First, I would like to apologize for not responding sooner with this interview. My husband and I have been celebrating our 21st wedding Anniversary which is today Tuesday January 20.
For those of you who don’t know me, I would like to share a little about myself and my family Company. In 2004 I started an Entertainment company Adventure In Fun in Gettysburg, PA. My three children, Dustin--14; Alayna-- 13; and Alysa—8 at that time, all started helping me. In the beginning we only offered balloon twisting, face painting, and educational magic, but now we are a full-time full service entertainment company. We spend a lot of time going to conventions to learn more from other talented entertainers. TMJ 04 was my first introduction to the world of entertainment and balloons. Since then we have all learned and improved our skills. TMJ 04 was the best thing that could have helped my business
For now I am just going to answer the questions Graham sent me, but please feel free to ask me anything else pertaining to balloons.
1. What road led you into balloon modelling?
I first started “playing with balloons when I was 19 years old. My mother owned a costume shop which carried some general supplies for entertainers including basic magic tricks, balloons, and face paints. One day when the shop wasn’t busy, I picked up one of the books by Ralph Dewey that we carried and decided to try and make a few. Before that I had already started doing balloon deliveries. I quit doing balloons for a short time from 1990 when Dustin was born to 1997 when Dustin told his school that I was a magician and a balloon maker.
2. When did you get started with balloons?
I started doing balloons full-time in 2004 when my husband quit his job and told me it was my turn to support our family. I had actually started earlier though in 1985 when I started doing costumed balloon deliveries. It was a blast to dress up and perform for people since normally I was very shy.
3. What is your best twisting experience?
My best twisting experience was while working in Shanghai China in 2007. All of the people over there were so happy with anything we made and were very friendly and kind to us. Another really memorable experience was while doing balloons for children in the orphanages in Bosnia.
4. What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you during a ballooning/entertaining session?
I was doing an educational show in Sembach, Germany and I hadn’t judged the stage properly. The space I had to perform in was smaller than usual. I was doing by skit with my balloon bike talking about accidents happening when I fell of the stage and hurt my back. Even though I was in extreme pain, I continued the show and did two more for the day. As soon as I was done, I went right to the emergency room and found out I had slipped a disc. I still had two more shows to do the next day so they gave me lots of pain medication. My husband had to drive 6 hours to come help me since I couldn’t drive while medicated. Because I was so foggy from the drugs, I started to cry when I talked about accidents. It was really embarrassing…..
5. What do you most enjoy about twisting & why?
I most enjoy coming up with new ideas and getting to met new people. I love traveling and getting to see different parts of the world. I never thought that just “playing with balloons” would bring me so much success and allow me to travel more than my husband's past career.I will try up-loading some photos very soon.[attachment=0:2y67cp72]ice for Balloon Chat.jpg[/attachment:2y67cp72]