Dear Sun Spots: I am hoping that you can help me as you have helped so many other people.

A few months ago, I saw an ad in a paper – I can’t remember which one – for a person who would do a plaster cast on a pregnant woman’s belly as a baby shower activity. My daughter is expecting her first child and I had hoped to hire this person for her shower. I had the ad but lost it. Hopefully you can help me. – No Name, No Town.

Answer: According to an article published in April in the Sun Journal and written by former business writer Patrick Connors, Diane Bonneau of Lasting Impressions specializes in making plaster casts of a mom-to-be’s torso. According to the article, Bonneau works out of her Lewiston home but plans to bring her operation to baby showers. The process is relatively simple. Plaster-coated cloth strips are dunked in water and then applied to the body. The strips are smoothed after they are draped on the skin, although some women prefer to wear a body stocking. It takes about 10 minutes for the cast to dry, allowing removal. Scented candles burn throughout the process, and Bonneau says she plans to offer foot massages while the plaster hardens. The cast must dry for 48 hours before it can be displayed or worked with further. Women often chose to paint their belly replicas and hang them.

Lea Cutter, who owns the I Am Collaborative, a casting operation in Portland, says some of her clients line the inside of their molds and use them as baby cradles for the few weeks immediately following a pregnancy. Cutter’s husband cast a series of 10 molds of her midsection before she gave birth. The replicas are on display at the New Life Reiki Center in Portland.

You can contact Lasting Impressions at (207) 783-3707 or via e-mail at dibonn50@aol.com. You can also reach I Am Collaborative at P.O. Box 8152, Portland, ME 04101, (207) 773-9894 or via e-mail at info@iamcollaborative.org.

You may also be interested in contacting artist L. Sue Whitmore of Loving Memory Designs (207) 856-0097, 128 Bridge St., Westbrook, ME 04092, by e-mail at creator@lovingmemorydesigns.com or online at www.lovingmemorydesigns.com. In addition, www.bellycast.com offers an instruction kit and video for those wishing to do the cast themselves. You can contact them via their Web site, or through Pregnant Bellymasks, P.O. Box 1832 Sebastopol, CA 95473, (707) 824-8357.

Another contact for you may be Sanford orthopedic surgeon Dr. Randi Lebar. On the first Saturday of every month, by appointment only, she and nurse Debbie Collins create plaster castings of pregnant bellies and torsos at Mousam Valley Orthopaedics. You can reach them at (207) 324-1488 or by mail at 312 Cottage St., Sanford, ME 04073.

Dear Sun Spots: I am hoping someone has the instructions for a printed cross-stitch “Cuddly Kitten Quilt #140-18” by Janlynn. I will pay for the copying and mailing. Thanks for your wonderful column. – A Hebron reader.

Answer: Unfortunately, it appears Janlynn Corp. no longer makes this. Hopefully other readers will be able to assist you.

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