Sapphire Beauty

Miss Sapphire Beauty is the doll I've been working on lately for the BAD birthstone RR. There is something really meditative about this doll. Maybe it's the shape? She reminds me of those statues of Christ that you see on the cross that are in the Alps and other high mountain places. Sort of a nunlike quality.

I did the arms and area below the arms. The center section is peyote with with a ruffle. Easy to make just do two rows where you put two beads instead of one between each bead. I got the idea from the "Frill Seeker" bracelet that I made. The sides are Right Angle Weave

He's finished... For the most part

Well, I finally did it and got up the courage to do the felting of the hair. Thankfully good ole Karma veranda gave me lots of advice that was great for a beginner. Thanks Karma! I think it turned out fairly well for a beginner. May try it again on other dolls.

I still have to line the cloak with black satin but other than that he's done!

Update on the Weird Sisters

I've finished beading the bottom of the doll. I used size 8 beads and did a peyote stitch. I'm still working on the embellishments but hope to finish her this week.

A few touch ups...

Introducing my rendition of the infamous Rat King from the Nutcracker Suite.

Had some problems with the tail. I used a pipe cleaner but didn't think to fold the end over on itself so the wire sticks out at the end of the tail. Think I'm going to have to undo the last bit, fix it and re-bead it. Also I need to add some wire whiskers. Still trying to figure out how I want to do that. Glue them? Some how work the wire from one side to the other? Any suggestions?

Just in the Nick of Time

Here she is Jolly Holly, just in the nick of time to enjoy the last of the holidays.

Seasonal RR

This doll is Rolanda's and since it had a religious theme I decided to go all out and add the cross. The fabric looks like stained glass to me so I went for a stained glass theme. The purple reminds me of grapes which are an Autumn fruit and this is an Autumn doll. Hope she likes it.

Latest Results

I have no idea why Cindar is sideways. Probably part of her quirky personality. She fights me over everything. Had to do her lips TEN times, count them ten times, before she was happy.

Cindar is Mary of California's doll. She is half tiger and half woman and is represents the strength of women to overcome bad situations such as domestic abuse.

She has decided that with all her strength but also compassion that it's time to become a super-hero and help make the world a better place. I'm really excited to see how she turns out over the coolaberation. There are so many talented people in the group and I think we all think a little differently which makes for all sorts of exciting possibilities.

It's a puzzle to me...

It's a puzzle to me how to go about this doll. I was thinking I could do front and back, maybe in peyote stitch and using a curved needle. The doll is two layers of peltex 70 and I was thinking with a curved needle I could just go through one layer in the front and do the same when doing the back. BUT... I wanted to bead the face and those are MUCH smaller beads, and of course the curved needle is too big for the beads. I can only find long straight needles for that size of beads. Sigh... But a thought just occurred to me that may work. I did the hair three layers deep of pellon to add some depth, so maybe all I need to do is make a back hair piece for the back of the head and attach that. Maybe for the body I can still try my curved needle experiment.

Now I'm excited to go try but no time...

J

It's a puzzle...

Well I finally posted my beginning photo to the BAD site for the flat doll challenge. I choose to take the yellow option with a ten percent contrast. Yellow isn't really much of a challenge for me, because I like yellow. However I thought it would be harder to find nice yellow beads. Luckily I was wrong and I've been having a blast searching for yellow beads.

Valentine Swap

I thought I'd share the incredible doll I received from the BAD Valentine swap. We were paired so that that the person we were making a doll for was also making a doll for us. It was a great experience for me as a beginner because I had a fabulous partner. The moderator paired me with a generous talented woman who very kindly answered my questions. When I received my doll I was so amazed when I saw it, it was so beautiful. And the beadwork is incredible, I can learn so much from looking at her work. The picture doesn't do it justice, the beads reflect the light and it almost glows.

J

Wow!

I can't believe that I haven't posted at all since the New Year! Actually it's pretty typical but I am trying to do better. Maybe I should have the goal of only once a week and anything else is extra.

I finished my first beaded doll. I'm actually quite pleased with it. I had no clue what I was doing in the beginning, so over all I think it looks fairly professional. It's for a swap in the Beaded Art Dolls Group (BAD for short. : ) ). They are a really great group, which is full of incredibly talented women, who are kind and helpful as well. Does that count as a run on sentence? : P Often talented people don't have much patience to help others, but these people are fantastic.

J