Creative Air-Filled Valentine's Day Inspiration

It is never too early to start working on your Valentine's marketing, and planning the designs that you are going to sell!  Valentine's has always been one of the balloon industries biggest selling opportunities for balloon gifts and deliveries, so it is important that you are ready! What we need to remember is that Valentine's means different things to different people; maybe a person has been in a long-term relationship and the word 'love' is a familiar saying, however, there are those whose relationships are nowhere near using that word (LOVE) and they certainly don't want to send or give anything that is remotely soppy!

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting a few Valentine's posts packed with ideas and inspiration! 

Last year I filmed a class where I demonstrate a selection of air-filled Valentine's Designs - the class is called Expressions of Love and is part of the Qualatex Online Education on Vimeo on demand. In this class, I demonstrate a wide-range of designs from fun and appealing characters to trendy creative air-filled balloon gifts. All these designs will highlight your love and affection for your loved ones! Using Qualatex® The Very Best™ balloons, these air-filled creations are designed for easy delivery or pickup!

Don't miss out on this great class, you may learn some great new ideas for this years Valentine's Day! Click HERE for a direct link! The class runs for over 2 hours and 40 minutes! 

Here is a sneaky peak at some of the designs that I will be teaching during the class! 

Valentine's - Expressions of Love Designs by Sue Bowler 

Let me remind you that the Qualatex website is packed with so many great design ideas and inspiration. Here are a few air-filled designs that I have selected for this post! 

You make me feel bubbly!

"Pop the cork and celebrate your loved one with this fun decor!"

If you are a QBN Member, you can download the instruction sheet to make this design - Click HERE

Designer name: Federico Onida, CBA, Balloon Express Shop - Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

Some Hearts Just Belong Together

"Here’s a piece chock full of love!"

This is a great way to create a simple Mosaic style frame. You could use a large box lid or make a simple box frame using foam board! 

Designer name: Cam Woody, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA

Be My Love Now and Always

"An elegant gift to say I love you on any occasion."

I love this design by Cam Woody! Containers are a great way to make a beautiful balloon gift! Cam has combined the 22" Red Hearts & Filigree Bubble, with the 14" Red Kissey Lips shape and 11" Red & White SuperAgates that have been under-inflated to sit neatly into this design.

Designer name: Cam Woody, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA.

Will You BEE My Valentine?

"Not just today, but always!"       

Designer name: Cam Woody, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA

I Knew You'd Be Impressed!

Here’s a statement piece full of cuteness and love.

Designer name: Kerry Ferguson, CBA, Pioneer® Europe Ltd., UK

To see the full selection of Valentine's balloons available for 2021, click HERE to view the Valentines and Early Spring catalogue.

Keep safe and happy ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

Balloon Character Designs Perfect for Valentine's Day - with Step-by-Step Video Instructions!

I have always really enjoyed making "little people" mini-balloon sculptures. I have found that they make truly great gifts in their own right, or add extra value to a bigger arrangement! They are an air-filled design too, which is a major bonus! 


Valentine's Day is not only for the true romantics, but also for friends, children, and even pets! So having a good repertoire of design ideas that caters to all tastes helps ensure that you have something for everyone! 

I love this "Naughty Smile & A Kiss" design. It's a very simple design, and has instant "smile" appeal. If you download the recipe sheet below and complete the job cost form, you will also find that it's also cost effective, giving you the opportunity to make a good profit! 

This little guy is based on the  design above, instead of using a Microfoil balloon for the head, I simply used a 5" Face - there are a variety of different faces that you could use for this design (I include some of these at the end of this post.

Here are a few more Mr Valentine's design's as featured on the Qualatex website - QBN members can download free step-by-step instruction sheets.

The design on the left is using a 646Q balloon for the body, which will make this design stand approximately 3' (1m) tall! 

Here is a great video tutorial by Vadim Shushkanov, CBA. In the video, Vadim shows how to make this super cute 260Q "Gentleman with Flower". If it's your preference, this design could be easily adapted to have him holding a 4" Microfoil^® Heart balloon instead! 

Here are some great Qualatex Face Balloons that would work perfectly for these cute Valentine's Designs!

9" "Smiley Wink Heart" #97140
18" "Smiley Wink Heart" #78549/ #97140

28" "Smiley Face with Heart Eye's"
#97541

9" "Smiley Love" - Air-Filled
#49432

Smiley Faces Assortment
 05" Round
Color: Yellow
Package item #: 57961

I hope that I have given you a little inspiration to add to your Valentine's Day designs!

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com
@suebowler

Get Ready for the Big 14 Day Countdown to Valentine's Day!

There is no long lead up to Valentine's Day sales, most people buy last minute, usually less than a week before the 14th! So what can you do leading up to Valentine's' Day to promote sales?

1. When posting on Social Media, think about the headings you use. Try something a little catchy like: 

• Need some help this Valentine’s? 5 perfect gift ideas for her/him
• ❤️ 5 perfect Valentine’s gift ideas for her/him (all under £30) ❤️ - the heart emoji will attract more attention!
• “Valentine’s Day treats for you and yours."
• "Bring a little Smiley Love this Valentine's Day."

or how about using a Valentine's quote

• “Where there is love, there is life.” – Mahatma Ghandi, Civil Rights Lead

• "They invented hugs to let people know you love them without saying anything." - Bil Keane

Next, make sure the content of your post is appealing enough to drive customers to your store, web-shop, or to start a conversion.

2. Run a Valentine's Day poll or ask a question. This will get your customers interacting on your Facebook or Instagram pages. You can run a different poll every day leading up to the 14th! Interaction is really important to grow your following and it's not a one-way street. Make sure to respond to any comments. Remember, every comment you get means someone took the time to stop, look at your post and share their thoughts. After all that, why wouldn’t you respond?

How do you celebrate Valentine's Day?

What would be your perfect Valentine's Day gift?

Which balloon reflects your Valentine's personality?

This is an idea that you could use to post on one of your social media channels - you are
welcome to use this example, just right click to save the image. Make sure that you either start a poll, or simply ask a question - "Which balloon reflects your Valentine's personality?" or whatever comment you think will get your followers talking.

3. Add romantic flair to your social media covers and profile images. Help your online audience get into the spirit of Valentine’s Day by updating your social media covers and profile images with a bit of romantic flair. Ideally the flair should still be visible when your profile image is resized, but be careful not to obscure your original branding too much – you still want your audience to be able to recognise it. Did you know that you can download some great Valentine's images from the Qualatex website! Click HERE for a direct link to the Organic Heart Decor article.

4. Hashtag it! Using seasonal hashtags and keywords is a simple way to expand your reach.

#bemine, #bemine2019 #bemyvalentine, #candyhearts, #galentinesday, #hugsandkisses, #secretadmirer, #SinglesDay, #sweetheart, #thatslove, #valentine, #valentines, #valentinesday2019, #whoneedsavalentine, #willyoubemyvalentine

5. Run a Valentine's competition - ask people to post their funniest Valentine's Day stories. Once again this will create interaction on your social media channels and create something fun for your followers to read and engage in - maybe get your followers to choose their favourite stories by counting the number of likes?

6. Offer a special promotion for early orders - you could offer a free gift-wrapped heart with every order made.

Here are just a few last minute ideas that should help with your Valentine's sales! 

Good luck!

Happy Valentine's Ballooning!

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

Roses are Red and Valentine's Day is nearly here!

Did you know that Valentine's is now being celebrated across a whole week and not just one day?  Valentine's Day this year is on a Sunday, so this is the perfect time to start promoting for week long deliveries! Each day has it's own theme...

Rose Day: 

Sunday, February 7th, 2021

"I Love You Red Rose"
18" - #24489
or 
 "Red Rose Bud"  
33" - #98696

We can make beautiful roses by twisting 160Q balloons. I love this twisted rose. It can be used simply as a display in a vase, or as an accent detail in a design!

Twisted Roses in Vase by Sue Bowler, CBA.

Teddy Bear holding Rose by Sue Bowler, CBA.

Here is a design that I made a few years ago of a teddy bear holding a single red rose.

As many of you know, I love to make Fantasy Flowers, and the rose is one of my favourite. To find out how to make a single red rose, watch the video below.

Fantasy Flower Rose by Sue Bowler, CBA.

So if Rose Day is the start of Valentine's week, what are all the other days?

Fantasy Rose working with Heart Shape Balloons

Fantasy flowers can be made in a number of different ways. For many flower designs, we use floral wire inserted inside latex balloons to form petal shapes. However, when making the rose using the heart shaped latex balloons, we use very little wire.

I first saw this type of Fantasy Rose a number of years ago when Jodie White, CBA, created these stunning designs for a photo shoot that we were both working on. She used 6" hearts to create the rose for this beautiful "Mother of the Bride" corsage.

Mother of the Bride corsage by Jodie White, CBA

This is another beautiful design by Jodie. This time, she created a full bridal bouquet using a variety of fantasy techniques, and this occasion she used the 11" latex heart to make bigger roses.

Bridal bouquet by Jodie White, CBA

A few years ago I taught myself how to make this delicate little rose and even attempted to make a small bridal bouquet which I used in a display at Spring Fair a few years ago. 

To make the rose you will need the following items:

• 6" Qualatex® Heart latex balloons ‑ there are no specific number of balloons for each flower, but I would allow approximately 15
• Elmer's^® Rubber Cement
• 1.2mm/18 gauge wire - only 1 wire per flower required.
• Floral binding wire
• Floral Tape

Check out my step-by-step video to see how to create this lovely little rose.

To find out how to make other types of fantasy flowers check out my early post:
The Art of Fantasy Flowers.

Have fun and happy ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com

Valentine's Shopping mall decor with Romana Kolenc, CBA, of Baloni Romana in Šoštanj, Slovenia. - 13th January 2016

I am always in awe of the wonderful photographs posted on the Qualatex^® Facebook groups from balloon artists around the world. Last year Romana Kolenc, CBA, of Baloni Romana in Šoštanj, Slovenia, posted some stunning photographs of decor that she had created for a shopping mall in Slovenia for its Valentine's campaign.

Romana Kolenc, CBA.

Romana first started working with balloons 16 years ago in 2000. With a creative background, and after a few years of searching for the "right job," Romana spotted an article featuring Niko Fric, CBA, in the newspaper. Three days later, she met up with Niko and bought her first balloon pump and some balloons!

With Niko's help, Romana launched into the world of balloon decor very quickly, decorating a disco party within the first month of starting her balloon business! One month later, she made a large stork for her niece's newborn baby. In March 2000, she got her first big job, decorating for prom night at the local secondary school and has decorated it every year since!

Last year, Romana embarked on one of her biggest jobs to date, decorating a shopping mall for Valentine's Day. Although this was not the first time she has worked at the shopping mall, it was the first time working with a new agency who organise all the decor for the mall.

"I started communications with the agency and the mall in December 2014. I was presented with their ideas, wishes, and photographs that they had found on the internet to give me an idea of what they were looking for. 

At our first meeting we discussed the places where they wanted to have balloons, and what exactly their wishes were for the final appearance. Their main focus was on elegance. We had big ideas for the decoration, but in the end everything was connected with the budget. It really did take a lot of emails and meetings before we finally found the best solutions for everyone."

1. Big Display Window

"The main focus was on a big display window; the idea was to make something that would invite people into the mall. They sent me a picture of a big heart made of small paper hearts. I got the idea to make a heart 3 x 3 meters out of 9˝ Microfoil^® Hearts. The whole appearance was very spectacular.

Because the display window was set with one big and two smaller parts, we decided to decorate the smaller windows with five 36˝ foil hearts."

"Bee Mine," an adorable design idea for Valentine's Day!

A few weeks ago I started working on some new designs for Valentine's 2016! There are so many wonderful new Qualatex^® Valentine's balloons. If you have yet to see the full collection you can easily download the Valentine's Day 2016 Collection directly from Qualatex.com. To find out which balloons are available within your country, contact your local Qualatex distributor.

I love to create little characters, so it was no surprise that I instantly fell in love with the new "Bee Mine!" 18" Microfoil^®.   This balloon is adorable, cute, and simply perfect for a design that I had in mind.

Bee Mine! #21836 - #21837

I would be lying if I told you that all my design ideas come to me in an instant. In fact, when I first created this design I used 11" latex for the body. I knew that there was something not quite right, so I recreated the design, switched out the 11" for 5" and voilà, I was instantly happier!

How to inflate the NEW Heart Shape Bubble Balloon®

I love the new Qualatex Love Rose Heart shape Bubble Balloon®, but like all new balloons it's a good idea to check out how to inflate them correctly before you get started!

Love Rose # 33878 U.S. Patent No. U.S. Patent No. 6,782,675, No. 7,121,915 

Here is a short DVD clip that shows how to inflate this new Heart shape Bubble Balloon® compared to a round Bubble Balloon®.

I was so inspired by this beautiful new balloon I put my twisting skills (which are pretty limited) to the test and created this elegant Valentine's design.

Design created by Sue Bowler CBA

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com

Air-Filled Funky Monkey Step-by-Step Design

Taking less than 10 minutes to make, this is a great design for retail, delivery and decor too! Standing over 3ft tall (1m) this monkey is perfect for a variety of occasions by simply adding additional balloons which we will look at after we have learnt to make this 'cheeky chappy'.

Funky Monkey Balloon Sculpture by Sue Bowler CBA

How to make a 'Puffed Heart' using Qualatex Quick Link Balloons.

Wedding days are filled with love, romance and happiness and what greater symbol of love than a heart!

As many of you know working with the Qualatex Quick Links was a whole new world for me as well as a huge learning curve but an exciting journey, one that I am enjoying very much! I posted my first Quick Link blog last October  'How to make a simple Quick Link Heart for the uninitiated Quick Link users' , this shows how to create 2-dimentional hearts that are perfect for hanging as backdrops at a wedding and other suitable occasions.

When I found out that I was teaching at the 2014 World Balloon Convention earlier this year I decided that I would make it my mission to learn how to create a 3-dimentional 'Puffed Heart' for my Wedding Excellence class and was very happy with the results! Of course hearts are not just for weddings and can be used for many different events such as Valentines, Engagements and Anniversaries!

The heart shown below was created using 12" Quick Links in Rose & Goldenrod and for the connectors I used Caribbean Blue this created a triadic colour harmony, and it looked great!

This heart is quick and easy to make, it took me less than 30 minutes from start to finish using a Precision Air Inflator.

Inside Out and Upside Down... the versatility of a Qualatex Geo Blossom!

'Love Stack' - A great design for Valentines
Created by Sue Bowler CBA

Here is my newest design idea for Valentines Day, I have named it 'Love Stack' (designs are easier to sell when you name them). The name Love Stack is a play on that very famous song 'Love Shack' (baby love shack) by the B52's - you'll be humming that all day now...

It uses Qualatex Geo Blossoms in a different way (which I know some of you do this already), but this is my first time for a while and I have enjoyed re-visiting this technique!

So for those of you who have not used the inside-out method here's how simple it is!

Geo Blossom Flower Assortment