Sue Bowler: The Balloon Expert

Communion Butterflies  F irst  Communion  is considered one of the holiest and most important occasions in a Roman Catholic person's life. It is the first time that a person receives the Sacrament of the Holy  Eucharist , which is the eating of consecrated bread and drinking of consecrated wine.  Illuminated Cross #38465 When boys and girls make their First Holy Communion, it’s a big occasion for Catholic families. Like their Baptism, the day of First Communion is one filled with family, friends, and feasting after the sacred event has taken place in church. Cross & Doves available in Pearl White with Gold Ink # 86384 and Pearl White with Silver Ink #84560

Colour play's an important part of our lives, so how are we influenced by colour trends?  Each year specialists from many industries including fashion, pop culture, technology, music and travel scour the globe in search of emerging colour trends. Colour trends are not, as you might imagine, found by simply seeing what's it hot in the fashion world, they are actually inspired by global influences that reflect the spirit of the time. Each year Pantone announces the Colour of Year . The colour is determined by a select group of people who between them, debate and eventually chose the colour on it's agreed merits. To give you an example, in 2013 Emerald was selected as the Colour of the Year. It was felt that the colour Emerald represented growth , renewal , and prosperity and in turn could be associated with the changing  economy as it began to recover. The 2015 'Colour of the Year' has been named Marsala - a "naturally robust and earthy wi...

A s a nation we are surrounded by sport, sport related activities, sporting events and global sporting occasions.  In part 2 of this blog we continue to look at ballooning opportunities at sporting events. If you missed part 1 click HERE . Balloon professional David Saker of Balloon.co.uk shares his experiences and some great tips. David Saker -  www.balloon.co.uk We've worked on the World Badminton finals at the NIA for the past 4 years. Usually they go for a floating balloon arch which is walked on and off after each final. World Badminton Final - Arch by David Saker

H ow we present our balloon's to our customer's can make the difference between selling a single balloon versus a complete design. Here are a few ideas that are perfect for Mother's Day! 'I Love you M♡M' says it all, add it to an arrangement of 'Smile Face Flowers' and we have a wonderful gift! This design was very simple to make. I found a range of lovely inexpensive tin jugs at my local floral wholesaler and simply secured a 'cup' from a Cup and Stick inside the jug - I used the stick to make the stems of the Smile Face Flowers and use these to secure the design in place. The vase can be filled with treats such as sweets and candy. This design is very elegant using the 'To a Wonderful Mum Cupcake' 18" # 90585 . The addition of the precision bubbles and bow around the edge of the balloon really make a lovely finishing touch and also add's value to this design.

Mother's Day is celebrated by over 50 countries around the world, but not all on the same date. Starting in February in Norway going right through to December in Indonesia, each country celebrates their date according to custom or religion. The Greeting Card Association   estimates that more than 150 million Mother’s Day cards are exchanged in the U.S. every year, making Mother’s Day the third largest card-sending holiday after Christmas and Valentine’s Day. In the UK, the Greetings Card Association states that Mother's Day remains the largest Spring Seasons card sending event, with a value of £50.40m. Knowing how successful a comparative industry is on key seasonal dates such as Mother's Day is a good benchmark for our industry. With less than 4 weeks until we celebrate Mother's Day in the UK, I thought it might be a good time to look at some ideas that we can promote to our customers, however for those of you in other parts of the world, you have a little mor...