Casts made of baby hands, feet
A Corona business creates ceramic models at no charge when infants have died or are terminally ill.
By Michael Coronado
The Press-Enterprise
Reprinted with permission from The Press Enterprise
Leigh Anne Logue looked over the body of baby Kaitlyn Russell, her tiny arms bent at the elbow, hands beside her head.
"She looked so beautiful. She looked like she was sleeping," said Logue.
Kaitlyn, 6 months old, died Aug. 15 inside a van that investigators estimated reached 130 degrees. Her baby sitter has been charged with manslaughter and felony child endangerment and is free on $25,000 bail.
Logue went to Rose Hills Mortuary in Whittier to create a memory of Kaitlyn Russell that could never fade. She took a slab of gray modeling clay and gently pressed the child's hand and foot into the moist surface. The imprints would be a gift for parents Colin and Tammy Russell and would forever change Logue.
"It was almost like Kaitlyn giving a gift," she said.
Logue gave Tammy Russell the ceramic impressions of Kaitlyn's hand and foot several weeks later.
At the time, Russell took the ceramic, placed it against her heart and cried.
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"They mean the world to me," Russell said. " I didn't have a lot of other things from Kaitlyn except her pictures."
Logue owns Little Prints, a ceramic hand and foot print home business she began in 1997. After making the ceramic prints of Kaitlyn Russell, Logue decided to craft the impressions free of charge of any baby who has died or is terminally ill. She also creates the ceramic imprints free of charge for babies who have been adopted.
What began as a small, home business that allowed her to be close to her family has blossomed. She estimates that she has made several thousand ceramic imprints of babies over the years -- up to 200 in a month.
Once the imprints are taken, Logue lets the clay dry for a week, then she fires the model inside a home kiln for up to 10 hours, which hardens the surface.
Twenty hours after the ceramic cools, she stamps the baby's name around the ceramic disc or heart and places the birth information on the back.
Corona resident Krista Ford brought her 2-week-old son, Kyle, to have his hand and foot imprinted into clay on Friday. Kyle fussed and cried as his tiny fingers were softly pressed into the cold clay.
"He has really good lines," Logue said of the baby's hands and feet.
Ford smiled. "Long life lines," she said.
Inside Logue's garage and workshop, dozens of ceramic imprints fill the side wall. Pink hands, denim blue feet, yellow fingers, green toes and even a couple of dog paw prints.
After several small business attempts, Logue said she has found her calling.
"It's my passion," said Logue.
