Slice of Life Day 3: Foss Shape

Have you ever heard of Foss Shape? Neither had I before I attended the International  Thespian Society State Festival as a chaperone with Hailey and four other students at George Mason University in January. Her teacher/director, Mr CJ and I went to our own classes/workshops when the kids went to theirs. The 1st class we attended was about FossShape. Mr CJ had never heard of this material and wanted to learn more about it, so off we went.

It turns out that Foss Shape is an amazing material that looks and feels like felt, but can be heated and molded to form a somewhat flexible, but hard, material. It’s an “easy” way to make masks, hats and even larger props and costume pieces. It makes me think of fondant on a cake. After you have shaped and heated the material you can seal it with Roof Patch (who knew!) and paint it.   Mr CJ was jazzed about this new material, and Hailey was, too, when we told her about it.

A bolt of Foss Shape was ordered and we played with it last weekend during costume construction day to make giant plates, forks, spoons and even puppets for the spring show of Beauty and the Beast. It will take a lot of practice to get it just to Hailey’s standards. But we made progress playing with template shapes, heat guns versus irons as heat sources and trying to get the material to work the way she wants it.

Last weekend was just another example of the adventure of drama, and all the new ways the world opens up. Foss Shape and Roof Patch (literally the stuff you use to patch a roof) are two new concepts in my vocabulary. The list continues to grow along with my experiences!

Slice of Life Day 2 Blessings

Today has been a wonderful day. Today Jackson came into the world. He is the perfect little baby boy born to “my Kara”; my mother in law’s god daughter, but so much more. She and her family are my family, too. Little Jackson  takes his grandfather’s last name. Ken passed almost a year ago, and his spirit was so present tonight when I met this little angel. Jackson is the first newborn baby I have held in a long while, and of course makes me reminisce about my own two babies (almost 19, and 16 years old!). How many slices of life have gone by in all those years?  All those memories we swear we will never forget, but then we look back at pictures and wonder if the baby was 5 months or 7 months old. Two years, or three years old.  I think it is wonderful on days like today that we can have the instant gratification of instant message, facebook and other social media to get the newborn picture so soon. The moments you want to hold onto forever; that you swear you will never forget. Hailey is so jealous tonight because she isn’t old enough to go to the hospital because of the flu restrictions. Her heart is so open and wants to welcome Jackson with the cousin hugs and kisses he will be adorned with soon enough. Tonight I celebrate Jackson, and allow myself to also get washed in the nostalgia of welcoming my two most precious gifts into the world. How’s that for some drama?

Day 1

Today is my first day of my blog launch! Scary and fun at the same time!

Here is my original thought behind starting this blog. It is supposed to go on my About page, but I haven’t figured that our yet!

I wanted to start this Drama Mama blog to record all the new experiences I am having this year as the mother of a newly obsessed drama queen, I mean, theater student! I have transitioned from Soccer Mom to Drama Mama with the switch from sports to theater, and though it is different, it is also awesome! I am learning so much from this experience. I am a person who, before this fall, had barely ever stepped foot in a Joann’s Fabrics. I can barely sew a button on a shirt. But somehow I raised a daughter who not only loves to act, but has a passion, and skill,  for costume design and construction. Follow along on my evolution from soccer mom to drama mama. There will be plenty of DRAMA along the way. The life kind, not just the theater kind, believe me!