How to Make this Festive Gnome Design by Sue Bowler

Finding quick, easy and sellable designs is always a little challenging, especially when you are building your seasonal offerings! Today, I would like to share this cute and festive gnome design that I recently created and shared with the viewers of BMTV.

Material List

1 x Merry Christmas Gnome
#19772

1 x 42" Gnome
#20055

4 x 7" Gold Chrome Latex Balloons #85111
8 x 11" Gold Chrome Latex Balloons #58271

1 x 260Q Chrome Gold
#58283

1 x 260Q Red
#43958 

You will also need:

• Balloon weight (for the overall design)
• Small balloon weight & helium (for the Merry Christmas foil balloon)
• Nylon Line and red satin ribbon
• Stretchy Balloon Tape

To find out how to make this design please watch the video below! 

Balloon inflation sizes as a reminder:

• Base and 3rd cluster inflated to 8"
• 2nd/middle cluster inflated to 3.5"

Additional Tips:

• This design is perfect for personalising with someone's name for Christmas.
• Add Hi-Float to the 260Q's to help the balloons last longer.
• Always ensure that any helium-inflated foil balloons are safely secured to a balloon weight.
• This design could be made with alternative latex balloons to create a completely different look for the box/gift base. 

Here is another quick, easy, and festive idea! When you create a design that you really love, why not make it into a gift card that you can share with your friends, family and customers!

Here is my 2021 Christmas card, made using CANVA! It is so easy to do and gives you the opportunity to create something very special and unique! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

How to Create Spiral Balloon Columns - with Step-By-Step Instructional Video

Spiral Columns made with modelling balloons such as 260Q and 160Q have always been a favourite of mine. They are quick to make, always look elegant, and are a great way to decorate a pole when creating a design that uses a pole and base structure. As with all techniques, they need to be practiced to ensure that you get perfect results every time! 

Design 1. Single, one colour Spiral - This beautiful column made with all shades of green was designed and created by Eve Antonello, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA.

Shimmering Emerald Stars - Design by Eve Antonello.

Design 2. Single, double or multi-coloured spiral column. Still working with four balloons, using two or more colours brings a whole new look to this style of design! - These colourful 'Fashionable Fish' centrepiece was the crowning glory at this summer party, and brought an explosion of colour into a huge and very plain marquee tent.

Fabulous Fish Centrepieces by Sue Bowler, CBA.

3. Double Spiral Column using Eight Balloons. This design takes this technique to the next level, and is a fabulous example of Candy Strip style decor! By simply changing the colours, we can completely change the look and easily execute the effect that we want to create.

Christmas Candy Swirl Arch by
Sue Bowler, CBA.

4. Double Spiral Column with Precision Bubbles. How lovely does this effect look as a finishing touch on this baby design column! Because you're working with eight modelling balloons, and you are introducing Precision Bubbles, this technique is a little bit trickier than the others shown above, but definitely worth the extra effort! 

It's A  Girl - Baby & Moon Column by Sue Bowler, CBA.

To learn how to create this style of décor check out the video below! 

Here are some more inspiring design ideas using this technique! This video explains step-by-step how to create each of the styles of columns shown above.

Lion Tamer Pedestal

Place two of these Columns at the event entrance, or use them to draw attention to other focal areas at a circus-themed party.

Designer name: Sue Bowler, CBA, Balloon Art by Sue Bowler, Oxfordshire, UK

Got Treats?

So cute it’s scary!

Designer name: Sam Jossie, CBA, Pioneer® Balloon Company

It’s All So Magical!

The perfect decor accent for the princess on her special day!

Designer name: Eve Antonello, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA

Come Close Valentine!

Designer name: Eve Antonello, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA

If you have always wanted to know how to create this style of décor, or maybe have struggled to get the perfect, tight spirals, I hope that this post has helped!

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me on Instagram @suebowler

Part 2. Baby Moon Design - Step-by-Step Tutorial - How to Add the Balloons and Finishing Touches

In Part 1 of this two-part video tutorial, I demonstrate how to create the perfect frame for this super cute "Baby Moon" design. For a direct link to this video, click HERE.

Here is a reminder of the materials and equipment that you will need to make the frame:

Frame Material and Equipment List:

• 1 x 3m length - 6mm or 1/4" Aluminium Rod 
• Pipe or Bolt Cutters
• Gaffa or Duct Tape
• Pipe Bender if you have one but it's not essential
• NOT (Lamp) Base - this is an inexpensive IKEA (lamp) product that many balloon professionals use to support designs.
• NOT (Lamp) Pole x 1 (If you don't have access to an IKEA NOT Base and Pole you will need to find a good, similar alternative.) 
• White Floral Quick Drying Spray Paint 
• String or ribbon to measure
• Circular Template - such as a hoop

Balloon Material List - you can change the balloon colours to suit your client's needs.

• 18" Baby Girl Pink Stripes Microfoil™️ Balloon - #88004 
• 11" White - only a few for the cloud base
• 5"  Pink or Rose 
• 5"  Pearl Pink - optional
• 5"  White 
• 5"  Pearl White - optional, but it does give a slightly different textural look to the plain white
• 5"  Diamond Clear - approximately 10
• 7"  Chrome Gold - approximately 10
• 260Q Chrome Gold - approximately 15
• 260Q Pink - 4-5

Other items:

• Gold Metallic Confetti
• Ultra Hi-Float - I use the NEW Mini Bottle - 148ml (5oz) as the nozzle is perfect for using with 5" and 260Q balloons
• Premium Twin-Air Sizer II Balloon Inflator - this will help you naturally size your balloons using the "10th's of a second" timer adjustment. While you can use any inflator to make this design, I use the Twin-Air as it makes the sizing of the balloons very easy! 
• Castration Pliers - to stretch open the 5" balloons

You may also want to use a few Uglu Dashes when connecting the foil balloon and pink ribbon for a nice finishing touch! 

Hi-Float - 148ml (5oz)

Premium Twin-Air Sizer II

Castration Pliers

I hope that you have enjoyed learning how to make this beautiful baby design, and I wish you every success making and selling this design in the future! 

Happy Ballooning!

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me on Instagram @suebowler

Part 1. Baby Moon Design - Step-by-Step Tutorial - How to Make the Frame

The frame is probably the most important part of any frame based design. Get it right, and your design will look amazing! But getting wrong - out of proportion, or the wrong shape, can lead to you being disappointed with the end result.

Frame Material and Equipment List:

• 1 x 3m length - 6mm or 1/4" Aluminium Rod 
• Pipe or Bolt Cutters
• Gaffa or Duct Tape
• Pipe Bender if you have one but it's not essential
• NOT (Lamp) Base - this is an inexpensive IKEA (lamp) product that many balloon professionals use to support designs.
• NOT (Lamp) Pole x 1 (If you don't have access to an IKEA NOT Base and Pole you will need to find a good, similar alternative.) 
• White Floral Quick Drying Spray Paint 
• String or ribbon to measure
• Circular Template - such as a hoop

Balloon Material List:

Although I am not adding the balloons in Part1. here is a list of the balloons and accessories that I will be using so that you can get them prepared for when your frame is ready! 

• 18" Baby Girl Pink Stripes Microfoil Balloon
• 11" White - only a few for the cloud base
• 5"  Pink or Rose 
• 5"  Pearl Pink - optional
• 5"  White 
• 5"  Pearl White - optional, but it does give a slightly different textural look to the plain white
• 5"  Diamond Clear - approximately 10
• 7"  Chrome Gold - approximately 10
• 260Q Chrome Gold - approximately 15
• 260Q Pink - 4-5 

All the balloons that I am using for this design are Qualatex - www.Qualatex.com

Gold Confetti - ideally a small square cut
Hi-Float - I like to use the new 148ml (5oz) bottle as the nozzle is perfect for 5" and 260Q
Castration Pliers - ideal 'Stretching Tool' for balloons - available through some balloon wholesalers, Amazon, and farming supply companies.

I will be using a Premium Twin-Air Sizer to inflate the balloons, as it will allow me to use the "10th's of a seconds" timer adjustment to give me the perfect graduated sized balloons. Using a hand pump is not so easy to get the precision for this design.

Part 2 is now available! Just click on the link below! https://theverybestballoonblog.blogspot.com/2020/06/part-2-baby-moon-design-step-by-step.html

Happy Ballooning! 


Sue
www.suebowler.com
Follow me on Instagram @suebowler

Q Corner Convention - A Bonus Design from Sue!

Wow, have you had time to recover from watching all those amazing classes from the Q Corner Convention yet? What a truly fabulous five days that was, and definitely one that will go down in ballooning history! A huge thank you to Susan Dhillon, Eve Antonello and the entire Pioneer Balloon Company team who made this happen in such an incredibly short time! And of course, a very special thank you must go to Keith Stirman and Dominic Cassidy of Q Corner, who did an incredible job of both hosting and running this event, all while coping with very little sleep, and a fair share of technical glitches! 

As with all classes, 90 minutes is never quite as long as you think, and I still had one design in the wings that I sadly did not have time to show. So rather than waste the balloons and the design that I had prepared, I thought that I would make a short video that shows the bonus designs, plus a few additional tips! 

To understand the new design, you will need to watch the original class, so I have added the video here. Please note that the convention was filmed in parts, in which each of these parts is a number of classes (mine was the first to be recording in Part 6).

Here is the bonus video, I hope that you enjoy it! 

To help you to recreate these designs, I have included product and material lists.

Product and Material Lists

100th Birthday Celebration Balloon Arrangement 


#57050, #57048  (pkgd.) 2 - 18" Rose Gold Round Microfoil™️ Balloons

See listed below the range of latex balloons that I used: 

#58283 - 260Q Chrome Gold
#12939 - 260Q Chrome Rose Gold
#85111 - 7" Chrome Gold
#12936 - 7" Chrome Rose Gold
#43562 - 5" Ivory Silk
#43591 - 5" Pearl Peach
#57340 - 5" Rose Gold
#43584 - 5" Pearl Ivory

1 - 16" Cake Board Base  Silk Roses & Greenery
Double-sided Tape
Strong Sticky Tape
Uglu™️ Dashes/strong glue dots or Clik-Clik™️ Balloon Bond

Happy Birthday Tropical Hat Box Arrangement

#57280, #57278 (pkgd) 2 - 18" Birthday Hibiscus Stripes
#10464 1 - 14" Mini Pink Flamingo

#58283 - 260Q Chrome Gold
#85111 - 7" Chrome Gold
#43548 - 5" Onyx Black
#99326 - 5" Jewel Magenta
#43575 - 5" Pink
#25571 - 5" Wild Berry


1 x 12" Cake Board Base
1 x Black Hat Box
1 x Premium MaxiCup™️ II
1 x Premium Balloon Accessories MaxiStick™️ II 
2 x Premium Balloon Accessories Original Cello-Cup Clear 

1 x Premium Balloon Accessories Balloon Stick Clear
Pink Satin Ribbon
Silk Flowers
Low Temperature Glue Gun
Uglu Dashes
Double-Sided tape
Strong Sticky Tape

I created this Tropical Centrepiece to compliment a design that I recently made with Balloon School Pro, Setting the Scene Part 1 - Duplet Square Pack Balloon Walls and Setting the Scene Part 2 - Tropical Theme Organic Garland and other accent details! This is a paid download - to find it click HERE

Tropical Centrepiece

1 x Plexipole Base & Pole

#68824 1 - 20" Deco Bubble
#10464 1 - 14" Mini Pink Flamingo

#43793 - 11" Jewel Sapphire Blue
#85112 - 7" Chrome Blue

#85142 - 7" Chrome Green
#43602 - 5" Jewel Sapphire Blue
#99332 - 5" Fantasy Assortment - this includes both Jewel Sapphire Blue and Jewel Teal
#43552 - 5" Diamond Clear
#43607 - 5" White
#58284 - 260Q Chrome Blue

Tropical Leaves
Metallic Confetti
Hi-Float
Uglu Dashes

Fairy Number Design

#97429, #97430 (pkgd.) 1 - 18" Pastel Ombré 

#12245 1 - 14" Mini Fairy

#86369 1 - 16" Number Two Jelli Ombré 

#43566 5" Pastel Pearl Assortment - in the video I said that I used the Sorbet Assortment, but this was an error.

#43607 5" White

#58283 260Q Chrome Gold

1 x 12" Cake Board Base
Uglu Dashes

Double-Sided tape
Strong Sticky Tape
Heat Sealer

I hope that you enjoyed the bonus design and the few little extra tips! And don't forget, that you can catch-up with all of the classes anytime! Simply visit Q Corner on YouTube, find the class that you want to watch, and enjoy! 

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com
Follow me on Instagram @suebowler

You've Been Framed - Luc Bertrand, CBA, Shares his Linear Photo Frame Perfect for New Years Parties!

Once again, Luc Bertrand, CBA, of WaW Balloons in Vichte, Belgium has very kindly shared one of his designs with the readers of the Very Best™️ Balloon Blog! Who would have thought it would be so simple to use the Northstar Balloons™️ L letters to make this quick and original photo frame! 

Step 1.

You will need:

 2 - 34" Northstar Letter L - available in Gold, Silver, Magenta, Blue and Rose Gold.

Glue Dots & Stretch^® Balloon Tape 

5" Qualatex^® Latex Balloons and other finishing accessories 

Attach two corners with the shown tabs using any kind of glue dot. Luc likes to use Premium Balloon Accessories^® Double-Sided Tape Dots #33156 - available through some Qualatex Distributors. Luc   then re-enforces this connection with Stretchy Balloon Tape on the tip of the balloon.

Step 2.

Slide a VERY loose 4-balloon cluster of 5" latex balloons inflated to approximately 4" in-between the two foils in both of the connected corners.

Make a loose triplet of three organically sized 5" balloons and wrap these around the two most external balloons from the first cluster. This keeps the first cluster in place and gives an “organic” touch.  Voila! - that is the basic frame shape!

Style as desired 

• Add the date or year to the  top - such as New Years 2020!
• Add someone's initials - this could be for a wedding, anniversary, Valentine's Day or other personal event.
• The frame can be filled with a message 18” foil as shown below.
• Be creative... add your own style and detailing! 

When using the small 16” letter, these can be used to make a base for an air-filled design - Luc used this concept for his fairy design below.

Once again, a huge thank you to Luc for sharing one of his brilliant design concepts with the Very Best Balloon Blog! 

Happy Ballooning!

Sue

www.suebowler.com

#suebowler

Cheers! Learn How to "Craft a Brew" with Nick Anderson, CBA! With a Great Video Tutorial!

Here is a super fun "Beer Fest" design by Nick Anderson, CBA, of Zippidy Doo in Brisbane, Australia. This ultra-mod beer glass design is perfect for your next Octoberfest celebration, or for the many Beer Festivals held around the world! 

Nick has very generously shared his design recipe with the Very Best Balloon Blog. 

Beer Fest Balloon Sculpture by Nick Anderson

To see how to make this design, check out the step-by-step video below.

Below is the ingredients and recipe, which features some very helpful tips:

Material List

48 x 12" Qualatex^® QuickLinks™️ Gold
12 x 12" QuickLinks White
18 x 12" QuickLinks Diamond Clear
8  x  6" QuickLinks Diamond Clear
48 x 6" QuickLinks Gold
8  x  6" QuickLinks White
Optional:
5" White
You will also need 11" White balloons to create the 'frothy' part of the beer.

Method

• Start by inflating 8 x 12" Gold QuickLinks to 10" (keep the sizing consistent within the design), then tie into a ring. Repeat until there is six rings total.
• Next inflate 8 x 12" White QuickLinks inflated to 10" and tie into a ring. Inflate 8 x 12" Diamond Clear QuickLinks to 10" and tie into a ring.
• Next inflate  eights chains of 6" Quick Links using 1 x Diamond Clear, 5 x Gold and 1 x White in each chain and connect together in that order. You will use these to connect the rings together as shown in the video.
• The Beer glass handle, inflate 6 x 12" Diamond Clear QuickLinks to 10". Optional: add 5" balloon clusters in between each of the QuickLinks handles for extra flair! 
• To create an attractive foam on the beer, finish the design by tying in organic style white clouds of bubbles using 11" White balloons.
• Optional: to create an even stronger base, add a cluster of four Diamond Clear 10" QuickLinks tied to every second end within the hoop to strengthen the base. 

Ensure that you tie the QuickLinks together tightly as this will guarantee a resilient and strong structure.

A huge thank you to Nick for sharing this great design, I am sure many of our readers will really enjoy making it! 

Cheers and Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com
#suebowler

The Secrets Out! Chrome™️ Rose Gold and Chrome Copper Balloons are Here!

Can you imagine being sent a secret parcel that contained not one, but two new Qualatex® Chrome colours? That's exactly what happened to me a few weeks ago! I was so excited, I could barely keep the news to myself - I am really not very good at keeping secrets!

Hopefully by now, you have heard that Qualatex has launched two incredible new Chrome Balloon colours, Copper and Rose Gold. 

Needless to say, I was thrilled to get to experiment with these two new colours!

41" "Glitter Gold Wedding Cake" with Rose Gold and Gold Chrome accent detail.

In a recent blog post - Fabulous NEW Jelli Balloons Design Inspiration - With Step-By-Step Design Instructions, I showed you how to create a tabletop "Jelli Balloon" design. The design above is made using the exact same principles. Unfortunately due the shape of this particular balloon I needed to use helium to inflate it as the base of the balloon is too small to support it with air.

The Glitter Gold Wedding Cake balloon contains a variety of subtle and beautiful colours, which fits in well with the contemporary style. I felt that the NEW Chrome Rose Gold and the Chrome Gold along with some additional accents consisting of silk roses and a spray of eucalyptus leaves, would compliment this balloon perfectly.

If you would like to find out how to create this style of design, simply click HERE.

I used my remaining sample Chrome Rose Gold balloons to make a table centrepiece. I have made this style of design a number of times, but my instincts told me that it would look even more impressive using Chrome Rose Gold balloons and I was not disappointed! It was absolutely stunning; the shine on the Chrome Balloons is spectacular, and the Rose Gold confetti gave the design an elegant luxe look! 

Keith and Dom, the Boys of Q Corner, were also very happy recipients of the new Chrome balloon colours and like me had the opportunity to play!

Check out Q Corner to learn how to make this very sellable air-filled Joined Number design.

"Birthday Metallic Dots" Design by Dominic Cassidy, CBA.

Last week saw the launch of the magnificent new Chrome Copper balloon. There are so many words that I could use to describe this beautiful balloon colour - it's rich, warm, elegant, and can be used for so many occasions.

Chrome Copper Centrepiece Design by Sue Bowler, CBA

A collection of designs from Dominic Cassidy - how fabulous does the Chrome Copper look with Green! 

If you were wondering how the Chrome Gold, Rose Gold, Silver, and Copper balloons compare just check below! Each of these colours are wonderfully vivid, with a fabulous metallic lustre, and brilliant shine. The Gold, Rose Gold and the Copper work so perfectly together! And fun fact, did you know that to make Rose Gold you mix Gold and Copper?

I hope that you are as excited about these new balloon colours as I am. I am sure that we will see the launch of even more exciting new Chrome colours in the near future!

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com
#suebowler