A talented Coatbridge balloon artist was walking on air after becoming the only Scottish participant in her field to help create the very first Big Balloon Build in America.
Jacqui Young and her team from Wishaw's Classic Touch Balloons company showcased their brilliant breathing abilities to carefully construct a giant replica of the board game Candy Land, using an incredible 125,000 balloons.
They jetted off all the way to Vincennes, Indiana for a breathtaking task that was anything but child's play.
Jacqui was one of 65 balloon artists from around the world to take part in the first Big Balloon Build held outside the UK.
As previously reported by Lanarkshire Live, her first Big Balloon Build was in December 2021 in Birmingham, which was the first event of its kind away from director Stuart Davies' home country of Wales.
Jacqui has decorated venues for every kind of celebration there is - but building a giant forest as part of a life-sized board game was a whole new challenge.
She told Lanarkshire Live : "The Big Balloon Build was gifted to the charity United Way of Knox County in Indiana where it raised more than $180,000 for more than 30 charities in the community.
"Once completed, the display was open to the public. On the first day the door had to stay open three hours longer than scheduled to try and accommodate the long line-up.
"Local businesses provided me and all of the other balloon artists with meals during their entire stay.
"The giant ice cream cones and colossal cotton candy clouds were made possible when Hasbro Inc granted Stuart Davies permission to use its trademark game, with Hershey’s chocolate also following suit.
"It marked the first time anyone had tried to make a oversized board game out of balloons.
"I was on team Plumpy. We created the gingerbread plum trees where Plumpy was the caretaker and I got to work alongside artists from the USA, Canada, England and the Cayman Islands."
Former Rosehall High pupil Jacqui, 56, lives in Coatbridge with husband Robert and son Kyle and has honed her craft over more than 30 years.
She said: “Everybody does balloons, but not many people are certified balloon artists. I started in Airdrie and when I started, there were very few training opportunities and I mainly did weddings.
“I stopped when I had my son Kyle about 19 years ago and got a job in a kilt shop in Glasgow when he was a baby.
“I became a manager there and they asked me to do the window displays. It’s limited to what you can do to make windows different, so I got back into balloon making and I came back to it. I just love it."
On her American adventure, Jacqui added: "“Being on the USA build was both exciting and exhausting.
“This was my second Big Balloon Build and the more I do, the more I love it. I have made life-long, like-minded friends and raised a lot of money for the charities involved."
And Jacqui now has plans to take part in an event closer to home, saying: "I have applied to have a Big Balloon Build hosted in Glasgow. I think Glasgow would be the perfect city to hold such an event.
"I know the international artists would be welcomed with open arms and would love everything the city has to offer, and we could raise a lot of money for local charities."
To find out more about Jacqui's Classic Touch Balloons business, head to its Facebook page.
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