Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Creating a woodland-themed window or decor with some lovely balloon creatures!

When I first saw the new 37" ‟Enchanted Tree in Bloom” Microfoil® balloon, I was very excited to see all the wonderful, different elements featured on this balloon. When I was asked to create a window display around this theme, I found it pretty easy!

People often ask me how I find my inspiration In many instances it's really easy; just look at the balloons you are working with and draw from them.

This balloon has so many exciting features; a tree, flowers, butterflies,  a snail, a caterpillar and a toadstool.
Window display by Sue Bowler, CBA.



Starting with the tree and looking at the proportions, the tree's trunk it quite thick.  I decided to use 6-balloon clusters, working with under-inflated 11" and 5" Chocolate Brown latex balloons, which I think worked really well. To make the top part of the tree, I added 11" and 5" Lime Green 4-balloon clusters to give the tree the correct height, and then added in 3-balloon clusters of Lime Green latex balloons to fill out the tree to give it a finished look. Just keep on adding the clusters until you are happy with the result. It takes a while until it starts to look like a tree!

I then added in twisted balloon flowers using the same colours as shown on the "Enchanted Tree in Bloom" balloon.







The Snail

The snail I made for the display was inspired by a design made by Ludovic Epting of Magic Ludovic, based in France. I loved using the new Qualatex® Wavy Stripes White with Robin's Egg Blue Spray Quick Links. For me, this made the perfect snail shell.


To secure the shell to the snails body I tried a number of different glues, but the best result was using Elmer's®  No-Wrinkle Rubber Cement.

I did not give my snail any way to stand up unaided, so I used a couple of UGlu® Dashes to hold him in place.











The Toadstool

I loved making the toadstools! With a little practice, they are pretty easy to make. With such a great selection of 11" Big Polka Dot printed latex balloons, you can make them in a variety of different colours which would complement the new 18" "Birthday Banner Garden" balloon.

To allow my toadstools to stand up, I attached three very small sand weights at the base.


18" "Birthday Banner Garden" balloon.
The Bug

The bug is a very old favourite of mine. I have been making them for years, so I was very happy when I saw it featured on the balloon!






I have a number of different designs working with the bug. You might remember the bug that I featured in an earlier blog. I used a GEO® Blossom for the head of the “Love Bug Valentine’s Day Bouquet,” featured a few years ago. 




To find out how to make the bug, check out "Sue's Recipes."


Mr. Fox

The new 14" and 33" "Fabulous Fox" 
Microfoil balloons are just wonderful! It’s perfect for the woodland theme as well as many other designs, too. The 33" balloon was too big for the window display, so I made two smaller versions using the 14" head instead. I also featured the new 18" "Birthday Party Fox" balloon within the display. I did make the bigger version of the Fox and positioned it outside the window.


Small Fox and Toadstools by Sue Bowler, CBA.






Window display by Sue Bowler, CBA.


Fabulous Fox Design by Cam Woody, CBA.

To find out how to re-create this Fabulous Fox design by Cam Woody, CBA, of Pioneer Balloon Company, check out the Valentine's Business Booster by visiting www.Qualatex.com or click HERE for a direct link.



I have just returned from teaching a Master Class in Portugal, where I showed the delegates some of these wonderful woodland design ideas. Here is a photograph of all the designs placed together to create a magical woodland scene.





I think we will have so much fun with this lovely new theme. I am looking forward to seeing so many great designs using them!

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com