This week on BMTV we have a new guest – the one and only Rob Driscoll, The Bowtie Balloon Guy! Rob is a multi-award-winning balloon artist and magician with over 25 years’ experience. He talks to us about how he started out and how his career has developed over the years. He also shares where the name Bowtie Balloon Guy comes from and talks about his bowtie collection! He also shows us how to create a pretty bunch of flowers using 260Qs and 160Qs.

Rob started out firstly as a magician and started including balloons as part of his act after a magician friend gave him a pack of balloons to try out! Being a magician wasn’t something he always wanted to do – he started getting into it after his mum bought him magic lessons for his 18th birthday. Following the evening course where he learnt many magic tricks, he joined the Magic Circle in Portsmouth. What Rob most enjoys about being a magician and balloon artist is seeing smiles on people’s faces and making people happy.

He has created many amazing balloon designs over the years and the way he adds value to creations is by focussing on the small details and additions. Rob, as we mentioned, is best known as The Bowtie Balloon Guy, a name which a friend of his came up with after they talked about bow ties and fashion! Rob has always liked bow ties and now makes his own designs – he has a collection of around 50 bow ties!

Rob works through an agent, so all the work he receives comes through from his agent or if someone wants to book him, they have to go direct to them. He says this works well for him and others as all enquiries go to his agent and if he is unavailable for a particular event or job then a fellow magician or balloon artist can pick it up instead.

Rob shows us a fun floral design using 260Qs and 160Qs which you can create to add value to a Springtime design or an item you can place by the till as an impulse purchase. The flower itself is made from 260Qs along with a 160Q stem, and he then adds a 160Q bow to the bunch of three flowers. When making flowers he always creates an odd number of petals, usually seven petals.

To make the main part of the flower he takes a part inflated blue 260Q and creates a small loop and twists to secure. He then repeats this until he has seven petals, measuring off the first petal/loop so that they are all identical in size. Then he fans these out into a circle to look like a flower to which he adds a centre, which is a small bubble made from a yellow 260Q. For the stem he takes an inflated green 260Q and creates 3 small petals at the top of it which he then attaches to the flower head. You can create lots of different coloured flowers and bunch together with a bow made from a 160Q.

To upscale the design you can use 350Q balloons for the flower itself and then add a 260Q stem and 260Q bow.

Anna-Jayne

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