If you are interested in making your own belly cast here is your chance. Easy to follow instructions allow you to make your own pregnancy keepsake! Offered through my Bonanza store for $38 including shipping: http://www.bonanza.com/booths/RenaissanceHome
If you’re local and would prefer to pick up the kit yourself then contact me for a discount. Also I would be more than happy to customize your finished cast any way you desire to make it truly unique!
Just a quick note here: I will have belly cast kits up for sale shortly! Proud Body Deluxe Belly Cast Kit. I have a vacation coming up and also need to figure the shipping cost so I will get that info out as soon as I can. In the meantime, if you are interested give me a call: 602-885-8762.
Here is my latest belly cast:
Blue & Bronze Metallic Belly Cast
Blue & Bronze Metallic Belly Cast
I was asked to bring in a photo album and business cards to Destination Maternity where the cast was made so I’m hoping it will bring a little more business my way ~ fingers crossed.
My latest article ~ Lots going on in the West Valley this month:
Things to do in the West Valley: Events, Festivals, and exhibitions, Nov. 2010
And for those of you following along on my personal journey:
We’re holding off until January to put the house on the market for several reasons, including the slow housing sales during the holiday season and the fact that we don’t want to be in limbo at Christmas. So, I’m moving along, getting the house ready still. If I can keep my husbands hands off the money in the savings we should be good. I’m also hoping that he doesn’t take this delay as a reason to quit…I’m feeling his resistance…and it’s wearing me down. I still have my eye on that studio…I need this to happen and I’m trying to stay positive. In the meantime, the holiday season is here and it’s time for my annual cleanup of my “space”. I need to pack up all of my art supplies and move them to a little corner in the bedroom so we have room for the tree. It’s kind of bittersweet. I love Christmas and the decorating but I absolutely HATE not having any space to work until January. Well, there’s my life in a nutshell right now.
Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!
Well, I’ve realized that with all I have to do to get the house ready in addition to my business and the art classes I teach that I’l be lucky if I publish one or two articles a week until after the move.
Here are my articles from the last week and a half:
Things to do in the West Valley: upcoming and ongoing events, festivals, and exhibitions, Aug. 2010 ~ Any locals with more input please contact me!
Young Rembrandts: Children’s art classes ~ This is the company I teach my art classes for!
West Valley artist profile: Edward Dennis ~ Another great West Valley artist!
Now I need your help on something! I entered a photo into a contest @ Better Homes & Gardens magazine. If I win, I get $250 which I could really use. So PLEASE, PLEASE. PLEASE click the link and vote for me. It’ll just take a sec. And you can vote once a day! The contest is over on Sunday! Here is the LINK. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO VOTE!!!
Now, for those of you that have been following my adventures here, you know I’m doing everything I can to save and make a little money. Well, I found 2 great sites that I’d like to share ~ and if you click through and join I also get a bonus 
The first is Ebates. It’s a site that gives you a percent back on your purchases when you buy online. It partners with most major stores including Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Office Max, etc… Every 3 months they send you a check for what you’ve accumulated…just use it for what you’d buy anyway and make money!
The second is Swagbucks. It’s basically a search engine like Google that pays you back. Just search for any word or phrase and you get paid! I’ve used it for about 2 1/2 months and have earned enough for 3 $5 Amazon.com gift cards.
Now last but certainly not least…I finished the lower cabinets in the kitchen and I’m ready to start on the top. Here’s a pic:
My Kitchen Cabinets
Well here are the TWO articles I published last week.
B. Love is a very interesting woman and a great artist; check her out:
West Valley artist profile: Barbara Sue Love Newport
This article may look familiar:
Kitchen island redo on a budget
That’s all I wrote last week. I had a last minute belly cast to do…
And…we decided to head north for a night to go camping where it’s cooler and stop by the Grand Canyon. We hadn’t been there in about 8 years and my daughters were too young to remember. The was quite chilly and we were at the Grand Canyon for close to two hours when we got caught in a downpour! We had to run for our vehicle and ended up drenched but did get to see alot of the canyon so it was all good. Here’s a couple pics…
Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
OK, so it just dawned on me this week that my birthday is next Friday. That means my one year count down is beginning. The house (I hope) will ready to be put on the market in 3 month. THREE MONTHS!!! Holy crap, times flying. I’m in the midst of so many projects it’s not funny. If I ever finish any of them I’ll show you, lol.
In the mean time here are this week articles:
West Valley places to see: Glendale ~ Glendale has SO many great places to see year roun. I took my daughters to the Bead Museum last week. It was very cool.
West Valley artist profile: Jim Bryant ~ Self-taught illustrator with a long, successful career!
Belly and body casting: a new design trend ~ The belly casts are always cool but other cast options are also available. Here’s one of a little boys face:
My belly cast article has been very popular. In fact it continues to get the most traffic of any single article in my blog. Belly casts are the ultimate in originality ~ every pregnant body is different and beautiful. Add to that, custom artwork. What better way to remember that special time in your life?? In my original article I posted a link to Massage-ology where Angela will do your cast for you. It can run $200+ for a cast to be finished (joint compound, sanding, then painting). This process can be time consuming ~ that’s why it costs so much.
I wanted to offer you a less expensive option. Belly cast kits. I now sell them through my on-line store for $38 shipped. If you’re local (Surprise/Phoenix AZ) and would like to pick it up yourself call me for a discount @ 602-885-8762.
http://www.bonanza.com/booths/RenaissanceHome
In your kit are all of the supplies you need to make your own belly cast. If you browse through the picture gallery on my website you can find some design ideas like this one below.
http://renaissancehomeaz.com/Body_Cast.htm
My prices for painting a belly cast are quite reasonable, usually $40 – $100. And if you’re not local I’m sure you can find an artist in your neck of the woods with reasonable prices also…or you can give it a try yourself.
Good luck…and if you do try it let me know how it goes!
And here’s an additional link in my column on body/belly casting.
First, I want to apologize for taking so long to get a project up here. I had other business related work I had to get out of the way before I worked on my own home. So … here is project #1:
I redid my standard kitchen island. By adding molding and paint, my kitchen island now looks like a custom piece. The original island was one of those plain paneled built-ins that came with our home. I’ll see if I can find a picture to add here.
The molding can be purchased at your local Home Depot or Lowes. Start by giving your island a good sanding, knock back as much of the glossy surface as you can. Cut the moldings to the sizes you need and attach with glue made for that purpose (usually sold in the same area of the store). Apply a primer made for glossy surfaces to be safe (I used one tinted to my base color). Lightly sand smooth. Apply 2 coats of your base color (tan is used here), lightly sanding between coats.
Use a white wax candle to rub down all of the edges and raised moldings where the base color is to show through. After that paint 2 coats of black satin(or a top color of your choice) over everything. When dry lightly sand back to the base color where you applied the wax. I chose a satin paint for the look and feel. However, if you prefer, glossy will work well also. I then used furniture wax to give it a nice shine and a little more protection. I also added drawer pulls to finish off the look.
Additional articles you might like:
10 ways to improve your home with paint
10 easy ways to give a cookie-cutter home style and originality
I’ve decided to do some sprucing up myself. I’m happy to share with you what a little paint and ingenuity can do. I have a list a mile long of what I WANT to get done but it will remain to be seen what I will actually accomplish this year. With each project I take on, I will take before and after pictures and tell you a little about the process. Whether you decide to take on some new painting projects of your own or hire them out, I hope I’ll at least provide you with a little inspiration.
To get us started, I’ll share with you a couple recent projects.
This is my “new” computer desk. Actually, it’s an old vanity. (Sorry, I don’t have any before pictures for this one.) I gave it a light sanding, added a faux leather finish to the top and drawer fronts , and painted the rest black. I sanded back a little of the black to see some of the wood underneath – so when my kids bang it up a little it won’t be noticeable because that’s how it’s supposed to look. I topped it with a couple coats of varnish. I added a keyboard tray and replaced the drawer slides that were broken and VOILA… a cute practical desk.
For project #2 I repainted the yellow metal mirror surrounds with a special textured paint topped with black glaze. A couple coats of varnish protects it. Now, I need to do the other bathroom.
before
after
larger mirror
Neither of these projects was on a grand scale but they each succeeded in brightening up a part of my home. Not only that but I saved a piece of furniture from a landfill and it only took a little bit of paint. So, take a look around your own home and start planning your next project.
Stay tuned for more…
Additional articles you might like:
10 ways to improve your home with paint
10 easy ways to give a cookie-cutter home style and originality
For this cast, I was asked to make a henna tattoo design of a peacock for the belly with some flowers added. After a little research, I had the client choose a picture of a design she liked from some that I found online. From there I drew up my own design and did a little experimenting for the background. Below is what I came up with.
Belly Cast
