Multiple balloon twists

[Sherry]

I see some really nice balloon designs out there that I'd like to try, but I worry that they'll take forever out in a real world gig.  For example, I can do the flower now and I use 2 balloons for the flower part and sometimes it seems to take forever.  This happened last week at a First Friday event.  I'm standing around twisting up this flower and one balloon pops, so it takes a while.  I was charging $2, but the customer must have been confused and handed me a dollar and left.  I thought, am I standing around struggling with this balloon for $1, when I could be doing a $5 face?

I'm wondering if others have luck with multiple balloon twists at pay per faces?  And did the speed just come with time and practice for you?

[Kristal]

Yes! Remember how long your first one-balloon dog took you, and how fast you are now? Same thing! I learned a new 3-4 balloon dog yesterday (!!) and while I forgot to time my first one, the second one took 8 minutes (Gah), and my third try took 4! I'm hoping to get this down another minute or two for line work. It's totally all practice, and don't beat yourself up over it. I know when I learn something (be it a new balloon, or lines for a show, or a tap routine), sometimes (ie most of the time) I just need to let it go for a while, and come back to it later.

[Sherry]

Hey thanks, Kristal.  This helps!   

[Alison]

I was so disappointed.  Because I had learned the 6-petal flower so well
that I was twisting it quickly - and it even stayed 6 petals most of the time.

But I hadn't done it in a while.   I had a few minutes before an appointment yesterday,
so I thought I'd practice one (I thought it was had been working less and less).  It was
a bust.  Yet I had been so good!  I had been using it as standardly as a heart on a stick.

So during my gig today, sure enough, a little girl asked for a flower.  It popped to less than
four funny-looking pieces.  I started calling it a pineapple-flower, but it didn't even look like
one of those.  But happy surprise - It was so unique that a person would just Try to do
something like that.  It looked like a Perfect RoseBud. 

I was pleased that it worked.  Well, that something worked.  But I'm disappointed
because I can't fool myself.  I'm glad to be an Artist, but I want to be in control
of something as simple as a 6-petal balloon.

[Sherry]

I had a lot of time to practice my flowers again at an event this past weekend and I don't even have to tie two balloons together anymore.  I can do the one balloon flower pretty good now.  I would like to do the heart on the stick you mentioned, but haven't been able to figure it out yet, or find a good video on it.

[Kristal]

Easy heart on a stick: Take your 260 and twist 3 small-medium flower petals at the nozzle end, with lots of the 260 left to hold. Arrange so they're "lying" flat, side by side, so you can see the fold (as opposed to a flower, where the folds are hidden...does that make sense?). Take your heart and wrap the nozzle end around the petals (you may have to rearrange your petals after!) and adjust your heart so it sits on top!

http://kristalyee.com/fpbt/kristalbt_vase.JPG - I think I only did 2 petals there, but same idea.

Also, little girls love this princess wand: http://kristalyee.com/fpbt/kristalbt_wand.JPG

[GaFacepainter]

The wand looks really nice. I like the "pearls"(?) wrap around the handle. Nice

[Sherry]

Thanks Kristal, I'll have to try that.  I'm not used to making flower petals like that, so that part I'll have to try.  I normally do it in the method where I tie the ends together, then fold the balloon in 3 places and then push the ends together and twist to make the 6 petals. 

[Alison]

I had a lot of time to practice my flowers again at an event this past weekend and I don't even have to tie two balloons together anymore.  I can do the one balloon flower pretty good now.

Use 2 balloons for the 6-petal flower - That intrigued me. 

So I just tried one now.  It was easy.

And one of the balloons was longer than the other.
So that part became the short handle for the corsage-like big flower.
So it only used 2 balloons anyway.

[Alison]

Also, little girls love this princess wand: http://kristalyee.com/fpbt/kristalbt_wand.JPG

So do I !

[Alison]

 I thought, am I standing around struggling with this balloon for $1, when I could be doing a $5 face?

And I don't know - it just Feels like it's more expensive to do Balloons.  Because you can count just how much each balloon costs, while you can't really tell if you're using up how much $$ of paint.

Having had my first Party Balloon Experience yesterday, I'm thinking that it's so much different than Face-Painting.  Because you're Really just doing the same thing over and over when a kids wants one "just like the one he just saw".  Since most people want "as many as you can do in each hour", you can really feel like you're not even doing Artwork.  

Balloons seems to be a different game - Like - We're not there to play with the kids.  They're there to play, and we're mostly to produce Things.  Almost like working in a factory.

Not to say that I wouldn't do it.  But it's a Completely different job.

[Alison]

Still, I like to work on my craft.  Learning it here at home til it's so simple I can just stamp them out in public.  

I just made three line-hearts out of 260's.  Calmly - they came out fine.
But when I was in the Party Situation, trying to force it into the shape, it was just Not coming out.
I'll have to remember to calmly take the extra moments to make it good
even when the people around me are not calm.  (and it will probably get easier anyway.  
Does anybody here know any tricks or things to look for when squeezing a 260 into a heart-shape?)

[Sherry]

This guy demo's making a balloon heart on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQS6CU4JE7Y

I know I need to work on my balloons at home and learn new ones, but I seem to avoid it unless I have a specific job coming up that calls for balloons.  For one thing, my 2 and 4 year old come running and want to help me pump up the balloons and with all the distraction, it's hard to focus.

[Alison]

That's great stuff -
Just goes to show
that it does take some finesse to be good at this.

[Kristal]

Thanks! As long as you twist all of your "pearls" in the same direction and hold on tight, they'll stay! Let go, though...you'll need a new balloon, as then the tension? pressure? is gone.

You're braver than I - I never got into the 6 petal flower. I did the 4 petal version until I figured out how to do a 5 petal one, which looks better, IMO. The asymmetry, perhaps?

I hate, Hate HATE being a balloon machine. I've turned down a job before because they wanted someone to do lots of simple one-balloon animals for hundreds of kids in like 3 hours. Sure, I can pump out a sword or a one-balloon dog in less than 30 seconds, but not only is that super hard on the arms, but A) it's mind numbingly boring B)it makes me angry (haha) and C) it's my name being associated with this, and I don't want to be known as someone who only does swords and puppies.

I have no problem with doing simple balloons, but I'm more about simple and WOW as opposed to simple and same old. Luckily, most of the people who contact me have seen me at a party/trade show/festival or at least have seen my work online, and they know what I'm capable of - not a one balloon dog in sight! - and so understand that since cooler balloons take a little longer, I can do fewer people per hour, but they're all impressed rather than indifferent.