Just ordered a Mini Mac Light! Yay! Hopefully it will come soon.
I can't mouth inflate, but it's not really a big deal, because when people call me a "cheater for using a pump," I hand them a 160.
 

You can't stand seeing someone unhappy
You bring balloons to school, out shopping, etc
You know who a twister is, what kind of balloons they use, and whether they are comfortable twisting for crowds or not just by walking past them while they work
You have no "repertoire"... instead, you have a "Yes, I can make it"

I'm from Ohio too, but I live up by Cleveland.

Wow, those are awesome! You must be very patient and talented... my problem is that I'm neither...

Recently, I wanted some paint markers, so I went to Hobby Lobby.
I bought 3 kinds of paint markers, three colors of each: DecoColor, Sharpie, and Treehouse.
I absolutely loved the DecoColors. They did not pop any of my balloons, chip off, or change colors, and they were fairly inexpensive.
The Sharpie markers are good as well, but they do come off, and since it's cold, I guess they don't re-liquify.
The Treehouse markers worked OK, good value, but boy were they SMELLY! I did not use them again.

Thank you 
I think that the fact that I work as half of a pair may also be part of it, although two short people is still probably not as "scary" as a tall person.

From my (limited) experience I have learned that the kids who are afraid of entertainers are afraid of clowns (especially whiteface) and/or taller twisters. I don't dress up as a clown and am only 4'11" and probably won't grow any more, but still I get the occasional child who is afraid of me. I don't think I'm scary... is this normal, or is it me?

parmesan cheese

Twenty designs per menu. Again, I really appreciate it, guys!  

I have a compressed air tank, which works fine (when it doesn't run out!)
I also have the red Qualatex single-action pump, which I load with balloons and take everywhere, and the purple Qualatex one for line work.

I bought Thunder Thighs and a Ken Stillman DVD and they came two days ago. I am very pleased, to say the least.

I have now practiced... and practiced... and done volunteer work... and magic... and practiced. And finally, my friend (who is also a balloon twister, but she face paints as well) and I have made a website. It's a work in progress, so until it's fixed, I'm not attaching it to my profile. But I'm definitely getting better.
As for menus, we have three- a "wearables" menu, a line work menu, and a birthday menu. If anyone knows how old Dr Boe Loon was when he joined the forum (I only know this because I snoop around, looking for new ideas) I'm younger than him.
Anyways, thank you all for the advice. I hope to be a more active member of the forum soon.

                  MB

I'm a volunteer for the Medina City Schools Foundation... so whenever there are big events on the Square or for school, I get to practice, and I get volunteer hours too.

Hahahaha
Welcome! We're glad to have you.

      MB

Hi all... can I offer my input?
I'm an eighth grader in NE Ohio, same place as Timmy's from, and my friend and I have done three or four gigs around town. Yesterday night the school PTO "hired" us- that is, paid for our supplies and bought us gift cards- to twist at the highschool football game, and the party before/after it. We were there for a good five hours, and I can say that I did sleep very late today. But anyhoo... Here's my story, pretty much.
Approximately a year ago I was at a local festival and saw a balloon twister. I had never twisted, but had gotten a kit in the mail from my cousin. She had found it in my closet. I watched the twister for quite a while and eventually asked him to teach me how to do a butterfly. The twister was Mot, aka The Magic Mot. I brought the butterfly home and used my poor-quality kit balloons and pump to recreate it... then used the Web to learn more. I found this forum about six months into twisting (I had bought a better pump and Gayla balloons at Hobby Lobby) and am infinitely grateful to Mot and the rest of you here on the forum.
As for balloons, I have the same problem. I just blow them up a little, then keep doing that until they're all sorted. But I usually buy $20 to $50 shipments from LaRocks. My last purchase was: 1 bag (250) of the 260Q Traditional Assortment, 1 Bag (100) of the 260Q Entertainer Assortment, 1 bag (100) of the 260Q Character Assortment, some assorted Betallex "fun" shapes, the 100 balloon assortment of hearts, the 100 balloon assortment of bee bodies, a new pump (the ketchup-bottle one!), and all three of the aforementioned assortments (the Traditional, Entertainer, and Character) in 160s. I have small hands so I like to keep it small, although I have some 350Qs for centerpieces. My family, thankfully, puts up with this, and all of my friends are OK with it too. @Eco... Good luck! All of us are willing to help here, so ask away.



                         MB