Just got back from Florida, U.S.A. What an place! Loved the people, the weather, the food, the shopping and how restaurants have a balloon twister to entertain guests big & small! Loved these Monkeys on motorbikes!! The feller in the photo on the right looks like he's 15ft tall! he was tall but I'm no shorty! Happy days..can't wait to go back, planning a New York trip very soon so will get to meet a few lovely people I regularly stay in contact with over there.

Got chatting to a few helium balloon sellers in Hollywood Studios. Lovely to see latex free was the way they sell over there, just as we offer. Deco bubbles with Mickey Shaped latex inside and jumbo foil (myler) stars. 
Chatted about products & we use the same american manufacturer, except they are cheaper in the states!! We didn't spend alot of time around balloon sellers & entertainers because it was a vacation after all. One thing I have to say is the people we met we adorable, customers are most definitely extremely important to them regardless of whether you spend $1 or $100's and I was delighted to see they set the bar very high (unlike in the UK) It just reaffirmed to me that I am very proud of my customer service and that's why customers return and recommend. There is a huge lack of interest nowadays in customer services even when times seem hard for us all, I would hope someone with old fashioned pride could replace them to show how consumers, regardless of the companies size, deserve to be treated when they are spending their hard earned money with your company.
Superb time, loved it...if you get the opportunity....GO!

Every once in a while, I get an unusual request to design something bespoke. This is always an exciting time and needs alot of thought. To create a design from scratch takes alot of skill and practice. From initial enquiry, I was provided with an image file of the item and instantly see the object break down into sections, this comes with practice & is essential when there is no recipe to work from. 
Second plan of action is to establish how big or small the sculpture needs to be, this is the point where you decide if it is feasible to drop or up scale. 
Next plan of action is to make a note of the materials needed allowing for plenty of spares. I did at this point put a 'shout' to my industry forum just to see if any veteran twisters/modellers could suggest techniques for joints etc.
All seemed the same as I had planned, which was comforting! 
It's always good to ensure your clients knows what to expect as with balloons, the design will be 'characterised'.
Time involved in planning, designing & finally building a sculpture can go into 10's of hours so plan in advance, these things are not just thrown together in 10 minutes!!
Finally finished this project now and really pleased with it as it was an odd one. Once it has been delivered, I will post photo's for you to see.