Gifts From The Other End Of The Rainbow

     "Making It With Balloons" BLOG
        A personal Look At Making Things, Making 
        Success and Making A Difference  
        With Balloons

I planned to share with you next a simple RIBS (Rouse Internal Balloon Structure) tip to make it easier to wear balloon flowers, but when I rediscovered a set of my Rainbow Collection greetings from the mid 1980's I could not resist introducing them to you right away.

COLORING ATTITUDES

Some of the things I find so wonderful about balloons are the ways they can delight your eyes, lift your spirits, and carry your imagination off to friendly places.  They are like rainbows you can see without having to wait for a storm to come and then to clear.  They are like having seen that rainbow and then picked colors from its arch across the sky. Now those colors float like translucent jewels of latex and air tethered to a string for your entertainment.

Balloons, however, can color more than the light you see through them. They can color the attitudes through which you see your world. Your world becomes a little brighter and more positive than is normal on this end of the rainbow.  It is as if, both, the balloons and your new attitude are gifts sent just for you all the way from the other end of the rainbow.

A GIFT  FOR  YOU

In 1985 I wrote a series of short balloon story/greetings to accompany balloon sculpture gifts that I delivered.  I called them my "Rainbow Collection". They celebrate this journey from a balloon fantasy world at the other end of the rainbow all the way to you at this end.  They are part of the inspiration for the Making It With Balloons logo. Here is the first of those story/greetings.  I hope you enjoy it.

"The Other End Of The Rainbow"

The other end of the rainbow is home for a host of magic plants and enchanted creatures.  They have the charm and power to warm human hearts and brighten human lives.  They live in a forest of balloons made from latex, air and imagination.  They are nurtured by warm hugs and friendly smiles.  They are colored with purple laughter and carry the scent of golden joy.  They taste of sky blue friendship and sound like thoughts of turquoise love.  They sing with humor and dance with glee to celebrate the pleasure of knowing both you and me.

Now, one of their midst is delivered to you.  It has been sent all the way from the Balloon Forest at the other end of the rainbow with special wishes that it may warm your heart and brighten your day.

G. Rouse

(C) 1985-2011

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Graham Rouse
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World's First Fantasy Flowers

     "Making It With Balloons" BLOG
       A personal Look At Making Things, Making 
       Success and Making A Difference  
       With Balloons

You might not expect a major innovation in methods for creating balloon sculpture to come from the problem solving play of a balloon neophyte; but it did.

IN THE BEGINNING

You know from my last post that when I began playing with balloons early in 1983  that I started right in bending, twisting, stretching and stuffing all kinds of things things into balloons.  You probably did not realize that my play is where balloon "Fantasy Flowers" began.

Many of my balloon creations were simply the result of playing with this new medium of latex, air and imagination.  But the internal structuring I used to make those first Fantasy Flowers was also the result of my search to solve some practical problems.

1. Balloons tend to lose air pressure over time and collapse. I wanted them to stay up longer.
2. Fully inflated balloons are bulky and vases intended for normal flowers will hold only a few normal balloon stems.  I wanted to display more flowers in one vase while keeping balloons for stems.

I found that something as simple as a drinking straw inside a long balloon, or a round balloon for that matter, would allow me to get elegant shapes that were thinner than the normal balloon when fully inflated.  And, another advantage was that as the air volume leaked out of the balloon the internal structure kept the balloon the same length and generally in the same position. This was great for flower stems and for more abstract leaves and petals.  The result was that my balloon flowers with internal structures were more elegant, lasted longer and more of them fit into normal flower vases.

WHAT GOES INSIDE?

Rigid, straight structures like drinking straws and dowels, however, did not give the ability to curve and create more fluid designs. I soon discovered clothes hanger wire.  This, of course, was in a time when wire clothes hangers were the standard.  They just seemed to multiply like rabbits in the closet. Actually, new ones came in all the time from the clothes cleaners.

Now that plastics have pretty much taken over the market for clothes hangers, you will have to broaden your search for metal wire.  A good source in our community is rolls of wire from the hardware store. Check out your local hardware store or building supply.  Also, check into floral wire.  It is usually what is recommended in books and classes today on Fantasy Flowers.  It comes in a variety of weights/thicknesses and is usually about 12" long.  If you want heavier wire or longer wire for stems or bigger plants, then I encourage a trip to your hardware store.

EARLY EXAMPLES

Here are two examples from early in 1983 where the curved wire is used with great effect.  The partially inflated balloons are stretched over long sections of wire to create elegant stems.  Also, the stems becomes the base of the flowers.  Even if a stem were to lose all its air pressure, the flower would still stand in the same overall composition.  No additional base or vase is required at all.

In this second example nine balloon flowers come out of the neck of one narrow necked vase.  Fully inflated #260 balloons would not work as stems for all these balloon flowers in this situation.  And, of course, the internal structures in the stems mean that the flowers will stay up longer while keeping the fact and the look of balloons.

NEXT TIME

Next time we will take a look at one of the occasions when a simple drinking straw inside a balloon is particularly useful for balloon flowers.

MEANWHILE

Meanwhile, if you would like a quick overview of the first seven years of Fantasy Flowers, you may enjoy this article:  Fantasy Flowers - The Beginning of "RIBS" For Balloon Sculpture. 

If you would like to learn and play hands-on with some of these "RIBS" techniques to build awesome, abstract sculptures like the ones to the left then join us in Detroit, Michigan USA September 20-22, 2011. Register for BALLOONstitute and attend the "RIBS" class.

Thanks for joining us here on
"Making It With Balloons"  Blog

Your Host,
Graham Rouse
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Ten Dollars From The Offering Plate

"Making It With Balloons" BLOG
A personal Look At Making Things, Making
Success and Making A Difference
With Balloons

Every  balloon professional has their own unique story of how their balloon business began, but I suspect that the story of my beginning at church with $10 from the offering plate is among the most unusual of those stories.

FOR FUN OR FOR SALE???

Since I made that first balloon poodle for a friend in the hospital, I had enjoyed stretching, inflating, twisting, and stuffing balloons with all kinds of apparatuses and into all kinds of shapes.  Some were beautiful.  Some were ugly. Some were just weird.  But, all of them were fun. They made for great entertainment for my twin boys and they were a delight to most of my friends.

I did not imagine selling them, however, until I went with a friend to visit her church.  There I, and several hundred others, encountered a most unusual manifestation of the Parable Of The Talents and ten dollars in the offering plate for each of us. That occasion  turned my balloon hobby toward becoming my balloon business.

PARABLE OF THE TALENTS

There is more than one version of this parable in the Bible and more than one translation of each of them as well.  The basic story line, however, goes something like this:

• The master of an estate gave each of several servants some money called "talents" to manage for him while he was away. 
• Upon the master's return he finds 
• The servant to whom he gave the most talents (10) had done very well. That servant was praised, promoted and rewarded greatly.
• The servant to whom the master gave a modest number of talents did a satisfactory job and was rewarded accordingly.
• The servant to whom the master gave the least, had been afraid and  buried his talent so the talent could be returned to the master.  That servant was punished and cast out for his failure to at least deposit the money where it would draw interest for the master.
• The reader is admonished that, as in this example, an unprofitable servant shall be cast out and what little he has shall be taken away and given to the servant who proves most profitable for the master.

I WAS SURE I WAS RIGHT

I had heard this story many times in the church community where I grew up.  Often it was associated with a request for money to be given to the church out of the church members' pockets.  I expected the same on this occasion.

When the pastor announced the need for more money for their building fund, then I was sure I was right.... ..   .

BUT, I WAS WRONG

But, I was wrong.

Instead of passing the offering plate around and asking every one in attendance to give more than usual of their funds to the church, the church passed out money from the building fund to everyone in attendance.  Even I, a stranger in the congregation, received one of the envelopes containing $10. These were the 10 talents each of us was to manage for the building fund for the next thirty days and then to return along with the proceeds at the end of the month.

Here I was, a stranger in their midst, and they gave me $10 in seed money to go out and multiply! I was amazed.

WHAT TO DO?

One person might just keep the $10. Another might simply put it in the offering plate later. Another might add it to a savings account to draw a few pennies in interest. Another person might choose to add their own money as a donation toward the building fund when the month is up.  I decided to accept the challenge and fulfill the mission by selling balloons. 

Actually,I thought  my new balloon hobby was about the only thing that I might turn into a business with just $10 in capital.   I suppose I might have started a car wash like some of the teenagers were proposing.  Or I might have chosen to bake cakes as some of the women mentioned.   But, I was not so sure I wanted to compete with the kids for car wash customers.  And, I did not think my cooking merit badge from Boy Scouts twenty years earlier would qualify me as a professional chef.

GO FOR IT!

I was emboldened by the challenge and the sense of mission gained from such a worthy cause and by the trust strangers had shown in me.  This is before I mention that I now had a grand excuse to spend more time experimenting and playing with my favorite hobby; balloons.

All those experiments and balloon play make stories of their own for other days.  Suffice it to say, now, that at the end of the month I took back to the church $100 and change for the building fund. I had  earned it from that initial $10 in seed money by selling hand made balloon sculptures.

LESSONS AND BENEFITS

I learned, among other things, that I could sell balloons for a profit and that it felt especially good to earn money doing something that I really enjoyed.

I had been productive, accomplished a goal and brought benefits to others. Once again, however, the greater benefit was to me, because I had taken another important step toward those 30 years of  Making Things, Making Success And Making A Difference With Balloons on a professional level.

Thanks for joining us here on
"Making It With Balloons"  Blog

Your Host,
Graham Rouse
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Welcome To "Making It With Balloons" Blog!

 

    "Making It With Balloons" BLOG
       A personal Look At Making Things, Making 
       Success and Making A Difference  
       With Balloons



GOOD FORTUNE & GOOD CONVERSATION

I have had the good fortune to spend a lot of time over the last 28 years playing with balloons for fun and for profit. You are invited to join me as I look back, look forward and simply jump right into

• Making Things           (Being  Productive)
• Making Success        ( Achieving Goals )
• Making A Difference   (Benefiting Others)

With Balloons.

If you like what you find here you may also be interested in http://miwb.net  (http://makingitwithballoons.net). It will contain a more formal presentation of many thoughts similar to what you read here, but also a broad spectrum of posts by other balloon industry professionals as well as a balloon gallery, RouseCIPES, member's area, links to balloon industry news and online store.

This blog is more of a personal conversation between you and me. I hope you will join me here often and join in the conversation with your comments.  A good conversation is better when it is two way.

BEGIN MAKING IT

Like most children in America I encountered balloons early, but it was not until early in 1983, as an adult, that I began "Making Things, Making Success and Making A Difference With Balloons".

I had a friend in the hospital and I wanted to take her something.  It was near Valentine's day.  Balloons were popular Valentine's gifts, so I thought about them.  Then, as I was browsing for a greeting card I discovered a bag of those "twistee" balloons with instructions printed on the bag for making a balloon poodle. Well, I liked to make things then and I still do now.  I bought the bag of balloons and practiced until I could make the balloon poodle.

I made the poodle and put it on a greeting card that I made as well. I took the pair to her to keep her company in the hospital.  She liked them and they made good company for her.

At that time I did not think of in these terms but I had

1. Made a new Thing, 
2. Made a Success of my project and 
3. Made a positive Difference With Balloons. 

I had

1. been productive, 
2. achieved my goal and 
3. benefited someone else. 

THE BIG BENEFIT

The most important benefit, however, accrued to me rather than to my friend.  For me, the sense of potency, satisfaction and increased self esteem were great for a project so easily accomplished.  And this event planted seeds in my life for Making Things, Making Success and Making A Difference With Balloons all around the world for nearly three decades, so far.

JUST BEGINNING

"So far."  That is right.  I feel like I am just beginning. I think it will take another two or three lifetimes to follow up on the things I already imagine to be made, the goals I already have in mind to achieve and the positive difference I can already visualize.

Perhaps the value of this appetite for more, however, is not so much that it might be satisfied by reincarnation, but that it makes this incarnation more satisfying.

If you choose to come along with me you may be similarly afflicted with an appetite for more.  And you should know up front that not all new things are as easy to make as a balloon poodle, not all goals are so easily achieved as a smile from a friend and not all good intentions result in a positive benefit to others.

But, overall,  my first three decades have been very satisfying. I am eager for the next three.  And I would love to have you with me for this Personal Look at Making Things, Making Success and Making A Difference With Balloons.

COME  AGAIN

Join me back here for more of the journey and more of the conversation.  I would love to hear what sparked your interest in balloons and what you are doing with them now.

Thanks for joining us here on
"Making It With Balloons"  Blog

Your Host,
Graham Rouse
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Copyright Graham Rouse / Rouse Technologies LLC  2011