—- About Us —-
Welcome to RouseLINK™
Inspiration – Education – Tools & Techniques
For Your Balloon Decorating Success
My name is Graham Rouse, and I created this site to help you visualize, plan, and build your own balloon‑decorating success story—whether you’re preparing décor for a single event or building a lifelong career.
What follows is the short version of my own journey: a story of initial failure, unexpected breakthroughs, decades of innovation, and a resilient comeback.
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ROM PROM FAILURE TO PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS
The Early Misstep
My balloon‑decorating journey began with a mistake. As the student chairman of my high‑school prom decorating committee, I misjudged the float time of our helium balloons. We salvaged what we could, but the experience was discouraging enough that I didn’t attempt balloon decorating again for more than twenty years
The First Spark
In early 1982, I picked up a bag of “twisty balloons” to make a gift for a friend in the hospital. She loved it—and that simple moment reignited something in me. Soon, I was creating balloon gifts to support a church building fund, and eventually, I launched a part‑time balloon business.
A SEMINAL INNOVATION: RIBS™
In 1983, I invented RIBS™ (Rouse Internal Balloon Structures™) to give balloon sculptures better shape and durability. It worked—so well, in fact, that I became the first person (by several years) to create, sell, and teach internal structures for abstract balloon sculptures and what I called Fantasy Flowers™.
I was too new to the industry to realize the patent potential, but the inside‑out approach—and the Fantasy Flowers name—are now standard worldwide.
THE BIG STEP — AND FOUR DECADES OF INNOVATION
In 1984, I left my career as a statewide supervisor and facilities designer to become a full‑time balloon entrepreneur. Over the next forty years, my work in balloon art and balloon‑decorating tools and techniques led to:
- Five U.S. patents
- New products and technologies
- International exhibitions and awards
- Professional leadership roles
- Teaching assignments on five continents
Engineering Balloon Decorations from the inside out.
My first patent introduced a specialized form of RIBS™ that allows objects—such as chemical lights—to be inserted or removed from inside sealed balloon sculptures while they remain inflated in elegant forms.
A PIVOTAL YEAR:
1988 was pivotal for my life and balloon career. I held a solo exhibition of my balloon sculptures at a public art gallery. I introduced new balloon-decorating products at an international convention. I was recognized as “Balloon Artist of the Year”. And, I met Mary Queen, an accomplished balloon artist who became my wife and lifelong partner.
INNOVATIONS CONTINUE:
My first patent addressed giving structure to balloon decorations from the inside out. My next several focused on giving structure to balloon decorations from the outside in.
RMS™ R-E-A-L GRIDZ™
We are now in the fifth generation of my patented RMS™ (Rouse Matrix Systems) R-E-A-L GRIDZ™ (Rouse-Expand-And-Load GRIDZ™). We now have more standard balloon grid sizes, shapes, and patterns than all other balloon-professional grid systems combined. Plus, ours are the lightest, most compact, and available in custom configurations to meet specialized needs.
SIMPLE, EASY, STRONG, FAST Techniques
We call them Rouse-APPs™ “Rouse Advanced Professional Practices”. The SIMPLE technique makes tying balloons simpler while providing extra security to loaded balloons. The EASY technique is so easy that both children under ten and adults over ninety have used it successfully. The STRONG technique makes an RMS display 20 times stronger without adding heavy, rigid framing. Experienced users of the FAST technique have loaded long strings of balloons into RMS at more than one balloon per second. Now that’s really fast!
RouseLINK ROLL BALLOONS™
I invented and patented this set of “ahead-of-their-time” technologies for connecting film balloons during and after manufacture, producing a new class of film balloons with enormous potential impact on professional and Do-It-Yourself balloon decorating. Unfortunately, the lack of lightweight, nonconductive balloon films has long delayed their inevitable market appearance.
KNOCKED DOWN:
The year 2020 battered all of us as COVID‑19 disrupted the world and the balloon industry. Personally, I also faced major surgeries that knocked me down for a long recovery time. Like many in our balloon community, however, I adapted, healed, and continued forward.
COMEBACK:
Today, balloon sculpting and decorating are thriving again, and I am excited to share “RouseLINK™ Inspiration – Education – Tools & Techniques™“ with you. Take advantage of my original technologies, decades of successful experience, the growing RouseLINK™ network of resources, and the RouseLINK™ community of like-minded balloon enthusiasts. Use them to “Stretch Your Balloon Imagination, Inflate Your Balloon Art, and Build Your Balloon Decor Success™. Rouse.LINK/ is here to help, and so am I.
MAKE THE CONNECTION
to RouseLINK™ benefits:
- Sign up below for your free RouseLINKnews™.
- Bookmark “Rouse.LINK/home” and visit often.
- Share questions, feedback, etc. at Rouse.LINK/ask
- Participate in RouseLINK™ events online and in-person.
I look forward to hearing from you, meeting you, and helping build your Balloon Decor Success, whether it is for a one-time occasion or a balloon-related career of your own.
[Insert email signup]
Graham Rouse
Rouse.LINK/home
RouseInternational.com
“Powered by Rouse Original Technologies™”
“Destined for the Tool Box & Skill Set of Every Balloon Decor Enthusiast™”
gmr@RouseLINK.email
gmr@rousetech.com
1-864.654.4166
POPULAR RouseLINK™ Links:
——INSIDE RouseInternational.com——
——Rouse.LINK/home…. HOME PAGE —-
————————————————
Rouse.LINK/about …. ABOUT US (this page)
Rouse.LINK/ask ……… Questions, Feedback, Etc.
Rouse.LINK/edu …….. Education Links
Rouse.LINK/inspire … Inspiration Galleries
Rouse.LINK/links ……. Index of Active Links
Rouse.LINK/news …… Newsletter sign up & archive
Rouse.LINK/store …… Our Online store
Rouse.LINK/tools …… Tools/Products Galleries
——OUTSIDE RouseInternational.com—-—
Rouse.LINK/group……….. Facebook group
Rouse.LINK/instagram… Instagram Profile
Rouse.LINK/linkedin ……. Linkedin Profile
Rouse.LINK/page ………… Facebook Page
Rouse.LINK/pinterest …. Pinterest Profile
Rouse.LINK/youtube ….. YouTube Channel
Stretch Your Imagination, Inflate Your Art, and Build Your Success™.