Setting up a Make-shift Photo Studio is NOT Easy!

What with it being half term here and looking after a relative's dog I've not had a huge amount of spare time to play.  I did, however, manage to design and do the basic layout for my new wedding brochure which I am now frantically trying to finish before the end of the week. I will post pictures later on this week once it's finished but here is a little peek at one of the things to go in:-

I made this happy couple on Friday specifically for the brochure and will hopefully be making many more of them in the near future.

Anyway back on topic! I need to get some basic product shots that I can put on my website and have to hand when talking to people about what I do so that people can actually see what I am talking about (or perhaps it's just that I am not very good at explaining things!). 

With the help of the lovely Yvonne White of White Gold Photography I was able to set up a make shift home studio with the aid of some blu-tac and a poster roll! Very Blue Peter, I know. Anyway this worked great until I needed to get a slightly different angle on a product but as the roll is 75cm wide I just couldn't manage it.

This has lead me and Hubby on a search for a non-reflective white backdrop to use that is wider than a poster roll. Eventually I found some bright blue vinyl table cloth that had a plain white background which has turned out to be perfect and nearly twice the width. The next problem was how to hang it?!

After trying and failing with brackets and bulldog clips we finally resorted to a length of wood and a staple gun which has resulted in this:-

Unfortunately, this all took so long to do today that I didn't get chance to actually make any more balloons that the ones in the photo. However, now it's all set up I have no excuse for tomorrow!

Special Order Balloon

Most of this week I have been very boring and caught up on paperwork ... I even took a day off so didn't get much by way of playing or experimenting done!

However, my Hubby is going to a fancy dress party tonight for one of his work mate's 40th and the birthday boy is a big Elvis fan. Therefore, I decided to make him a large Elvis caricature complete with sideburns and blue suede shoes.  I know I am mixing era's but for the sake of a balloon sculpture I decided to forgive myself.

This is what I managed and I do have to say thank you to a friend of mine Kevin for the inspiration (and some long forgotten explanations) to make this.

Hope you like him and if Hubby is able to get any photo's I will pop them up over the next day or 2.

What a week

Well it certainly has been a busy week here at Loony Balloony HQ! I finally got my motivation back and have been doing all sorts.

A week or 2 back I ordered a DVD from America called Oodles of Lootles.  Well it finally arrived on Tuesday morning and I went into overdrive and made a mini family of balloon people.  A great DVD and a great skill to learn for both the twisting and the décor.  Who wouldn't want a mini balloon version of their loved one as a surprise gift?

It certainly got me back into the swing of things as I've not really picked up my modelling balloons other than for work for a while now.

Here are the pictures I made from the DVD. Can you tell what the 3rd one does for a living?!

As for what else I have been up to this week you will have to wait and see ;0)  Actually it isn't all that interesting as I've been working on more stuff for the upcoming Wedding Fair, getting my accounts up to date and getting a little more tidy so I can do a stock take!

Oh nearly forgot - my stilts arrived today!  Only just managed to get them out of the box so far but they look good and have the kind of feet that flex as you walk.  Hopefully I'll be able to get someone to help me adjust them for me and get practising but I do wonder how soon before I fall off though!!!!

Not even a week and I'm blogging again!

Well as per every Thursday I had my playdate with Caroline.  Although the plan was to do some face painting we actually spent all morning playing at being David Bailey (or for any youngsters Nigel Barker! - I am making myself sound old here aren't I?).  

We had great fun playing with light tents, poster rolls and banqueting roll to try and get some good shots for me to use on a postcard I am putting together for this wedding fair.  I have to confess I was getting very disheartened by the whole thing as I have spent every day since the weekend working on it so having someone else come in with enthusiasm was just what I needed.

We couldn't get Caroline's memory card working in my computer so I had to wait until this morning before I could see what the photos look like on a real screen but I am really pleased with them.  See what you think! These are just a handful of the hundreds taken so I may be able to post more later.