Throwing it back with Birthday Retro Daisies!

 One of my favourite new Qualatex 18" Microfoil™ Balloons is the Birthday Retro Daisies.

Daisies were a popular floral motif in the 1960s and 70s. This flowers simple, cheerful appearance and association with innocence and purity made it a favourite among the hippie counterculture of the era. Today, daisies are still used in retro-inspired designs as a nod to the past, but they can also be incorporated in more modern designs for a fresh and playful touch.

This week, I enjoyed creating a design using this new balloon to make an air-filled arrangement that would be perfect for a delivery. It is bright, fun and relatively easy to make once you learn how to make the flowers (see video below)

In this design there are two types of twisted flowers: the larger flowers were made using 350Q balloons and the smaller flowers were made using 160Q balloons, and there is one 260Q flower (pink) in the design.

Although I did not use all of these techniques to make my flowers, you may find it helpful when recreating this design... you can add your own creative flair to it! 

How to Create Balloon Daisies 3 Ways!

To make this design, I started with a wooden centrepiece stand from Gibs On It.

I covered the base using a stretched 16" white balloon. I pre-stretch the balloon first, then cut off the neck and make a small hole at the top of the balloon. It is a little tricky to stretch it over, but with a little care it is possible to get it to cover the base.

I also covered the pole, this time with with a pre-stretched 350Q. I slipped that over the pole and secured it at the base using a scrap 160Q balloon.

Finding reliable bases and poles for designs such as this is not always easy. You could always use a PremiumConwin Deco Stick and Cup glued to a tile base, though it will not be as stable as this wooden pole and base. 

Once my base was prepared it was time to start to creating!

To support the 18" foil balloon, I used an odd sized balloon cluster, keeping the balloons on one side smaller than the other side.

I then added the 18" foil to the base of the design.

As my design was designed around the Retro Daisies balloon, I sat down and created a range of twisted flowers using the same colours that are on the foil to create unity and a sense of oneness in my design.

Birthday Retro Daisies Design by Sue Bowler
www.suebowler.com 

I secured the twisted daisy in Caribbean Blue to the wooden pole, and the remaining flowers have been secured to the design using UGlu Dashes. This type of glue dot is extremely strong and easy to apply - Uglu Dashes are available at many balloon wholesalers and suppliers! 

So now to get the perfect and most appealing shot of my design! One of my latest challenges is to to improve my photography skills. Taking that perfect shot is not my strong point, and I definitely know that sharing an appealing photograph on socials is extremely important!

I don't have a photo backdrop in my studio so I rely on tools such as CANVA to help me to make my photo a little more appealing! I also recently attended a free "How to Use Your iPhone Camera" course at my local Apple Store, which was super helpful, and was made even better because I was the only person who had signed up to the course that day so I got one-to-one tuition!

Here are a few of the photographs that I captured, which one do you think would be the most appealing for social media?

Do you think that a coloured boarder helps to bring more colour to the shot?

How about no background at all?

I introduced an Arch frame to give my design a stronger background 

And finally, I have cropped right into the photo, this brings the design closer and is a little bit more dramatic! 

I love taking the time to be creative! It is an opportunity to play around and truly enjoying doing what you love best... having fun with balloons! 

I always look forward to seeing what you create, especially with the new Qualatex balloons! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

Finding the Perfect Air-Filled Balloon Decor Solution

Fulfilling a customer's needs is what we all strive for, and finding the perfect decor solution is very rewarding.

Several months ago, I started discussing decor ideas with an event organiser. The event was one that I had decorated two years ago, so I had a little background knowledge of the venue and some of the difficulties decorating this particular event.

This event had used balloons for its decor for many years, but due to a number of circumstances we needed to find a good alternative to a helium-filled table arrangement or a domineering air-filled design. Our mission was to create the perfect air-filled table centrepiece.

The customer's requirements were very specific:

• The design needs to have a good visual impact without interfering with sight-lines to screens around the room.
• It should have a little actual movement, like helium without using helium.
• Each centrepiece needs to display the names of the event sponsors.
• Should be heavy enough to withstand strong winds as the venue is an open-sided marquee.

A few years ago we were hit by a short-term world helium shortage. As a result of this shortage, we had to find good alternative solutions to creating different types of decor with air-filled balloons. 

To help with ideas, inspiration, and solutions, Qualatex^® produced a wonderful flier called, ‟The Qualatex Air-fill Advantage.” The flier is still available to download. Click HERE for your copy!

One of the design concepts that inspired me greatly was by Sandy Pressley, CBA, of Creative Balloons in Warren, MI, USA. Sandy showed some wonderful no-helium balloon bouquets using ceiling tile wire to support the balloons.

When I knew that I had to find an alternative way to make my centrepiece designs for this event, this for me was the perfect solution.

I believe that ceiling tile wire is readily available in hardware stores in the U.S. However, to find straightened wire in the U.K, I had to go to a specialist ceiling tile company, that sold pre-straightened wire in 3m lengths. This wire is also known as 12-gauge hanger wire.

Having found a solution to support my air-filled balloons, I needed to decide which balloon would be the best for the job. This was not too difficult  to determine as my customer's requirements were quite specific. We needed to be able to display each of the sponsor logos within the design, but we could not make the centrepieces too big as we needed to ensure good visual lines to television screens around the venue. 

I decided that working with 9" Qualatex Microfoil^® would be perfect! I would be able to use five stars per table, and on each of the stars I would have the sponsor's logo printed.

The Design - Starburst Centrepiece

The colours that we used made these designs boldly stand out in an extremely large, white marquee, injecting an element of fun and festivity to the occasion.

The Method of Construction

Considering the number of centrepieces that we had to make - 95 in total - it was not a quick and simple design. As I mentioned at the start of this post, there was a number of factors that we had to take into consideration when making these centrepieces.

For the base of the design, we used a 33cm x 33cm (13" x 13") white floor tile. The weight and size of these tiles made it impossible for the centrepieces to be flipped over in windy conditions.


As I have already mentioned, each of the Microfoil Star balloons were secured to ceiling tile wires, but again, that was not quite as simple as it appeared!
















For each centrepiece, we cut five different lengths of wires. Each wire was bent over at one end and then a short length of balloon stick was slipped over the bent wire. Each wire was then covered with a Caribbean Blue 260Q and secured at the end using binding wire, much in the same way as a fantasy flower. Once each wire was covered, an Original Cello Cup™was secured to each of the wires. This fitted neatly onto the balloon stick that was hidden under the covered wire.

As you can imagine, this took quite a long time as we had 475 wires in total to prepare, but we were able to work on these well in advance.















To hold the five wired stars in position, we needed a short pedestal.  I chose to use a 14" Lomey Clear Pedestal for this job. I secured each of the Lomey Pedestals to the floor tile base using Gorilla Glue™.  Finding the right glue for the job was very important, and reading the glue's description gave me confidence that it was the right product. I allowed the glue 24-hours to set and fully dry, and it worked perfectly!

TOUGH, WATERPROOF, STICKS TO EVERYTHING
The product that started it all. Original Gorilla Glue built a name for itself with its incredible, industrial holding power and versatility. Water activated, it expands into materials to form an incredibly strong bond to virtually anything. As your solution for almost any project or repair, Gorilla Glue is 100% waterproof, weatherproof, you-name-it-proof. It's safe for indoor and outdoor use and strong enough to stand up to intense heat or cold. Sand it, paint it, stain it. Simply stated, it’s the Toughest Glue on Planet Earth.

Each of the 9" Microfoil Star balloons needed to be inflated and heat sealed. If heat-sealing is something that you are not too confident doing, check out my blog:

Heat Sealing Qualatex Microfoil Balloons and turn those 'little balloons' into BIG profit earners!

This is another job that can be done well in advance, and I strongly recommend that you do, as it will give you the opportunity to re-inflate any of the foils that deflate I think I had about 5, which was an easy fix. 

Assembling the 95 centrepieces took approximately 24 hours in total, which I did over several days and stored ready to deliver on the morning of the event. 
For each centrepiece I secured 5 different coloured stars to a Lomey pedestal. I then "wrapped" the pedestal with a 350Q to cover the wires and hide all the mechanics. At the base, I added two clusters of balloons, the Purple Violet inflated to 4.5" and the Caribbean Blue to 3.5". I also added two 4" Magenta Microfoil Stars. At the top of the pedestal, I added a "split-duplet," using two 5" Caribbean Blue balloons. Once we arrived at the venue, we positioned each centrepiece and arranged the stars to make a starburst effect. Each centrepiece looked slightly different.

With preparation and assembly time, I calculated that each centrepiece took approximately 25 minutes each to make; Not quick and simple, but very rewarding, especially when the client tells you that they are absolutely perfect!

I was extremely happy with the outcome of this job. It taught me a number of things. Spending time with a customer to find the perfect solution is paramount to success and a happy customer. And that good preparation is key when making so many centrepieces!

Happy Ballooning!


Sue
www.suebowler.com

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