Inside Out and Upside Down... the versatility of a Qualatex Geo Blossom!

'Love Stack' - A great design for Valentines
Created by Sue Bowler CBA

Here is my newest design idea for Valentines Day, I have named it 'Love Stack' (designs are easier to sell when you name them). The name Love Stack is a play on that very famous song 'Love Shack' (baby love shack) by the B52's - you'll be humming that all day now...

It uses Qualatex Geo Blossoms in a different way (which I know some of you do this already), but this is my first time for a while and I have enjoyed re-visiting this technique!

So for those of you who have not used the inside-out method here's how simple it is!

Geo Blossom Flower Assortment

For my design I used:

4 x 6" Geo Blossoms balloons - Rose & Wild Berry - ( Flower Assortment # 87166)

22 x 5" Red Latex balloons # 43599

1 x Teddy Bear's Floating Hearts # 65205 - filled with helium

1 x Weight

160Q's preferably in red or pink to attach the balloons together.

Step 1.

Firstly create 2 x clusters of 4-balloons for the base of the design, keep the ballon size small, the base cluster about 4" and the second cluster to about 3", the top clusters can be even smaller, if you make them too big, the design will look out of proportion.

Step 2.

Prepare your Geo Blossom balloons, turn them inside out, and thread approx. 1/2 of a 160Q through the centre, see pictures below, these will allow you to connect the balloons together, once that have been inflated, try and use like colours so that they are hidden within the design, I just used Yellow to make it stand out for you to see.

Step 3.

Inflate the 4 x Geo Blossoms until they resemble a heart, do not over-inflate, you will see when the balloon is starting to look tight, then knot.

Step 4.

Tie the inflated inside out Geo Blossoms together as on picture to create your 'stack', leaving a tiny little stretch between the balloons to add in the 'clusters'.

Step 5.

The tiny clusters between the first and last inside out Geo Blossoms are made from only 2 balloons, instead of using 2 balloons to create a duplet, I simply take 1 balloon, only add 1 pump of air, tie the knot away from the balloon further down the neck than normal, then split the balloon into 2 by twisting it in the centre, make 2 of these and twist them together to create a cluster... a little tricky and needs some practise, but worth the effort as you get lovely neat little duplets and clusters. If you find this technique too hard just make regular clusters but keep your balloons very small.

For the central balloons (Rose Pink) I just added in a duplet, so that one balloon appears on each side.

When you construct this, you will find that it is pretty sturdy!

Step 6.

Now connect everything together, as per the picture, starting with your regular 4-balloon clusters x 2, then the first of your 'inside-outers', then continue until you compete your stack, then finish with another regular 4-balloon cluster, make sure that the stack is securely attached to a weight and that the Qualatex Bubble balloon is secured into the top.

Teddy Bear Love Stack by Sue Bowler

I hope that your Valentines preparation is well under way and hopefully I will have at least 1 more Valentines design to share with you in the next week or so!

Happy ballooning!

Sue

www.suebowler.com