Can I get mine done too?
Posted on 09/08/2001 2:10:16 AM PDT by 2Trievers
John Clayton At Large: Jessica Sanders’ business is growing so fast it may get stretch marks. Belly up to the bar and I’ll tell you all about it. Gentlemen, brace yourselves. The only way to do this is to come right out and tell you that Jessica, a transplanted New Hampshire native, makes plaster casts of the bellies of pregnant mothers, providing a unique 3-D keepsake suitable for display in nurseries or perhaps — in the event you are expecting triplets — the Ripley’s “Believe It or Not” Museum. Heirlooms for family rooms? They will be, if Jessica has her way. She’s way down in North Carolina now, specifically in South Charlotte, where her Yankee ingenuity has made her something of a media sensation. I guess ingenuity of any stripe is a rarity down in Dixie, but who cares? The attention directed Jessica’s way has delighted her father and mother way up here in Weare. “I told her I wish they had something like this when I was expecting her,” said Debra Tessier. “I guess it shows that pregnancy has come a long way. It isn’t something you hide any more.” According to some of my formerly pregnant friends, it would be easier to hide an elephant in an ant farm than to conceal the bulging belly that comes with pending motherhood. They claim to have tried everything to cover it, from painter’s smocks to loose-fitting frocks but Jessica’s got a different tack. If you’re going to cover it, use plaster. “It’s not like the normal plaster you’d put on the wall,” said Jess, who graduated from Manchester’s West High School in 1994. “You wouldn’t want to put that on your skin. It’s a bandage, a gauze with plaster in it, the kind a doctor would use if you were going to get a cast on your arm. “What I do is pre-cut the strips, dip them in warm water and then apply them directly to the skin,” she added. “It only takes about 20 to 30 minutes for it to set.” Once the rotund form solidifies, Jessica seeks uniformity of design. She beefs up the thin spots with plaster she applies by hand, then she sands down the edges and the rough spots to produce a smooth surface. Artist Katrina Nixon surfaces next. “Katrina has painted them with flowers and butterflies and she even did one with a beach scene,” Jess said, “but some customers prefer to finish it on their own to make it more personal. I’ve suggested things like paint, fabric, even decoupage. There are some really artsy people out there, but I like it more plain, personally.” Jessica hasn’t cast her own personal belly yet, but that’s only because she and her husband, Scott, don’t have any children. Yet. “I’m really looking forward to it,” said the 25-year-old one-time commercial loan specialist. “When I left college (Liberty University in Virginia), the reason I came to Charlotte was for a temporary position as a nanny. I still do some child-care work, but for the time being, I want to focus on the body casting.” With her focus straight, Jessica tried a new wrinkle. A client named Trina Carlton, then seven months pregnant, visited Jessica’s studio last month to have her torso cast. Midway through the process, with the plaster still moist, Trina’s two daughters — Kristen 4, and Karis, 2 — planted their hands in the gooey material. From then on, you might say they got wrapped up in the process. The pre-natal bond with their in utero sibling will last forever. “It’s such a unique way to preserve such a special time in your life,” said Trina, who, as a labor and delivery nurse at Mercy South Hospital in Charlotte, knows a little something — unlike Butterfly McQueen — “about birthin’ babies.” And how about the casting process itself? “After having two kids,” Trina confessed to the Charlotte Observer’s Leslie Gross Klaff, “you lose all modesty.” In doctor’s parlance, Trina’s appointment was an office visit but Jessica will make house calls. She’s already visited a number of clients in the Charlotte area. The only problem is that her client base is growing as fast as . . . well, her clients. “I’ve been driving as far as Rutherforton and Gastonia which is a good 45 minutes away,” she said, “but usually I’ll only go to locals and ask other people to come to me. Now I have a couple from Virginia Beach, which is about five hours away, and they’re coming down for a long weekend for casting.” Casting about for business has become a little easier for Jessica now that she has her own Web site (www.charlottebodycasting.com). It’s also the best way for her to be of service up here in her home state, since she has created mail-order, do-it-yourself kits which can be ordered on-line. “The belly kits sell for $60,” she said, “and there are other items too, like kits to cast the baby’s hands and feet, things like that.” Other, more traditional marketing goes on, too. “I do a lot of baby shows,” she said. “I set up a booth where they have trade shows for baby-related products or services, like the different maternity wards in hospitals and diaper services, things like that. Plus we have a Babies ‘R’ Us store down here, so I put brochures there and in doctors’ offices.” So now her business is up and running. The Web site is up and running, too. And it all works better when her clients aren’t up and running out on her. “I usually recommend a casting two to three weeks prior to the due date,” she explained, “but I don’t like to wait until the last minute. I had a couple of customers cancel because they went into labor.” Talk about deadline pressure. Jessica has to deliver before the customer does. (John Clayton’s latest book is entitled “New Hampshire: The Way I See It...” His e-mail address is jclayton@theunionleader.com.)
City native casting about in Dixie for belly baby business
By JOHN CLAYTON
Union Leader Staff
Can I get mine done too?
BTW What does one do with this tummy cast anyway, after the novelty wears off? Use it as a popcorn bowl?
What a vicious remark to make in this day and age.
OH someone is in soooo much trouble!!!! I would like to recomend that the writer stay north of the mason-dixon line. That is unless he really wants to be tied to the front of a pickup to see how fast he can run.
Dear Mr. Clayton:
Get bent.
An Ingenious "Dixie" Dweller
P.S. No one's called the South "Dixie" in decades. Try to keep up with current events.
Something to look at when you need motivation to go to the gym....LOL
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