I realized I hadn’t gotten around to posting my process pics prior to the end of our previous life so I figured I would post her here on the new one!
This is Mini @marionberries (formerly Cmarion3) that was created for the “Craft a Craftster Friend” swap. I had zero experience with creating an Art Doll prior to this swap and was super nervous to enter at first but @PerfectlyBohemian urged me to give it at try so I jumped tripped in to give it a shot.
Without Further Ado, ALL the pics… >>>
Now, let me e’splain…
I crochet a lot, so I thought at first I would play it safe and do a soft crocheted doll but ended up stepping outside my comfort zone with air dry paper clay instead. The conversation in my head was like-
Me: Hm. I could crochet something really easily for this and make cute clothes…
Inner Craft Demon: BOOORRRIIINNNGGGG.
Me: But seriously, it would be s-
Inner Craft Demon: NOPE. We goin shopping Beech!
Me: I really don’t think…
Also Me: <Suddenly finds myself in Michaels with a basket full of all the things for sculpting> How…?
Inner Craft Demon: No need to thank me. <Throws glitter>
Basically, I have zero impulse control and was thankful for the longish crafting period for this swap so I could do a bit of light research on the subject lol. Anyone else fall into that trap? 
I sort of “winged” it with the body knowing I wanted to make the doll stationary but I ended up following some advice from a professional art doll blogger on how to work with the paper clay to sculpt the face. I was super nervous throughout the whole phase but I really liked how her features turned out. Especially since I sculpted the body first and the head was a separate piece. I feel like I got super lucky the proportions worked out. (though I wasn’t convinced until the hair was added 
)
She is painted with watercolor tints for a softer blush look and a touch of watercolor pencils to define the eyes. the next step was clothing. The top of her dress is just a satin ribbon from my stash that I strategically wrapped around her body because trying to stitch a dress around her delicate arms was beyond my skill and time lol. The skirt is a similar color fabric piece to the ribbon with a lace overlay that I hand stitched together. The cloak…I wanted this cloak to be my size lol. the fabric scrap has pretty gold bees on the outside and I thought it would be perfect for this woodsy avatar so she had a bright pop of color.
The last step was the hair for me for two reasons. 1 - it would have gotten in the way of me dressing her and 2 - I didn’t know how the heck I was gonna do it. Eventually, I decided the best strategy I could think of -and based on various ways suggested online - that hot glue would serve my purposes here. I didn’t get a picture of this part of the process unfortunately, but I ended up starting at the base of the skull, from one side of the face to the next and gluing section after section all the way to the top of her head.
The result being SO. MUCH. HAIR.
I got lucky on the length as I didn’t need to trim it at all either. the last accent pieces were the brown paper flowers (in her hair and hand) and a tiny gold origami butterfly I folded and painted for her outstretched fingers.
I am fairly pleased with how she turned out overall and I definitely learned a lot about paper clay in the process.
anyhoo, thanks for looking! 
-Nichole
I sometimes get the urge too to jump into completely new crafts; I think it come from needing a break from the tried and true to have an adventure with some new mediums. Lovely lovely job; her face is so delicate and ethereal.
