First market for 2014

It's been a long hibernation from balloons! It's been so hot, I really didn't want to waste my time and balloons. We had a few terribly hot days, with a max of 43 degrees. I'm thankful that there're no fire in my area!

Anyways, it's back to Kuraby Market this weekend and my eldest daughter wanted to come along. She had fun on the jumping castle. Bought her a day pass so she could go on it anytime she wanted.

Some photos from the morning :

 Koala headband

Happy man hat

Dragon. The boy told me what he wanted and I made it according to his instructions. Interesting time we had together! Red head, orange horns and wings, blue body. I must admit that I am not too pleased with it, but it seemed to fit what he wanted and he was excited to fly it around!

 Flower decoration on my gazebo.

Another flower decoration on the gazebo.The original creator for this kind of flowers, called, Flowy, is an extremely talented balloon twister and instructor, Antonio Rodriguez. I've been meaning to try it and I'm glad I did! It is so much fun to add features to the flowers! You can purchase Anotnio's Flowy DVD instructions here. This is not an affiliated link, I just wanted to share the fun of making this balloon.

Slow day at the Saturday market

Went to my usual farmers market on Saturday for some balloon twisting and it was another slow day. But it wasn't too bad, as I was in a better spot and had more interaction with people passing by.

The first balloon I made that day was for a baby. Probably about 3-4 months old. She's such a gorgeous little one! Her parents had set up an iced tea stall diagonally opposite where I was and she was being held by another stallholder who knew them. They asked for a balloon for the little one and I made her this happy little bracelet. Mum came over later that morning with a cup of iced tea and thanked me for the balloon saying that her daughter would not go to sleep with the balloon on he wrist! She did fall asleep eventually when mum took the balloon away. :)

Then there was this mum who came to ask for a balloon car for her 2.5y.o. son. She had bags of groceries in her hands and balancing two plates of food. I suggested that she rest her arms and leave her groceries on the ground while she waits. She did, but left to buy more stuff! I was nearly finished when she came back and offered to hold on to her balloon while she puts stuff into her car. She gave me a totally unexpected answer, "I can do this, I work at Ikea!" Now, what kind of training do they give at Ikea that transforms one into an octopus? I thought that was hilarious that she associated her ability to hold things to her working at Ikea.

Being a slow day, I thought I'll try my hands at something bigger and one that I've not tried before. Looked up the internet for other balloon pictures and here it is, a balloon bicycle with ideas from many balloon twisters!

Made up a quick superman while having nothing to do. 2 balloons and a scrap for the head. The bottom one had changes made to the head, changing it to a 5" round. I think I need to steer away from the red and blue superhero. Spiderman is red and blue and so is Superman....

Hopefully traffic will be better next time. :)

Another week at the market

I had another great morning at Kuraby Market yesterday. Started with a cool morning and warmed up as the day went by, but not so hot that we can't breathe. :)

It is our Ekka week here, where farmers bring in their cattle to the showgrounds for display. There are many more things to do at the Ekka showgrounds, but I won't touch on that. Anyway, I made myself a sheep for this week and it sat happily on my head, greeting the children as they come along. Used the design from ChiTwist on youtube.

I was fascinated by the fact that people were willing to wait in line for a balloon and how well-behaved they are! There were a few children who were on their own and wanted a balloon, but I always asked if their parents were around and I would like mum or dad to be present to confirm and pay for the balloons. Some parents were seated at the dining area and they'd give a nod or a wave when their children point out to them.

Had a few interesting children who wanted interesting balloons. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to pull out my phone to take photos.

So there was this girl who wanted Rose from Despicable Me. I can’t make it so I suggested a ballerina, to which she wanted to have blue clothes and red hair. I then suggested Ariel from The Little Mermaid and she was happy to receive one. The next girl wanted a mermaid too. But she wanted one with pink skin and purple tail. I was uncomfortable as I made it, but she was excited to receive it the way she wanted it!

Minions from Despicable Me was the greatest hit! Made about 12 that morning and everyone just stood there patiently waiting for theirs! Gave one to a church mate who took it walking around the market for publicity! :)

Very happy to see friends stop by for a chat that morning. Really helped to calm my nerves! Had a friend from church come and help and I learnt a few techniques and designs from him. There’s always something new to learn!

I look forward to the next one in September and hope to bring smiles to all who stop by!

Market debut!

Today marked the day where I debuted at a local market. Kuraby Farmers Markets. Set up starts at 5am and I was up at 4:15am.

Stomach churned all night long with feelings of anxiety, nervousness, uncertainty, excitement all going on at once.

I had everything packed, but overnight, I couldn't decide whether to put up fixed price menus or just put a price range for people to put whatever amount they wish.

Somehow I was convinced to use the price range method for the day.

Got the the market in time, set everything up and was ready for customers. The early ones at 6am were mostly grandparents or early mums. Nobody took any notice of me, even though I was right at the entrance. Had a few friends pop by and I was glad to have some familiar faces to talk to.

I was sitting around taking my own sweet time to make balloon sculpture for the first 3 1/2 hours. First customer came just after 9:30am and the children crowd arrived about 10:30am.

The crowd at the market were very nice. Very patient and accommodating. Had a few lovely families chat about balloons while their children watched. One family sat down near me and two of the children just watched as I twisted and they'd ask questions along the way.

I had a fun day. The most popular designs were the spiderman followed by the sword. Here're some photos of the setup :

This is my table and shade early in the morning.

  I saw a hotdog sculpture on Patricia Balloona's blog and thought I'd make one today too. Most people near me were eating their hotdog buns and I wanted one for myself too. After I made it, many people recognised it as a hotdog and were tickled by it. A lady came by and asked for the hotdog for her husband's birthday tonight! Happy birthday to the husband, I hope he enjoyed it!

 

 This pretty young lady was one of my favourite items today.