NICE!  I'm gonna have to work with that one tonight!  If I have time after making my cows that is.  We've got a Chick-Fil-A gig tomorrow so I gotta make cows tonight to take with me.

He looks like Stripe!!

TOO CUTE!!!  Question, is the body of that last one a 321?  I need a new balloon for boys.  That would be perfect to add to my list!

Quote from: "Professor T Wist"Thought I would get my question in early as we are off on holiday tomorrow.
Who would you most like to make a model for and why? What would you make them ?

I love to twist for anyone!  But I would most like to twist for some of the more experienced twisters that could give me tips on improving my art - Like Don Caldwell, Ralph Dewey, Graham, Thelma or Bonnie to name a few.

As for what I would make... Not a clue!  Whatever they asked for probably!

Finally, a chance to answer the rest of the questions!

15, How do you book yourself?
     Right now we are mostly word of mouth.  I tell anyone & everyone I meet that my husband & I are clowns & entertainers.  I carry business cards & a small photo album with me where ever I go.  We also have cards & brochures with us at all events.  I've got our website up & running & I'm hooked up to a couple of different party planning & booking websites from there but nothing has come of that yet.

16, What's the biggest thing you've ever made?
     The biggest thing... Hmm.  The most balloons was my carousel [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ] carousel.jpg[/attachment:24gjtaxu]
But the Hula Monkey I made for a party a couple of weeks ago was taller

17, What has been your proudest achievement in our wonderful world of twisted latex?
     My proudest achievement so far is getting to the point where I can see a picture of a balloon creation & for the most part, recreate it myself. (Remember I'm still fairly new to this twisted world of ballooning!)

18, What advice would you give to someone starting out, or wanting to increase their business?
     Never give up or be afraid to put yourself out there.  If you don't ask you may never know.  So tell anyone & everyone you know that you're in the entertainment business.  Always be prepared with business cards & brochures if possible.  Remember that you have to invest money to make money.  I can't tell my friend that enough.  She's all the time trying to get gigs & stuff & can't understand why I'm getting them.  I've invested my time & money in business cards, cardstock paper for brochures, putting these things together & printing them myself to save some money, and I've taken the initiative to donate party packages to auctions & drawings for some of the school & fundraiser events we've been at.

19, What road in latex do you see yourself taking in the future
     I would love entertaining to be my full time job.  But for now it's a great source of extra income.

20, What is your personal goal when you set off to work? Is it money or to entertain etc?
     First & foremost, when we are clowning or twisting, it's a ministry for us.  Then entertainment, then a source of income.  We believe that God has given us the talents & abilities to do what we do & we see every gig as an opportunity to serve Him.  There's nothing like handing a balloon to a child & seeing that smile.  Or watching the amazement when my husband does one of his magic trick or juggles.  The money that we make from doing what we do is just one of the perks.

21, What are your balloon goals for the future?
     I want to learn & get faster at multiple balloon creations that can be used in restaurants & line work.  So many times I get stuck in the rut of a 1 balloon dog w/ a leash.  But, when that's what the kid wants...

22, If you could start all over again, would you change anything?
     I don't think I really would change anything.  Except maybe to spend more time working on my balloon creations.

23, How would you like the future of balloon modelling to develop?
     I don't have any idea how to answer this.

24, Who's the most famous person you have made a balloon creation for?
     Has to be the Chick Fil A Cow     But there was also Dooley from an appearantly famous kids show.  I had never heard of him, but after the event where we met him, I did a search.  //http://www.dooleyandpals.tv/Show.htm You can see pictures of Melody the clown with Dooley & the Chick Fil A Cow on my website //http://www.royalruckus.weebly.com  on the Random Photos page

25, How do you keep the enthusiasm going & what still excites you about our great world of latex?
      I get excited learning new things & finding new types of balloons to work with.  I never knew so many things could be made with round & heart shaped balloons!!

26, What inspires or is your thought process in coming up with a new design?
     I'm inspired by a challenge.  When a kid comes up & asks me to make something, I may tell them then I don't have one yet, but then I'll go home & work on it until I come up with something.

27, Who would you like to work with dead or alive?
     I'm so new to this wide world of twisting!  I want to work with anyone that teach me new techniques & creations.

28, What makes you laugh?
     Kids make me laugh.  When my husband is juggling & he gets one of the kids to try, it's hilarious!  Stupid jokes also make me laugh.  How does a camel hide in the desert?  wearing CAMEL-flage, of course!!

8, What's your favourite thing to make at the moment?
     Probably my Chick Fil A Cows.  Check out my website soon for pics (//http://www.royalruckus.weebly.com ) We've had several gigs with them lately, 1 more scheduled right now & hopefully many more in the future!

9, What is the most asked for model?
     The most asked for seems to be the poodle with a leash.  It's a simple 1 260 balloon dog with a 160 for the leash.  For some reason if I make 1 the little girls see & that's what they all want - no matter how hard I try to convince them to take something else!

10, What do you tend to do more of if stuck in the 'balloon production line' model?
     There are 3 things that I seem to make more than anything.  The dog w/ leash mentioned in #9, a 1 balloon monkey on a tree & a simple hitch hiker hat with whatever head the kids see 1st(spiderman, alien or google eye smiley)

11, Who is your market aimed at?
     We are geared mostly to kids, but not exclusively.
12, What kind of work do you do mostly - parties? Corporate? Etc
     Lately we seem to have more restaurant gigs since we've hooked up with Chick Fil A.  But we're available for parties, corporate functions, school carnivals & such, church events, family reunions, just about anything really.  We've even done a few fundraisers like Relay for Life.  We've got a gig lined up for November for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  We're actually fundraising for that one our selves.  Check out my website //http://www.royalruckus.weebly.com for more infor on our Clowing for a Cure campaign!

13, What is your favourite/ideal gig to do?
     Hmm... this is a tough one.  I love any opportunity to play with balloons!  But if I had to choose a favorite, I'd say something that helps give back to the community - like the Relay for Life or Light the Night walks.  We might not end up with as much in our pocket after a gig like this, but the portion of our profit we donate goes to a good cause.  And who knows what kind of contacts you'll get from an event like this!

14, What irritates you most at a gig?
     See answer to question #4 in the previous post.  That & when the parents don't do anything to stop the kids from being so annoying.  I can't stand it when a parent just stands there & lets the kid touch all my stuff & get all up in my space & doesn't say a word, especially after I've even told the kid to back up & quit touching stuff.  Or worse yet, when there's no parent or any type of supervision anywhere around.  That really irks me.

Here's answer set # 1:

1, What road led you into balloon modelling?
2, when did you get started with balloons?
     1 & 2 I will answer together because they go hand in hand.  I actually started clowning first in April of 2007 with the clown ministry from our church.  I wanted something to set me apart from the other clowns so I picked up balloon twisting in October of that year.  My husband & I entertain together.  We actually have 3 different personalities each - 2 clowns & 1 entertain each.  Our entertainers are Ida Twister & Nada Twister - I'm the twister, he's not a twister!

3, What's your best twisting experience?
     Gosh, it's hard to pin point 1 best experience.  I love to see the kids' faces & parents' too when the kid asks for something & the parent says "they probably can't make that, why don't you pick something simpler" & then I'm able to make it.  The smiles & surprised looks over some things are priceless.

4, What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you during a ballooning/entertaining session?
     The worst & my least favorite thing about twisting is annoying kids who come up & just start picking up stuff & touching things on my table like my balloons, pump, markers, etc.  We haven't really had a bad twisting experience anywhere, just a few bad kids that really work the nerves from time to time.

5, What do you most enjoy about twisting & why?
     My most favorite thing about twisting is seeing how something as simple as a 1 balloon dog can brighten the face of a child.  I just enjoy making people happy.  I love being able to share with the kids & adults alike.  I see twisting as a ministry.  God has blessed me with this creative ability & has really begun to open doors for extra income through clowning & twisting.  So even when we're not at a church function, we can sill use entertaining as a way to tell other about Jesus & what God has done for us.

6, What's your favourite age to entertain?
     I don't have a favorite age to entertain really, but if I had to choose, I'd say either the younger kids because even the smalles of things is usually appreciated & entertaining to them or the adults becuase they're just fun to joke around with.  And who doesn't love a balloon?!?!

7, Do you have the same act but vary the presentation for all ages or do you have set acts for different ages?
     We don't really have an act that we follow every time.  We go by whatever the event is & adapt what we do to the audience we have at the time.

First, let me say I'm honored that Graham chose me to share with you this week.  Yes, today is a special day.  It's the 12th anniversary of my 21st birthday!  (For those of you who have difficulty with math, that's my 33rd birthday       )  Anyway, I'm happy to share what I can & I'm open to any questions you may have.  I'm gonna break my answers up into 4 separate posts to make it a little easier.  Be sure to check out my website for pictures of us & some of our recent events!  //http://www.royalruckus.weebly.com Thanks for taking the time to read about my adventures in balloon twisting & entertaining!  God Bless  

Thanks for the warm wishes friends!  And Graham, I'm not ashamed to say that I am 33 today!

My good creations get brought to the office for my co-workers' children or taken to my mom & aunt or cousins.  The things that don't meet my approval to be given away are tossed aside until my husband can't stand the pile any longer.  I don't like to pop them myself.  It's sad to me to have put all that work into something even if it didn't turn out right & then to just kill it.  So I let dear hubby have that job.  For some reason he takes pleasure in popping my balloons.  

Went to a party yesterday afternoon for one of my friend's kids from church.  It was a luau themed party so I made her this adorable Hula Monkey - inspired by the fabulous Twisted Jester!  It was a HIT!!  The b-day girl loved it & so did the grandmother - so much that she tried to keep it!  :lol:
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Quote from: "Twysted Kreations"Roadshow...it to US.. Michigan... HOLLAND... that is.. *S*.. would be a dream come true.. LOL

If you do decide to make that trip extend to the US some day, you MUST include beautiful South Carolina in that trip!  Preferrably upstate / Piedmont area to be exact!  Or at least make it Charlotte, NC (that's only about a 30 minute drive & they have a major airport - HINT HINT    )

OK - I just updated to IE8 & can now log in & post from my home computer with no appearant problems... not yet anyways!!     Hopefully won't from here on out!

TOO CUTE Sean!!  That Statue of Liberty bracelet is awesome!  Did you come up with that yourself or see it somewhere else?  And the bears with the hats... ADORABLE!!    I coulda used those tonight!

WOW... I could just "hear" the excitement in your voice as I read your intro!  Welcome to the forum.  You have come to the right place to increase your balloon bending knowledge!!  There's a whole thread of instructions from pretty basic to more complicated.  As for DVD's & such, there are some VERY talented twisters on this forum that have TONS of PDF's out there - Thelma & Bonnie to name 2!  And if you see something you like but can't find instructions, just ask about it!  People around here are so nice & most always willing to share where they learned & how you can get those instructions too.