The Balloon Queens create colorful balloon designs
Tiasha Echols and Saundra Woods are known as The Balloon Queens. They create beautiful balloon designs for events. They are headed to London for the Big Balloon Build this month. Photo provided by The Balloon Queens. Tiasha Echols and Saundra Woods are known as The Balloon Queens. They create beautiful balloon designs for events. They are headed to London for the Big Balloon Build this month. PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE BALLOON QUEENS.
Woods has been working in the balloon industry for more than 20 years and Echols has been working in the balloon industry for almost five years. Now, they are headed to London to participate in The Big Balloon Build this month.
The theme of this year’s Big Balloon Build is Christmas in London. Woods and Echols participated in the Big Balloon Build last year stateside in Kansas City. They will be one of 75 balloon artists from all over the world creating an immersive balloon experience that will raise funds for a local charity. Woods and Echols are into giving back.
“Just to do something this massive, knowing the proceeds are going to help some children or the people in that organization in London is awesome. Also, working with so many professional, amazing balloon designers from all over the world, is epic,” Echols said.
Through balloon décor, The Balloon Queens have been able to build relationships with other artists all over the world. Echols will be a team lead on the Big Balloon Build in London. It will be her first time travelling to London to create balloon décor.
“I never imagined in a million years that balloons would give me an opportunity to travel and do what we love to do,” Echols said.
Woods has been named a Certified Balloon Artist from Qualatex Balloon Network. For that certification, Woods had to take a four-hour practical exam and score 80% or higher. Both Woods and Echols are committed to educating themselves and expanding their knowledge on new techniques and skills associated with balloon décor.
The amount of time it takes to create balloon décor depends on the project. For balloon columns it can take an hour to an hour and a half. For something more extensive, like a football helmet, it can take 12 to 16 hours. Woods favorite project is the football helmet and Echols favorite project is the sneaker.
Being able to collaborate with other balloon designers and talk about their business has benefitted them. They look forward to being able to network with other creatives. They understand their business is luxury décor.
The Balloon Queens have created balloon décor for the City of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, The Stellar Awards, Juan and Only Events, Soul Children of Chicago, as well as celebrities.
The Balloon Queens have been working with schools on an educational program called The Elements of Design, where they share their talents and creativity weekly with those students. Their goal is to create global leaders in the balloon décor industry.
The Balloon Queens is located at 503 W. Taft Drive, in South Holland. For more information about The Balloon Queens, visit www.theballoonqueens.com, or call 773-681-9995.
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