It all began on June 2018. Not knowing what to give a friend for their bday I googled some gifts and came across this arrangement. I thought that would be something easy and cheap to recreate so I went to party city, bought the balloons and recreated the arrangement. Needless to say everyone loved it to the point where they thought I had bought it and not created it myself... lol
I was invited to a pool party. Still being excited from the 1st arrangement I wanted to add some thing colorful and festive. I asked my friend if he minded if I did some balloon decor. They said knock yourself out and so I did!
A close friend of mine contacted me asking if I can help her do some balloon work for a baby shower she was helping her best friend put together. As if I knew what I was doing I said “Yes of course!!!”. I went to her house and we made 2 giant baby bottles and pacifiers. Our friends were beyond impressed!!!!
After over 6 months without doing any balloon work,B I started exploring and experimenting with them again. The possibilities were endless & addicting.
My friend was having a fundraiser for Smart Ride called Cher the Ride. I wanted to help somehow and decided maybe I can make it better by donating my balloon art work. I took on the challenge and created 4 columns holding a letter each for CHER and also created a Red Ribbon. It was a success. The balloon work complimented the space and the fundraisers theme.
A week later in the same month another set of friends from TBAC - Tampa Bay Area Cyclists were doing a fund raiser by throwing an event called “Kick Up Your Heels Season 6!”. Again I wanted to help and offered to create a balloon stiletto sculpture. This stiletto was a hit. Just seeing peoples faces in amazement is exciting. At this point I think I was on to something. This sculpture was fun to create.
Once again I was invited to this annual Octoberfest party hosted by a friend. He goes all out every year, so I wanted to challenge myself and help him go even bigger. I had the crazy idea to create a giant beer mug! This was the hardest sculpture I had created. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. My amateur skills and lack of experience unveiled. Despite all the challenges I was determined to finish it. Nonetheless it was still majestic and one of the highlights of the night aside from the food!
After all the mishaps with the beer mug I wanted to seek training and offer professional balloon art work that wouldn’t fall apart on a paid gig. I was hooked and wanted to learn the correct way of handling balloons professionally, so I went out to Tennessee for a week long, hands on training class.
As soon as I came back from training I had my first paid gig for a corporate company lined up!!! Hooray!!!!
In early November I also had the opportunity to create a balloon mosaic logo for Trikone Tampa Bay. Also created 2 columns for Ybor Restore Yoga’s grand Opening.
In mid November I had to take advantage of a balloon training happening in Orlando with Balloon Coach. Here I got to network meet some amazing, successful and already established balloon artists from all over the states and from out of the country. We had some awesome hands on creating costumes and balloon decor for all holidays.
Late November I went down to Miami for a class with the super successful Decolover girls who specialize on giant balloon bouquets. All the vibrant colors and themes were spectacular. They had extremely successful trainers as well and students from all over the world.
This was a super busy month for me. Had all sorts of cool Christmas requests from different customers. Like a Giant set of Candy Canes, Christmas Picture frame, different balloon columns, custom snow globe for Metro Health. Also created a Seahorse sculpture and dolphin columns for a bday party. In addition had a fantastic baby shower event with twinkle little star for which I created 2 giant baby bottles and an organic demi arch.
Did my biggest balloon sculpture to date. Created this Giant balloon tree, vines, and jungle garland for Cocktails & Couture: Vibrant Garden Fashion Show & Art #CXC20. This sculpture took about 1,200 balloons. It was challenging but the final result was breathtaking! Thank you to Tribeca Hair Salon.
