New Year here we come!

Whoosh - there goes Christmas & the New Year is nearly here!

The postal system has let us down today so if you received a despatch email your kit is stuck in the system & could take an extra day or two than first thought. You should have received an email about thia already but do contact us on 01252 715700 if you parcel hasn't arrived by the end of the week.

As for Creative Casting in 2008. Well, we have a few new products to introduce over the coming weeks & a few reductions on the site so do have a look at the sale section.

We will be starting a collection of articles about baby casting as well as offering a DVD giving step by step help on how to achieve the best results with your kit.

For now though, we wish all our customers past & present a Happy New Year.

Regards,

Jo & Julie

Inkless Hand prints & Footprints

Proving to be very popular this Christmas! Capture handprints or footprints using the special inkless wipe & gently press the limb onto the treated paper. Hey Presto - the print appears!
Used extensively in America to record baby's footprint whilst in hospital as a security measure we have turned this great idea into a really useful gift - a personalised footprint or handprint mug. Perfect for Grandma, Uncle, Aunty, Godparents - the list goes on.....

We have also extended this range to incluse mouse mats, clocks, tiles & very soon christening candles, T shirts & plates. Take a look at the inkless print gift range....

There is a lot of mug printing going on at Creative Casting this Christmas & if you have ordered a kit or are thinking of doing so be quick - prints for pre Christmas despatch must be returned to us by 13th December meaing you've only got a day left to order a kit!!!

Too much of a rush? What about a Christmas inkless print set so baby's prints can be taken at this special time as a memory of their first Christmas. We have a special kit which includes one sheet of inkless paper printed up specially for baby's first Christmas. At £6.95 you can't get a better personalised gift for baby's stocking or their parents!

Click here to buy a Christmas Inkless print kit.

As for Christmas itself, this is a very busy week in the Creative Casting office & we have had to open the tin of Roses already - why so few caramel barrells........

Christmas is already here - gifts for new baby's & parents at Creative Casting's updated online shop

At least it is in our office! Sales of baby casting kits are going through the roof as more & more people see our products as great christmas gifts. Needless to say the blog has suffered with no time to get on here at all.



This kit is one of the favourites & we only have 4 left! If you want a stylish frame & 8 cast kit all presented in a silver keepsake box then this is the gift for you. Perfect for Christmas & great value at £24.95 they are flying off the shelves!


Want one - then click here to view the leatherette frame kit.....



Should be back next week....

The Baby Show, Earls Court. 19-21 October 2007

Just returned from The Baby Show & have a bit of time to blog.

The show was a great success! Many visitors got a bargain from us & we took casts from babies & children of all ages! Now we're busy restocking & will be adding a couple of leftover show special items to our new online shop this week to make room for the Christmas kits!

I know a lot of people will be busy using their kits so thought it might be worth adding a link back to one of my m st popular posts- tips on casting hands

Many thanks to all of you who bought a kit from us & we hope you enjoy casting you baby's feet & hands as much as we do!

Jo

Emma Bunton's belly cast by Everlasting Castings!

You go away on holiday & what happens - Emma Bunton buys herself a fab Everlasting Castings belly cast kit. Her partner visited Tam's shop in Kentish Town & made the purchase just in time from the looks of things! Read the whole article in The Sun newspaper....

Tam also offers our baby casting kits & will take casts of your baby's hands & feet for you from her shop.

To buy a belly casting kit just like Emma Bunton visit our online shop for more details...

Here at Creative Casting we have just presented Angela Griffin ( known for Coronation Street, Cutting It & Waterloo Road to name a few...). More news on this next week!

WHere did July go? Busy baby times!

So how did we manage to let July pass by without a blog? Well let me tell you. We have been very busy trying to get a couple of new products out as well as updating our website & online shop. Here's how we're getting on:

Baby footprint kits - our kits which use the great inkless wipe technology has proved so popular we are expanding the range to include a kit with a space for baby's name or a date:

We are also adding to the clay imprint range with an 8"x8" frame kit as well as a large frame kit for maximum flexibility:
More styles are on the way - check back next week!

Baby casting at The NEC Baby Show

Doing casting sessions at The Baby Show's is rewarding but tiring & often we do not get a chance to spend the time we would like with a customer. However, this lady sent us this great shot which she has added to her keepsakes for her little one as a result of visiting us that day.

Nice to have a happy customer!

Interested in booking a casting session with us?? If so we have our new lifecaster team & will be at The Baby Show Earl's Court in September so do get in touch with us to make a booking.

Visit our website - Baby casting kit & footprint gifts by Creative Casting - for more details

Father's Day is coming - what about a baby footprint mug!

At last a useful Father's Day gift!
Using an ingenious inkless print kit you take the footprint or handprint of your baby & send it in to us.

We then return the completed mug with the word of your choice on the back! I did one yesterday that said-

"Happy first Father's Day, love Elsa xxx" How sweet!

The best thing about the print taking id that there is no mess - the print is done on a specially treated paper using a wipe treated with a clear ink. You wipe baby's foot & gently push it onto the paper. The black footprint then develops like a photo - very cool! In the kit you get 2 sheets of paper for 2 goes & the mug comes back in a couple of weeks so get you order in asap!

The Baby Show, NEC - 9-11 May

It has been a very busy month at Creative Casting, with Julie & I preparing for the show this coming week. We have also got some new products & will be launching our agent network very soon. This has kept us both extremely busy so blog posts just haven't happened.

However, a few minutes this morning gives us the chance to update you on The Baby Show & what we're up to.

Come see us at the show where we will be doing casts, demonstrations & clay imprints as well as offering you great discounts on all our casting kits. We have Everlasting Castings belly casting kits as well as Kindershoe shoe bronzing with us on the stand this time.

We have at least one new kit for the show - a lovely variation on the inkless prints which gives you the room to put a photo of baby next to your prints. Taking baby's footprints couldn't be easier with this inkless wipe & paper kit. You simply wipe baby's foot with the invisible ink on the wipe & lightly press to the treated paper. The black prints magically develop straight away!! We recommend scanning or copying the original prints & keeping them safe whilst displaying the copy in your frame.

We also have a new baby casting kit which will make an outstanding gift for an older child or for twins, giving you 3 spaces, one for a photo & 2 for casts - watch this space for details!

Latest baby hand & feet casts - tips on hand casting

Just wanted to show you a framed set of baby hands & feet as prepared by my business partner Julie this week. The set of 4 casts have been framed in a bespoke walnut effect moulding with an engraved plate to finish it all off beautifully.


This little chap had very delicate little hands & would have posed a problem to cast due to getting tiny air bubbles in the fingers. To help you avoid this I'm listing a few tricks & tips on casting baby hands. By applying a bit of logic & considering the effect gravity has on liquids you can reduce this kind of problem to a minimum. I would say however, we do not guarantee you will get a good cast of a hand from one of our baby casting kits. Rather, do your feet first & increase your confidnece & then try hands. Practice is needed!

It is also almost impossible to get a flat hand of a small baby. They automatically close their hand into a fist & this is really a more realistic lifecast of your baby's hand at a young age.

Getting the best mould

• Wet baby's hand first. This gets them used to the temperature of the water & reduces tiny air bubbles from the surface of the hand giving a better mould. It also helps release the alginate mould once it has set.
  
• Push the hand into the moulding mixture rather than squeezing it round. This displacement again reduces the chance of the impression mix not getting in between each finger giving you a better mould
  
• Make sure fingernails are short & tidy if you can. There's nothing like a scuffed up nail on your lifecast!

Pouring the cast

• Trim the top of your mould before you pour so that you can clamp your hand over the top of the mould once it is filled with casting mixture. You are going to invert the mould several times & although it will doubtless get messy you can make it less so by tidying up the edges of the mould so it is easier to hold.
• Pour in a small amount of your casting mix. Slosh it all round & then pour out again. This helps break any surface tension on the mould surface
• Refill the mould to the top & place a piece of folded kitchen roll over the opening (this helps reduce the mess which is coming...!!) .
• Clamp your hand over the kitchen roll covered opening & shake your mould in all directions. You are trying to allow any air that is currently caught in the fingers to escape into the main space of the mould & then come up to the top as bubbles. To this end you need to shake & twist the mould in every possible direction, including fully upside down, several times.
• Once you've finished this, peel away the kitchen roll & top up the mould with casting mix. Place in an upright spot until the hand cast is set. I would leave this at least for an hour or so as soft fingers will break off more easily.
• Peel your mould away in very small pieces to avoid damaging & snapping any fingers.

Follow these tips & you stand an excellent chance of getting great results. If you do want to try casting baby hands it is recommended that you buy an 8 starter life casting kit or a baby casting kit with frame plus an additional 4 cast refill to give you the best chance for one shipping fee - £5.50 flat rate on UK mainland orders.

An aside from baby casting - Google sitemaps.

Having spent many hours trying to optimize my site on a tiny budget I though it would be useful to summarise my experiences & research on Google sitemaps & their role in SEO for those of us with limited time & knowledge.

What is a sitemap?
It’s a file which provides information about your site, mainly the name of each & every page & how often/when they were last updated. There are several formats this file can take (.xml & ROR for those in the know) but in its simplest form it is usually called sitemap.xml & is put in the root of your websites directory on your server.

You can create a sitemap.xml file using an online generator. There are many but I would recommend http://www.xml-sitemaps.com as a great one to try. Simply enter the full website address, change the date to today’s & click start. The file is then created & you can download it into an html editor or copy & paste it from the bottom of the screen & save it into a new file called sitemap.xml. This then needs saving onto the root directory of your website on your server. You need to update your sitemap.xml file each time you update a page on your site & upload it again.

Are Google sitemaps different to other sitemaps?
No, Google accepts any standard sitemap.xml file & will find it when it crawls your site. I would recommend registering your sitemap with Google (& Yahoo) as this gives speeds up the initial crawl on your site if you aren’t getting any at the moment (or if you don’t know if you’re being Googled!)

Do I need one?
Well, some say you do & some say you don’t! A sitemap file makes it easier for a spider to crawl your site & see what has changed & what has not. Some argue this makes it more likely to be crawled more deeply, others disagree. On balance there is no disadvantage to having a sitemap & the information you can get back from registering your sitemap with Google makes it a very valuable resource for you. Google states that it does not affect your ranking & that resubmitting on a regular basis also has no effect but this is disputed by some (including myself!).

How do I register a sitemap with Google?
You need to set up a Google account which you can do via www.google.com (there are no region specific accounts for .co.uk etc) & then clicking ‘sign in’. If you have a gmail account you can login, if not, create a new account at this point.

Once registered, you can sign in & look at ‘My account’ where there is a ‘webmaster tools’ section for you to follow for submitting your site URL & then the name of your sitemap. Google then verifies your sitemap & that’s it. For me, the most useful reason for going through all this is the data you’ll get in a few months time on the hits on your site, top search terms & your rankings in Google for those terms, any page errors, internal & external back links & how many pages you have listed on Google. All very valuable & completely free for a small amount of work!

Clearly this is a huge area with much more detail but as a starting point the above will get you going. Below are a couple of other links you may find useful looking forward:

Google webmaster tips: https://www.google.com/webmasters

Info on pagerank & other google issues: http://www.mypagerank.net/

Fab post on google sitemaps: http://www.arnebrachhold.de/2006/04/07/google-sitemaps-faq-sitemap-issues-errors-and-problems

Back on track & busy - baby's are everywhere!!

Finally caught my tail after the Excel Baby Show & got most kits back on the shelf or tidied away. We had a lot of people bringing their baby's to the stan for casting & it has been a pleasure getting them ready for them to hang on the wall this week. We are offering the same service at the NEC & recommend booking in advance if you would like us to cast your baby's feet on the day as we are already busy - all advance appointments have gone for the Friday!

Aside from planning the next show we have managed to restock our inkless wipe range after a problem with our supplier. These kits are very popular as they are very easy & excellent value. With a frame, double mount,special inkless wipe & 2 sheets of treated paper they make a lovely gift for a new baby or even a baby shower present. We will be offering these frame kits with a keepsake box & piggy bank very soon so keep your eyes on the Creative Casting Baby Casting Kit Website for details.

Work is also progressing on our agent network. This is proving a more time consuming & complicated area than we first thought so do bear with us if you have expressed interest in this - we'll be in touch soon!

Back to Mum mode for now as 3pm approaches & the weekend looms. Enjoy your weekend too!

A long weekend of baby casting!!!

Back from The Baby Show & what a few days we've had!

It's always great to meet customers & their baby's face to face & we have had some fantastic feedback over the last few days right across our range of casting kits, imprint kits & clay imprint kits.

We had a new baby casting kit on the stand & it proved very popular indeed. With a more contemporary look & complete with a top quality keepsake box the frame kit below was commented on time & time again.


We will be looking to add this to the Creative Casting online shop in the next few days!

If you bought a kit at the show & have come looking for advice & tips, have a look at some of the other posts on getting a great baby cast & making copies of your baby feet casts.

Otherwise, there is a help page on our website with a series of images & tips on making your baby hand or foot mould & cast. Failing that, give us a call - number on our contact us page!

We hope everyone who took away a Creative Casting baby casting kit last weekend has a great time making their hand or feet casts & we are pleased to be here to help!

The Baby Show is coming! 9-11 March

Preparations for the new Baby Show event at Excel, London are now in the final stages here. We will be exhibiting on stand E34 & have some great offers on our casting kits & frames.

Demonstrations of how to make a life cast of your baby's hand or foot will be done by myself on an hourly basis & if you would like us to cast your baby's feet we will be offering this service at the show with prices from £85.

This of course means we are very busy in the office & it's all hands on deck! Even Mum's are roped in this week - how do we do without them. If you need to treat your Mum then what about giving them a cast of your children's feet or hands as a unique & memorable gift??


Specially for those Dad's out ther who are struggling for an unusual gift we have a casting kit in a beautiful white keepsake box - see our website for details!

Baby casting - more feet from just one cast, is it possible??

This is a question I am asked many times so thought I would make it

February's tip - Recasting from a plaster positive using alginate.

The answer of course is sometimes and no, I can't guarantee you'll succeed. There is also a real chance of damaging the original cast so be warned!! For more general tips on taking a mould from baby you should take a look at our taking a baby cast page on our baby casting website.

The basic problem is that the cast doesn't flex like a baby's foot so how can you minimise the risks. What advice would I give to someone who wants to take copies of the lovely cast they have of baby's foot?

1. Try not to use the only good cast you have if at all possible. Try to get 2 good feet from each foot & then you still have a good pair should you break the cast trying to remould it.
2. Clean up the cast first. Remove any bubbles on the plaster surface which need knocking off with your fingernail or a cocktail stick. If you have a lot of ankle on the cast, leave it on for now as it will give you something to hold when remoulding.
3. Do not try to recast a hand or a foot with toes that are sticking out individually. They are very likely to be broken off if you recast them using the alginate/impression powder. Closely bunched toes are the easiest option.

The easiest way to recast is to use the impression powder you already have but that remould tends to be rather inflexible & can only be used once as before. It is however still the way many home casters will go so is the method I'll explain now.

• Take the foot to be remoulded & place it in a bowl of hot water for 5 mins. This allows it to soak up the water & should stop the alginate mixture from sticking to it. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!! If you do not soak the cast before putting it into the alginate mix you will not get it out again!
• Mix a runny & therefore softer batch of impression mix by adding a bit more water than the instructions suggest. This makes the mould easier to remove from the cast as it will be more flexible.
• Remove the mould as soon as possible after it has set. You may have to split the mould from the top of the foot to the toes to allow you to wriggle it loose. Be very careful to allow the air to release the vacuum from around all the toes before you go for the final pull out as this will help release them.

If you want to go for a more technical approach you can make a RTV silicone or latex mould using some of the solvent based rubber casting materials available from many good craft stores. CFS Fibreglass Supplies , Cornwall is one such online site as well as Tiranti's in London. This method is not really suitable for doing in the home kitchen however so I won't go into details here.


Hope this helps those of you who don't want to put baby through the casting process any more than necessary!

Valentines is over - not long 'til Mother's Day!

So we have a new gift for you - Our Mother's Day keepsake box with a 4 cast kit inside it.

A lovely white board box with organza ribbon as a closure. The box is finished to a high standard & would be lovely for Mum to decorate & keep as a keepsake box. Take a look as they are a limited offer only - Creative Casting homepage.

For some other lovely gift ideas, take a look at the Artful Hen website. My favourite are the Millie Mac aprons - dead funky & I'd like one for Mother's Day if anyone is listening.....

Back later in the week once the kids go back to school!

Baby's First Year - a time to remember...

Half term has arrived here once again & as we brace ourselves to survive the week it is worth remembering that they won't always be under our feet. Indeed when I stop & consider my boys have grown up pretty quickly.

Despite now spending my time helping other people create lifecasts I have no casts of my own kids as baby's at all & of course I can't go back so that's that.

As new parents time flies by & it can be difficult to stand back enjoy the first year of your baby's life but you really should. You should also capture as many moments as possible to help you remember when you do get chance when they are older.

'Firsts' worth capturing

First Smile - a wonderful moment that only a mother can really appreciate. Combine a photo of that early smile with a print of baby's foot for a perfect reminder of how cute & tiny they were. See our imprint kits for some ideas.

First Grab - I was delighted when he first tried to reach for a toy - I then went into overdrive for educational toys. A common ailment I hear but for a range of the best try those at the Early Learning Centre (always great quality) or Blooming Marvellous

First Roll - the start of things to come!

First Tooth - also the beginnings of what can be a painful & trying element of your baby's life. Bonjela was an essential in my medicine cabinet for a long time!

First Sleep through the Night - you can only hope this comes in the first year..... If not, try controlled crying (as long as they're not too young) . If you can keep up the initial agonising regime it does work.

First Crawl/walk - one of mine sons didn't crawl but the other did, so this first really can vary & often comes outside the first year. It is a treat to buy their first shoes though & don't forget to keep them & put into their keepsake box. Here's one of my favourite sites selling keepsake boxes - Freya design.


In recognition of this important stage of your baby's life, Creative Casting have developed a casting kit especially designed to help you capture the most amazing aspects of the first year - the rate at which your baby will grow! From a nursing newborn to a tiny person trying to get around on their own the speed at which you go through babygrow sizes is shocking. The same is true of baby's hands & feet & this is where our Baby's First Year casting kit fits in.

Giving enough materials to cast baby's feet on 3 separate occasions you can build up a picture of how they grow over that first 12 months. Finished off with the words 'Baby's First Year' in a cut out at the bottom of the frame mount this kit is lovely to own & makes a unique christening or new baby gift.


I just wish I had thought of it when my two were little.....

Creative Casting at The Baby Show, Excel. 9-11th March

We are looking at our stand layout for this new show today. We have supported The Baby Show events for the last 2 years & find it is a great chance to meet our customers. When your main sales channel is the internet it is easy to forget what a new mum looks like!!
We are often amazed at how some people get there before midday - I never managed pre-noon shopping for months after having my first baby!

So, the stand is bigger than ever & we are going to do baby casting demonstrations every hour so people can get an idea of how to do a cast of their baby. Come & see us - stand E34 & let us know what you think! We will have some special offers on our casting kits with prices from just £9.95!

Alginate/impression powder - how safe?

Those of you who are active lifecasters may have heard reference to free silica in alginate & the potential for it to be harmful. Well, this topic has been raised this last week on the ALI forum where a baby casting company have had the topic raised by one of their consultants.

The response by Ed McCormick is an excellent summary of this issue & should be read by all who supply & sell baby casting kits - many of whom don't understand the wording or chemical terms they are using to describe their products. You can read the post yourself or take my word for it that the health risks involved in using alginate to make moulds of baby's hands or feet (or anything else in fact) are incredibly small if the powder is used correctly & the key things to consider also apply to any other powder as millions of household powders contain free silica. Avoid creating clouds of dust & as one ALI forum member suggests you could mix your impression powder in a ventilated room away from baby.

Of course, this all said you should always seek medical attention should any kind of irritation occur & you should be able to get a copy of the health & safety report & material data sheet off your alginate supplier. I would reconsider buying from them if you can't.

I hope this is a useful summary for some of the UK lifecasters who may not be prepared for this question from a client as well as to those of you who have bought a Creative Casting baby casting kit.

Keep casting & enjoy!

How to get a great baby cast.

Casting baby hands & feet is the same as any lifecasting - never guaranteed to succeed. You can however do a few things to give you the best possible chance. Over the last couple of years we have cast a lot of babies & will be offering a useful tip to you on a weekly basis to help you benefit from our experience ( & traumas in some cases!)

January's tip - Be prepared!

Always get the basics ready before you start trying to cast baby. I know it's an insult to some but ALWAYS READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST. You cannot get it right if you don't know what to do in the first place! Key things to do before you do any castings are:

• Take pretty/valued clothing off baby & yourselves - the impression powder is not easily removed from fabric & you will make a mess.
• Get some help. You cannot cast single handed. Someone needs to mix & mould while another holds/entertains baby.
• Cover up the chair/floor etc so you don't wreck the new sofa. We would recommend a wipe clean floor & seat.
  
• Do a quick mix of 1 scoop of impression mowder to 1 scoop of water & get an idea of what is going to happen. Look at the texture of the mixture & judge how long it takes to set. Put your finger in it & see how much detail you're going to capture when you get this casting malarky right!
• Only begin if baby is in a decent mood. They dictate if the casting session will succeed & this is one of the key reasons why we think you're better buying a casting kit than going to a pre-booked studio session. If baby isn't happy you can pack the stuff back in the box & leave it 'till tomorrow - no fee!

Now you're ready! Don't say we didn't warn you!

First post of the New Year

Boy have we been busy! Now Christmas is over I can try to get into the habit of posting regularly & giving a wealth of information on baby casting & the like to you.

• New Year = New products + new challenges. Challenge of the week was a lifecast of a lady for her husband as gift. She wanted a bust done from waist to shoulder. There are a few things worth noting when trying this:

• Protect all clothing/chairs/floors - it gets very messy
• Two people to cast are better than one
• Mixing large amounts of alginate is tricky. Use an electric plaster mixer if possible.
• Support the mould with a shell made from plaster bandage/modroc so it doesn't lose it's shape when you peel it away from the model
• Make your plaster mix very thick or it all runs down into the middle & you can't fill the edges of the mold.
• Use a hard plaster such as herculite or the final piece will not be strong enough.

I'll put up some pictures asap showing the process & bust. The cast is now drying out ready for painting.

Other news - we have our baby's first year casting kit available in the online shop. Check it out!