Air-Filled Design idea using PremiumConwin DecoCup™ + DecoStick™

With the continually soaring cost of helium and its lack of availability, finding air-filled solutions is extremely important to the ballooning community.

Creating designs using the PremiumConwin DecoCup™ + DecoCup™ is definitely the way forward, and today, I would like to share two videos with you featuring those accessories.

It's all about the Base! 

In the first video, I will demonstrate how to create the central support for your designs. I have two methods:

1. Using a tile base with 2x DecoCups and 1x DecoCup

2. Using a sand-weight with 2x DecoCups and 1 x DecoCup

I show two different glue options to secure the DecoCups to the tile base.

If like me, you have unused Lomey Adhesive in your toolbox. 

 This works very well for sticking a DecoCup to a ceramic tile base, 

but it can take up to 24 hours to dry! I recommend using packing tape to hold the cup in place on the tile during the drying process.

Gorilla Glue works extremely well when you need to stick two items together that are made from different material. The down-side is the drying time as it can take up to 24 hours for the glue to bond successfully.

Sand-Weights - using kiln-dried sand

A sand-weight makes the perfect weight for a base, unlike a water-weight, a sand-weight can be moulded into shape and flattened and is very stable, it is also quick and inexpensive to make. 

Check out the video below to see how easy it is to make the base element for our air-filled designs.

"With Love" - air-filled Hat Box Valentine's arrangement 

In the second video, I show you how to create this relatively easy design that would be perfect for Valentine's Day or by simply changing the balloons and colours it would be suitable for any occasion!

For this design I have used:

• Hat Box
• 7" Qualatex Gold Chrome
• 5" Wild Berry
• 260Q Gold Chrome
• 260Q Wild Berry
• 260Q Rose
• 18" Love Gold #16766
• Pink Organza Ribbon
• Uglu Dashes 

Check out the video below to find out step-by-step how to make this great design.

I have been creating air-filled balloon designs for many years now, and I have come to have a preference to air-filled over helium-filled designs. I feel that an air-filled design allows for more creativity and detail, and I prefer the end results!

Here are a few more of my air-filled arrangements, some using Deco Cups and Sticks.

The Happy Birthday foil in this design is actually helium-filled, but it could easily be replaced with an air-filled version on a Deco Cup & Stick

I hope that this post has been helpful and given you a little inspiration!

Happy Ballooning!

Sue

www.Suebowler.com

Follow me @Suebowler

Say it with Love... Who Remembers Love Hearts Sweets?

This is a little bit of a throwback to my youth! I designed these little balloon characters holding the 6" Qualatex^®  "Love Expression" Hearts as a homage to the Love Heart sweets (candy) that we had when I was a child!  As soon as I saw these lovely printed heart shaped, latex balloons, I was reminded of the sherbet sweets that we used to love - calling out the little message that each sweet shared as we ate them!

Be Mine Valentine's Guys by Sue Bowler

Love Hearts sweets were initially launched back in 1954. Since then they’ve been used to send romantic messages and been used for art, clothes, weddings and tonnes of other idea's including these little balloon guys for Valentine's Day! 

Swizzles Love Hearts

Recently I taught a Valentine's webinar where I demonstrated a little character similar to the designs shown in this post. Characters like this are quick and easy to make and are very sellable too! Someone asked if we could add sweets/candy into the body of the character, and yes, this design would be absolutely perfect for that! Instead of using a coloured QuickLink™️ for the body, simply replace this with a Diamond Clear QuickLink. If you want to add sweets, then I recommend that you make the design a little bigger than the ones that I have made here, and use 11" QuickLinks and 11" Printed Faces, that will give you more space within the 'body' of the design to add additional rolls of sweets.

Tip: The easiest way to open up an 11" balloon to allow you to add confetti or small items is to use a stretching device such as a Castration Tool/ Pliers like the one shown below. Some balloon wholesales now sell these but if you struggle to find one, try Amazon or a farming store as the tools original purpose is to castrate small farm animals 🤓

Note: Regulations around the storage and handling of food items, including sweets (candy) vary depending on where you are in the world, but most countries have stringent regulations to prevent outbreaks of food poisoning. I recommend that you read this post by Sonia Payne of Balloon Biz Academy who covers this topic extremely well. 

Thinking of Adding Sweets, and Drinks To Your Balloon Designs – Make Sure You Read This First!

Castration Tool perfect for stretching open the necks of a 5", 11" and 16" Balloons

Love Expression Assortment

Size and shape: 06" Heart 

Colour: Assortment of Pink, White, Rose Package item #: 97275 

Package Count: 100

These Qualatex balloons are not available in all territories.

If you missed my recent Valentine's webinar - Expressions of Love- it is now available to view at Vimeo On-Demand - Click HERE for a direct link.

If would like to learn how to make this adorable design check out my post Valentine's "Love You" Guy - that has step-by-step instructions! Click HERE for a direct link! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler