Balloon Review 140 : O.C.D by Matt Falloon DVD

Matt is an incredibly good twister and I was excited to see the launch of his first DVD. Matt has released some designs on balloon-animals.com previously but these ones are all new and original. The quality of the DVD is excellent, very well produced and Matt is an excellent teacher.

Be warned - this DVD is not for beginners. The cover promises a double frumple twist - argh!

Available from Continental Sales priced $45 - http://www.continentalsales.net/item.php?it=8446&id=343

Let see what we have here....

Balloon Review 139 : The Fairytale Princess by SHIRLEY RAY

This is a PDF publication by Shirley Ray available from her new website priced just £5

http://shirleyray.wix.com/balloons-by-m ... files/c5uy

The PDF is delivered via email upon receipt of the order so it may take a little while for Shirley to respond. The PDF spreads over five PDF files (one for each page) plus two additional pages showing a finished photo of the design plus a list of materials. Whilst not a major deal it would have been better if there was just one single file which included all the pages.

This is Shirley's first venture into producing a PDF for a decor piece. At the centre of this design is a princess (Sofia the First Princess for Disney TV) which holds a collection of helium balloons including a qua latex bubble. The helium filled balloons are required to make the princess free standing as it will not stand up on its own.

For the purposes of this review I have just created the core princess. My plan is to create a matching Buster's castle (already reviewed) to make a nice birthday giveaway.

Let's see what we have here...

So being the Eve of Christmas Eve you have either finished your Christmas season or will do so tomorrow. I thought it may be fun to share a few laughs from our December events and gigs or perhaps a few disasters and lessons learned... here are some of mine....

a) Do not fill up your brand new snow machine with smoke fluid!
b) Do not drop your very heavy speaker on your expensive balloon pump rendering it useless of the remainder of the festive season
c) Do confirm the location of every performance venue - having arrived at a school I discovered the room was up two flights of stairs and I couldn't park my van anywhere near the school building - wasn't very happy!
d) If someone books you for an hour do not feel guilty and stay for an extra hour free of charge because the place is full of cute kids awaiting the arrive of an 81 year old Santa Claus!

Balloon Review 138 : The Balloon Artistes Guild BAG 4

Shirley Ray & Colin Myles Lectures - 17th April 2012
Running Time 4 hours!

Available from http://www.balloonartwholesale.co.uk

As we approach the end of 2014 and look forward to starting a new year of TBAG (April 2015 onwards), I thought now may be a good time to review on for the DVDs that comes supplied with a TBAG membership. This DVD includes two guest lectures with over four hours worth of material. This is a fixed camera position video, each model is accessible via the chapter menu and the quality of the DVD is good. I didn't attend this event myself so reviewing this DVD it will be good to see if I can make the models using only the DVD supplied...

Let's see what we have here...

A few photos taken from today's children's christmas party at GOSH in London....

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OK a slightly tongue-in-cheek post but upon exiting IKEA the other night I spotted some free cardboard boxes for packing 'plates' - i took five! Now I have some handy balloon carriers for keeping balloons in the boot of my car..

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This is what happens when you drop a 850W speaker on your McPump... ouch.. watch out for an order this week Graham!

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Balloon Review 136 : Restaurant Repertoire Vol 1 by Roger Godin

Available from http://www.magicshop.co.uk/p10464/Resta ... Godin__DVD at £14.99

The first in a series of DVDs by Roger Godin for balloons suitable for restaurants but equally usable for line work. This DVD is available for a bargain price. To start I can say the DVD is well made. Good quality video and audio. Roger explains the designs well, bubble sizes are quoted and the camera zooms in at the right times. All designs are accessible via a menu. So far so good... let's see what we have here.

Balloon Review 135 : Blue Angel PDF by Dennis Scott

Available from http://thetwisterscookbook.com/product/ ... nis-scott/ priced $5

This PDF is "Hot off the classroom floor of the FPBA 2014" and is a two balloon airplane with an optional third clear balloon if you fancy a see-through cockpit. This is the first instructional release I have seen from Dennis Scott so let's see what we have here...

The PDF itself is full of colour photographs (more than is actually needed) so when accompanied by the text giving accurate bubble sizes you will not have any problems following along. The main difference for this design to lots of the others is it uses a combination of 260Q/160Q. The design itself is very fast to make, perfect for line work and this plane actually flies quite well when you throw it!

So if you do not have an existing plane design suitable for line work for a mere $5 this one will be perfectly fine.

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Balloon Review 132 : Princess Blossoms by Twister Sister Blossom Princesses VIDEO DOWNLOAD

Available from https://vimeo.com/channels/twistersister priced $35 (or individually for $7 per design)

This is a collection of instructional DVDs by Twister Sister's (Holly) Vimeo channel comprising of 11 video files of various princess designs. All these designs can be mounted on balloon sticks, on top of headbands or attached to a plastic cup filled with sweets.

This is the first instructional videos I have purchased from this source and I must say the quality of the video is some of the best I have seen. Either viewed in real-time or downloaded in HD the colour is vibrant, the sound excellent and the instructions are explained slowly step by step.

Let's see what we have here...

Balloon Review 129 : Real World Wow Vol 1 DVD - Tony Twist

Available from http://www.yourpartyschool.com priced £25 including shipping.

A new artist to release a DVD is Tony Twist. I have met Tony a few times at Graham's Care & Share Days but I haven't seen him for quite some time. I spend many hours making balloons for pleasure and that rarely make it to my professional repertoire as they are too time consuming to make in the real world. Tony's first DVD release is all about Real World balloons so I am hoping that I learn several designs that can be used.

Having ordered the DVD from Tony, delivery was very fast. The DVD is professionally made, filmed in high quality video, good sound and with each design accessible via a chapter menu.

A few words about the video itself. Tony looks a little uncomfortable in front of a camera but this doesn't detract from his ability to teach each design. Bubble sizes are quoted in relation to Tony's hands - I am guessing he has larger hands than me so I needed to adapt my designs. I would prefer measurements to be given in inches or centimetres.

The background to this video is solid black which to me is a bad choice especially for one design which I will explain later. Luckily Tony wears a nice white shirt and so on the whole everything is visible. Tony is a good teacher, explains the designs well and is a competent teacher.

The DVD features Miss Ballooniverse - I found her more of a distraction to be honest and would have preferred to enjoy Tony's work on its own. He doesn't need a support act and another one of Tony's real world designs would have been a better choice for me.

Anyway, let's see what we have here...

Balloon Review 128 : Quicker with the Link Vol 2 by Nifty Balloons DVD

Available from http://www.niftyentertainment.com.au/?p ... category=0 priced $40 with FREE shipping.

As i stocked up on Q-links recently I thought I may as well crack on with Vol 2 of this collection. Can this DVD beat Vol 1 with the wonderful reindeer and boxing kangaroo!

Let's see what we have here...

Balloon Review 127 : Lion by Patrick Van de Ven PDF

Available from Patrick's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ballonkunstenaar price 5 euros via paypal.

This is Patrick's 3rd PDF. I have been looking for a quick and impressive lion which can be used for line work - I am hoping this is the one.

This PDF can be purchased by messaging Patrick via his facebook page. Delivery via email was instant.

Let's see what we have here...

Balloon Review 125 : Quicker with the Link Vol 1 by Nifty Balloons DVD

Available from http://www.niftyentertainment.com.au/?p ... category=0 priced $40 with FREE shipping.

One of a recent surge of DVDs based on the newly released Qualatex Q-Link balloons. This release is not be to confused the David Brenion's Nifty Balloons. This one is by Nicole in Australia.

I want to be convinced that this DVD teaches models and techniques that offer an advantage over a traditional round balloon.

Let's see what we have here...

Balloon Review 124 : Live Balloon Entertainment Vol3 by Eric Weinstein PDF

Available from www.yourpartyschool.com priced $25 as a downloadable PDF.

A collection of four designs using a new style face design as the core structure. This is the third volume in a series of four recently released by Eric as downloadable PDFs. The ordering process is simple and Eric was prompt in sending the PDF file to my email box. The instructions contain plenty of full colour photos along with supporting text. Bubble sizes are quoted in inches.

Let's see what we have here...

Balloon Review 122 : Live Balloons Vol 1 by Eric Weinstein PDF

Available from... http://www.yourpartyschool.com priced $15

A collection of five designs using a heart as the core structure. This is part of a two volume set and Eric's first release of balloon instructions.  The instructions contain plenty of full colour photos along with supporting text. Bubble sizes are given in inches.

Let's see what we have here...

Balloon Review 121 : Blossom Buddies by Tonya McNeill DVD

Available from... not sure anymore to be honest... have a search on google or contact Tonya directly!

Another random selection from the balloon vault is one of Tonya's DVDs. For those of you who take time to look in this section will find a lot of Tonya's material. I absolutely love her creations. This DVD is a collection of designs that utilise Geo Blossoms. Hopefully we will discover there is more to geo blossoms than flowers!

To start, this DVD is well produced. Each model is indexed and Tonya is an excellent teacher. One nice touch which I haven't seen before is that throughout the tuition the final model is always displayed on the screen in the bottom right corner. This is very handy when relating the instructions to the final model.

Let's see what we have here...

Balloon Review 120 : Mad Hatz & Wearables Vol 2 DVD by Buster Balloon

Available from http://shop.diamondstorm.com/index.php? ... cts_id=193 price $49

Next up is a blast from the past and one of the DVDs containing models that I still frequently use. The video production is excellent, each model is explained in Busters whacky sense of humour and each model is fully indexed. If you haven't any of Buster's instructions in your collection it is now time to invest.

I know I am going to enjoy this one!

Let's see what we have here...

Balloon Review 119 : Princess Jasmine by Patricia Bunnell PDF

Available from http://thetwisterscookbook.com/product/ ... a-bunnell/ price $8

Discounts available for purchasing a four design bundle - see site for details.

This 'Jasmine' design is available as a PDF download. The PDF is full of colour photographs, easy to follow text descriptions and includes accurate bubble sizes.

Let's see what we have here...

I've had a cover made for McPump. It will arrive on Monday ready for the grand fitting. Is anyone else interested in getting one?

Looks nicer than just plain white,  easily fitted,  washable and interchangeable.

I just hope my measurements were accurate!
Post here if you are interested in buying one.  Price unknown at this stage.

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