Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Valentine's Shopping mall decor with Romana Kolenc, CBA, of Baloni Romana in Šoštanj, Slovenia. - 13th January 2016

I am always in awe of the wonderful photographs posted on the Qualatex® Facebook groups from balloon artists around the world. Last year Romana Kolenc, CBA, of Baloni Romana in Šoštanj, Slovenia, posted some stunning photographs of decor that she had created for a shopping mall in Slovenia for its Valentine's campaign.

Romana Kolenc, CBA.

Romana first started working with balloons 16 years ago in 2000. With a creative background, and after a few years of searching for the "right job," Romana spotted an article featuring Niko Fric, CBA, in the newspaper. Three days later, she met up with Niko and bought her first balloon pump and some balloons!

With Niko's help, Romana launched into the world of balloon decor very quickly, decorating a disco party within the first month of starting her balloon business! One month later, she made a large stork for her niece's newborn baby. In March 2000, she got her first big job, decorating for prom night at the local secondary school and has decorated it every year since!

Last year, Romana embarked on one of her biggest jobs to date, decorating a shopping mall for Valentine's Day. Although this was not the first time she has worked at the shopping mall, it was the first time working with a new agency who organise all the decor for the mall.

"I started communications with the agency and the mall in December 2014. I was presented with their ideas, wishes, and photographs that they had found on the internet to give me an idea of what they were looking for. 
At our first meeting we discussed the places where they wanted to have balloons, and what exactly their wishes were for the final appearance. Their main focus was on elegance. We had big ideas for the decoration, but in the end everything was connected with the budget. It really did take a lot of emails and meetings before we finally found the best solutions for everyone."

1. Big Display Window
"The main focus was on a big display window; the idea was to make something that would invite people into the mall. They sent me a picture of a big heart made of small paper hearts. I got the idea to make a heart 3 x 3 meters out of 9˝ Microfoil® Hearts. The whole appearance was very spectacular.
Because the display window was set with one big and two smaller parts, we decided to decorate the smaller windows with five 36˝ foil hearts."

  
2. STAIRCASE
"Above the staircase, under the lights we hung 6 large hearts made of 5˝ latex balloons."



3. VIP Lounge
"For the VIP Lounge, they wanted the decor to be seen from all around, so I decided to make a big arch in the shape of a heart and on top of it we added two sitting cupids inviting people in. Inside the VIP room they wanted to have a very classy look. I decided to use Qualatex® Deco Bubble Balloons which I dressed with red feathers and set them on a column wrapped with red organza and red lights."




















4. Event Space
"In the event space they set a board for 'love messages.' Their criteria for the event space was a romantic atmosphere. My vision of romantic is two lovers in the park, so I decided to make the flowering tree that was made entirely from Qualatex 260Q's and 350Q balloons and the street light also made out of 260Q's. They also hired a fortune teller, so I made a pavilion which was also made out of 260Q's, 5˝ balloons and red organza."






The Valentine's decor was commissioned to last for the 2 weeks leading up to Valentine's Day. It took Romana and her two daughters, Tjaša and Hana, four days to prepare everything and one evening with additional helpers to put all the decor into position. Romana used Balloon Shine™ to keep the balloons looking clean and shiny as well as Hi-Float® to ensure that all the 260Q and 350Q balloons lasted for the duration.

I asked Romana how she felt once they had completed the job. 
"I was very happy and proud of our work. We created something that was unique and spectacular. Our client was extremely happy with what we did."
When I first saw Romana's beautiful and very elegant Valentine's decor last year, I was extremely impressed by the creativity and work that Romana and her daughters had created; the magic is still there, seeing it again almost a year later!

I asked Romana how she 'finds' her creativity and inspiration.
"I have attended a number of industry events, including Qualatex Events in the UK, Slovenia, and Hungary and BACI in Italy, too. I find events such as these very important to my business. I learn new things that I can offer my customers. I have been very inspired by the work of Niko Fric, CBA, and Alberto Falcone, CBA, and get my 'sweet inspirations' from you Sue."

So what is Romana's dream job?
"I have already have a dream job. Sometimes I wish I had even more work to do. I really enjoy my job, and there is nothing nicer than to make people happy and smile because of the things that I create. My life moto is: 'a day without a smile is lost, I have not lost a day yet.'"

A huge thank you to Romana for sharing her story and experience with the Very Best Balloon Blog! 

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com






1 comment:

Unknown said...

You’ve made some good points there. It’s a good idea! Please visit http://goo.gl/Gd5cNh