Interesting, Magirob! I wonder if my desire to have balloons with me at all times (even if it's just a small cache) is because I'm still building my business and I want to be able to leave a sample with, say, an interested restaurant owner or booker. Maybe once I become more established, and more confident, I'll be good with just having photos or leaving a card.

Do you carry around some sort of "emergency pack" of balloons in some always-accessible (or nearly so) place? A baggie in your jacket pocket? Some little stash in your car? So that you can always whip something off on the spur of the moment?

If so, do you base your assortment on a particular selection of figures you depend on to impress in a short amount of time?

Just wondering out loud here!

Josh

Thank you for the information, Graham. My deepest sympathies to Darren and his whole family.

I will try to work up a review of PICOs shortly!

Josh

So has Nippy gone missing? Will there be any more reviews?

It looks like there's a real knack to using this smoothly.

Of course, since there's a knack to tying balloons by hand, it's probably a better use of time to learn the knack of tying them by hand rather than with a gadget. (And I, too, am a gadget freak!)

Don't you sometimes wish that computers had never been invented?

I sure do.

I would've joined in. But being in the US, it's hard to justify the international postage on orders. :-(

Is there a way to join in without ordering?

How about whoever does the best mockup of a Balloon Magic Magazine cover...with Graham as the featured artist?

Hi, Nippy,

I hope Matt Falloon sends you a copy of PICOs to review. I'm sure it will test your abilities -- lots of pinch twists in 160s! -- but I love the designs and the fact that clipping them on clothes makes them SO much more comfortable for customers to wear than hats or hairbands.

Josh

Gorgeous job!!

That's a great question, and one that I didn't even think to ask at the time. (And the boy's mom didn't bring it up...)

I'm going to contact her and ask her how he's doing with it. I'm sure it's already looking a little sad.

Thank you! That's something I'll remember to ask about from now on when dealing with this particular affliction.

A few days ago, the sister of a good friend came to visit. She has four children (who were not with her), and one of them is quite autistic. He does have a fascination (I guess it's really an obsession): hubcaps. He collects them, talks about them, endlessly comments on the hubcaps on other people's cars, and so on.

Before the sister left the area, I made her this balloon hubcap to take back to her son. As soon as he saw it, he reportedly said to her, "That's an 8-lug hubcap!"

It's based on Bonnie Davis's "Red and Yellow Dahlia, Version One" from her collection "The Flower Garden." If I had had more experience with this model (which is kind of tricky), I might've doublestuffed the inner silver 260s with black 160s to give them a whole different metallic feel.

Oh, my, all those poor, buried poodles...

I have to agree with Danny. I bought this download (before Nippy's review started to come out, otherwise I would've waited for it!) and this is a VERY useful and practical set of figures. I'm enjoying making them. Thank you for your contribution to it, Danny!

It's because of this video that I've stocked up on quick links. :-)

Josh

Love 'em! Are those clear ones 5" rounds or 646s?

I can make two suggestions of things to try -- not that either of them will work or be practical, but...

1. If you're using a pink 160 or 260 for the nose, can you make two long, single bubbles from the rest and stuff them into the ear loops, to make the insides of the ears look pink?

2. I would try making two triangles (each one consisting of something like a 2" bubble, 1" bubble, and 2.5" bubble), and put them at the base, in the center. Bunnies have big feet and this might be a way to include them. Then again, they might be too crowded there, and/or might obscure the candy. But it could be worth a try.