CBA @ the WBC!

Taking your CBA final assessment is a big step for many people. So how about taking it at the World Balloon Convention... that is exactly what 50 delegates from all over the World elected to do!

The day started very early with a hive of activity to prepare the room for the impending assessments. Candidates started to arrive bright and early... loaded up with 'goodies' in preparation to create their own personal centerpiece and expression bouquet designs.

After a short introduction and a briefing as to how the 4 hour assessment process would run from Chelsea Gaspard CBA, Pioneer Balloon Companies, Marketing Communications Director, it was finally time to start...

So what's involved in taking this final assessment?

Each candidate is required to complete the following:

1. One social expression bouquet of your own design.

The CBA room  FULL of balloons! 

2. One bouquet duplicated from a photo (materials provided).

3. One table centerpiece of your own design.

Here are some of the designs that were created on the day, unfortunately I do not know who made them... if you know, please tell me so that I may credit them - sue@suebowler.com

Kristen Mettlen CBA

'Ladybug Illusion' - Donna Hudson CBA

4. One Balloon Flower duplicated from a photo (materials provided). Instructions for the Balloon Flower can be found at “Instruction Sheets” on Qualatex.com or in the “QBN Balloon Deliveries & Bouquets” Kit.

5. A 5', air-filled, 5-balloon cluster Garland, using 11" balloons inflated to 10"-11" (materials provided).

6. A temporary knot and a permanent knot per the QBN curriculum (rope provided). 

7. Answer six questions from the curriculum and either demonstrate a mock balloon delivery sales phone call

or make a mock balloon delivery presentation during an assigned, 15-minute panel interview.

After 4 incredibly quick hours (how is it that time can just fly by) ... time was up and we had a room filled with some truly amazing designs and we started the judging process.

I would like to congratulate everyone listed below who passed their CBA exam on Wednesday 21st March 2012. You will never forget this day, and you should not forget this day, be happy and be proud, and know that all those who have taken their CBA exam in the past totally understand exactly how you felt both before and after those 4 hours! And of course, welcome to the 'CBA' family!

Manal Alzayani CBA, BLOOM - FANTASY, Bahrain

Tammy Bessette CBA, Party Town, Rhode Island, USA

Mary Bragg CBA, BeYond Balloons, Oklahoma, USA

John Brew CBA, We Like To Party!, Australia

Angela Cabrera CBA, Fiesta & Bridal Shop, Massachusetts, USA

Marco Antonio Cardenas Rodriguez CBA, Globos y Figuras, Mexico

Moraima Carrasquillo CBA, Gemelas Precious Balloons, Puerto Rico,USA

Lydia Cartagena CBA, Balloons For You Corporation, Puerto Rico

Nora Cisty CBA, Ideas con Globos, Argentina

Anthony Cook CBA, Anthony's Balloons, Illinois, USA

Tampilipe Corbelin CBA, Tampilipe, Switzerland

Angeles de Mendoza CBA, Globos y Sonrisas, Mexico

Normalinda Garza CBA, The Soiree Concierge,Texas, USA

Rosa Garza CBA, TULIOOS, Mexico

Rosa Gaytan CBA, RIE, Mexico

Tracy Hawes CBA, Balloon Empire & Floral Designs, Manitoba, Canada

Elaine D.Holmes CBA, Elegance in the Air & More, Georgia, USA

Donna Hudson CBA, One Stop Costume & Party Shoppe, Missouri, USA

Glenda Ellington CBA, Lufkin, Texas, USA

Jessica Jackson CBA, Arte Globos Producciones, Venezuela

Mary James CBA, The Balloonery, New York,USA

Silvia Klock CBA, Klock Balloons, Washington, USA

Janice Martin CBA, Party Town, Rhode Island, USA

Christina Martinez-Hatfield CBA, Party On Bounce Off, Texas, USA

Taulbee McJunkin CBA, Arizona's Balloon Artist, Arizona, USA

Kristen Mettlen CBA, Jubilee Event Decor and Balloon Creations, Colorado, USA

Edward Antonio Munoz Sojo CBA, El Genio de los Globos, Caracas, Venezuela

Brandon Nowell CBA, An Occasion Station, Inc. Texas USA

Juan Paniagua CBA, GlobalPak, Costa Rica

Marlys Parra CBA

Amanda Pierce CBA, Custom Baskets & Balloons, Florida, USA

Maria Pinto CBA, Cocoglobo Balloons, British Columbia, Canada

Danielle Popovich CBA, POPO's Parties, USA

Jose Quiles CBA, JL Party Design, Puerto Rico

Luanne Richards CBA, Mickey's Balloons, New York, USA

Scott Richards CBA, Mickeys Balloons, New York, USA

Xiomara Rios CBA, Fashion Balloons , Puerto Rico

Malachi Robinson CBA, Bunch of Balloons, New York, USA

Kathryn Seguin CBA, Balloonatiks, Texas USA

Bernadette Sneyers CBA, Antwerpen, Belgium 

Shanta Speller CBA, Bunch of Balloons, Jackson Heights, New York USA

Annabelle Tan CBA, One-stop No.1 Entertainment,Singapore

Islaine Tanahashi CBA, Joy Company, Japan

Calvin Teo CBA, One-Stop No.1 Entertainment Singapore

Limary Traverzo CBA, JL Party Design, Puerto Rico

Amy Veltman CBA, It's My Party, Indiana, USA

Teresa Ward CBA, Meadowview Gardens, Missouri USA

Linda William CBA, Linda's Balloon Twisting, North Carolina, USA


Does everyone always pass? Sadly no, there are many reason's why someone my not achieve a score of 80% or more on the day. I try and relate this to a driving test, sometimes you can pass on your first attempt and for others it may take another go, and having done it once the second time seems so much easier!

For anyone who is not sure what a CBA is....

What is a Certified Balloon Artist (CBA)?

CBAs are people who work for a Qualatex Balloon Network (QBN) Business Member and have successfully completed the program's online tests, as well as the CBA Practical Examination to demonstrate their knowledge of the QBN curriculum and ability to produce quality balloon work.

Technically, a CBA is a balloon professional who has:

• Taken and passed (with a score of 80% or above) all of the QBN tests.
• Taken and passed (with a score of 80% or above) the CBA Practical Exam—a timed, 4-hour, hands-on exam designed to confirm knowledge of the QBN curriculum.

Professionals who earn the CBA designation have chosen to grow their businesses through networking with other balloon professionals, continuing their education, giving and receiving referrals, and taking advantage of the marketing support available to CBAs.

There are currently more than 2,500 Certified Balloon Artist professionals worldwide.

A finally a huge thank you and congratulations to Rebecca Tjarks who coordinated the whole CBA process!

If you would like to learn more about this program, please click here

If you are in the process of preparing to take your CBA final assessment, don't forget to check out one of my earlier blogs:

A few tips for those who are ready to take the CBA Practical Exam... I promise there is nothing to be nervous about!

See you soon!
Sue
www.suebowler.com

The Qualatex® Event Slovenia makes a big splash!

Alberto Falcone, CBA. 

Late last year I had the pleasure of teaching at the Qualatex Event Slovenia. I love to teach at this event, not only because it's hosted in a spa hotel, which makes for a fun and a very lively welcome party, but also because I get to meet up with so many of my wonderful ballooning friends from around the world. This year was no exception. We had more than 150 delegates from more than 23 different countries.


For me, the event started with nine delegates from across Europe and Israel taking their CBA exam. The room was filled with anxiety and nerves at the beginning of the exam as always, but after a few short minutes everyone relaxed and did their best work. And of course they were awesome, with everyone passing!
A huge congratulations to:

Nikita Fric, CBA.

Roland Repaski, CBA.

Maayan Guri, CBA.

Zsuzsanna Ernst, CBA.

Erika Zeke, CBA.

Itai Yekoutiely, CBA.

Mike Hurst, CBA.

Iren Ille, CBA.

Barbara Tocaj, CBA.

Welcome to the CBA family!

CBA exam in progress.

CBA exam designs.

Whilst we were working away on the CBA exam, others were busily working hard to make the decor for the opening "Pool Party" headed by Colin Stewart, CBA, of SBB World Class BalloonART in Alliston, Ontario, Canada. 

Decor in the making.

Colin leading the decor on the move.

Entrance decor.

Ceiling palm tree's with fun monkeys.

Here are a few photographs from the party. It looks like those monkeys got everywhere!

The Importance of Continuing Education

I cannot believe that we are already ⅔ of the way through 2015! What an exciting year it has been for education in the balloon world and there is still more to come!

1st Place Large Sculpture
 2014 Moscow Balloon Festival
Alexander Solomatin CBA

For me, I am getting ready to head off to Russia for the 15th International Moscow Balloon Festival. The first Moscow Balloon Festival was held in 2000, and my first trip to this event was in 2002. I feel very fortunate to have seen how balloon artists in Russia have developed and grown within this relatively short time, and I am very excited to see what incredible designs and sculptures await me later this week! 

Being a talented balloon artist and running a successful balloon business does not just happen. It takes a great deal of commitment and investment to ongoing education - and not just learning new ballooning skills, but business skills as well. That was almost my downfall.  Fortunately with help from the Qualatex Balloon Network and attending my first balloon convention, I was able to profitably operate my balloon company.

Spring Fair 2022 - Check out what we've been up to on the Qualatex Stand! Part 1.

So what is Spring Fair? Probably the best way to describe Spring Fair is that it is a B2B (business to business) trade show for the retail market.This show attracts thousands of customers from around the world looking to buy new and exciting products for their shops, stores and showrooms.

Spring Fair has been an annual event for me for many years. Each year I have had the honour and privilege (and what some might call daunting task) of creating a variety of displays for the Qualatex stand. My remit is to create displays that displays new and existing products in a creative way to promote and inspire customers visiting the stand.

Due to the worldwide pandemic, last year's show was cancelled, as with most events! As you can imagine, myself and the Pioneer Europe Team were extremely happy to be back once again! 

Design by Sue Bowler, CBA

Meet the Pioneer Europe Team and Instructors

Pioneer Europe Team & Instructors

The Window Displays

Designs by Sue Bowler, CBA

This year I was assigned four themes to create designs for, and each theme required two displays. It is the first time that I have made displays for double-decker windows, and so I was a little unsure how it would work. I am happy to report that it was successful!

These are the themes I got to create for:

• Dinosaur
• New Baby
• Adult Milestone Birthday
• Child Birthday

Dinosaur theme

If I am honest, when I was first asked to create a display with the Dino theme, I was a little concerned, as this is not a 'subject' that I usually work with! However, it proved to be one of my favourite window displays ever, and offered me the opportunity to step outside of my usual style! The tree that I made was actually created in inspiration of the extremely talented Alberto Falcone, CBA. Alberto is a true artist and everything that he makes is a work of art! 

Sue Bowler with her Dinosaur window display

Design by Sue Bowler, CBA

The hoop display below had a mobile effect, and gently spun around with slight air movement.

Design by Sue Bowler, CBA

Northstar 46" Stegosaurus
#63854

42" Tyrannosaurus
#88459

The tree was made from aluminium rod and secured to a small weighted base. I used 160Q and 260Q balloons to create the tree, and twisted and twined them together to create this fabulous effect. To ensure that the balloons lasted and looked good for the duration of the show, I treated each balloon with HI-FLOAT. This may sound like a tricky job, but it's actually quite easy when you use the smallest bottle that has the long nozzle that fit perfectly into a 260Q! 

The hoop design was made on PVC electrical conduit that was secured with a push fit connector. Using PVC conduit allowed me to make the hoop the size that I required for the design.

Qualatex Balloon Colours

All the balloons were double-stuffed: this is something that I always do when I create displays for events such as this. This ensures that the balloons last the duration of the event, plus I like to create custom colours to give tonal changes and create new and exciting colours! This colour selection would also be perfect for a Harry Potter themed party.

Qualatex

Mocha Brown

Emerald Green

Spring Green

Sparkling Burgundy

Green

Chrome Gold

Baby Theme

This window gave me the opportunity to display the new Baby Girl Garland and Baby Girl Dark SkinTone balloon. You will see that I have included some of the garland shapes with my design below, if you would like to learn how to do this I have added a link to Cam & Eve's video - Happy Hour with Cam & Eve: Let's play with the NEW Microfoil Garland Balloon.

Design by Sue Bowler, CBA

Design by Sue Bowler, CBA

Design by Sue Bowler, CBA

22" Baby Girl Pink Confetti Dots Bubble
#10035

41" Baby Girl Garland
#17765

38" Baby Girl Dark Skin Tone
#18943

Adult Milestone Display

I love a pink and floral display, so as you can imagine this was a favourite for me. In this display I featured the fabulous new 33" Pink Peony and the 22" Birthday to You Pink Peonies Bubble balloon. I also used one of my favourites, the 18" Birthday Pink & Gold Dots, which is such an elegant balloon. I accented my designs with beautiful silk peonies and greenery. For the smaller window, I created a heart using a heart frame and added balloons in an organic style. The colours that I used are:

Qualatex

Pink

Rose

Wild Berry

Pearl Pink

White

Chrome Gold

Mocha Brown - Inside Rose and Pearl Pink

Design by Sue Bowler, CBA

Design by Sue Bowler, CBA

Design by Sue Bowler, CBA

Design by Sue Bowler, CBA

22" Birthday to you Pink Peonies Bubble
#18649

33" Pink Peony 
#18712

Child Milestone Display

The fourth and final window display was to show the new Birthday Blue Dots (Ages 1-5) and the Birthday Boy Blue Dots balloons. This was such a fun display to make. I created a number 3 frame and made some Monkey Balloon Buddies... all of which would be perfect for a 3 year olds birthday! 

18" Birthday Boy Blue Dots
#18874

18" Age 3 Blue Dots
#23109

Design by Sue Bowler, CBA

Design by Sue Bowler, CBA

The colours that I used in this display are:

Qualatex

Pale Blue

Pearl Light Blue

Robin's Egg Blue

Caribbean Blue

White

Pearl Azure

Chrome Gold

In Part 2, I will show you the "Four Seasons" displays that Alberto Falcone and I made, along with other attractive features from the stand! 

I hope that you enjoyed seeing all these designs, and that it might give you a little inspiration for your own displays and designs! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

Slovenia Event 2013 - Tropical Gala Party Decor

I have just returned home from The Slovenia Event which was held in Therme Catez, Slovenia, I am sure that many of you have seen some great pictures already posted on Facebook!

The Slovenia Event 5th, 6th & 7th October 2013 was organised by Renata and Niko Fric from Magic d.o.o. Slovenia, with support from Nikolett Forray, Balloon World Hungary and an awesome team of staff and helpers!

A fantastic group of delegates from 17 countries attended the 3 days that was filled with great classes, competitions, parties and a 24 hour Jam room!

Slovenia Event 2013 Gala Party Decor

I wanted to write a blog that specifically related to the Gala Party, the amazing designs and decor was just truly magical, so inspiring and definitely worth sharing!

So before I post the pictures I would like to congratulate the instructors who work so very hard to create new and exciting designs to share with delegates at events such as this! This was a great opportunity for many of us to work with the new Qualatex Quick LInk balloons and see many different ways to work with it!

He's from France, his design style is awesome and he's teaching at the World Balloon Convention...it is my pleasure to introduce Monsieur Jose Luthman!

Design Created
By Jose Luthman CBA

Many of you will already know Jose (pronounced Jo-ze), especially balloon artists from around  Europe as he has been an instructor in France, for a number of years, teaching at a variety of different balloon events including ABC (Sunny Twist) and Qualatex Events around France, at the Qualatex Event in Oxford in 2012 and at BACI last year! I am sure that you will have seen a selection of his work in Balloon Images Magazine or posted in the Qualatex Facebook Group?

Stylish, elegant and creative are probably the best words that I can find to describe Jose's balloon 'art', maybe it is true that the French really do have that 'chic' edge when it comes to design?

This will be Jose's first time teaching at the World Balloon Convention (WBC) so I took this opportunity to ask Jose a few questions about his forthcoming experience!

It's Time to Say Goodbye to 2018 and Hello to 2019!

On this New Year's Eve, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a superb January, a dazzling February, a peaceful March, an anxiety free April, a sensational May, and Joy that keeps going from June to November, and then round off with a fizz-popping December!

Thank you all for continuing to support the Very Best Balloon Blog, and for all the lovely messages that I received throughout the year - It is very gratifying to know the blog is helpful and inspiring many of you! I am very much looking forward to writing the Very Best Balloon Blog next year, and would welcome any ideas or suggested topics that you would like me to cover - just drop me a message at suebowlercba@gmail.com.

I would also like to say a huge thank you to some of this year's amazing contributors and guest bloggers! They have all very generously given their time to inspire and help others in the balloon industry! To check out some of their posts, just click on their name!

Connie Iden-Monds, CBA, Party Animals in Nashville, Tennesse, USA.

Sara and Mike Harris, both CBAs of For Every Occasion in Rhyl, UK.

Barry Revell, CBA, of Lightitup Balloons in Perth, Australia.

Avital and Nir Schechter, CBA's of Baloney Nir in Katzrin, Israel.

Jackie Ochitwa, CBA, of With a Twist Balloon Creations in Alberta, Canada.

Ruti Grodkinsky, CBA, of Designed by Ruti - Balloon Decor Israel.

Luc Bertrand, CBA, of Waw Balloons in Vichte, Belgium.

Jill Shortreed, CBA, of Charleston Balloon Company in Mount Pleasant, SC, USA.

Chris Adamo, CBA, of Balloons Online in Sydney, Australia.

Stuart Davies, CBA, of Beyond Balloons in South Wales, U.K.

Michelle Severino, CBA, of Party Splendour in Peakhurst, NSW.

Caity Byrne, CBA of All About balloons in Washington, D.C., USA.

Tina Giunta, CBA, of Shivoo Balloons in Melbourne, Australia.

Zoe Adams-Jones, CBA, of Jaz Trading in Queensland, Australia.

Toñy Moncada, CBA of Globofiesta, in Elche, Alicante, Spain.

And of course a huge thank you to Qualatex^® who sponsor the blog! 

I believe that we will have a few challenges in 2019, but if we work together we should be able to overcome many of these and grow and prosper for many years to come! 

Wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year and looking forward to seeing you next year! 

Happy Ballooning!

Sue

www.suebowler.com

#suebowler

Qualatex Event Puerto Rico 2013

This was the first time that I have visited one of the Caribbean Islands, and although the island is small approximately 100 miles long and only 35 miles wide the welcome was huge!

Qualatex Event Puerto Rico Event Hotel... yes, it's true!

Christopher Columbus discovered Puerto Rico in 1493, and the name Puerto Rico actually means 'Rich Port', due to it's worth as an important sea port... today Puerto Rico has many claims to fame including being the rum capital of the world and home to the worlds largest radio telescope along with being adorned with the most beautiful flora and forna and some incredible creatures such as the 'Coqui', a tiny tree frog and the endangered Leatherback Sea Turtles! Thank you Benny Nieves for my final evening guided tour and history lesson, it was just perfect!