Yes Lisa, thanks.

I'm well and truly hooked now! A year or two ago (I think for my 29th birthday) my girlfriend (who is now my fiancee, and in 3 weeks will be my wife!) got me some balloons. I'd asked her to get me some so it wasn't much of a surprise but quite cool. I ended up not doing very much with them. Just last week I got them out again after deciding that for our wedding we would put a bag of balloons on each table for the guests! Since then I've spend about £100 + on balloons and stuff for me (plus the 100 that it cost for all the balloons for the wedding!
I'm a music teacher, mostly working with younger children, and on monday I did a concert during which I had to make sure a load of children stayed quiet, so I took some balloons along to practice with in the hope that they might be quiet and watch. I used up nearly all the gallons I took! So I've decided that tomorrow I'm taking a load of balloons with me and I'm going to make some simp models for passers by when my band is playing at a big agricultural show!!!! Should be fun!
Thanks for everyones support, I hope to meet some of you soon at a balloon day. Happy twisting!

What sort of patter do you guys when busking? Is this something you develop over time, or do you just have a chat with the person you're making a balloon for?!

No I didn't. Will try now, although when I use forum search functions it only tends to be one word that I search for!!

This may seem silly, but what exactly does a balloon modeller do?!
I mean if you're busking somewhere, do you stick a bucket down in front of you and start making something and hope someone comes up to put some money in? Do you then give them the model? Or do you wait for someone to approach you before you make something? How about if you're booked for a school fete or similar? Do you approach people and ask if they'd like a balloon?
And what about a party that you have been booked for? How long would you make balloons for at a party? Until everyone has a model?
Sorry for all the questions!, just really intrigued!

Ah, right, I just googled, and it came up with that. The one I made is more of characature isn't it? I think I like him better as he's quite compact and cuddly looking!

Quote from: "Graham Lee"I like the octopus, a different style to normal.

WHAT?!!! You mean I have to learn more?!! Haha! (seriously, do you have a picture?!)

Amazing!

Here is my octopus! I really like this!!!

The sword is really cool, I think it looks better than other designs I've seen but obviously it is a bit weaker than others because of the join. So it's more of something to look at or use as part of a costume rather than something to play with.

Thanks!

I think a 160 would look good actually. The bee bodies are smaller than I imagined. Thanks folks. I made an octopus just now that I'm very happy with!!! He's sat on top of my bird cage at the moment although my bird isn't too happy with him!!!

I'm getting there, and bearing in mind I've only been twisting for about 5 days, I don't think I'm doing too badly. However the more I look at photos of things on here the more I realise I have to to learn! I have bought a CD from Grahams shop which has a few designs  to learn. Are there any books or models in particular that you can recommend to me to read or practice?

Wow, that is amazing!

Here are a few of my first twists, theres a dog, a mouse, a sword, a rocket(!), and my apron! It would be great to know what you think - any constructive criticism?