Up, Up & Away!

Wings of Hope...

2009-11-02T22:26:00.001-08:00

Please join us this weekend for the Wings of Hope event at STUFF, our favorite boutique. Casey and Sloane always do it up right at their charming store and we believe that is because their hearts are in the right place. The Wings of Hope event is proof of just that...

Come on out on Saturday or Sunday, make a donation, get a balloon and send your message skyward. We will see you there!

On the Road, Again!

2009-08-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

We're still on the road, enjoying sculpting balloons during our busiest Summer season ever! We were recently invited to created balloon sculptures for an event in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Little Rock is a gorgeous city with so many wonderful attractions: the Clinton Presidential Center, Heifer Village, the terrific old school street cars, an amazing farmer's market, fabulous restaurants...and the impressive Peabody Hotel. As a nod to the Peabody heritage, it was requested that we sculpt a duck pond, complete with the Peabody Ducks!

We had two opportunities to watch the ducks do their daily march, first arriving for "work" in the late morning and then departing in the early evening. Lloyd the duckmaster is a true Southern gentleman and has an amazing way not only with ducks but also with all of the people who come to watch the ducks. As we watched the ducks arrive in the morning, we noticed he had asked each child in the audience for their assistance, entrusting each of them with a task important to the duck's safe arrival into the pond. Every child there was standing at attention and surely felt their job was critical to the success of that morning's duck march. Lloyd is a truly skilled entertainer as well as duckmaster.

In addition to creating the duck pond, we also created a peaceful park-like setting and hundreds of balloon blossoms. It was beautiful!

Next week brings another large sculpture installation. Stay tuned...

On the Road...

2009-08-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy Summer! The Balloonmobile has been in constant motion the past few months, taking us from one fabulously fun event to the next. What a great way to spend the season!

We were once again asked to provide balloon artistry for the Cordillera Motorcycle Association's annual gala held at the Ritz Carlton in Bachelor Gulch, Colorado. What a beautiful setting for an event!

Because y'all always comment on our motorcycle sculptures, here's the latest, created especially for this event.

Big thanks to the CMA folks for having us again this year. It's always fun to be part of amazingly well orchestrated events!

Be A Fan and A Follower!

2009-07-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of fun ways to get the latest updates from Up, Up & Away!

Become a FAN of Up, Up & Away! on Facebook. Just click here! And while you are there, browse the photos of our sculptures, write on our wall and add your own fan photos!

Follow us on Twitter by clicking here. We can't promise to update you every 15 minutes with the absolute latest in balloon craziness, but we will keep you updated with new opportunities to have fun with our artists and check out our sculptures.

Ride Your Bike to Work Week

2009-05-12T10:45:00.001-07:00

We often get requests for balloon bicycles, thanks to a scene in Wedding Crashers. And we honor your requests, because anything is possible with balloons in the hands of an Up, Up & Away artist...but this week we have a challenge for you!

May 9-16th is National Ride Your Bike to Work week. We would like to challenge you to ride your bike to work at least one day this week. Or if you work too far away from home to bike, how about riding your bike on an errand trip? We'll be joining you in the challenge!

As an added incentive, when you see us this week (click here for the list of where we will be), tell us how you celebrated Ride Your Bike to Work Week and we'll make a super cool balloon bicycle for you!

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-21T15:21:00.000-07:00

Today seems like the perfect day to share with you a little bit of information about where our balloons come from and why they fit so nicely into our green philosophy here at Up, Up & Away!

The latex balloons we use are created with rubber sap which is harvested from trees in tropical rainforests. We had the opportunity to travel to Central America to see rubber trees, which was a really amazing experience! We had heard that rubber harvesting was a rainforest sustaining industry, but seeing first hand how loved and important the trees are in people's lives was really special to us. It is critical that these trees remaining standing to support the livelihood of the farmers and sustain the delicate ecosystem of the tropical rainforest.

Our balloons, being a 100% natural product, are biodegradable and break down at about the same rate as an oak leaf. We also re-use our balloon parts and pieces for lots of fun projects in the Up, Up & Away! studio. Check out Johnna's jewelry the next time you see her--it is probably made with balloon left-overs!

Please find a bit of time in your day today to celebrate Earth Day! You've already done a great thing by loving our balloons and helping us save a tiny little bit of the rainforest!

The balloon dress pictured above was created by John and Johnna Perry for an Eco-Chic Fashion Show and Art Exhibiting celebrating Earth Day 2009. Custom balloon dresses are available for your special event!

A Fun Theme!

2009-04-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

Recently we were asked to create 21 unique sculptures to be used as table centerpieces at a Bar Mitzvah. Each of the sculptures was a parody of a Nintendo character. What a fun challenge for us--creating 21 sculptures each measuring around 3 feet tall and each with their own intricate details and personalities. Imagine how fun it would be to attend an event with sculptures on each table! Pictured are our renditions of Mario, Bowser and Banjo with Kazooie.

Funky Monkey!

2009-03-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

Recently a really fun client, Kristen, asked us to create monkey sculptures to decorate her little guy's 1st birthday party.

Kristen has a great creative touch and used the monkey sculptures to decorate the cake table. How cute is that?!? We love it when our balloon creativity is combined with the creativity of our clients and their many resources. The cake in this photo was created by Cherry Kitchen Cake Company.

Do you have fun photos of our balloon artistry at your event? We'd love to see them, and perhaps share them in a future blog post!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T09:15:00.001-08:00

Happy Holidays and best wishes for a wonderful New Year!

Snow! In Vegas???

2008-12-21T20:47:00.000-08:00

The Up, Up & Away! balloon show hit the road again last week, this time to Vegas. Our stay in Vegas was extended by SNOW! Here are a few pics from a really fun event...

A famous fella with one of our balloon creations:

And a few fun balloon photos, including our larger-than-life Santa sculpture outside of the Paris just as the snow was starting to fall last Wednesday:

In The News! (Yes, AGAIN!)

2008-11-25T13:54:00.000-08:00

We really have been busy creating fabulous new balloon sculptures and will share some new pics with you just as soon as time allows. Y'all keep telling us how much you enjoy photos of our work and we hear you! For now, here are a couple more news items of interest to tide you over.

We blogged awhile back about Twisted: A Balloonmentary. Filmmakers Sara and Naomi were recently interviewed on NPR's The Bryant Park Project. Click here to see a slideshow of photos featured on NPRs website. Photos 9, 10 and 11 are from the project we designed for the SXSW Film Fest in Austin, Texas. And don't forget to buy the DVD--it's perfect for holiday gift-giving!

Johnna was recently interviewed by Rick Montgomery of the Kansas City Star regarding the helium supply chain. Don't tease Johnna too much--while it's easy to see her artistic genius in her work, she does a good job concealing that she is also a bit of a helium geek, always seeking more information on the inner workings of the balloon industry. She even sent the entire family on a 4 hour detour while on vacation just to see a helium processing plant. Here's the article and please rest assured, we'll have helium for your balloons when you need it. And as always, most of our balloon sculptures need no helium so no worries!

In the News!

2008-11-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

We are both natives of Northwest Missouri and every once in awhile get the opportunity to return to our home turf to create cool balloon sculptures. We recently got caught in the act and chatted with a reporter for a few minutes. Our work (and a bit about how we become balloon artists) was recently featured in the St. Joseph News-Press Gazette, the very same newspaper that appeared on our childhood doorsteps each morning.

Click here to read the article. Kudos to reporter Sylvia Anderson for the nice article and for making the interview fun!

Smoky Hill River Fest in photos

2008-10-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

In June, we created an installation at the Smoky Hill River Arts Festival. We love the Smoky Hill Fest for many reasons and look forward to attending each year. Even if it takes a plane ride and a rental car to get there, this festival is worth the trip. Check it out!

Here are pics of this year's installation on a pedestrian bridge over the Smoky Hill River:

State Fair

2008-10-12T09:25:00.001-07:00

We've just returned from 11 days of large scale balloon sculpting in Tulsa, Oklahoma. What a nice city and their state fair is loads of fun! We sculpted scenes from the Tulsa State Fair, using more than 10,000 balloons.

The Sugar Art Show, subject of several Food Network specials, is held at the Tulsa State Fair. Johnna was excited to see the cakes in person, meet Marina from Just Cake and replicate a few favorite cakes with balloons.

Our installation in Tulsa included a ticket booth, the winner of a pie contest, a pie-eating contest, bumper cars, a petting zoo, the Sugar Art Show, the state fair queen, a carousel and a 15 foot tall ferris wheel.

Another Fun Summer Balloon Adventure!

2008-09-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

In August we loaded up the mini-Balloonmobile and headed for the mountains of Colorado. We were invited again this year to entertain the guests at the Cordillera Rider Cup gala held at the Ritz Carlton in Bachelor Gulch. What an amazing event this is and for a great cause, too! These folks sure know how to have a good time and we're tickled they let us be part of it!

Yee Haw!

2008-08-31T09:42:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again, time for us to load up the BalloonMobile and hit the road to build huge balloon sculpture installations across the country.

We've got many new adventures to share with you and we're starting with a favorite: Louisville, Kentucky! Not only can you get fried green 'maters and sweet tea at nearly every restaurant in town, they've got one of the best state fairs going complete with the World Championship Horse Show. Add to that Johnna's favorite restaurant in the whole wide world hosting a very funky "Ugly Lamp Contest" and a huge helping of Southern Hospitality and you've got one amazing gathering!

Here's a peek at our Rodeo-themed balloon sculpture installation. We hope you enjoy these pics as much as we enjoyed creating the sculptures.

Smoky Hill River Festival

2008-06-10T11:26:00.001-07:00

Looking for something super fun to do this weekend? Join us at the Smoky Hill River Festival in Salina, KS! Not only has the festival invited your favorite balloon artists, they also have lots of great music in every genre you can imagine and a gathering of artists and crafters unlike any other event we have attended in the Midwest. Oh--and the food! Last year we had fried peaches with homemade ice cream and it was divine!

Come check out our sculpture installation at the River Festival--it's a pedestrian bridge over the river transformed into a flower garden of balloons. We're so excited about this project!

Two Exciting News Items!

2008-05-17T14:22:00.000-07:00

We're having lots of fun with Graduation, Prom and "finally the weather is better" season. In the midst of all of the balloon fun going on right now, we've got a couple of news items to share.

Up, Up & Away! was selected this month as the Featured Portfolio at BalloonHQ.com, the internet's premiere site to educate, share, and promote balloon art for entertainers and decorators. We feel honored to be included on the list of previously featured artists!

Our next news tidbit is one that has put a permanent grin on our faces...we worked recently in North Carolina at a Mini Cooper gathering. Gathering might not be the best word as around 500 Mini Coopers and their drivers converged on a resort in the Smoky Mountains for a weekend of fun. While making balloons at this event, John was photographed by Motor Trend and the pic has been included in their review of the event. We thought seeing our balloon artistry on ESPN was cool...and now Motor Trend. WOW!

Twisted: A Balloonamentary

2008-05-08T14:49:00.000-07:00

Last year we made a trip to Austin, Texas to build a balloon sculpture for the South by Southwest Film Festival premiere of Twisted: A Balloonamentary. We designed the sculpture and led an immensely talented group of local balloon artists and two additional out-of-town artists to create a movie theatre sculpture for the world premiere of a documentary exploring the lives of eight balloon artists and how their journeys were changed by balloons. SXSW was an amazing gathering of talent and we can't think of a better place for such a fun film to debut!

So here's the good news: you can now get your own copy of Twisted: A Balloonamentary! AND you might even catch a glimpse of Up, Up & Away's own John and Johnna doing what they do best in Austin, Texas. We're still spinning from how cool this whole experience has been and super-excited for Sara and Naomi, the filmmakers. Please buy their movie --you'll enjoy it!

Looking Forward to Spring...

2008-02-25T12:17:00.000-08:00

Currently enveloped in the grey of Winter, we are really excited for Spring's arrival! We look forward to seeing many of our friends each Spring at school carnivals, Easter egg hunts, proms, graduations...and many more celebrations of life's special moments. In the meantime, here's a little bit of Spring, balloon style, for your enjoyment!

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-23T11:26:00.001-08:00

Thank you for joining us in the fun this year and celebrating many of life's special moments with Up, Up & Away! We would like to wish you the happiest of holidays and a fabulous new year!

John, Johnna, Marley and Jessie

Hat Trick!

2007-12-13T18:18:00.001-08:00

We did it again! Up, Up & Away! was recently awarded BEST OF SHOW at the Missouri Meetings and Events Fall 2007 Expo, the premier conference for meeting planners and suppliers in the Midwest.

This award completes the Hat Trick--we won the last 3 Best of Show awards from the Missouri Meetings and Events Expos starting in the Fall of 2006 in Kansas City, then heading to St. Louis in the Spring of 2007 and wrapping things up in the Fall of 2007 in Overland Park, Kansas.

The Little Apple, BIG Art journey

2007-11-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

We recently traveled to Manhattan, Kansas to create balloon sculptures at the Beach Museum of Art on the Kansas State University Campus. As featured balloon artists of the "Art's UP!" celebration to inaugurate the new Jarvis wing of the museum, we had big fun creating big wearable sculptures for the attendees. It is always great to work with a Chihuly sculpture nearby...

An Olympic Achievement

2007-10-14T13:46:00.000-07:00

We were recently commissioned to create decor for Special Olympics Kansas 2007 Celebrating Champions event, held in Mission Hills. We were pleased to be involved in this event, the largest annual fundraiser for Special Olympics Kansas.

Guests were greeted at the Entryway by a sculpture of Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer Ian Crocker, also a guitarist. The outdoor entrance featured a parody of the Olympic Rings as a walk-thru arch--very dramatic!

Additional sculptures featuring the Olympic Ring motif in gold, silver and bronze were created for this fundraiser. It was truly a stunning event!

Happy Birthday....

2007-09-15T10:48:00.000-07:00

We've made several birthday cake sculptures over the years, however we're particularly fond of this one created recently, maybe because it was 12 feet tall! It was placed poolside for a 5th birthday celebration! We also made coordinating gifts and tabletop cake sculptures for this event. It's always fun to work with our clients, especially when they see the amazing potential of balloon artistry. Thanks to all of you for letting us do what we do!

Back from the road, right back at it!

2007-09-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

We zipped back from Kentucky and got right back at it for one of our favorite annual events, the Chiefs Kick-Off Luncheon. We created this festive stage backdrop featuring the Chiefs logo, hundreds of centerpieces and a lifesize sculpture of KC Wolf. Go Chiefs!

Kentucky, Day 11

2007-08-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of our multi-day exhibit in Louisville, Kentucky. It always feels good to complete a large art exhibit of this size and then stand back to watch the reaction. Folks were lined up all day snapping photos from every possible angle.

The last sculpture in this installation is a gorilla. He stands nearly 5 feet tall! We've also included an overview photo, showing the hippo, the giraffe, the lion, the crocodile, the aardvark, the elephant, the zebra, the tiger and cubs, George of the Jungle and the gorilla.

Kentucky, Day 10

2007-08-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

George, George, George of the Jungle...

Our parody of George of the Jungle is swinging from a vine across the exhibit. While he was a little tricky to suspend in mid-air, we did it and the thunderous applause followed. Cool!

Johnna met the Colonel of all things fried today. Only in Kentucky!

Kentucky, Day 9

2007-08-24T18:24:00.000-07:00

We knew the day would be fabulous when breakfast included fried green tomatoes & cheesy grits....yum! We'll pass on the sweet tea (which is one word here--like swee-T) but the rest of the southern goodness served up suits us just fine!

Today's sculpture is a tiger. If you look closely, you might see 3 mischievous tiger cubs, too! Our exhibit area is starting to fill in nicely. We will squeeze in 2 more large sculptures and there's nowhere to go but up now!

Kentucky, Day 8

2007-08-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

Today we created Arnie the Aardvark. He's about 9 feet long and has been chasing around the same 3 ants all day. Even the ants are jungle-sized! We also added a toucan and new foliage this afternoon. Folks just can't believe these huge sculptures are made of balloons and have to touch them to make sure, which is causing a little worry for us but the sculptures are enduring the extra attention.

Don't tell the Humane Society folks, but we're bringing some big ol' felines to the fair tomorrow...

Kentucky, Day 7

2007-08-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

The fun continues with this gigantic jungle-themed sculpture! Today we added a 12-foot long alligator. He has taken up residence near the water's edge and so far is getting along well with the hippo.

Tomorrow may bring about the creation of our favorite exterminator....

Kentucky, Day 6

2007-08-21T17:21:00.000-07:00

Early morning brought a heavy rainstorm and a quick umbrella-sheltered walk to visit the Louisville Slugger museum and factory. It's always fun to see how something is made, especially something with so much history. The tour was great and there is a Peanuts exhibit at the museum thru September that was also enjoyable!

Our sculpture today is an African Grey Elephant. He stands between 9 and 10 feet tall!

We often hear comments about how detailed our sculptures are. Today near the end of our sculpting time, we realized we weren't sure how many toes an African Grey Elephant has. One quick phone call to Emily back in KC and we had the info--5 on the front, 4 on the back. Thanks, Em, for keeping us accurate! We couldn't create sculptures of this scale without lots of support from everyone back home. We're bestowing the title of Official Research Guru on Emily. The title doesn't come with a salary, just lots of appreciation. :-)

Kentucky, Day 5

2007-08-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

Our exhibit in Louisville keeps getting bigger and bigger! Today we sculpted a Lion and the crowd response to it was fabulous.

Have we mentioned yet the folks in Kentucky are super?? We've met many kind people and our audiences have been terrific. Not that we plan to leave the Midwest, but we could be bribed with a few more of those fried green tomatoes. It was suggested that we visit a local eatery with fried green tomato and bacon sandwiches. We'll keep you posted...

Things are really looking up for one of the animals in our exhibit...the giraffe has a name! Alex, age 11 from Louisville, has named the giraffe Joey. Thanks, Alex!

Kentucky, Day 4

2007-08-19T16:50:00.000-07:00

Today we created a zebra, monkeys swinging from a sign overhead, a bumblebee and a scary snake. The crowds were enormous today, which made for really fun shows! We met a set of triplets and created the Three Wise Monkeys as hats for them. What a great time!

Kentucky, Day 3

2007-08-18T17:32:00.000-07:00

Today we built a 14 foot tall giraffe and he needs a name! Send us your suggestions!

We added lots of new details today, including bugs, butterflies, birds, m0nkeys and even more trees! The butterfly pictured is un-inflated balloons stretched over wire to form the wings. Each wing is hand-painted. The audiences for our two daily shows have been HUGE and great fun!

After a full day of sculpting, we hit the town for the evening. We had dinner at Lynn's Paradise Cafe. If you are a Food Network fan, you might know this place from Bobby Flay's Throwdown breakfast challenge. It was every bit as funky as we had hoped (9 years of Ugliest Lamp contest winners on display!) and the food was even better than we had heard! We had fried green tomatoes and lots of other goodies that we won't publish here in fear of the folks at the gym catching word of our gastronomic adventures. We did manage to resist the bourbon ball milkshake but many yummy items did hop onto our plates. Check this place out when you are in Louisville!

Kentucky, Day 2

2007-08-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

Day 2 of the Kentucky exhibit included the creation of Henry Hippo. Henry is residing in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. We also added lots of foliage to make our exhibit space more jungle-like.

Kentucky, Day 1

2007-08-16T23:24:00.001-07:00

Today was the first day of our 11-day exhibit in Louisville, Kentucky. The heat has been record-breaking here for several days now, however we are ultra lucky to be working in a huge indoor expo center. It's a treat and the folks here are super friendly!

We started out with a large, empty space this morning and ended the day with 11 trees, a few around 12 feet tall and a waterfall. Tomorrow we will be sculpting animals to add to the inflated jungle. Check back soon....

Colorado, Part II

2007-08-14T05:55:00.001-07:00

After a whirlwind trip to Colorado to work at Cordillera, we were back in KC for a week and then headed right back to Colorado. Our second trip required loading up the balloon-mobile for the drive across Kansas, no aeroplanes this time!

Our second Colorado trip in a month gave us the opportunity to create 11 abstract sculptures for a convention in Denver. Eight of the sculptures were around 6 to 7 feet tall, 3 of them were between 12 and 14 feet tall! Two of the super-tall sculptures included lighted balloons. How cool is that? Balloons with lights inside!! You can check out all of the sculptures in our portfolio.

Next stop....Louisville, Kentucky!

Colorado, Part I

2007-08-14T05:48:00.000-07:00

We recently had the opportunity to perform our balloon magic at the Summit at Cordillera in Colorado's Vail Valley. While it was a challenge to work at 11,000 feet, especially after flying in from KC on the same day, the event was a blast! The Vail Valley Motorcycle Association hosted one terrific event and we hope to sculpt balloons for them again!

Welcome!

2007-08-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our blog! Folks are always asking where we have been creating our unique variety of balloon sculptures so we have created a blog to keep you updated!

This post contains the archived text from our "Newsflash!" page on our website. When you click "Newsflash!" on our website now, it will direct you to our blog!

March 12th, 2007
Up, Up & Away! wins BEST OF SHOW Award at the Missouri Meetings and Events Expo held in St. Louis. Over 70 exhibitors competed for the award.

March 9th, 2007
Up, Up & Away! artists sculpted a movie theatre, complete with moviegoers and filmmakers, from balloons for the the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. Led by John and Johnna Perry, the sculpture was completed with assistance from artists in the Austin area, and visiting artists from Arizona and Massachusetts.

February 21st, 2007
Johnna Perry, Up, Up & Away! co-owner, won first place in a themed competition at Twist & Shout, the largest international balloon artists convention and competition. The Pajama Jam competition featured several Slumber Party themed contests and Johnna won with a darling Tooth Fairy!

February 5th, 2007
Up, Up & Away! is excited to announce we will be providing balloon entertainment at the newest KC area Red Robin location in Liberty. Come visit our award-winning balloon artists in Liberty every Wednesday evening from 5 to 8 P.M. for Family Night! For a complete listing of our weekly appearances, including all five of the KC area Red Robin locations, please visit our "See Us Live!" page.

December 1st, 2006:
Up, Up & Away! artists won 2nd place in the International Balloon Decorator's Challenge! The winning creation was a multi-story balloon canopy featuring more than 1,000 balloons.

September 12th, 2006:
Up, Up & Away! awarded the Editor's Choice Award at the Kansas City Regional Expo, Local Focus, Global Impact.

August 2006:
Up,Up & Away's Balloon Masters, featured on Iowa's PBS station! Up, Up & Away! was commissioned to create a parody of Grant Wood's famous painting, American Gothic.
http://www.iptv.org/fair/pictures.cfm?FeatureID=57