Money From Nothing, Laughs Are Free!

Twenty years. It's been twenty years since I started twisting balloons for fun. Eventually it became for profit, and more recently for survival. I've supported myself and my girlfriend, Julie for the last year solely by twisting balloons. Thats kind of a big deal when you really think about it. A full-time income from balloon-artistry is certainly not what I envisioned when I began this journey twenty years ago. I was twenty years old when I discovered twisting balloons. I saw someone at Dallas' West End Market Place make Bugs Bunny out of balloons and I was intrigued! "If I could make cartoon characters out of balloons, then I could really impress people," I reasoned. It seemed like a great way to get people's attention, win the affection of pretty girls everywhere and perhaps even be a great way to score free drinks and the occasional dinner at my favorit bar or restaurant. It was simply a skill I had to have. So I got started. At first I was lost. I was terribly clumsy and complely without direction. I wasn't an artist by any stretch of the imagination. I refused to give up though. The very first character I was able to create was Bugs Bunny. Someone named David Briggs told me to buy the book, "Captain Visual's Big Book Of Balloon Art" and study it closely. There was a page that showed how to make a rabbit that looked like Bugs Bunny. I practiced. Man did I practice! Eventually, I could do it. I actually learned how to make Bugs Bunny out of balloons. To this day it's one of my most requested characters. Next to Mickey Mouse and Dora The Explorer, Bugs Bunny is still a crowd favorite. Why? It's simple really. I mastered that character. Just like I've mastered many of the characters that I make on a daily basis. I work a shift in a mall or in a restaurant every night of the week, except for maybe Mondays, which I generally take as my night off. I am able to support myself and Julie and I predict that the money will continue to improve as I add other services to my quickly developing business concept. Creative Inflation will soon include along with balloon-artistry... -Face-Painting -Bounce-House Rentals -Custom Cupcakes, B-Day Cakes, Sandwhiches and other catered drinks and food items. -Character Models -Magicians -Stilt-Walkers -Event Photographers The list keeps growing every day. I will eventually own the most successful birthday-party and special event company in the nation. My vision is that I provide jobs for people just like me. People that needed a second chance, people who with a little bit of hope and someone to believe in them will be able to turn their lives into something meaningful. The ability to make a difference in the world sometimes only requires one thing. A skill that can be developed may take a little direction at first, but eventually it can turn into a cash generator and that changes lives! Thats my greates purpose. I create life-enhancement stratagies for people that may have lost their way for a minute. With a little bit of committment on their part and a lot of focus on my part, I can literally turn someone's life around and get them back on track again. Balloon-Artistry saved my life. It was the one thing that I could do during a paricularly dark period in my life that provided an income I could live on and a goal for me to wrap my brain around each day, in spite of the fact that I was broke, lonely, sick and confused. There was a moment when I was not sure if I was going to make it after my daughter and X-girlfriend disappeared. It was terrible, but I had something to put my heart into even though my world was falling apart all around me. Suddenly, my silly hobby of twisting balloons became a life line. I found that people would not only pay me to come to their homes and twist balloons for their son or daughter's birthday party, but that they actually LIKED me and WANTED me to be there in their homes with their kids and tell them my story. Through my balloon-artistry, I have made many friends and met many more people than I could have ever hoped to have met on my own. These days, CREATIVE INFLATION has grown from one guy with a bag of balloons that really wasn't sure of himself to several people learning to be better each day with different skillsets that eventually will lead to a full-service company concept that provides total-package, birthday party services and advanced entertainment-marketing for advertising and promotional purposes to bars, restaurants, in-line retail stores as well as for private parties and other special events. Everyone should take a look at CREATIVE INFLATION these days. It's really kind of a big deal. I never thought that my silly hobby of manipulating latex balloons into cartoon characters and other recongnizeable shapes would get so many people's attention, but it has. I also never imagined that my hobby would generate a full-time income while my girlfriend has been out of work, but it's become a full-blown career,(sorry for the pun) but it has and I am thankful for the fact that people like what we do. They pay me for this and that's a blessing like no other. Thanks for all the support and be ready for new things to come. We are just getting started again after the first twenty years. Expect even better things. God Bless. =RICK=