Going bananas with balloons

BALLOONS, balloons, everywhere. If you live in Windhoek and are at all observant, by now you should have noticed the variety of balloon designs adorning many functions and public places.

In recent years, balloons have been transformed from children’s toys to versatile decorations. Venturing into this line of business is a mother-and-daughter outfit based in Windhoek.Lousanne Thiemann and her daughter, Kathleen, are the brains behind Loon-A-Tique, a business that deals mainly with balloon décor.The bubbly Lousanne said the idea of working with balloons came to her after she attended a meeting in South Africa last year.After receiving training and qualifying as balloon artists, Lousanne and Kathleen established Loon-A-Tique; a venture related to another business, Creative Impressions, that the two women have been running since 1996.Loon-A-Tique, according to Lousanne, does everything and anything with balloons.She says any kind of designs can be created and since launching the company last year, they have created innumerable designs with balloons filled with helium gas.”The kind of art involved in this business is basically us using our imagination.We are qualified balloon artists and we can design; we also work with clients on developing images,” says Lousanne.Designs come in the form of anything including arches, hearts, bouquets, animals, babies, chandeliers, confetti balls and clowns.The company has done balloon décor for corporate events, beauty pageants, product launches and, of course, special occasions like parties, weddings, birthdays and even for a funeral.The balloons used by the company are special high-quality decorator’s balloons imported from Australia and the United States of America.They are biodegradable and environmentally friendly, and they come in all sorts of colours and shapes.Lousanne says she is very happy to be doing this job, as it is gratifying to do something that she loves.She believes she and her daughter inherited their artistic talent from her father, who is an architect.Commenting on how the response from the public has been, Lousanne says: “We have shown what we are capable of and our reputation has built up from there.The response has been very fantastic and positive.It’s also an incredibly fun job to do; full of laughs.”Being pioneers in this kind of décor in Namibia, Lousanne says the company has trained a number of people who have become their direct competition.She does not mind, however, saying competition is what good businesses thrive on.Lousanne and Kathleen say the biggest function they have done to date was on Valentine’s Day at the Wernhil Shopping Mall, where they used 3 000 balloons in one day.Venturing into this line of business is a mother-and-daughter outfit based in Windhoek.Lousanne Thiemann and her daughter, Kathleen, are the brains behind Loon-A-Tique, a business that deals mainly with balloon décor.The bubbly Lousanne said the idea of working with balloons came to her after she attended a meeting in South Africa last year.After receiving training and qualifying as balloon artists, Lousanne and Kathleen established Loon-A-Tique; a venture related to another business, Creative Impressions, that the two women have been running since 1996.Loon-A-Tique, according to Lousanne, does everything and anything with balloons.She says any kind of designs can be created and since launching the company last year, they have created innumerable designs with balloons filled with helium gas.”The kind of art involved in this business is basically us using our imagination.We are qualified balloon artists and we can design; we also work with clients on developing images,” says Lousanne.Designs come in the form of anything including arches, hearts, bouquets, animals, babies, chandeliers, confetti balls and clowns.The company has done balloon décor for corporate events, beauty pageants, product launches and, of course, special occasions like parties, weddings, birthdays and even for a funeral.The balloons used by the company are special high-quality decorator’s balloons imported from Australia and the United States of America.They are biodegradable and environmentally friendly, and they come in all sorts of colours and shapes.Lousanne says she is very happy to be doing this job, as it is gratifying to do something that she loves.She believes she and her daughter inherited their artistic talent from her father, who is an architect.Commenting on how the response from the public has been, Lousanne says: “We have shown what we are capable of and our reputation has built up from there.The response has been very fantastic and positive.It’s also an incredibly fun job to do; full of laughs.”Being pioneers in this kind of décor in Namibia, Lousanne says the company has trained a number of people who have become their direct competition.She does not mind, however, saying competition is what good businesses thrive on.Lousanne and Kathleen say the biggest function they have done to date was on Valentine’s Day at the Wernhil Shopping Mall, where they used 3 000 balloons in one day.