up of classes and
master classes for everyone. There is also the jam room which is open around the clock and CBA exams being
taken. Master classes are available from some of the industry leaders, Michael Clay, Vicky Kimble, Stretch the
balloon Dude. One of the more important events to attend during the convention will be Suzanne Haring and
Larry Moss who are running a Stage Performance masterclass, something that every balloon artiste requires.
Class instructors are all the above plus Tonya McNeill, Jon "J" Hubbard, John Watkins, Asi Cohen, David Brenion
and John "The Balloon Man" Holmes. The cost for the full convention is only $225 dollars on the early bird special
till the 14th Feb to get an absolute bargain on what is bound to be an excellent balloon twisting convention.

The Balloon Gardener on Tour 2011
Danny Schlesinger (Link to website) will be heading out on tour with
his brand new and very funny show “The Balloon Gardener”. Danny the
Wild Balloon tamer has run out of balloons and must grow his own. The tamer turns gardener. Seeds of hilarity are sown as Danny attempts to cultivate bold, colourful, latex shapes in pots. The plot thickens with
problem pests, wacky weather and weeds you have never even dreamed
about. Contemporary clowning puts the rubber into shrubbery; this fool
for flowers creates an organic garden of delights. Blooming marvellous!
"A big hearted show with big balloons! Great fun especially for the kids." Stuart Cox, Blue Elephant Theatre

TOUR DATES
February 21st, Haverhill Arts Centre, Haverhill, 2pm. February 27th, Quarterhouse, Folkstone, 2.30pm.
March 13th, The Arc Trowbridge, 3pm. March 19th, Camden People's Theatre, two shows. Time TBA.
March 27th, Discovery Centre, Winchester, 2pm.
April 10th, Watermans Arts Centre, Brentford, 3pm.
May 7th, Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury, 2pm. May 8th, Artsdepot, North Finchley, 12 and 3pm.
May14th, Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, Lincoln, 3pm.

HAPPY
NEW YEAR
Wishing everyone a very happy, contented and most enjoyable 2011. From the "Balloon Chat" team. Graham, Lyn, Danny
and Thelma.

Heythrop Park, near Oxford, Nov 5/7th 2011
At last, by popular demand, Qualatex are hosting another major event in Europe. The fabulous Country House
venue has been brought up to date with five star hotel accommodations and is for the use of delegates exclusively
The biggest House Party the Balloon Industry has ever seen!
20 leading instructors from around the world, Over 50 classes, Business advice, Keynote speaker, Jam room,
Competitions including large sculpture, 2 fabulous parties, Live entertainment, CBA Assessment.
For more details and prices for this fantastic balloon industry event, (Link)

Each programme has four acts performing in front of a live studio audience made up entirely of young children who will decide your fate! Danny is the extra solitary confinement act and will be juggling balloons and had to change his 7 minute routine down to just one minute for this television apperance. For more details about Danny, (Link)

Qualatex, New Range. Qualatex are producing a wide range of exciting new designs for 2011, most
of which will be on display at the Spring Fair. This selection of those balloons which are aimed at the very
young and includes two lovely supersize shapes, the Soft Pony and the Soft Giraffe. For Birthday celebrations,
there are the 18” round Happy Birthday Smiley Faces and Happy Birthday Jungle Friends, together with the
18” diamond Birthday Girl. Another supersize foil shape is the Happy Birthday Cupcake, a wonderfully
bright and vibrant balloon. Just a small sample of the 80-plus top-quality new designs being produced
by Qualatex for the New Year.

The Care & Share days have been running for over five years now and Graham Lee
would like to thank all those that have supported the days and provided sponsorship
over the years. Sempertex balloons for the first four years and Balloon Art Wholesale
for this year. The days now have a brand new sponsor, Qualatex balloons. It is a big commitment in both time and financially and the sponsorship is appreciated, it will
help in taking the days forward which will benefit our balloon industry while helping
to promote our art form to the general public. The days are expected to follow the
as known route with hopefully a couple of surprises thrown in along the way. The
sponsorship deal will run until the end of 2012 with three Care & Share days for
this year and seven days in 2011 and 2012.

A week not to be missed and one that will definitely change
your life. Welcome to the world's best balloon convention hosted by Leo Verlinden and all the gang. (Link)The convention kicks off with a gala award ceremony on the Saturday for the distributors of Pioneer Europe and then
it's non stop workshops, 24 hour jam room, evening entertainment, including the cocktail bar with Koen and
Jochem with there very special brand of humour and drinks. Then it's competition time with The Iron Latex Man, single balloon and multi balloon competitions. Artistes performing
this year at the convention include, Alberto Falcone, Dee
White, Flipo, Luc Bertrand, Mimosa, Peter Van Engen,
Robbie Firman, Sean Rooney, master of ceremonies being
Tom Bibo and Manon
. "WIN A "FREE" RGISTRATION"
Leo has very kindly donated a free registration to;
"The Millennium Jam"
in Mol, Belgium from the 7/11th Nov. All you have to
do is answer ten basic balloon questions and enter
a sculpture of your choice to be in with a chance to win
a registration worth 225 Euro's for the full convention.
Details about winning the prize can be found here; ()
There is also an organised trip to the convention
from the UK, more details can be found here.()

NABAS Balloon Convention.
"Festival Of Balloon Art" Stoneleigh Park, October 16/17th.
The design and portfolio day, Sat 16th, This exclusive one day hands on workshop gives 50 lucky people the chance to learn from the masters as under the instruction of Industry experts you will create a stylish and stunning room decor for the evening's party on the theme of "Fairy Tale Kingdom" from enchanted woods to charming centre pieces and captivating castle walls. Seminars and hands on workshops, Sun 17th with sixteen classes to choose from and a trade stand hall with many leading industry names. There is plenty to keep your day full to brimming with plenty of opportunity to learn from some of the leading Industry experts. For more details and to book; (Link to NABAS Website)

FUN IN THE SUN,
Dov Citron, aka "Captain Calamity" from Madhouse Entertainments has been in touch; I'm on the
look out for seven passionate entertainer's/magicians/balloon twisters, ideally with experience performing
in front of audiences of children and families. After some initial training you will head off to sunnier climates for
six weeks(end of July through August 2010). You will be given an intensive training program before you go live!
And then you will be out in some f...abulous holiday resorts across the med working on the Thomson Extra
entertainment program. Your main roles will be to deliver interactive character driven poolside entertainment
as an array of silly characters, perform party style interactive shows and evening entertainment. For more info.
Please contact Dov: 07985 535472 or email; dovcitron@hotmail.com

It's a great chance to showcase your talent and to
give back to the community and perhaps get some media attention along the way. Artists who take part get a free 2-1/4" button - this year again designed by the fabulous Nina Dees - and are listed in the on-line directory. Most of your other questions can be answered by checking out the website.
(Link to website)

Charity Auction Success

The Assembly rooms in Newcastle hosted businessmen and personalities from across
the North East taking part in a bidding war
for some highly coveted prizes at a charity
lunchthis month. Helping to raise over
£13,000 for three of the region’s top
charities was a balloon parody of one of
the north east's top comics, Brendan Healy.
This was created by Dillinger Entertainments
(Link) The parody raised £300, although
it was agreed to reduce that to £100 when
it was realized the bidder was slightly the
worse for ware and had been over come
with emotion at the sight of his favourite comedian modelled out of balloons.

Takes place April 15/18th in Dallas, Texas with over $10,000 prize
money up for grabs. There is a star studied line up of instructors to
learn from, including Tom Saeys, Alberto Falcone, Fiona Fisher and
the lovely Robbie Furman to name but a few with a grand gala show
and dealer hall to view all the latest releases from the balloon world.
Possibly the highlight of the event could be the behind the scenes
guided tour of the Qualatex plant into how the balloons are
manufactured, well worth a visit.(Link to website)

CARE and SHARE DAYS plus SPECIAL PARTY DAY
There are two care and share days coming up, Wed 28th April in Darlington (Details) and Monday 10th May
in Bristol. (Details) Both days run from 10 till 5 and will have three lecture/workshops to enjoy throughout
the day. Either day is only £10 to attend.
On Wed 30th June in Birmingham we have a very special day to put in your diaries,
"Celebrating The Art Of Balloon Modelling"
This will be a fun party day which will run from 10 till 6 with a mystery instructor plus all the fun, games and competitions of a normal care & share day with some added surprises along the way to make it a day not to miss,
with guaranteed fun for all. The cost for the day is just £15 and includes a buffet lunch. (Details)(To Book)

Larry Moss is after your votes to help build Elastic Park via the Pepsi
"Good Idea" Project, voting opens for the whole of February and you
can vote every day, The summary for the project is; Elastic Park is an
exhibit, featuring a unique blend of art, pre- history, and pop culture.
The multi-thousand-square-foot, interactive exhibit was inspired by
Michael Crichton’s popular novel, Jurassic Park.Balloons are the
medium used to create the exhibit. The unusual medium draws a very
diverse crowd both for the construction phase and the display phase.
This is important since all large scale Airigami creations are community
based art projects. Community members are invited to participate in the
100,000 balloon creation. Visitors will walk among the creatures of the
Triassic through Cretaceous periods, as described in Crichton’s work.
An audio tour with custom music and actor’s voices will guide everyone
through, describing the creatures, the art, and telling the story.
Voting takes place from the 1st/28th February (Link to vote)
Larry organises Balloon Manor which takes place every year in America.

Kidology, Children's Magic Convention. 7th September

Balloon chat member Dov Citron from madhouse kids (Link) will be presenting a lecture called, "What A Character!" which is all about character entertainment. Dov will be demonstrating how
to theme magic routines, games, balloons, 'call and response activities', music, circus skills and
puppet shows to keep them in-tune with current children's trends, tv shows, hobbies and
interests. With the right costume item quickly applied, coupled with appropriate catch phrases 
you can turn an entertainer into a Pirate, Superhero, Wizard or any number of different
popular kids characters, including different approaches to entertaining different age groups.
The great line up to the day, includes major lectures from Alan Shaon, (My kind of kids' show) Craig Petty (Close up magic for kids) and Gary Dunn (Entertaining with nothing)
There is a choice of mini lectures to see from, Dov, Steve Dimmer, Mike Bradshaw and Olly Chaston. This is a must attend event with fifteen dealers who specialise in props for the childrens entertainer. The day is run by Practical Magic/Albion Magic. For more details; (Link)

Billy realised he could bring happiness to
so many children, even for a short time giving
them the chance to forget about their illnesses.
Billy has returned to Belarus many times in
recent years and in May 2008 performed
37 shows in schools, hospitalsand orphanages.
For more information, photos and
video clips; (Link to website)

Lyn and Graham are having their very first sale, with many items being reduced throughout the website.
How long will the sale be going on for?
Well at least until the13th Jan at the "Care & Share" day that will be taking place in Banstead.
More details about the day; (Link) Price reductions on the website are;
160/260's £3.25, now £2.99. 160/260 metallic £3.75, now £3.49. 360's £5.75, now £4.99.
660's £8.00, now £6.99. With a special offer for three bags of 660 assorted, only £19.00
(Link to website)

Price Reductions. - The Sempertex website dealing with there online sales side of the business
have reduced the prices on the majority of products that are sold through the website by on average 15%.
The price reductions have come about due to the new courier service and the reduced shipping costs. Lyn
and Graham have decided that they have had enough of walking all the parcels to the local post office and
have just started to trial a 48HR courier service for the month of December. If things go according to plan
then from the New Year all parcels will be shipped this way, makinglife a little easier but more importantly,
all orders will have a tracking number so that at any time a parcel will be traceable. (Link)
Postage costs can be found here with full details about Insurance. (Link)

Marie Kindly sent this story in to share. So, I'm sitting in Craft Services, eating this delicious caprese sandwich, staring at the large monitor in
front of me showing that sparkling "V"-shaped stage knowing that in
less than one hour, not only will Super Model Heidi Klum, several
of the most gorgeous models in the world and The Black Eyed Peas
be appearing on it, but MY balloon creations!......... 
How did this happen?! Just over a week ago, I received a call
and was invited to New York City to create a balloon dress for
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.  Before I even had my
itinerary, they had changed  TWO outfits.  I'm a little fuzzy on
the exact details of the conversation because I was so excited,
I never even got the name of the person I had been speaking to,
I did eventually get it! The morning after I arrived, I met with the
head designers of the show.  OMG, what amazingly talented people! 
When I entered the room with the entire product and several of the
other pieces from the show, I was so incredibly intimidated. 
Rhinestones, crystals and feathers EVERYWHERE!!  There were
some of the most gorgeous pieces I'd ever seen in my life.  Sparkle,
glitz and glimmer to spare!  Even with the magnificence of all
this work, they were treating me like I was their peer.
I just kept thinking to myself,
"But I only make dresses from BALLOONS!" 
To read more about the story(Link)

It's time again, when twisters come together
for what is the very
best balloon event
in the world,
The Millennium Jam 10/12th November
with balloon lectures
from, Dennis & Ingrid Hogers, Flipo, Sofie Vandewyer, Tom Bibo, Thelma Levett and Graham Lee. (Link)

Patricia Bunnell Lecture,
Wed 4th November.
Patricia who has three best selling instructional
DVD's out, Country Critters, Twisted Critters Vol 1,
Twisted Critters Vol 2 will be coming over from the USA for her only UK date, doing a full day hands
on lecture workshop in Birmingham on Wed 4th
November from 10 till 6.oo p.m. The cost for the
day is £55 and will include lunch. Patricia will be
running two sessions throughout the day,
10.3o till 1.oo p.m. and 2.oo till 4.3op.m.
To book and for more information
on the day (Link )

Dov, Flying High
One of our balloon chat members, Dov Citron (Link to website)
aka Captain Calamity is certainly having a very good month. It started off for him getting a call to entertain at Rocco and David's party, these are Madonna and Guy Ritchie's children and then as if that wasn't enough he got the call to go and entertain at number 11 Downing Street to help publicise the seventh anniversary of the Children's
trust fund. All the events have gone really well and Dov is very
much looking forward to entertaining more stars in the future.

Exeter, Wed 17th Sept
Northampton, Wed 22nd Oct
Days are 10 till 6 with Graham Lee doing 2 lectures, basic in
the morning and cartoon figures in the afternoon, Mickey,
Tweety, Tigger.Also more than happy during the day so show
some basic weaving. We also have booked for the Exeter day
as the mystery lecturer Caroline, Bubbles the clown (right)
 (bubblztheclown) & at the Northampton day; Thelma Levett
(pictured left) (Balloonjam) is the mystery instructor.
To book online Click the link balloon (sempertexballoons)
The cost for the days is £15 pre-booked or £25 on the day.
The price includes a £15 voucher to spend on balloons at
the day so if you pre-book it's like a free day.

We have all of David Grist's DVD's back in stock on the sempertexballoons website -
All money raised goes to David's family; details are on the website with full descriptions of what is on each DVD.