CreativeBodyCasting - Life Casting & Belly Casting in Eastern Ontario: View our Frequently Asked Questions.

What is the best time to have a Belly Cast made?
Between 32-36 weeks is the optimal time to cast your belly cast, to capture the fullest shape of your pregnancy. However, some women choose to cast 3 belly casts, one in each trimester, to capture the gradual growth of their baby.

How long does the casting process take?
The whole session takes about an hour and a half including setting up and cleaning up. The actual casting process can take anywhere from 20 minutes to 50 minutes depending on how elaborate the cast is. We then keep the cast to smooth, strengthen and prepare for decorating and/or hanging.

What Should I Wear?
That all depends on how much of your torso you want in the cast and what you're comfortable with. If you are doing a belly bowl, old shorts and an old bra would work or even a one piece swimsuit. If your chest is in the cast it's usually bare but an old bra or bathing suit can be worn. Please remember that whatever you wear will be ruined by the plaster and that the lines in any clothing may show in your finished cast. We will do what we can to smooth out any wrinkles but can not guarantee a smooth finish with clothing underneath.

What materials are used to make the cast?
We use hospital grade, non-toxic, plaster-gauze strips. Your skin is coated with a barrier cream prior to the session to prevent the plaster from sticking to you.

What kind of lifecasting do you do?
We cast all ages, body types and body areas. Contact us if you have an idea and don't see any references to that type of cast on our site.

What materials are used to make the cast?
For small areas such as baby hands or feet and lips or nipples we would cast in a container using a fast set alginate. For larger areas we use a slower setting dental grade alginate and then a plaster shell is added to strenthen and support the mold. Once the mold is created we then fill it with our casting material, which is presently plaster.

How long does the casting process take?
Depending on how complicated the cast is, it can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and a half, generally.

Why would I have a lifecast done?
People have lifecasts done for a variety of reasons. Some want to preserve in three dimensions the appearance of their bodies (portraits, torsos), and others want to capture a moment in their lives that is special to them (pregnant belly casts, hands). These reasons have a lot in common with why people would have a portrait made (for themselves or as a gift) or take a photograph of a particular occasion.

What is the difference between life casting and belly casting?
Lifecasting is the process of creating a three-dimensional copy of a living human body, through the use of molding and casting techniques. The most common lifecasts are of torsos, pregnant bellies, hands and faces, and it is possible for someone experienced to copy any part of the body. Lifecasting is usually limited to a section of the body at a time, but full-body lifecasts are achievable too. Compared with other three-dimensional representations of humans, the standout feature of lifecasts are their high level of realism and detail. Lifecasts can replicate details as small as fingerprints and pores.

A belly cast is a three-dimensional plaster sculpture of a woman's pregnant belly for the purpose of having a keepsake of the pregnancy. Belly casts are often made during the 7th or 8th month of pregnancy and some women choose to make a series of them capturing the progression of their pregnancy. Belly casts are made by preparing the skin with a coating of Vaseline or a similar product. Strips of wet medical grade plaster gauze are layered over the pregnant tummy. Some women choose to also cast their breasts into a full torso sculpture. The plaster sets in about 5-8 minutes; this is followed by air drying for 24–48 hours. The belly cast can be decorated with any number of finishes or designs or left in its natural state. This type of casting does not have the detail of a Lifecast but it does capture the shape of the body.

How far will you travel?
We will pretty much go anywhere in the Kingston, Brockville, Smiths Falls triangle. We will also go down the 401 to Cornwall and are willing to travel up to Ottawa if there is a need. Outside of that, we may have to include some gas money in our prices or have you come to us. There are always options!

Do you ever do FREE casting sessions?
Yes. Occasionally we do offer a free session to try out a new technique or embellishment. For these we'd do 2 casts, keeping 1 for us & you would get the other cast to keep for FREE. We don't do this often, if you're interested please let us know & we may be able to work something out.

How can I pay?
If we are coming to you, as will be in most cases, we ask for 50% at that time. The balance will be expected when we drop off the finished cast to you after glazing, reinforcing and any painting that you may have wanted done. You can choose to pay via PayPal - they accept all major credit cards (you no longer need to register with PayPal or have an account with them to make instant, secure payments) and of course cash is always preferred.