After finishing my Felt Square my interest in beading dolls has a rebirth. I love beaded dolls and begin a lot of projects. It seems that I never finish them. I must search for some of those and see if I can show them here. Since I have been interested in dolls I have collected several links that I would like to share:
My first reference is the book Beaded Embellishment: Techniques & Designs for Embroidering on Cloth by Robin Atkins and Amy C. Clarke. The book includes techniques, projects and tons of eye candy. Robin Atkins has some tips and a great gallery at her page. But I think that the whole site deserves a visit, because it's full of information on the world of beads and her journey of becoming a bead artist.
If you are interested in dolls and beads, your first project will probably be an small beaded flat doll. You can always draw a simple shape but if you want a quick start Ronda Kivett offers free patterns at her site. She also sells full kits, with everything you need to get finish a beaded doll. And look at the dragonfly goddess that I found at her gallery!!!
Next step will be embellishing with beads. There is tutorial by Celtic Art on how to get started. It has links to ressources, tips on materials and techniques on starting beading and making some fringes. At Celtic Art's site you would also find some interesting articles. I enjoyed the one on swaps but the publicity of her site keep messing with my computer. What a shame!!!. If your computer can resist all the pop-ups you 'll also be able to find the Bead Art Forum. A forum to share tips and projects.
Bead and doll Artist Marcia Acker-Missall has also a .pdf with some basics on beading embellishment. Visit her site to begin thinking about going 3d with your beads and your dolls.
Looking for inspiration? My favourite bead artist is Carol Dellinger. I love all her dolls, altough I have a favourite. Another inspirational site is Megan Nöel's blog. You can see her work in progress. At her site there are also branched-fringe and picot instructions. The place that I prefer for links is at Rebekah Houdous' site. She has collected a nice amount of links on beaded doll. If your interest in beads goes beyond dolls don't miss her Relics of Time is awesome!!!
I hope this makes you start a beaded project... I may even start one myself ; )
