To make this project I used multiple extrusions of a bezier curve. After making the rough shape I wanted I connected the two ends of the line. Followed by removing the z coordinate so that I could fill the curve and then tweaking some options until it was a mesh object that I could add depth to so it would have height. I came to the conclusion of using these curves for the body as I originally planned on transforming a plane into the proper shape and then extruding however the main problem witht his was subdiving the plane so I had more vertices to maneuver led to overlapping pixels which caused problems with the final render. Following my bezier curve image made 3D I added a torus to the image scaled and translated it and then joined the objects together in case I needed to scale down the image later for printing.
If I were to do this project again I would most likely choose something slightly more elaborate. For example something that was a bit more involving with the Z-axis. However due constraints from the 3D printers ability to make overhangs and my desire to have an object made by a 3D printer I decided on something less complex.