Monday, October 29, 2018

Introducing Toñy Moncada CBA, and sharing a video of one of her fabulous NEW techniques!

Earlier this month I attended the OnArt Event held in Barcelona, Spain. It was a rare opportunity to be able to attend a convention as a guest and not an instructor.

I was very excited to be able to see some of the instructors at work teaching some truly awesome classes! One of the classes that I attended was "Table Settings" taught by Toñy Moncada, CBA of Globofiesta, in Elche, Alicante, Spain.





Rose Gold Table Setting by Toñy Moncada, CBA
Here is one of Toñy's beautiful wedding table settings that she sells
not only as a balloon display but also filled with treats and candies! 

I first met Toñy Moncada in 2008 at the first OnArt Event. Toñy is very passionate about balloons and creative decor. She loves exciting her clients with her fabulous ideas. Toñy's explains that her day-to-day sales mainly come from clients wanting balloons for newborns and birthdays. She specialises, however, in wedding and communion decor. In a six week-period from the end of April to the beginning of June, Toñy says that her store averages 50-60 communions per week!

Toñy told me that she loves to create wedding decor. She feels that her work fills the couple's day with many emotions. All of Toñy's weddings are bespoke, designed specifically to achieve the client's dreams. Toñy loves to build a good relationship with her customers so that she can fully understand their desires and wants.


Flamingo's and Japanese Tree event decor by Toñy Moncada
I love Toñy's Japanese influenced design for an 18th birthday! 

One of Toñy's favourite balloons is the Qualatex® Deco Bubble! 
"Bubbles are so versatile. There are so many beautiful things that you can do with them! They are long-lasting and one of my top-selling balloons!"

Toñy offers some great advice for someone new to the balloon industry.
"To work with balloons, you must feel a passion. Without passion you will not be able to find your creativity. You must also understand how to run a business. This is vitally important for the future success of your business.
Make sure that you build a good relationship with your customers, as this will result in repeat business and good recommendations." 
During Toñy's class, she shared a fabulous technique that I had never seen before. I asked Toñy if she would be happy to share this with the readers of the Very Best Balloon Blog and she agreed! 

Thursday, October 18, 2018

"Good Design Matters for your Business" - Zoe Adams-Jones Shows You How to Create Fabulous Social Media Posts Using CANVA.

We all want to do a better job with our social media activity. We know how important it is to increase our customer base and to connect with our current customers. However, producing engaging content and having content consistency is not quite so simple.




I am always looking for an easy solution and when it comes to design, Canva is simply perfect! Canva, for those of you who have not used it before, is a graphic-design tool website. It uses a drag-and-drop format and provides access to more than a million photographs, graphics, and fonts. It is used by non-designers as well as professionals. The tools can be used for both web and print media design and graphics. It offers a wide variety of content types that include Facebook and Instagram post templates, posters, brochures, and so much more!



Canva is free. However, you can upgrade for a nominal monthly fee to increase its functionality. Personally, I would start with the free version and then upgrade later if you feel you need the extra functions.


Zoe Adams-Jones


Recently, the wonderful Zoe Adams-Jones, CBA, of Jaz Trading in Queensland, Australia, made a live online tutorial - "Creating Easy Professional Graphics using Canva" - that she shared with the Australian ballooning community and to her followers on Facebook. Zoe has a background in digital marketing and has many years of experience in this field. She very kindly agreed that we could share her tutorial with the readers of the Very Best Balloon Blog.

I had previously "had a go" at using Canva, but because it did not work for me instantly, I gave up. As with anything new, you need to invest just a little bit of time to go through the steps. Zoe's tutorial will guide you through the simple steps of how to use Canva with ease, and within no time you will be producing fabulous marketing materials that you can use across all your social media channels.

I recommend that you open up Canva first (www.Canva.com) click on "Create a Design" and have a little play for a few minutes. Then watch Zoe's tutorial and everything will start to make sense!

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

OnArt - "Convention of Balloon Artists" 2018

OnArt - "Convention of Balloon Artists," a Qualatex-sponsored event, has just celebrated its 11th Anniversary. From the 5th-7th October, 2018, the Hotel FrontAir Congress in Barcelona, Spain, became home for nearly two hundred delegates, sponsors, and organisers, including eleven fabulous instructors from around the globe — twenty different countries, in fact!  



Fabulous "Barcelona" balloon wall and "Motor Bike" 
designed by Vadim Sushkanov, CBA.

OnArt founder Jósemarie Álvarez with his wife Cristina Cano of Globofiesta Party S.L.,   first started the balloon artist event in 2008. For me, this was very special as I was one of the first instructors to teach at this fabulous convention.


This three-day event promised to be action-packed, fun-filled, and with many amazing learning opportunities! It did not fail on any level. 

The event kicked off with a CBA examination under the watchful eye of Keith Stirman, CBA. Congratulations to the thirteen new CBAs who passed!



The welcome party was the perfect opportunity for everyone to meet up. The fabulous party decor below was created by Edward Muñoz and Vadim Shushkanov.


Beautiful "Candy'" theme entrance decor by Edward Muñoz

Fabulous "Candy" theme decor by Edward Muñoz


 "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" 
by Barbara Rosatelli 


Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Taking the Fear Factor out of Organic Decor - Top Tips from Three Industry Experts!

Does the thought of creating an organic style balloon installation give you sleepless nights and fill you with dread? 

Fear no more - I have instilled the help of three amazing organic balloon art designers to share with us their top tips that will steer you through those worrying and confusing times!

The fabulous Caity Byrne, CBA of All About balloons in Washington, D.C., USA, has some truly great advice to share!

Caity Byrne of All About Balloons
"Don't be afraid to play! So many times, I have pulled out the color I think is just right for an organic piece, only to realize I'm completely wrong. I've pulled out other colors I'm dubious will look good together, and I end up with my new favorite palette. The cost to experiment is so minimal compared to the potential return on investment.
The principles and elements of design are of paramount importance in organic decor. Whether it's balance, scale, whatever- they should all be kept in mind when designing, planning, and constructing a piece. A 3-footer is completely out of proportion when nestled in with a bunch of 5" balloons, for example. An 8' swag behind a 25' stage is going to look completely underwhelming and out of place. A 25' swag on an 8' stage can be done well, provided there is balance (but not symmetry- gross!).
When it comes to actual hands-on construction of a piece, the most important thing I cannot stress enough is to keep balloons round! In my opinion, there is no place for anything other than round balloons in most decor (excepting helium balloons on a string, of course). Round balloons stack much more nicely and give movement to the piece. How many times have you seen an organic piece while strolling through Instagram only to have your eye stop abruptly on a pear-shaped balloon (or a bad color or size)?
The best business advice I have is particularly true in organics: don't be cheap and don't be lazy. Use Cloud Busters if the piece warrants it! Grab those foils and add them in for flair! Use SuperAgates- they're worth it! Take the time to make the confetti balloons and make your piece over the top. Your clients will be thrilled and your future clients will be calling!" 


Want to know how Caity makes her fabulous organic decor? She has two educational downloads available to purchase from gumroad.com/allaboutballoons.

Here are some of Caity's favourite organic installations


This was the first organic piece that Caity ever did. It was in the East Room of the White House for the Obama’s final Halloween party.