A creative mum is making a fortune out of inflation - by selling her amazing life-size balloon models.
Layla Glen, 45, started making balloon animals for children's birthday parties when she worked at McDonald's as a teenager.
She lost interest in the skill but took the hobby up again when husband David, 47, surprised her with an online £50 balloon course for her 40th birthday.
The mum-of-three became so good, she started making balloon models for her friends which they posted on social media.
Layla Glen, 45, started making balloon animals for children's birthday parties when she worked at McDonald's as a teenager.
She lost interest in the skill but took the hobby up again when husband David, 47, surprised her with an online £50 balloon course for her 40th birthday.
The mum-of-three became so good, she started making balloon models for her friends which they posted on social media.
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FunTranscript
00:00 Hi, I'm Layla Glenn. I'm from Creativity in Redwich and I'm a children's entertainer and bloom artist.
00:07 I started when I was 16. I got trained up for McDonald's birthday parties and that was just your basic blooms.
00:14 And then I started again when I was 40. My husband bought me a diploma online and a bloom modelling course.
00:21 And I completed it in one night and then just continued then as a hobby.
00:25 Just absolutely loved it and just started creating lots of different things.
00:29 It's been fun. It's been hard because it was a hobby and then I lost my unit in lockdown and then I've had to build everything back up.
00:35 So it's been hard but I'm still here and fighting with all the other small businesses but I'm here.
00:43 So it's been hard but yeah, it's been good. It's fun.
00:47 You know, I look at my work and I'm like, oh, that's rubbish compared to some of these artists worldwide.
00:52 They're just phenomenal. So I aspire to be as good as some of the world's best really. One day I'll get there. I'll get there.
01:00 I want to try and find a unit or an entry shop or something and create a bloom world for people.
01:07 So it's a walkthrough. They pay to come in and they walk around with everything.
01:12 There's water walls, ceilings, sculptures and really use my skills.
01:16 All my blooms are biodegradable, top quality. You've got Qualitex, Calisthen, Jamar is one of my favourite blooms.
01:24 Sempertex is fantastic.
01:25 My favourite creation, I've been asked this before, it's got to be my golem because I made that very, very early on.
01:33 I'd only just started and a customer asked me, could you make this golem for her husband's birthday?
01:38 I'm like, yeah, yeah, no problem. And I'm thinking, oh my goodness, can I make this?
01:42 I just looked at the photo, copied it, stood back and was like, wow, this is good. I really like it.
01:49 I do that all the time. I just wow myself at my creations still to this day.
01:53 It's just like, oh, when I did this big bunny today, I stood back and was like, yay.
01:57 It's fun to see what's going to happen with the blooms when I start off.
02:02 It's just like, blooms and then all of a sudden, oh yes. So yeah, it's good fun.
02:07 fun.
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