Sue Bowler: The Balloon Expert

Copyright laws are an absolute minefield, and much easier to break than you imagine.  I recently came across this enlightening and informative article by Sonia Payne of Balloon Biz Academy, who has kindly shared it with the Very Best Balloon Blog. I believe that you will find this an extremely interesting and helpful read!    When one does a quick flick through Facebook looking for balloons,  It doesn’t take long to stumble across countless acts of copyright theft! Yes, I did say theft… because ultimately when you use another person’s work for your own commercial gain, that’s exactly what it is! It is an industry-wide issue, and hands-up it is something I have been guilty of before in my business! I saw so many others doing it across the entire industry, so I assumed it must be okay… but having looked further into what you can and can’t do, I am here to tell you why it's wrong. One of the biggest myths in our industry is that as a small business, many of which are o...

To be honest, 2021 did not really turn out to be the year that we had all hoped for, or the one that we had anticipated that it would be. So, will 2022 finally be the year that we are all waiting for? In preparation for life and business to resume to normal, I thought that it might be a good idea to look at the possible ballooning trends for this year! Let's face it, everyone is ready to party and celebrate anything and everything! Bigger, Bolder, Better are the three words that I keep reading when looking at party trends for 2022. Over the past two years, parties and celebrations have been limited to gathering in small groups, with reduced guest lists. This year will hopefully play host to bigger celebrations than ever before, and it will be all about making a big impact!  Be bold with colour! Predictions show that party planners will be looking to inject feelings of optimism, empowerment and joy into their events through vibrant pinks, purples, oranges and blues, and a...

Spring Fair is an annual B2B (Business to Business) trade show in the UK, where  many thousands of visitors attend to source and buy new products for their shops, stores and studio's. Each year I have the honour to designs and create the window displays for the Qualatex stand. In Part 1, of this two part post, I walked through each of the window displays that I created, as well as the products and colours of balloons that I used. If you missed it - check it out  HERE . I would now like to take this opportunity to show you around the rest of the stand.  There was a seasonal display on each of the corners, and I was asked to create the Autumn display with a wedding theme. I chose to make an organic display - see below. I really enjoyed making this organic Column design with the gorgeous dried grasses and leaves arrangement as the focal point! The colour palette I created was a 'nude' tone theme, made from a selection of double-stuffed balloons. These are the latex...

So what is Spring Fair? Probably the best way to describe Spring Fair is that it is a B2B (business to business) trade show for the retail market.This show attracts thousands of customers from around the world looking to buy new and exciting products for their shops, stores and showrooms. Spring Fair has been an annual event for me for many years. Each year I have had the honour and privilege (and what some might call daunting task) of creating a variety of displays for the Qualatex stand. My remit is to create displays that displays new and existing products in a creative way to promote and inspire customers visiting the stand. Due to the worldwide pandemic, last year's show was cancelled, as with most events! As you can imagine, myself and the Pioneer Europe Team were extremely happy to be back once again!  Design by Sue Bowler, CBA Meet the Pioneer Europe Team and Instructors Pioneer Europe Team & Instructors The Window Displays Designs by Sue Bowler, CBA This year I was ass...