The first test (with the too-glittery beads) is behind the current effort. I did the background and the tree without any drawing or plan; I learned quite a bit and would definitely do a few things differently next time. I think I was a little too restrained with the "shading" darker atmospheric...

... so that happened! My first attempt went well and although I won't be rushing out to frame my test sample, I did learn a few key things in figuring out the process. 14 count canvas is needed to accommodate size 10 seed beads, 18 count canvas for size 15 (Japanese) beads. Rochelle and generic seed...

This might just work... It's a Malaysian mouse-deer, a fave local critter from the zoo and one of the prettier stamps from the series that inspired the project. Conceptually I think I can see how this might work now but I'm going to have to figure out how to "beef" the little deer up a bit because...