Just found this on Ebay if it's any use to you:

//http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Qualatex-Super-Stuffer-Balloon-Stuffing-Machine-balloon-expander-/261023468282?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Celebrations_Occasions_ET&hash=item3cc6360afa

Wow ... Episode 4 is awesome ... loving the fire truck ... I want one  :mrgreen:

Hi all,

I was pottering through the forums and found this (extinct ?) thread. Thought I'd add to it.
I'm Damian Jay (//http://www.damianjay.com) and only started balloon twisting to add an extra dimension to my shows. Also to eliminate the cost of giving away 'prizes' during the shows lol. Balloons are soooo much cheaper and it's a great way to give the children something that they want rather than a piece of 'tat' from the £1 stores.

I purchased the complete David Grist collection from Graham and also Twistina's dvd's took them with me when working the cruise ships and gave the real models a go. Instant hit onboard with the models and I had a lot of free time to concentrate on learning and perfecting (still doing the last bit) them.
Now in my shows I have a lot of balloon models as prizes, most are pre-made but I do make a few during the shows to 'show off' I love the fact that I'm often challenged to make something for the Birthday child. Most of the time it's something easy but sometimes it can be a challenge (like a full size Disney Princess - Belle. I posted pics on here somewhere)

So where am I today.... still learning and now working on getting my speed up for making the better models so I can make these in the shows as well. My aim is 2 -3  mins tops (depending on age and my patter while twisting) to make a model in my show.

Hers a pic of me, the front poster on my roll on table fell of just as the pic was taken lol

Quote from: "nippy99"GUMBALL BRACELET

This bracelet is a little tricky to make. I am not sure if I am using the correct technique but I made the individual balloon balls and then stuffed them inside an uninflated clear heart before inflating. The animation is nice but I am not sure if gumball machines are that well known in the UK.

[ You are not allowed to view this attachment ] 351-gumball.jpg[/attachment:1tfiwqcx]

Hi Nippy99

Just an idea (forgive me if it's already been mentioned, I didn't read much further as The idea sprang into my mind) Instead of a Gumball machine, could you not write numbers on some of the balls and turn it into a National Lottery machine ?

I like that a lot :-) Gonna have to try that sometime this week, I'm sure the model will go down a storm in my Pirate shows. *light bulb moment* It would be cool to use him for a magical routine that used a parrot, a little magic and he starts talking (vent) and joins in with the show. At the end Give him to the Birthday child :-)

Thank you for the inspiration Anna :-)

Quote from: "Pam Pearce"I like the weaved bodice.. wish I had a waist like that these days

LOL Pam.... I'm sure you have a very lovely waist :-)

Damian

Thank you Lisa, It has turned out that way lol... another booking came in this morning with the request of a life sized Snow White :-)
Possibly this may have backfired on me with having to make even larger models than I used to, but hey ho, if it brings in bookings :-D

Hi Funat60, Ken just rocks :-) His superhero models have been a major staple in my repertoire for a few years now. I love the fact that there is more than one way to achieve a model. Granted some methods are much tidier than others, but as the saying goes ..... where theres a will..... etc

Damian

Thank you Thelma :-)
It was a little daunting staring off I will admit lol

Oh found the link to Ken Stillman's Build a Princess tool. Using this tool and by colouring in the various parts of the Princess, I could see how many balloons I needed for each element of the model and also what type I was supposed to use lol.
Heres the link: //http://balloonmaster.com/balloonclick/princess_click.html Once again, Thank you Ken :-)

Me again,

Here's a few more images of Belle, again thoughts and comments welcome :-)

Thank you for any comments you have :-)

Ok, the background to me making this was a last minute party that came in for today as another entertainer had let the client down. She phoned me in a panic last night to see if I was free, I was so booking taken.
The party was a Disney princess themed party and the Birthday Girl had her heart set on having a Belle princess balloon. I thought not really a problem but I'd like to do something a bit special so I retain the client's services for any other bookings :-)

So using a combination of the great program on Ken Stillmans website (Thank you Ken.... it was invaluable, will put the link when I re-find it again) and armed with an image I found online pic 1 (image credit to Balloon artist Brandon Ray's creations, including a life-size rendition of Beauty & the Beast's Belle.) I attempted the life size version of Belle.

Just a couple of points to make before the images.

I didn't have the 16" hearts to make the body, so I improvised with a little weaving. I think her waist is too narrow lol.
I have no idea how to make the shoulders and neck, so again I played about and did my own thing.
The rose is the first time I have attempted this particular style of rose, not to shabby for a first attempt. (I only had one red 260 so had to get it right lol, Typical that my balloon order arrive after I'd left for today's first gig, plenty of red now)
Again, I didnt have the correct balloon for the head, so I used a 5" pink round and put a raisin twist in the top to secure the hair at the top.

All in all I was quite please with myself, but the facial artwork (leaves a lot to be desired) does make her look a little stern lol. (I think Twistina should put out a dvd full of pdfs on how to draw character faces HINT HINT ;-) lol )

The Birthday Girl was over the moon and all the parents just burst into applause when I revealed the model onstage (hopefully the Birthday Girls parents will send me a copy of the photo to use as publicity) and I got 3 instant bookings from it, so chuffed to bits.

I did have a chuckle to myself when packing down as the Birthday Girl came up and asked me to "magic Belle to my house as Shes to big for me to carry"

Anyway enough of me rabbiting on, here's the images, Thoughts and comments welcome (yes I DO intend on getting Kens Princess DVD). More images will follow in next post :-)

Hi Twistina,

Just an idea, could you not ask you web / email provider to block his ip address and email address? send them copies of the emails as evidence as to why you want him blocked. Whatever you do, do not refund or he will have won.

Take a look at this website as I found it helpful in the past //http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Consumerrights/Situationsthatcanchangeyourconsumerrights/DG_183048

It clearly states

The cooling-off period and your right to cancel

If you buy something without face-to-face contact, you will usually have a 'cooling off period' of seven working days. It lets you can cancel the order for any reason and get your money back.

If you decide to cancel your order within the cooling off period, you must tell the trader in writing.

You don't have this cancellation right:

    when a new service starts immediately (eg paying for access to a website)
    if the item is personalised or made to order
    if the item is perishable, eg food or flowers
    for newspapers or magazines
    where the security seal has been broken on a CD, DVD or computer software
    if you buy something from an online auction like eBay - this is known as a private sale

If you have already paid for the items or services, the trader must refund your money within 30 days of you cancelling the agreement.

Also this part would be relevant:

When the cooling-off period starts

The seven working day cooling-off period usually starts on the day after you receive the goods.

But the trader has to tell you in writing:

    your right to a cooling off period
    how to cancel your order
    who is responsible for returning goods
    who has to pay the cost of returning goods if you cancel in the cooling-off period
    information about any after-sales service
    the address to use for complaints

If you don't get this information, your cooling-off period extends up to a maximum of three months and seven working days. For example if the trader takes one month to tell you in writing, you get a cooling-off period of one month and seven working days

So he is out of time to ask for a refund anyway :-) Throw the highlighted parts at him and he hasn't got a leg to stand on :-)


Another thought, When he says:
"I have given the matter thought today in anticipation of your email and I feel it is my moral obligation to warn people of not only purchasing this misleading products and additionally the poor customer service your response to my complaint has provoked, be it through word of mouth, internet forums etc."

If he does go ahead with this, it is basically SLANDEROUS and as long as you get proof of what he is saying / writing you would be able to take court action against him. LOTS of publicity for you in a GOOD way as I truly believe the positive comments from people on here represent just a tiny fraction of the support you will get from the much wider balloon twisting community :-)


Edit as had an idea
Just an idea for anyone who releases instructional dvd's or cd's ... It might be advisable to put a security label on your products to prevent people trying to 'scam' you for a refund. In this day and age it's all to easy to copy dvd's and cd's.  Here's a link to a security label website //[color=#0000FF]http://www.labellock.com/dvd-security-labels.php[/color]
(no I have nothing to do with them, and I don't endorse them in any way, it's purely a quick search in Google for dvd security labels. Other company's that do similar products are available and maybe even cheaper)

Sorry this post is a bit jumbled, I'm still learning how to make things look neat and tidy.

Aside from all that... Twistina, you are a true inspiration.... keep on twisting and teaching the world how you create such lovely sculptures xxx

Regards to you and family,

Damian

Your very welcome Junkos... I'm sure you will be inundated... Those balloons got me 4 instant bookings when I presented them to the Birthday kids lol :-)

Hi Twistina,

I would like to add my two pence worth as well. I purchased your PDF 5 minute wonder dvds at Kidology a few years ago purely because I fell in love with your cat model. From my own personal experience your instructions ARE CLEAR AND CONCISE. The images are wonderful and the final results are a joy to behold.

Are your models for beginners? NO. and you don't claim them to be either  :lol:
Do your models take longer than 5 minutes? - Like everything when attempted for the first time, YES  :lol:  but as one becomes more proficient at the models, the speed of making them increases.

Again I can only talk from my own personal experience, when I first sat down to make the cat model... It took me about an hour as I was learning something new, yes it was frustrating at one point and I burst a few balloons (I think it was the paws I was trying to make) however I was so proud of myself when I had finally completed the cat, it sat on my desk for a couple of weeks till it had become a deflated mess lol. It still takes me longer than 5 minutes to make the cat (about 10 minutes now) but when I do make one, the result from the clients makes it all worth while. (I'd like to point out here that I don't spend 10 minutes making models when I'm working at events. Most of the larger models are pre-made and taken to the event and assembled there)

I would PUBLICLY like to say a huge THANK YOU to you and everyone else who take the time and effort to share their wonderful creativity and knowledge with the rest of us.

As to replying to the email sender, A polite reply that I would send would be along the lines of:
Thank you for your insightful email. Due to the nature of the product purchased and intellectual copyright laws, it is not *insert name of company* policy to issue refunds especially after such a long length of time has elapsed.
We are genuinely sorry that you feel this way about our product and would recommend *insert product recommendation and where to get it*  which is aimed at the beginner balloon twister.
Thank you once again for your feedback, it is important to us
Kind regards
*insert signature line*
 
At least then you have replied in a professional manner and can't be accused of ignoring the twat :-) ... after that ignore the twat  :lol:

Whatever you decide tho, please DO keep sharing your wonderful gift as you always have done

Best wishes to you and family

Damian

Hi Lili Popi,

As a newbie here myself I just wanted to say welcome to what is a warm and friendly site, full of help and advice and inspiration for our art  

Hi Snurb,

What a great idea :-) ... too far away for me I'm afraid, I'm down in Fareham near Portsmouth. I wish you a successful event and a wonderful Birthday for the 12th May tho :-)

Damian