Confetti Dots Centrepiece Idea and the Stunning Confetti Dots Deco Bubble Range - revised August 2020

Centrepiece design by Sue Bowler, CBA.

Everyone loves the Qualatex^® "Confetti Dots" Deco Bubbles! They are a fabulous addition to the Qualatex Bubble range.

As we all know, confetti balloons are extremely popular and are perfect for so many different occasions! I love to make confetti-filled Bubbles, especially when I have a specific colour request, or if I am matching decor that I have made. However, these "Confetti Dots" Bubbles are so quick and easy to use and make a fabulous addition to balloon arrangements.

I created this fun, air-filled centrepiece using the Plexipoles System that has been designed specifically for balloon professionals to make centrepiece designs. PlexiPoles are made from a high-quality acrylic and plexiglass product. The flat base, and elegant clear design of the poles are simply perfect for the job! 

To complement the "Pink Confetti Dot" Bubble, I used a range of Pink 5" and 11" latex balloons and added some Silver Chrome and Grey balloons, too - I felt that this would bring a little bit of sophistication to my design and that fabulous shine that Chrome balloons always do! 

For those of you who are wondering how I have 5" Silver Chrome balloons, they are in fact 11" Silver Chrome with a 5" balloon inside to help create the right size and shape. Since writing this post, we now have 7" Chrome balloons which are perfect for centrepieces! However, the 11" trick is a great one to use when you don't have a 5" option.


I used some pink dot cellophane to bring a little texture to my design. Firstly, the cellophane was a perfect match and it can be easily made into "picks" that can be carefully inserted into the gaps between the balloons. The easiest way to make the "picks" is to cut your cellophane or tissue into squares, then use a balloon straw to find the centre of the square and give it a little twist. I like to glue my picks into place when I add them to my design to ensure that they don't fall out. I also added a few tiny balloons, which I felt gave a little more detail to what is fundamentally a very simple design. The tiny balloons are simply the tips of 260Qs that I have inflated and secured using glue dots. If you are wondering what I have used on the pole, it is a small length of cellophane that I have wrapped around.

Printed cellophane is very popular and quite easy to find. I recommend using your favourite search engine and type "Polka Dot Cellophane."











Here are some more fabulous design ideas using these wonderfully vibrant and versatile balloons.

Rainbow Confetti Thanks

A great job deserves this delivery of The Very Best™ Balloons topped with a “Colorful Confetti Dots” Bubble!

Designer name: Eve Antonello, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA

Perfect for Personalisation!
Design by Amy Broadley of Balloonies Falkirk, Scotland.

"Celebrate in Style"
Design by Sue Bowler, CBA, of BalloonArt By Sue Bowler.

 

I love this personalised "Pink Confetti Dots" Deco Bubble balloon - I also love the eye-catching video that LaylaRai created to show it off to their customers! This balloon and video were made by Events By LaylaRai in Stanford Le Hope, England. 

Here is another great design that was made by Ben Escalante, of Deco Globos, in Xalapa, Mexico. The "Colourful Confetti Dots" are perfect for this birthday balloon, with added tassels and a complementary base.

And finally, this beautiful Baby Boy Confetti Bubbles and Clouds by Cam Woody, CBA, of Pioneer Balloon Company.

Cam has complemented her balloon arrangement with the 11" "Oh Baby" latex balloon inside the Bubble. This Deco Bubble balloon has been designed with a clear central window to allow any message latex balloon to be seen easily.












These balloons are available from your Qualatex Distributors, so don't delay, and make sure to add them to your design range - your customers will love them!

24" "Blue Confetti Dots" #57789
24" "Pink Confetti Dots" #57790
24" "Colourful Confetti Dots" #57791

And the newest addition

24" "Gold Confetti Dots" #89727

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com

Follow me on Instagram #suebowler

Free Photo Editing Apps That Make Your Snaps Instagram Worthy

I expect you know this scenario well! On Saturday I was working on a wonderful outdoor balloon installation. The sun was shining, and I knew that there would be some great photo opportunities. When I had almost reached the event venue, I realised that I had forgotten my camera! Thank goodness for mobile phones, but can we get a good enough photograph that is Instagram worthy?

I see many balloon-related photos on Instagram, but so often the photographs are dark and grainy or they are not particularly eye-catching. The important thing to remember is this: Instagram is a totally visual platform. And, the more visually appealing your photos are, the better they’ll engage your followers.

So once I returned to my office, I decided to check out some of the free or almost free photo editing apps that are available, to see if I could transform some of my snaps into professional-looking Instagram photographs.

Snapseed Rating 3.8

Google's photo-editing app Snapseed (Android, iOS) is one of the best photo-editing apps around, thanks to the incredible control it gives you over your pictures. It has nine editing tools for tweaking your photos, including a brush tool that lets you selectively adjust exposure, saturation, and colour temperature, and a healing tool that lets you remove blemishes or erase objects from photos completely. Snapseed also has its own set of filters (sorted into 11 different categories, including Retrolux, Noir, and Glamour Glow). Unlike Instagram, Snapseed lets you fine-tune filter effects by modifying attributes like brightness, saturation, and texture strength.

Here are three versions of the same photograph, the centre image is the original image
the first and last have been edited using the Snapseed app.

Snapseed was the first of the apps that I downloaded, and I immediately enjoyed playing with its very simple to use features.

You start by clicking on OPEN. You can then choose where you want to select your photograph from.

• Open from Device
• Camera
• Open latest image 

Once you have selected the image that you want to work on you can then start to play with the tools. You have three options:

• LOOKS
• TOOLS
• EXPORT

Start with looks. Looks is very much like Instagram filters and gives you a number of options of how to alter your photograph. 

If you click on TOOLS, you have many other fine-tuning options, including the usual crop and rotate, but so many other very exciting options - you need to check them out!

Finally, once you have made your changes you have the option to:

• Share...
• Open in...
• Save with changes that you can undo.
• Save a copy
• Export 

This was my favourite editings of this photograph. This function was selected in LOOKS and is called "Morning". It really makes the balloon colours "pop" and stand-out from the background, I think this will make a very eye-catching Instagram photograph!

Another great feature before I leave Snapseed is the text tool. It's a quick, and stylish way to add your name to your photographs (see photograph at the top of this post).

I decided to compare Snapseed which is a free app with Pixelmator, which was a highly recommended editing tool that cost £4.99 - so not very expensive, but is it worth the price?

Pixelmator - Rating 3.2

My first observation with this app is that it is not as simple to use as Snapseed. Sadly, I am a bit of a "download and go" sort of person and if I cannot make it work for me in the first few minutes, I give up. However, having paid my £4.99, I decided to work a little harder to get things going.

So to start, you need to click on the + button on the top left-hand corner of the screen.

This will allow you to:

• Create Image
• Get a photo from your iCloud Drive
• Get a photo from Photos
• Take a Photo

If you click on Create Image, it gives you some great options:

• Basic
• Collage
• Frame
• Card
• Poster
• Photography
• Vintage

So I thought that I would try out the Collage option as this was not an option on Snapseed. I chose Grid as my collage design.

I definitely enjoyed playing with this function, but again, I think it will take a few goes to perfect and get the best from it! I love how you can display a selection of photographs from the same job and edit each photo as you go. The problem that I incurred was how to position the photo within the frame, as I would have liked to reposition them a little - more practice, Sue! 

Each photograph within this collage has been edited to enhance the colours
to give maximum impact.

This is a tool that is only compatible with IOS devices - iPhone, iPad, and there is also a very comprehensive Mac version - Pixelmator and Pixelmator Pro.

Having made the investment I will certainly learn to use Pixelmator, but I think for quick editing, my go-to will be Snapseed.

Here are some more great free apps for photo editing. I will get round to trying them all over the next few weeks and months! 

VSCO Cam (iPhone, Android) - Rating 4.4 
Adobe Lightroom (iPad) - Rating 4.3 
Instagram (iPhone, Android, Windows Phone) - Rating 4.8 
Pixlr Express (Android, iOS) - Rating 3.9 
Flickr (iPhone, Android, Windows Phone) - Rating 4.3 
Photo Editor by Aviary (Android, iOS, Windows Phone) - Rating 4.5 
Repix (Android, iOS) - Rating 3.4 

This blog post was assisted by a great article on Gadgets 360 -  Best Free Photo Editing Apps for Android, iPhone, and Others - to read the whole article, click HERE

You will have hours of fun playing with these fabulous apps, and I look forward to seeing some of your amazing photographs on Instagram! 

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com

Wear Your Heart With Pride By Guest Blogger Stuart Davies, CBA

PRIDE Parades are all about love, equality, and happiness. One of the symbols that has been adopted by many is the Rainbow Heart!

This is not an ORIGINAL design. Although different, it has its origins from the “Puffed Heart” design  Sue Bowler posted in the Very Best Balloon Blog a few years ago. The main change is that it has been extended to enable a regular strip of six colours needed for the rainbow. 

This design is very versatile and can be created with either 6" or 12" Qualatex^® Quick Links. It can be made bigger or smaller based on your needs. Adding it to a pole would make a fantastic parade piece, to a column for room décor, or even hung from a ceiling! A smaller version could also be used as a large table centrepiece.

For those of you who work with modelling balloons, it looks great woven with 260Qs or 350Qs. It is a relatively straightforward weave, even with six colours. I have tried it, and I made mine about 18" wide using 1.5" bubbles. I am sure those more skilled in the art of twisting and weaving could reduce the size below 10" - there's a challenge for someone! 

This heart is quick and easy to make, and regardless of size, it shouldn’t take much more than thirty to forty minutes from start to finish using an automatic air-inflator such as Conwin's Precision Air or Premium's Twin-Air Inflator


. 

I used Chris Adamo's Quick Link Calculator to map out the theoretical look first, and below is a representation of what it looked like. The 11" round balloons on the outer edge are actually Quick Links.

As with the original "Puffed Heart" design, it is made up of two layers and then brought together with one final chain. In this design, I used 105 - Quick Links plus 102 - 5". To fill in further you could use additional 5" or 11" duplets (depending if you used 6" or 12" Quick Links) to close the gaps left in the x-grid Quick Link structure.

In the image below the greyed-out balloons are the sides shown in the image above. There is a single chain connecting side one and two together. The rounder images are Quick Links; I was being lazy when doing the design and it was the only way to show that there was a single balloon connecting two points.

My way of completing would be to make both sides first, then tie these together at the same points around the sides all the way around, and then connect the chain on the outside edge using duplets of 5" rather than weaving or tying it in. 

After only five years of developing and growing his small family-run balloon business, Stuart Davies, CBA, of Beyond Balloons in South Wales, U.K., has already established an enviable client list. Last year Stuart very generously shared his experience working with Walt Disney International to create fabulous interactive decor for the Pride London Parade made entirely with Qualatex® balloons! To read this blog post, click HERE.





To read "How To Make a Puffed Heart Using Qualatex Quick Link Balloons - Click HERE

A huge thank you to Stuart for sharing his fabulous design with us today!


Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com




World Cup Fever Is Here Until The 15th of July - The Parties Are Only Just Starting!

World Cup fever is upon us with 32 countries battling it out for the most prestigious accolade in football. As the competition intensifies, the parties will too! Here are some winning design ideas that will help set the scene.

"Football" versus "Soccer" - both correct terms, but as I am from the UK, I will refer to the game as football ⚽️.


One of the top-selling designs of Luc Bertrand, CBA, of WaW Balloons in Vichte, Belgium, is this fabulous Quick Link Column using his Q-Block technique topped with a Qualatex^® 36" "Soccer Balls-A-Round" balloon, and of course, he uses the Belgium "Red Devils" colours! 

Game-Winning Goal

I love this Arch design. It is perfect to customise using team colours for the Microfoil® Stars!

Chrome Gold Football Trophy

This tassel-filled Chrome Gold trophy makes winning party decor. Once again, the tassels can be customised using team colours.

Designer Alberto Falcone, CBA, Balloon Lab, Verbania, Italy.

Dynamic Football Column

The diametric design of this Column will delight the guests at their World Cup party!

Designer Eve Antonello, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA.

Superstar Football Columns

I love this fabulous Arch designed by Amanda Armstrong, CBA, Top Hat Balloon Werks, Mission Viejo, CA, USA. There are downloadable instruction sheets available for QBN members - visit www.Qualatex.com.

Fantastic Football Column

Score big at your next football party with this simple, yet effective Column featuring the giant 36" “Soccer Ball” Microfoil^® 

As an homage to his beloved Belgium team, Luc created this fabulous "Red Devil" sculpture for his store and encourages his customers to take a selfie with it!

World Cup Arch by Luc Bertrand

Luc Bertrand's World Cup window display

For more great design ideas, check out the "Score Big With Qualatex" newsletter - click HERE.


The World Cup may have already started, but the parties are  just beginning! Be prepared and let your customers know that you can create truly fabulous balloon decor by showing off your designs in your store windows and through your social media channels, too!

Happy World Cup!

Sue
www.suebowler.com

Silver Balloon Wall Installation

I really love to work with Qualatex^® Starpoint and Taper balloons. There is something really elegant and a little different about these balloons - they are perfect for making balloon walls!

A few weeks ago, I was approached by a brand development agency who wanted me to build two balloon installations using silver square balloons to create an "immersive walkway." The client had been inspired by Andy Warhol's "Silver Balloons" exhibit that he first made in the 60's! The silver square balloons were hand-made - in fact, they were known as "floating Metallic Pillows." 

After further discussions with the client and a computer-generated visual image, we agreed that I would create two Starpoint and Taper balloon walls. These balloon walls offered the fabulous shiny effect that they were looking for. Plus, we added a little visual movement within the walls by positioning the sections so that it created a slight wave rather than being totally straight. 

Today, I am going to share with you some simple steps on how to make these fabulous balloon walls!

Firstly, I created a design on my computer for my client to see and approve. This also functioned as my working design sheet on the day. This is really easy to do. You simply go to www.Qualatex.com and download the balloon images that you want to use. I love the fact that they save as a .png file, which means that it does not have any background to the image! I then simply added and arranged the balloon images in a WORD document to create the design of the proposed wall. 

Each wall consisted of forty 40" Silver Starpoint balloons and seventy-seven 27" Silver Taper Balloons.

We found it easier to make the wall in smaller sections rather than trying to build the wall in one go. We connected eight Starpoint balloons together using a cable tie gun before inflation, making sure to not to connect the valve points. We tied these after inflation.

Connecting the valve points after inflation.

Once we had prepared all the sections, we connected them all together. You can use a cable tie gun or a scrap of 260Q. Both work very well! 

You can see from this photo how the balloons looked when connected together, several people commented on how they did not look like balloons once they were connected!

The first section of wall made - sharing our work-space with some amazing vintage dummies.

To inflate the foil balloons we used the Premium FoilPro™. This machine is designed for easy, hands-free (using a foot pedal) inflation of foil balloons as well as latex and balloons that require higher-pressure. The great thing about this inflator is that it has a special nozzle that provides the correct inflation pressure for foils, with no risk of damaging self-sealing valves.

Each wall was made up of five sections as shown above. Once all the sections were prepared, we connected them together.

Here is a view of the wall from outside - we had to make sure that it looked good from both sides!

This was a really great project to work on. We learned a lot on the way. Needless to say, that the second wall was made in half the time of the first wall! The client was really happy and gave us great feedback! 

"We loved working with you on this project and want to thank you for doing such a fab job,. Everyone loved the installation!"

A huge thank you to my team, Nicci Rene and John Bowler. And thank you Nicci, for the great photographs!

Happy Ballooning

Sue
www.suebowler.com 

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