Balloon Review 118 : Diva 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 'Diva' 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...

Balloon Review 117 : Revlak School of Wizardry by Bruce Kalver DVD

Available from http://www.tophatprod.com/store/product ... ctid=16156 price $25

I decided to reach into the balloon DVD vaults and find something at the very back of the cupboard. This is DVD is old. I am unsure of the actual date of production but I thought it would be fun to explore this collection.

Let's see what we have here...

Balloon Review 116 : Planes by Patrick Van de Ven PDF

Available from Patrick's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ballonkunstenaar price 5 euros via paypal (I paid 10 euros as it is worth it!)

This is Patrick's 2nd PDF and I believe he is working on a 3rd! This design is based on the popular movie Planes.

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

Let's see what we have here...

I have been playing with Patrick Van de Ven's Planes design (review to follow) and discovered how useless I was at artwork so I have created some Plane eye stickers! I know a lot of you frown at such things but I am sharing the graphic in the hope that some of you will find them useful.

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Balloon Review 115 : Space Ranger Bracelet by Dustin Queary Video Download

Available from the Twisters Cookbook website - http://thetwisterscookbook.com/product-category/videos/ - priced $5

Dustin has produced many instructional DVDs over the years and this is the first time (as far as I am aware) that he has produced a new series of instructions available individually to download. I had to opportunity to test this design in the real world yesterday.

Let's see what we have here...

Balloon Review 114 : Seagull by Patrick Van de Ven PDF

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

I absolutely love Patrick's work and for those of you who were lucky enough to attend his David Grist Memorial Lecture in 2013 will know what an incredible artist he is. Patrick released a DVD a few years ago (see review in this section) and I have been looking forward to future releases.

Patrick has now released his first PDF. 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 113 : Olaf by David and Shana Brenion

Available from http://www.balloon-animals.com - Priced $10

The very popular character from the Disney film Frozen. There are many designs on-line and photos of other artist creations a lot of whom use a geo structure for the face. I was surprised to discover a different approach and interested to see how the design was put together.

This video is available to download or stream on-line. As posted by David a few days ago on balloonchat, this instruction set has a slightly different approach to the regular videos. There are three videos to download and/or stream on-line. I will review each one below in detail.

Before I start, as always the production quality and professionalism of the video is excellent. The audio is very clear, David is an excellent teacher and all is done in a humorous and jovial way. It is great to Shana make an appearance to share her artwork techniques.

The only minor criticism is David has taken to wearing white gloves and sometimes (at least on my computer) it was hard to see the white balloon held by white gloves against white/cream background. I would have preferred to see David's bare hands.

Let's see what we have here...

Balloon Review 112 - Mac's Top Picks Vol 2 - Andrew Mcdonald

Available from http://www.macpump.org priced $40

You will find a review of Vol 1 in the Balloon Review section. This follow-on volume offers 13 new designs. I enjoyed Vol 1 as it included many real world creations perfect for line work. Hopefully this one will be the same.

To start the DVD is fully indexed and it is easy to find the model you are looking for. However, the quality of the video is not as good as it could be and in a couple of models the video skips missing out an essential part of the build process. I will talk about that in more detail later.

So let's see what we have here.

Balloon Review 110 - Easter Video Pack by CJ Nelson

Available from Balloon Parade priced $15 -http://www.thetwisterscookbook.com

This is a collection of four video downloads with an Easter theme. Apologies that I missed the Easter season but these designs can be used all year round especially the fantastic rabbit.

To start, the quality of the videos are very good. CJ explains the models in detail and the instructions are easy to follow. It was very easy to purchase and download the files for instant access upon my computer.

So let's see what we have here.

After all the negativity over the last few days I thought I would have some fun and make a balloon animal....

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Balloon Review #109 - The Balloon Artistes Guild TBAG #8 Brian Asman

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

Having now been a member to TBAG for almost 3 years (I think) it is probably about time I reviewed one of the club DVDs. Hopefully this will tempt some of you to sign up for next year! I've chosen the most recent DVD featuring the lecture from Brian Asman. I have chosen this one as I didn't attend the lecture in person so it would allow me to evaluate the quality of the club DVDs.

To begin with, whilst this DVD has menus for rapid access to the individual models, there are no fancy camera angles just a single fixed position camera that is left to run throughout the lecture. This actually adds to the appeal and allows you to feel that you are at the lecture yourself. You get to hear everything that is said including the jokes and comments from the audience some of which are very helpful if not entertaining!

This DVD is not for beginners. You will need to be familiar with the basics as this is not a step by step simple instructional guide. The fixed camera is sometimes a little too far away from the action which is why you need to be competent doing certain twists yourself.

So let's see what we have here...

Balloon Review #106 - Pocket Chopper by Dylan Gelinas

Available from http://www.slightlytwistedballoons.com/store.html priced $10

Dylan teased his facebook friends that a new PDF was going to be released at the start of 2014 and he hasn't failed to impress with this superb motorcycle. This PDF download is excellent quality and like his previous work there are plenty of photographs and step by step instructions.

Dylan shows how to make two motorcycles. The basic model and then an enhanced one with lots of added details.

For the time it takes to make the basic design, the end result is quite spectacular. If you were looking to make something impressive for a live audience at the end of a gig this would be a good choice. You will need to invest in some large donut tyres and whilst not necessary, super agate balloons for the fuel tank look great.

The instructions are easy to follow and there isn't really any tough parts here. I did find with the completed model that when I picked it up the front wheel structure didn't stay in place so I added an additional 260Q to the front forks which worked really well. Next time I make this I will add some LED lights.

This PDF represents exceptional value when you consider the resale value of a model of this size and quality.

Really good and highly recommended.

p.s. if you are reading this Dylan, any chance of the Lion King next? :-)

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Nao Osaka, recent winner of a Dewey award, has kindly posted a series of instructions on his facebook page. Check his page out by using a link below...

https://www.facebook.com/balloon.twist?fref=ts

I made some nice seahorses!

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Balloon Review 104 : Genie in the Lamp by Justin Reams PDF

Available via paypal to mailto:Justin_reams@hotmail.com">Justin_reams@hotmail.com priced $7

A second review of Justin's PDFs. This set of Genie instructions are very well laid out and easy to follow. The end result is excellent and instantly recognisable. The artwork really adds to the overall character. Some weight is required in the base lamp in order for the genie to stand upright. Really nice and highly recommended.

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Balloon Review #103 - Bubble Belly Babies by Patricia Bunnell DVD

Available from http://www.myfriendandiproductions.com/page1/page1.html priced $40

The DVD box blurb says...

"Bubble Belly Babies are adorable for any event! They are quick and impressive for line or restaurant twisting and beyond! If you've wanted something totally new and "outside" the box then this is it! These little cuties can be made using larger balloons for table decor, baby showers, birthday or any special occasion! Patricia's unique designs are outstanding and appeal to beginner, intermediate and advanced twisters of all ages. You too can WOW your audience and develop a passion for balloon twisting."

So let's see what we have here....

Balloon Review 102 - Wacky Ralph Book by Aaron Chee

Available from http://www.1fivezero.com - now priced $15.90 (approx £10) including worldwide shipping.

You will all recall my review of the very expensive and awful book that Aaron published a while back. I was therefore cautious to invest more money given my past experiences but after being criticised on a facebook forum for asking to see the completed model before purchasing, I figured I needed to make the investment to save all of you your hard earned cash.

So will this be more of the same or an improvement?

Let's see what we have here.

Balloon Review 101 : Balloon Car by Buster Balloon Video Download

Available from http://www.balloon-animals.com
Priced $5

This video is available to download or stream on-line. As usual Buster's video instructions are of excellent quality. The production is high and the instructions are very clear and concise.

Let's see what we have here...

Did you know what we currently have 1038 members?

Did you know that 29% of members have posted 1 or less times?

Did you know that 32% of members have posted more than 10 times?

So if the 68% who have posted 10 times or less made the effort to post just once a month this place would be a much more exciting place to be.

It's time to stop taking, and time to start giving... make that your new year resolution.

 

Balloon Review #100 - Balloon Modelling Vol 6 DVD by David Grist

WOW - so here we are at balloon review #100! I never thought that when I started I would make it this far. As recommended by Graham, we are celebrating reaching #100 by reviewing a DVD from the collection of David Grist.

All DVDs in this series are available from www.balloonartwholesale.co.uk priced £17.99 or £125 for the entire 9 DVD set.

Sadly David passed away in 2005 aged only 47 and with my balloon career only just started, I never had the opportunity to meet David but from what I know about him, and how others fondly speak of him, he clearly is a legend in balloon modelling history and he led the way in developing new balloon techniques which still stand the test of time today. All profits from the sale of these DVDs goes straight to David's family, so if you are tempted to make an investment in these DVDs, please do so via Graham as he freely gives away his profits to David's wife.

These DVDs were originally released as videos and so have been transferred to DVD. The quality of the DVDs are very good and highly watchable. Each model is indexed by a chapter and the audio is clear.

So i've chosen Vol 6 for no reason other than it was easily found on my library shelf!

So let's see what we have here...

My daughter had the pleasure of attending the GOSH Christmas Party today. Roger, Danny and a team of artists decorated the venue. Well done - they look amazing!

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