Mini Round Robin with Aryd'ell

Some of the ladies in the Beaded Art Dolls group were starting up a beaded art doll round robin. Since I wasn't sure how things would be going after the neck surgery or if I would be able to keep up with the time schedule, Aryd'ell at Gypsy's Ramblings suggested we have a mini RR between the two of us.
What a fantastic opportunity, of course I said YES!

We had emailed back and forth and ended up using two doll forms I had made from the same pattern. I had sent one to Aryd'ell as a thank you figuring she could always use extra forms with all the faces from the swap when I sent the form I was using and she decided we'd bead sisters :), so put a face on it and sent it back to me to start.

During our email conversations it came up about trying to get them so they would stand up by themselves and she mentioned going to work with an idea she was having with large rounds. I had been thinking along the lines of beading some type of flat platform on the bottom, but while digging around in my beads I found some faceted 8mm(?) crystal glass beads that seemed like just the perfect thing to try.


I didn't get them quite even on the bottom so while it will stand it's not straight up, I'm working on a fix for that. Hopefully the idea I am having will turn out exactly what I am thinking in this case.
The arches over the faceted beads are size 11's with drops nestled in the spaces between. I had completed the small bocci stitch tree on the back and needed to take a break for a while and let the cabochons on the front set. That is when I saw that Gypsy's Ramblings had a new post. I think her suggestion in the email nudged me in the same direction. Similar, but different... I think that works very well for sister dolls!



This is the first beaded project I've attempted since fighting to finish the tree doll.
The difference is amazing! I'm getting my hands back!!
I was so thrilled yesterday I didn't want to stop and had to keep making myself take breaks to rest my neck. Then last night I couldn't leave it alone and spent a little more time beading in the evening. There is still some fumbling and a little bit of occasional clumsiness, but I am so optimistic for getting more dexterity back as time goes on.
Words just can't express how thankful I am that the surgery has been such a success so far. Now I just need to keep myself in check to go slow and take it easy so things can continue in a good way over the next several months.