Helium - A little bit of what you need to know as a balloon professional Part 2.

In Part 1 of this 2 part blog we looked at helium, and a little bit of what you need to know as a balloon professional, plus a brief introduction into costing.
However, for those of you who want to really understand how to calculate your helium costs for all balloon sizes then please read on, I hope that I have managed to explain this well?

Helium cylinders vary depending on it's size and the pressure (bar or PSI) that it is filled to, so knowing what you use is very important, without this information you wont be able to calculate your costs.

The world is divided by metric and imperial calculations, which has made this blog a little more complicated to write, so I have decided to show both, starting with metric, please scroll down for the imperial calculations.

Helium and a little of what you need to know as a balloon professional Part 1

I wonder how many people who read this blog are unsure how much it costs to fill a balloon with helium?

When I first started working with balloons, I had absolutely no idea how to work out the cost of helium, along with a lack of job costing my work, everything that I ever sold was complete guess work, and very bad guesswork at that!I was asked recently if I could help someone to work out how much helium each balloon uses and how to cost it when using the job cost form, so I thought that this would be a useful blog for others too!Before we start talking about costs and prices, lets just take a few moments to review helium and a few points of safety.

How much should I charge for that... how to price your work!

"How much would you charge", is a question that I hear and see often, posted on Facebook and other social media sites, or asked when showing a design in a class.

Being creative is fun, but working out how much to sell our work for is not quite so exciting! 

Candy Swirl Arch created by Sue Bowler CBA

I suppose it’s like anything, if it’s something that is readily available at a variety of outlets, such as carton of milk or a helium filled 18” foil balloon on a weight, then it will have a ‘market’ price, however if it’s a one off balloon sculpture, event decor or even an elaborate arrangement then pricing is not so straight forward.

17th JBAN 2013

JBAN - Japan's Balloon Artist Network with Emily's Balloons presents it's 17th Convention in Tokyo, Japan!

This is the second time that I have been invited to teach at JBAN and on each occasion I have found it to be a truly magical experience.

This years JBAN theme was 'CARNIVAL', a truly great theme used as inspiration for some of the competitions and of course the final night party!

There were 5 competitions including Large Sculpture -no theme, Photo Spot (a place to take photographs) - Carnival theme, Helium Bouquet - no theme, Hat - Carnival theme and a Twister Live... twisters showing off their skills to an audience.

It's a Boy - how to make a 'balloon baby' fit for a Prince!

In celebration of the new baby Prince of Cambridge, I would like to share this recipe that I created to compliment the Rachel Ellen Baby Boy balloon launched earlier this year!

What a great opportunity to install a new window display to celebrate this wonderful occasion!

It's a Boy! Design created by Sue Bowler CBA

How to inflate a Microfoil™ balloon inside a Qualatex Bubble - Part 2

Recently I posted a blog on how to inflate a Microfoil™ balloon inside a Qualatex Bubble balloon, if you missed it, click HERE, the blog also includes a short clip showing step by step how to create this great effect!

15" Qualatex Bubble with 14" Qualatex Soft Giraffe Inside! Design by Sue Bowler CBA

In the second part of this blog I would like to show you how to create the same effect but this time using a Qualatex 15" Bubble with a small Microfoil Shape balloon inside... quite a tricky process as you also have to heat seal the Microfoil balloon... now there's a challenge for you!

This technique can be used on all Qualatex Bubble balloons making them a unique and custom designed balloon!

Turning a hobby into a career - Lily Tan's amazing journey!

Lily Tan - 'Giraffe and Me'

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Lily as a 'Very Best Balloon Blog' guest artist!

If like me you are in awe of Lily's amazing designs you may be surprised that she started out working with balloons as a hobby, but I will let Lily tell you her story...

Lily Tan is a renowned artist, widely recognised for her innovation and excellence in Balloon Sculpting. She is a locally self-groomed artist, whose accidental hobby has evolved into her passion for balloon art today.

After completing her 3-year Diploma for Fine Arts course at Nanyang Academy of Fine Art (NAFA) Singapore in 1990, Lily worked as an Assistant Art Director in an Ad Agency. Her job in the Agency had allowed her to explore art beyond imagination.