Use CANVA to Personalise Balloons with Silhouette Cameo

Like many of you, I use a Silhouette Cameo to personalise my balloons. However, I often find it challenging to come up with creative designs using the Cameo software, so, I decided to use CANVA instead. I find it more user-friendly, and I already use it for other design projects, so why not for my balloons too!

I have made a quick Step-by-Step video to show you how simple this is to do. It was a bit of a life changer for me, as it makes creative personalisation so much quicker and easier! 

Here are a few extra bits of information that may not be clear from the video.

1. I use the Instagram Square tile for my designs. By using a square, you can contain your design within a printable space.

2. I usually resize my design once I have added it to my Cameo software to approximately an 8" square, as I've found that this is perfect size for an 18" foil balloon.

3. I used two different fonts for my design: "Porcelain" for the script and "Anton" for the number.

4. The font size is approximately 180.

5. I cut out additional daisies in various sizes in white to add to my design.

6. Keep your design templates in a quick access folder in CANVA so that you can easily create new versions by simply changing the name and age!

7. I always add my vinyl when the balloon is flat and not inflated! I find it so much easier with great results every time! 

Here is a copy of the design that I created on CANVA.

I hope that this helps some of you when it comes to designing your personalised balloons! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

You are Never Too Old for a Balloon!

I wanted to share this short, but uplifting story with you! 

In 2019, a friend asked me if I could make a balloon arrangement for someone who was reaching the incredible age of 100 years old! 

After some careful consideration on what would be a balloon fit for a 100 year old, as well as deliberation towards the availability of space to accommodate it, I decide to make something small and compact. The arrangement also needed to be elegant, but fun - it is a balloon after all!

Personalisation was high on my list of importance, as reaching 100 years of age is no mean feat! For me, putting someone's name on a balloon lets the recipient know that they are an exceptional person with a very special occasion to celebrate!

One of my favourite styles of arrangements from last year was my air-filled board designs. Where the rest of the ballooning world is super-sizing their designs with fabulous giant fusion arrangements (which I love), my preference, especially on this occasion was for a design that was compact and neat. I used a large cake board for the base, which I covered with a stretched Microfoil balloon - you can learn this technique by clicking HERE or by referring to Tips and Tricks of the Trade - Part 2. I've noticed that using the same or a complimentary colour balloon for the base cover gives a sense of unity to the design as well as a mirror like reflective effect. I added a personalised air-filled 18" Microfoil^® balloon to the base using Oasis Uglu™️ Dashes, and then added a selection of balloons inflated to a range of sizes, and finished the design by adding in a couple of silk roses heads and greenery - all carefully secured using Dashes.

The great thing about a design like this is that it's long-lasting, robust, and easy to transport.

The reason I am telling you this story is because Cath, the birthday girl, had never once received a balloon in her 100 years, and she absolutely loved it! She loved it so much that she took it away with her for her Birthday celebrations, and brought it back with her when she returned home a week later. She still has her balloon... quite a few weeks later now, and proudly displays it for everyone to see. 

This truly does prove that you are never too old to enjoy a balloon, and how much pleasure it can bring to someone! 

Happy Ballooning!

Sue Bowler
www.suebowler.com
@suebowler

Adding those little finishing touches to wedding decor!

I recently had the honour of decorating a wedding where the charisma and personalities of the bride & groom oozed from every corner of the room. Their love of traveling was reflected on each table showing a different photograph of their travels to faraway places, as was their enjoyment of fun and games  through the "guest book" written on wooden Jenga pieces! Every part of the wedding had their personalities stamped all over it, and for me it showed that a great deal of thought and love had gone into planning their very special day!

Finishing touches can really make a difference, they add the personal touches to a wedding and we can do the same when we create our decor!

Here are a few ideas that you can use to add that little extra touch when decorating weddings and other elegant events!

One of my first tips would be to find out what flowers will be featured at the wedding. Even though the wedding reception may be predominantly balloon decor, there will still be some flowers such as the bridal bouquet. I love to use silk flower heads to add that little finishing touch to wedding decor.


For me, balloons at a traditional wedding should be elegant and soft and not bold and over-bearing. If a colour is to be used, then it should be added carefully into the decor to ensure that decor remains elegant and graceful.

Personalising Balloons Using a Die-Cutting Machine: Part 3

I often here people saying how difficult it is to compete against the "big boys." My answer to that is - don't be like the "big boys!" Be yourself and offer something exciting and unique! 

Yes, I cannot deny that there are people out there who will always go for the cheapest option, but that is not true of everyone. There are people who want something a little different, special and unique and are prepared to pay a premium for that service!

For this 3rd and final part of this series, I would like to look at a few other ways that we can use our die-cutting machines for our designs and also within our businesses.

When we talk about personalising balloons, it does not always have to be sticking letters or shapes on to a balloon. There are other things that we can do with our machines. 

Cutting Card Stock

If you like to be a little bit creative and are not adverse to making things yourself, then you will probably enjoy creating your own personalised ribbons too! This was one of the reason why I invested in my machine a few years ago!

I had a job where I needed to recreate a balloon (10 actually) that could be used as part of a promotion to celebrate Candy Crush Saga's 1st Anniversary. This is probably one of those occasions when you could easily say "I'm afraid that we don't sell Candy Crush Saga balloons," and lose a sale! 

I decided that I would offer the client the best alternative that I could, and that was to create my own Candy Crush Saga balloons along with hand-made Candy Crush Saga ribbons!

(This job was on behalf of Candy Crush Saga and therefore did not infringe any copyright laws).

Personalising Balloons Using a Die-Cutting Machine: Part 2

Following on from part 1 of this series of blogs, I asked a few of our lovely industry professionals if they would kindly share a little of their experience working with their die-cutting machines.

"Personalising balloons has become an integral part of WOW Balloons. We would not be without our 'little Silhouette'.

They have become so popular, if you show anyone a personalised 3 foot column,  9 times out of 10 they will buy it! We often find that they will buy 2 so that they can be positioned at the entrance of the venue. It's certainly added another W to our 'WOW', so from my point of view, it was money well spent."

- Debbie O'Neill, Wow Balloons, Essex, UK

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Dominic Cassidy of All Things Fun, County Durham offers these thoughts:

Pros 

The ability to say "yes" to our customers! Having the right balloon at the right time is pretty hard at times, however being able to customise with vinyl means we can do pretty much anything. Fast, create a simple design and cut within minutes. The up-sell, adding names and ages to balloons gives us a great opportunity to add extra value for the customer with extra profit for us. Unique Selling Point (USP) Gives your business that added extra that the large multiples do not do. Gives us another avenue to be creative. Consistency, Being able to make both eyes the same is one of life's simple pleasures! Additionally if your customer would like half a dozen of the same design… no problem!

Personalising Balloons Using a Die-Cutting Machine: Part 1

We have been personalising balloons for years now. I remember attending one of my first ever balloon shows over 20 years ago and seeing beautiful personalisation using glue pens and fine glitter, and to be honest, I still love it today... as long as the person writing the message or name has beautiful hand writing!

Jacqui Pettitt, of Tiffany's Balloons uses stencils to create an outline before she glitters her balloons, which gives a very professional finish!

A few years ago, I was introduced to the Silhouette Cameo and it certainly changed my world!

The Silhouette CAMEO is an electronic die-cutting machine designed for personal use. Like a home printer, it plugs into your PC or Mac with a simple USB cable. However, instead of printing it uses a small blade to cut paper, cardstock, vinyl, fabric and more up to 12" wide and 10' long.

Taking personalised balloons to a whole new level.

Owning a machine that can cut vinyl and other materials has transformed the way that I think and work, because now everything is possible!

About a year ago I was contacted by a customer who had been referred to me by another balloon company. Their request was for something that was not available or achievable within the given time frame, and even then I am not sure that it would have been possible, so I had to choose, do I tell the customer that their request is not possible or do I tell the customer that although we cannot provide exactly what they were requesting we can certainly make something that I believe would work well!

The client had a deadline, it was less than a week away and therefore they were happy to listen to my ideas and suggestions.

I started out by creating an 'artists impression' of my idea. I like to do this as it means that I can quickly make a graphic of a design on my computer to show the customer what my idea's are without spending time making up a design that they could easily reject.

I don't use any fancy program to do this I simply use a basic draw facility in word or pages depending on whether you use a PC or a MAC, although I have recently purchased Deco Builder which is a very comprehensive design package specifically for the balloon industry, that allows me to create even more sophisticated designs to share with my clients, but I still use my basic version too especially when I am playing around with ideas and colours!