Showing posts with label Conwin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conwin. Show all posts

Friday, January 10, 2020

Which Electric Balloon Inflators is Best For You and Your Business - Part 1

Maybe you're just starting out, or maybe you're ready to take your balloon business to the next level! No matter what phase you're in, knowing which air-inflator to buy can be a little bit of a minefield.
Owning a hand-pump should be a given for your balloon business, as it is an essential tool in any balloon artists toolbox. However, having an electrical balloon inflator in addition to a hand-pump will enable you to significantly increase the amount of decor work that you can do.



Premium Balloon Accessories and Conwin  have both developed ranges of equipment for the balloon Industry. I use their products frequently and I want to feature their products in this blog as I feel confident in both their quality and usefulness to balloon artists like me!

I will always recommend that if you are able to attend a balloon training course, event or convention, you should certainly do so. These events will give you the opportunity to work with all kinds of different equipment in order to have a full understanding of how each piece of equipment works and what works best for you! 

Level 1: Basic Electric Balloon Inflators


Premium MicroAir®

This is a small, powerful and economical entry-level electric balloon inflator. 
It's perfect for inflating latex balloons that are 9" and larger in size.

The Premium Micro-Air has a push-down activation and an on-off switch for continuous inflation.





Available in 120 volt for USA, 230V/240V for Europe, UK, and Australia. CE approved for Europe and UK. This inflator is covered by Premium's 1-year conditional warranty.

Premium Mini Cool Aire®, “Dual Pro™” Inflator

This is another excellent beginner-friendly electric balloon inflator, and offers more even more features than the Premium MicroAir.





This inflator is not only perfect for inflating latex balloons, but is also good for air-inflating foil balloons with self-sealing valves. It inflates the foil balloon without causing any damage to the valves - which can easily happen when using inflation equipment that has not been specifically designed to inflate valved balloons.





This inflator has one speed for lower pressure and cooler inflation of foils and another for higher pressure, high-speed inflation of latex.
It has push-down activation and an on/off switch for continuous inflation.
It is available in 120-Volt and 230/240-Volt versions. CE approved. 1-year conditional warranty.

Level 2: Multi-Nozzle Electric Balloon Inflators


The inflators that I have featured above are both single outlet inflators - which means that you can inflate only one balloon at a time. Imagine how many more balloons you could inflate if you used a multi nozzle inflator!



Premium Cool Aire® 4 Balloon Inflator 

The Cool Aire 4 is a powerful inflator that can easily inflate 5˝ latex balloons and larger. It has three “Speed-Switch” settings: high-pressure for small latex, to low-pressure for large latex.
When you are not using all the nozzles, you can cap them to close them off, which will make the machine work faster. This inflator comes with high quality, padded protective carrying case. It also comes with two hands-free foot pedals when operated by multiple users. Ideal for inflating balloons for organic decor, balloon drops and arches.
120 volt for USA, 230V/240V for Europe, UK, and Australia.
CE approved for Europe and UK, with pending EPCS approvals for Australia.
1-year conditional warranty.



Conwin Air Force 4™ Inflator




Suitable for use with all sizes of latex balloons, this powerful inflator is well suited for many types of balloon decor jobs. It can be used with a foot pedal or continual-air blower, and is designed to maintain a fixed temperature and will not overheat on large jobs. It also has a Large Balloon Inflation Hose that can be attached to any of the outlets, and will quickly allow you to inflate 16″ latex balloons and larger in 1/3 of the time. 

Now you see why balloon professionals use these products! The Premium Cool Aire 4 and the Conwin Air Force 4 inflators are easily the most efficient way to inflate multiple balloons!

None of these featured air-inflators will accurately size balloons, so for precision inflation I would recommend using a balloon-sizing box such as the Qualatex® Balloon Sizer in conjunction with all of these inflators.


To find out more about each of these machines, visit www.premiumballoon.com or www.conwinonline.com or talk to your preferred balloon distributor/wholesaler. 

Happy Ballooning!

Sue

www.suebowler.com
#suebowler





Wednesday, November 6, 2013

The 'Noodle' Balloon - balloons inside a balloon!

The art of putting balloons inside balloons is something that has evolved over the years, many balloon artists have found their own preferred ways to do this, there is no right or wrong way!

Sue Bowler
'Noodle Balloon' by Sue Bowler CBA

I have been spending a little time recently 'exploring' Pinterest and all the wonders that it holds and came across a picture (pinned on someones board) of a design that I created a number of years ago... The Noodle Balloon!



I was working for Conwin when I designed the 'noodle' balloon to demonstrate the use of the Conwin 'Insider Tool', the end result proved to be fun and very visual, with the 'how did they do that' factor!


When I found the picture I posted it onto my own Facebook page and it had a great reaction, it looks like a few people have not seen this design and have asked me how it was made.






Monday, August 26, 2013

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.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Learn How To Make This Beautiful Wedding Arbour


Elegant Wedding Arbour


Sue Bowler
Wedding Arbour - by Sue Bowler CBA



So what is an arbour? By definition, it is a shady garden alcove with sides and a roof formed by trees or climbing plants over a wooden frame. My wedding arbour above gives you the same sense of a garden frame but with the elegance of light and airy balloons, silk flowers and soft organza.

So what is its purpose? An arbour such as this could be used as the focal point at the wedding ceremony, if you search "wedding arbours", you will see that there are so many different styles - is this an area of decor that you are missing out on?


Product List



39286 - Just Married ARP* Diamond Clear 5” 
39208 - Just Married ARP Diamond Clear 11”
43552 - Diamond Clear 5”
43597 - Pearl White 5”
43788 - Pearl White 11”
43603 - Metallic Silver 5”


99326 - Magenta 5"
43960 - Silver 260Q
22932 - Pearl White 160Q
Organza Ribbon
Silk Flowers



* ARP - All Round Print

Method of Construction



The easiest way to make this design is to start by making all 4 columns first; please note that the 5” balloons listed above are a random selection and not a formal pattern: please also note that the Magenta balloons are double stuffed with Silver over the top to create this very soft colour. Starting from the base of each column, work upwards: 



TIP: I always recommend that you 'wrap' you poles and any frames that you are working with using the same colour of balloons that you are putting on to the frame. I use either 260Q/ 350Q when I wrap, or 646Q to stretch over.

Cluster 1. 5 x 5" Inflated to 3"
Cluster 2. 5 x 5" Inflated to 4"
Cluster 3. 5 x 5" Inflated to 4.5"
Cluster 4. 5 x 5" Inflated to 4"
Cluster 5. 5 x 5" Inflated to 3"

This creates a really nice shape, a little different from the usual graduated style.

You now need to add:

4 x 260Q Silver
4 x 160Q Pearl White

You will need to decide how much of the pole you want to cover with this double spiral, personally, I would tie a scrap of 160Q on each of your poles to determine this point to ensure that they all the same!

Start the spiral by using the 4 x 260Q Silver and wrap these around the pole. 

To create a double spiral you need to add the inflated 160Q at the same time as the 260Q but wrap them individually once you have created the first spiral with all the 260Q.

You are now going to add a further three clusters:

Cluster 6. 5 x 5" Inflated to 4"
Cluster 7. 5 x 5" Inflated to 4.5"
Cluster 8. 5 x 5" Inflated to 4"

Now create a second double spiral, and take this spiral up to 6" - 15cm from the top of each of the poles.


You are going to repeat the same cluster format as clusters 1 - 5, however you cannot add these clusters until the top arch frame is completed and added onto the columns, as part of this cluster series is on the pole and the other half on the arch frame

The easiest way to make the arch frame (top part of this design) is to make it up on the floor prior to adding to the four columns!

You can use aluminium rod or a plastic conduit, just make sure that it fits into your poles.

Determine how big your arbour needs to be and this will determine how long your rod or conduit needs to be allowing enough extra to secure to the poles, aluminium rod can be purchased in different lengths, 4m usually being the longest.

Sue Bowler
Lay your aluminium rods or plastic conduit on the floor and cross them over at the centre, see diagram below.


Mark the place at the ends of each of the rods to indicate the point at which the frames will be added/slotted in to your columns (most column poles are hollow, so it is easy to slot in your rods, if they are not hollow then you will need to secure the rods to the outside of the poles using duct tape), I would allow a minimum of 12" - 30 cms to make sure that it fits securely. Do not worry about bending your rods to create the arch as this will naturally happen when each of the ends is slotted into the columns. You will need to add a second mark (I have indicated this in red), this is the point where your repeat cluster (1-5) will finish, you will probably find that it will be the last two clusters that will extend onto the arch top, once you have made your marks, you can add the final spirals.



The spirals on the top part of the arbour are only single spirals using 2 x 260Q Silver and 2 x 160Q Pearl White,  I felt that the double spiral would be visually too heavy. Depending how big your arbour is going to be, you may need to only 1 set or if bigger 2 sets, if you use two sets then fill the connection join with a cluster of 5" balloons inflated to 3".



In the centre of the arbour, I have added a double bubble topiary ball using 12 x 11" Diamond Clear with 12 x 11" Pearl White.
Sue Bowler
Double Bubble Topiary Ball 




Add the topiary ball at the centre where the two rods cross over... you just push the ball into position.



Add Organza, ribbons and silk flowers to the arch top, but I recommend that you add all this detail before you position the arches into the columns. I have also used 5" Magenta inside 5" Silver to add a little more detail. I created under-inflated 'Bubbles', made up into clusters of three as accent colour and detail.



You will need a minimum of two people but ideally four people to lift the top into position. Carefully slide each rod into the column and secure with duct tape. 



Add the remaining clusters to each of the columns (repeating clusters 1-5 to complete the design. 



Now finish the design by adding organza, silk flowers and the three balloon clusters to each of the columns to complement the arch top.
Sue Bowler
Accent detail - organza, silk flowers and a balloon bubbles.



Well, this has to be one of the hardest designs to 'recipe'... even though it is actually quite simple to make!

Happy Ballooning!



Sue