Mother's Day Idea's and Inspiration

Mother's Day comes early for many of us this year! In the UK, the date is linked to Easter, which is different each year as it is determined by the lunar calendar. Many Eastern European countries celebrate Mother's Day on the 8th March, the same day as International Woman's Day! The majority of countries celebrates Mother's Day on the 8th May. 

This was a variation on a design that I created for my Expression of Love on-line webinar, and made a Mother's Day version using exactly the same techniques! 
Click HERE for a link to the class.

Cam Woody and Eve Antonello share balloon idea's, designs, and inspiration on their bi-weekly live show on Tuesdays at 1:00pm CST on Mr Q's Facebook page or over on Instagram at @eveantonellocba! 

Just in case you missed these two fantastic classes with Cam and Eve, I'll share them with you here so that you can catch up! 

Happy Hour with Cam & Eve: Mother's Day Designs (Part 1)

Say "I Love You, Mom!" with these sweet Mother's Day designs that are perfect for any day of the year!

Happy Hour with Cam & Eve: Mother's Day Designs (Part 2)

Say "I Love You, Mom!" with these sweet Mother's Day designs that are perfect foray of the year!

Here are a few more appealing designs perfect for those very special mother's on Mother's Day.

Mother's Day Stylish Stripes  -  Show Mum's how much we love them with this fabulous chic delivery design. Design by Garlis Bolivar, CBA, of La Gloria, Mexico City, Mexico.

To create this stylish, air-filled design, begin by creating a base of four 5" Gold latex and four 6" Rose Hearts, both ties into a 4-balloon cluster.Tie in a White 350Q to the clusters, then add Gold and Rose clusters on the other end of the 350Q to complement the base. Tie the “Love You M(Heart)M Stripes” Microfoil in to the top. Add value by tying on Onyx Black 160Q stripes and finish with Gold and Rose vinyl dots.

Mother's Day Spring Blossom Centrepiece - Make the most of Mother's Day with this centrepiece featuring a "Mother's Day Pink Peonies" Bubble Balloon® from Qualatex®. Designed by Cam Woody, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA

Queen For A Mother's Day - Treat Mom like the queen she is with this beautiful bouquet.

Designed by Brenda Fink, CBA, Party Magic & Gift, Bethalto, IL, USA

Zahraa Jawad, CBA of Forever Balloons Boutique in Beirut, Lebanon always impresses with her amazing designs! Zahraa loves adding eye-catching details, much like I do! Simply adding a beautiful satin ribbon bow can really add value to a design! I also love how Zahraa creates the word MOM using the Northstar 16" letters and the 16" Jelli Balloon Number 0! 

If you would like to learn how to make a Six Petal Balloon Flower, like the flowers used in Zahraa's design above, check out Jackie Ochitwa's video below.

Watch out for my next post when I will be sharing some great marketing ideas for Mother's Day!

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler 

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring! Spring is in the Air, and Nature is Saying, 'Let's Party!'

I think I can speak for all of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere when I say, we are more than a bit grateful to see the spring flowers poking through the ground, getting ready to burst into magnificent colour! For me, it has felt like a very long winter, I suppose being predominantly in a state of lock down has not helped! However, it is extremely encouraging to see a few countries around the world who appear to be getting back to some sort of normality - it truly does feel like we are coming towards the end of a very long tunnel!

With Spring in mind, how gorgeous is this organic decor by Chris Adamo, I love the freshness of this beautiful colour palette! 

Fabulous Spring Decor by Chris Adamo of 
The Balloon Crew - Balloons.net.au,  
in Sydney, Australia

With that in mind, I thought it would be fitting to start looking at design ideas that reflect this magical time of year.

I love seeing the arrival of the bee's and butterflies, collecting up nectar from flowers and shrubs as they start to open. What better way to reflect this beautiful season than to create a selection of designs using the NEW Qualatex Bee range of balloons! 

How adorable is this 'Sweet as Honey" design by Eve Antonello, CBA, Pioneer Balloon Company, Wichita, KS, USA.

This new 24"  "Sweet Bees & Daisies" Deco Bubble is adorably appealing, and can be used for many different occasions! 

 #: 15733

Here are some great message inspiration when personalising your Bubble Balloons -remember, your customers need a little help sometimes!  

Just Bee Awesome

Bee led by your Dreams! 

Bee Mine!

Sweet as can Bee...

This "Sweet Bee" is available in two sizes!
38" - #16376/16305
14" "Mini Sweet Bee" - #16212

This NEW 18" - "Mother's Day Bee's & Flowers" Microfoil balloons will be a definite winner this Mother's Day! I know that I am looking forward to working with it for a future post! 

#17539/17537

Compliment your design using these fabulous Spring colours! 

Caribbean Blue
Rose
Goldenrod

"Bee" ready for the 2021 Baby Boom! Have a range of new Mother-to-be, Baby Shower and Baby designs ideas ready to inspire your customers - In keeping with the Bee theme, this "Mother to Bee" - 20" Microfoil balloon will wow any new mummies! 

20" - "Mother to Bee" 
#16436/16434

The Pantone Colour of the Year for 2021 has been named as "Ultimate Gray and Illuminating", a soft grey tone and yellow. This colour combination of Grey and Yellow will be perfect to compliment the Bee range of balloons!

For even more super inspiration for Mother's Day, don't miss out on Federico Onida's upcoming webinar: 

Join Federico Onida, CBA on February 17th 2021 for the Mother's Day Gifts She'll Adore webinar! 💐

For more information and to register visit https://www.eventbrite.com/.../qualatex-online-education or click HERE.

The webinar will be broadcasted LIVE on Wednesday, February 17th for 2 hours (90-minute class followed by a 30-minute Q&A session) at 3pm GMT, check for your location time. It will be recorded, and the link to the on-demand video will be sent to you within 48hours of the live webinar. If you miss anything during the live webinar, you will be able to go back to it on your own time.

I don't know about you but I am always looking for inspiration for my social media posts, and lifestyle photographs are always ideal for attracting attention on a Facebook or Instagram post. Have you checked out the amazing FREE Social Media resources available on the Qualatex website recently? There are lots of exciting new posts and images available. Click HERE for a direct link. The great thing about many of the images is that you can easily add your own caption or message.

Check out the 2021 Qualatex  Spring & Summer Collection, click HERE for a direct link.

Make sure that you check out the 2020 Qualatex Everyday Essentials, it features the Bee range and much more! Click HERE for a direct link.

As you may have gathered, I am really excited that we are heading into this new season, it feels like a whole new energy, and renewed hope is on the horizon. We have many great events over the next few months including Easter and Mother's Day, with many great Qualatex balloons to work with! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

Balloon Columns, Stacks, Pillar's and Towers... so what is in a Name?

How much does a name matter? It has recently reached my notice that the designs that I would call Balloon Columns are being referred to by other artists as Stacks, Pillars and Towers. So to help me to clarify all the different names a little bit more, I asked members of the QBN Facebook group what they called theirs, and if they felt that the name was important?

Almost all those who responded said that they use the term Columns like I do. This isn't surprising, as they have all completed the QBN program and that is the term that they were taught and used within the program, and also it is the name that has been used forever by the balloon industry. However, some of the response from group members explained that all the different names are often used by their customers, and therefore for marketing and promotional purposes they also use them all to ensure that they do not miss out on any opportunities to promote their designs.

I have looked back through all the different resources that I received as part of the QBN program, and it actually clarifies that a Column is a straight, vertical line of balloon garland which to be fair does not represent the vast types and styles of decor that would come under the heading of a column today! Balloon décor styles have changed considerably over the years, and today there are new trends and styles of décor that were not shown or taught when many of us studied the QBN program. So, I decided to delve a little deeper to see if I can relate a name to a style of decor.

Instagram was the perfect go-to resource to assist me with my research, as I was able to see the types and styles of decor that are posted under each of the hashtags.

#ballooncolumns - 136,087 posts (3rd February 2021)

#ballooncolumn - 37,120 posts

The designs featured under the hashtags "Balloons Columns" and "Balloon Column" on Instagram are a complete mixture of styles and types of balloon structures, ranging from what I would call a traditional column to smaller air-filled arrangements, that I have now discovered are often called Balloon Stacks - see below! 

This was a design that I made for a corporate event, I had a hard time giving it a name, but once I found it, it made total sense - Elegant Sculptured Column

Elegant Sculptured Column by Sue Bowler

#balloontowers - 11,264 posts (3rd February 2021)

#balloontower - 11.4 posts

The definition of the word "tower" is a "structure typically higher than its diameter," - therefore it is much the same as a column.

A lot of the designs featured on Instagram are pretty much the same as Balloon Columns, but with a real mix of styles and types of balloon structures.

Design by Dominic Cassidy and Keith Stirman  - The Boys of Q Corner

Pillars are often known as "a usually ornamental column", and it too has a close relationship to the term "column" and in fact describes the term well.

#balloonpillars - 8,567 (3rd February 2021)

#balloonpillar - 6,271 posts

Bright Bubble Column

Designer name: Tina Giunta, CBA, Shivoo Balloons 

#balloonstack - 5,410 (3rd February 2021)

The term "Balloon Stack" is a style of design that is predominantly an air-filled balloon arrangement that often features a number as topper, or has a focal balloon that is on the base of maybe 2 or 3 clusters of balloons. This is a style of decor that has grown in popularity over the past few years, and I love all the accent details that are often added to the designs!

I love this design by The Luxe Event Company NW Ltd, in Skelmersdale, England. This is a perfect example of a beautiful Balloon Stack!  

Design by 

The Luxe Event Company NW Ltd, in Skelmersdale, England.

From what I've observed, Balloon Columns, Towers and Pillars pretty much describe the same  styles of balloon décor and it would be very easy to see why people would use all three names to relate to this style. The only one that stands out as being a little different are Balloon Stacks, as this name is typically applied to smaller air-filled arrangements that are on a cluster-style base.

Does the name that we use matter? From a marketing point of view, I would contest that all the terms being used are relevant, especially to a client base. When it comes to hashtags, why not use all three?  You might find that customers relate to different names! For me personally, a Balloon Column will always be a column, especially because it's a term that I used when I first started working with balloons and it is a recognised name within the industry! However, I am certainly not opposed to anyone that uses any of the other names, as each of the definitions prove that they are all very relevant! 

A big thank you to all the QBN members who helped me with my original question, it all makes perfect sense now 😄

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

Top Tips for a Successful Lockdown Valentine's Day

Many of you may have realised that the odds are stacked against balloon companies around the world. We are in the middle of a global pandemic, many of us are in lockdown or are restricted to the types of business that we can operate during this time! To top it all, Valentine's Day is on a Sunday this year! Some might say "let's forget Valentine's Day this year" however, if recent balloon sales are anything to go by, it could be a bumper year!

Being prepared is the key to success:

1. What will you sell?

It is very easy to get carried away and offer many options, but to be honest, it is much better to keep it simple and offer a limited range with varying price ranges. How you deliver your balloons will determine what size of arrangements you will offer; there is little point offering bouquets of twelve Red Hearts, if you don't have a large delivery van!  Check to see what you have left over from last year, and be sure to feature some current trends too - check out all the new and exciting Valentine's balloons in the Qualatex Valentine's catalogue. 

Think Pink! Is a top tip from Tope Abulude, CBA, of Balloon Inspirations, in Essex U.K. "I use as much pink as I do red, and air-filled Qualatex® Deco Bubbles... Simply so I can immediately convert my designs to Mother's Day as soon as Valentine's Day is done. I guess for me it's being able to create arrangements that I can still sell after Valentine's."

Designed By Kerry Ferguson - Pioneer Europe

2. Use exciting and descriptive words

Make your design sound exciting! Give each design a name, as it's much easier for customers to select by name rather than description. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

- Amore

- Pink Romance

- Love you More! 

- Love is in the Air

- Me to You

For those of you who offering designs with added value, such as putting balloons inside balloons or adding personalisation or little details like bows, remember that these are all "Lovingly Made by Hand or Hand-Crafted with Love by Us!" 

3. Adding Extra's

4", 9" and all the lovely air-filled mini shape Microfoil balloons are a great add-on to any design or delivery! They can be prepared now, because once they're inflated and heat-sealed they will last forever! Make sure that you take a good picture of your design with the add-on included so that you customers can see what they are getting... a picture is better than words! 

4. Things to be aware of...

Helium does not like the cold weather, so be aware that when you take helium balloons outside they will start to deflate! This is nothing to be worried about, they will re-inflate when they are reintroduced into the warm, but it's always good to know and maybe to make your customers aware of 💕

5. Marketing is key!

Is your Facebook Business Page Valentine's ready? Start by changing your cover banner! If you are not confident enough to make your own, why not use a ready-made cover from Qualatex! I love both of these, and you can find them by visiting Qualatex.com or simply click HERE. If you prefer to make your own, try www.CANVA.com, it's very easy to use and you can get great results! 

I love this animated version too... very eye-catching! 

Do you have good photographs of the designs that you are selling? It is truly important to have good visual images, as they are the factor that will help you capture the sale! 

If possible try and take a photo of your design with a plain background, but again, you can use CANVA to change the background if you want it to be completely white or if you want to include your own background added! 

This is a before and after shot of one of my designs that I have used
CANVA background remover... it takes seconds!

Another option for those feeling a little more adventurous, is to turn your images into little animated videos!

If you have never used CANVA before and would like to know more, check out this blog post that will hopefully give you all the help that you need;

How to Create Inspiring Instagram and Facebook Posts for the Non-Designer - Part 2

If you have never used Facebook paid advertising, I strongly recommend that you give it a try. You can make it specifically targeted to your local area, as well as your audience and you can choose exactly how much you want to spend... it's inexpensive, and very effective!  

Don't forget those all-important #hashtags 

Here are a selection of popular Valentines hashtags that can be used on your Instagram and Facebook posts

#valentines #valentine #love #handmade #valentinesgift #valentinesgiftforher #valentinesgiftforhim #valentinesgift #valentinesday #valentines2021 #valentinesathome #valentinesballoon #valentineballoon #balloondelivery #supportlocal #supportlocalbusinesses 

And don't forget to hashtag your town or any of the places that you can deliver to! 

For those of you who struggle to find the right hashtags to use, check out http://best-hashtags.com/hashtag/valentine/

These are their most popular Instagram Valentine's hashtags: 

#valentine #love #valentinesday #valentines #gift #birthday #valentineday #valentinegift #handmade #gifts #like #art #anniversary #fashion #flowers #kadovalentine #kadoultah #bouquet #giftideas #instagood #valentinesgift #buketbunga #chocolate #florist #valentinesdaygift #photography #wedding #heart #follow 

I hope these tips are helpful! Valentine's Day this year is a little bit unknown, but as I mentioned at the start of this post, if general balloon orders are anything to go by, it should be a good one! People are not going out to buy cards, flowers or other Valentine's gifts, so if you get your marketing right, there is no reason why the orders should not come through!

Wishing you a very successful Valentine's Day! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler

How Can I Find Training Courses as someone who is new to the Balloon Industry?

If you were to ask any seasoned professional what they would do differently if they started their balloon business again, you would find that most of them would have taken up training sooner. Balloon artistry is a creative skill, and there is so much more to it than you many think... but maybe you have already started to find that out?

Training Instructor TY Wong of Colour Life, Hong Kong

I know of a number of very successful balloon businesses who started their ballooning journeys in recent years offering only organic décor. They in their own words were 'self-taught'; however, as their businesses grew, so did their clients requests and it became evident that they needed to learn the true foundations of balloon artistry: Classic Balloon Decor. 

Rainbow Arch and Decor by Sue Bowler

Classic Balloon Decor is the foundation of balloon decorating. Foundations can be found in the early defining work of a discipline, and balloon decorating started with balloon garland arches, swags, columns and 'string of pearl' (SOP) arches.

Classic Balloon Decor is the starting blocks for ballooning, and almost all balloon artists/decorators start here! It's as basic as learning how to inflate balloons to a specific size, tying a duplet, twisting balloons into clusters as well as the art of adding balloons to line or framework! Once a decorator has these mastered, they can move onto more challenging projects! 

Decor by Sue Bowler

Classic Balloon Decor can be used in so many ways and for so many different types of events, including weddings, corporate decor or shopping malls; think large spaces where balloons can be used on large scale! It's not just about learning Class Balloon Decor techniques, it's also having a good understand of the elements and principles of design.

Creating the 'perfect' design is not something that just happens automatically, at least not for most of us anyway! There are a number of factors that make a 'perfect design', so let's take a look at what those factors are!

Elements of Design:

These are parts that make up the design, and you can either touch or see the elements of design. These include colour, line, shape and texture.

Principles of Design: 

The basic principles of design include unity, scale and proportion, balance, rhythm and harmony.

Applying these principles to the elements of a design brings them together into one cohesive idea. How you apply these principles determines how successful a design may be!

So you may be wondering ,how can you learn about these and where can you find training courses, especially during the pandemic?

It is true to say that the pandemic has definitely thrown a spanner into the works when it comes to face-to-face training courses! However, finding good training in many countries has always been difficult even during normal times. 

During the past few months, when many countries have been in lockdown, Qualatex has worked hard to bring training to the world-wide community in the form of webinars. To-date, there has been 10 webinars covering a wide variety of topics.

For anyone new to the balloon business, I would like to recommend: 

"Cooking with Cam & Eve - Ingredients for Success Part 1 - Qualatex Latex" as well as "Cooking with Cam & Eve - Ingredients for Success Part 2 - Qualatex Microfoil and Bubble Balloons."

I can even offer you a coupon code that will give you $5.00 off each of these courses!

GoMrQ

Both of these videos in addition to other fabulous online classes from industry leading instructors are available to purchase and download from Qualatex Online Education at Vimeo - Click HERE for a direct link or go to https://vimeo.com/qualatex

Can you learn from YouTube?

There are so many great tutorials available on YouTube, but for every quality video there is one that gives bad or ill-informed information You can easily learn really poor skills and techniques which is not a great way to start your ballooning career. I have used YouTube myself to learn how to make different styles of bows, and other non-balloon related techniques, so it's definitely not all bad. Just use discretion when browsing YouTube!

My advice to you would be to seek balloon artists whose styles and designs you like, and follow them on their Facebook and Instagram pages. If they have videos, which many do, then those are the ones that you want to watch.

Qualatex has their own YouTube channel - Q Corner, and I would certainly recommend that you check it out, as it is packed with many great tutorials and training videos - click HERE for a direct link or visit https://www.youtube.com/c/QCornerShow/videos

If you would like to learn more about the elements and principles of design, and how it will help you with your balloon designs, I have written a number of blog posts that will help you greatly:

Part 1: Beginners Guide to the Elements and Principles of Design - Colour

Part 2: The Beginners Guide to Elements & Principles of Design - Line

Part 3: The Beginners Guide to the Elements & Principles of Design - Texture & Balance

Part 4: Beginners Guide to the Elements & Principles of Design - Rhythm

Part 5: Beginners Guide to the Elements & Principles of Design - Proportion and Scale

Part 6: Beginners Guide to the Elements and Principles of Design - Unity & Harmony

And of course, don't forget to tune in to Happy Hour with Cam & Eve, you can find that on Mr Q's Facebook page LIVE every alternate Tuesday at 1pm CST. You will need to check your international clocks if you want to watch it live, or you can catch-up afterwards as they are all available to watch, all you have to do is visit Mr. Q Facebook Page and click on videos! 

I hope that this is helpful to you, and keep checking The Very Best Balloon Blog as it too is packed with great information and so many helpful resources! 

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue

www.suebowler.com

Follow me @suebowler