It won't be too long before the 2012 wedding season is truly upon us, so I thought that a little bit of wedding inspiration might be a good idea!
Designed by Sue Bowler CBA
"So how do we 'find' our Wedding decor inspiration and get some fresh idea's"?
I always try and do as much research as possible, check out what's 'hot' and in fashion with both colour and themes.
Start by doing a little bit of 'surfing' around the web, you can find a whole host of information and idea's! Just use key words like Wedding Colors 2012, Wedding Trends 2012, Wedding Theme 2012, just keep trying different words, you'll be amazed at what you'll find out... save the websites that you like best to your favourites so that you can easily find them again!
For 2012 wedding colours I found many great sites, including Martha Stewarts Weddings, which has some great information, like these Perfect Palettes, click on the link below to see more great information from her website!
Use the great resources that are ready available on www.Qualatex.com such as The Wedding Business Booster for fantastic decor idea's and great business tips!
If you are a QBN Member you have many other additional resources available on the Qualatex website, like these great downloadable photographs (and many more) from the resource centre that you can easily accessed from the lefthand side of the homepage... simply click, sign in and see what's available!
Free resource for QBN members
Learn and be inspired by others by investing in training & knowledge.
Attend the World Balloon Convention or a Qualatex Event, or alternatively take a 1 day wedding course or learn from professional Balloon Design DVD's.
For those of you attending theWorld Balloon Conventionthere are some great wedding design classes such as Magical Wedding Moments with Steven Mayhew CBA and Weddings with Italian Flair! With Alberto Falcone CBA
This is a series of courses that I have written for Qualatex. They have been designed to maximise sales opportunities from brides and increase demand for more creative and profitable decor! To find out more and where these courses are being taught visit www.thequalatexevent.com website. For other great courses visit 'Shows and Events' on the Qualatex Website.
The Qualatex Facebook Groupis also a fantastic source of inspiration! I have selected a few pictures from the photo gallery... there are so many great pictures it was hard to choose!
A huge thank you to all of you who submit your pictures to inspire others and a special big thank you to the designers of the photographs that I have used below!
Beautiful Framed Heart by Alessandro Patane CBA of Balloon Express Shop Sicilia, Italy
'Balloon Tree' by Nadia Azar, Balloontastic Creations, New Jersey, USA
Wedding Arbour by Funtastik Balloons, Florida, USA
Elegant Hearts - Jose Lutman CBA, Mulhouse, France
Just Married Hearts by Jose Lutman CBA, Mulhouse, France
Elegant Columns & Arches by Luz Marina Paz Bucio, CBA, Fiesta Party Corp, Indiana, USA
Free Standing 36" Wedding Heart by Matthew Lewis CBA - Matthew Lewis Displays, Coventry, UK
Svetlana Lugovaya ,Orenburg, Russia
Elegant Centerpiece by Nadia Azar, Balloontastic Creations, New Jersey, USA
Elegant Swan by Tania Torres CBA, Balloon Express Shop, Sicilia, Italy
Bride & Groom by Ballooncake CBA
Stunning Ceiling Decor by Matthew Lewis Displays, Coventry, UK
Fairy Tale Cake Table by Rosanna Cedeno, New York, USA
Elegant Columns and Wedding Cloud by All Occasions, Sunderland, UK
White Butterfly and Heart Column by Nadia Azar, Balloontastic Creations, New Jersey, USA
3' Just Married Hearts-A-Round by Colin Myles CBA, Smiley Balloons, Dundee, Scotland
I hope that this has given you a little inspiration for the forthcoming wedding season? Don't forget all the fantastic Qualatex balloons that are just perfect for weddings... here are a few of my favourites!
Ivory Rose & Butterflies #31254
Deco Bubble Scroll Filigree All Around #23593
Deco Bubble 24" Elegant Roses & Butterflies #29718 with Just Married Butterflies-A-Round 11" Latex
But please do not let me influence you :) Check out the great range of Wedding latex, Microfoil® and Qualatex Bubble balloons! Download the 2012 Qualatex catalogue today if you do not already have i
Looking forward to seeing many of you at WBC 2012 in Dallas... !
I love this wall type, it is robust, always looks good and is probably the most widely used method of precision wall. It is made by alternating clusters of four balloons in two different sizes packed on to 50lb Dacron line. This produces a square garland (see example below).
The first and last garland in your wall start and finish with one size of balloon cluster, the next garland starts and finishes with the alternate size of balloon cluster. The example below shows the green balloon being the bigger of the 2 sizes.
Square Garlands
The difference in size between the two sets is relative to the size of balloon used.
2" - 4½" = use a ½"differential
4½" - 7½" = use a 1" differential
7½" - 11" = use a 2" differential
5cm - 11.5cm = use a 1.5cm differential
11.5cm - 19cm = 2.5cm differential
19cm - 28cm = 5cm differential
Practice to see which size works best for you. The garlands when built are laid side by side and interlocked, then joined together using the elastic band method (See Balloon Walls Part 1).
Square Garlands locked together
Consistent sizing of balloons is paramount with balloon walls, some methods are not very forgiving of badly sized balloons or inconsistent 'dupleting' of balloons. To form the duplets we must make sure that the balloons are tied as tightly together as possible, leaving no slack latex between the knot and the inflated part of the balloon.
Everyone will pack clusters on to line at a particular tension. It is usual to have only one person pack the garlands while others inflate and tie. This is not possible on large jobs, so you will need to practice consistent sizing and packing with your crew.
This method produces quite a smooth design with a flat surface, it allows for good diagonal lines and triangles. Not all balloon wall types work with different patterns!
Here are some examples of balloon wall using the Alternate Size Square Garland method:
I designed and made this wall with a group of delegates at The Qualatex Event Slovenia 2009.
Below is the same wall design but using a different colour combination, I also added a border around the edge of the design. This is a great example of a monocromatic colour harmony.
This is a great design to work on. It takes a total of 684 balloons. I have added all the details below.
2012... a year of celebrations!
2012 will see many celebrations with both the Olympics and the Queens 60th Jubilee. Some years ago I created a balloon wall replica of the Union Jack using the Alternate Size Square pack method, so here it is, I hope that you get the opportunity to try it out!
The Union jack is made up of 9 columns, each column has 33 clusters a total of 1188 balloons!
And finally, here is one of the balloon walls that I created for WBC 2012. The US Flag! Sadly, I never got a photograph of the wall, so if anyone has one please send it to me and I'll add it to this blog!
Last year I made a very large wall to frame my "Island' Sculpture at BACI, It allowed people to walk between the wall and the sculpture and made it look like they were on the Island... great for photographs!
Let me know how you get on with this type of wall, I think that you should find it a little easier than the Duplet Square pack method!
If you have any examples of balloon walls that you would like to share on my blog page please send them to me at Sue@suebowler.com
This years Spring Fair took place from the 5th-9th February at The NEC, Birmingham, England.
Against a backdrop of economic pressure and inclement weather (snow) it still attracted over 63,500 buyer visitors. The Spring Fair is divided into 13 main categories,
Contemporary Gift & Home
Gift & Home
Volume Gift & Home
Greetings & Stationery
Kitchen, Dining & Housewares
The Summerhouse
Toys, Games & Kids Gifts
The Party Show
Festive & Floral
Art & Framing
Body, Bath & Home Fragrance
Fashion Jewellery & Accessories
The Jewellery Show
Balloons, costume and party goods were represented within the new 'Party Show' sector in Hall 3.
New 2012 Catalog
The Spring Fair for Pioneer Europe (Qualatex) is the perfect opportunity to launch the 2012 Everday Catalogue, to showcase the amazing range of Qualatex balloon products to new and existing customers.
With both the 'Education Centre' and 'The Stage' daily demonstrations, visitors were 'wowed' with the endless ideas and profitable designs being shown to them, the demo teams was made up by myself, Dee White, Dom Cassidy & Keith Stirman.
Me in one of the Education centre's... before the show had officially opened!
To give you an idea of the size of the entire show, 17 miles... yes miles of carpet was used to cover the endless walkways between the aisles and halls!
I have been part of the Qualatex Spring Fair team for many years. I have had the privilege and honor of designing and creating the stand/ booth window displays, showing a host of new products and design ideas. Working along side Jodie Norris & Dee White, who each year create the most incredible stand/booth decor, which I can honestly say makes the Qualatex stand probably one of the most colourful and professional looking stands in the entire show!
Spring Fair is very much a team effort, with a number of the Qualatex Sales team (Michelle, Mark, Debbie, Linda. Jag, Michelle) being an integral part of the stand/decor build as well as being on the stand once the show opens talking to customers and of course taking order!
Preparation starts earlier in the week prior to the show with stand builders building the stand.
Dee White adding graphics to an 8' Giant Cloudbuster- Chloroprene balloon
View of the completed stand/booth - Stand designers Jodie Norris & Dee White
Retail display... Microfoils, Bubbles and Qualatex Retail Latex
New Microfoils & Bubble balloons
Beautiful new Special Shapes balloons
The Qualatex Hot Air balloons with Dee's fantastic Smiley Face men
New holographic balloons... they are lovely!
The Animal head shape balloons worked so well, especially with Dee's added touch for the 'ladies'!
View from the other end of the stand.
Window displays using the beautiful new holographic balloons!
Birthday Display!
Numbers Display!
If you would like to see a little more, I have put together a short DVD that gives you a great look at the stand, the fantastic new balloons and some inspirational design ideas!
Spring Fair 2013 will be 3rd-7th Feb 2013... mark the date in your diary!
If you attended the show please add your comments to this blog, we would love to hear what you thought of the stand decor, new balloons... anything really!
I walked around the show after I had finished my stint on the stand, I only actually managed to visit a few of the other halls. I saw some great new products that will work very well for balloon artists... watch this space as I hope to try out and review some of these soon!
