Being an overachiever that I am lead me to further explore how much I can torture myself (precisely my eyes and lower back) by making tiny doll beads. One of my all time favorite books is Lord of the Rings, so, naturally, as soon as I figured out some basic steps to do and avoid (Part I and Part II) I sat down and attempted to make The Fellowship of the Ring.
The first and the most complicated one to make was Gandalf the Grey. Since he is the tallest one in the Fellowship I had to make sure that he is at least an inch tall, so the other characters (especially hobbits) could be made in an appropriate ratio. Gandalf alone took me about 3 hours to complete. It could have saved me a good half an hour if I did not try to make the Wizards staff from polymer clay, but used what was right in front of me - a toothpick and some sanding paper. The only polymer clay detail on the staff (which I am very proud of) is the top, which I made from glow-in-the-dark FIMO that has been lying in my craft box for quite some time, since I never figured out a good use for it. While Gandalf figurine was drying, I made four hobbit figurines about half an inch tall. The most complicated of the bunch was Frodo, because I wanted to include a tiny round 18k gold connector bead as the One ring, so I had to be extra careful to secure it and paint around it. After an additional hour of painting and 24 hours of drying, I had my first two members!
The first and the most complicated one to make was Gandalf the Grey. Since he is the tallest one in the Fellowship I had to make sure that he is at least an inch tall, so the other characters (especially hobbits) could be made in an appropriate ratio. Gandalf alone took me about 3 hours to complete. It could have saved me a good half an hour if I did not try to make the Wizards staff from polymer clay, but used what was right in front of me - a toothpick and some sanding paper. The only polymer clay detail on the staff (which I am very proud of) is the top, which I made from glow-in-the-dark FIMO that has been lying in my craft box for quite some time, since I never figured out a good use for it. While Gandalf figurine was drying, I made four hobbit figurines about half an inch tall. The most complicated of the bunch was Frodo, because I wanted to include a tiny round 18k gold connector bead as the One ring, so I had to be extra careful to secure it and paint around it. After an additional hour of painting and 24 hours of drying, I had my first two members!
Rest of the hobbits were a bit easier to make and soon I had the whole Shire gang done. While the rest of the Fellowship was in the oven I had to make teeny tiny pan and po-tay-toes for Sam :)
The next pair - Legolas and Gimli, were probably the most fun to make, and by this time my hand was steady enough to manage to paint their weapons on the back. I even included some very light glitter on Gimlis axe to make it pop a bit.
Because of the similarities in physical appearance, I painted Boromir and Aragorn in parallel, just to make sure their robes and hair color are different enough, so no one would mix them on such a small scale.
This is by far my most complicated project, but the end result even stunned me - they all looke awesome!
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