RLC

A Paper Doll for a Happy Valentine’s Day 2024

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

Happy Valentine’s Day! I’ve been drawing Valentine’s Day paper dolls for a long long time. So, if this one doesn’t strike your fancy, I have quite a few others. Since I’m off visiting family over this holiday, this’ll be a short post.

My grandmother used to send me and my sister cards for Valentine’s Day which often included paper dolls. So, each year I draw a Valentine’s Day paper doll in her honor. There was also one in this month’s newsletter if coloring one is more your style.

My niece helped me pick out colors for this paper doll and I think she came out very cute.

I hope everyone has an amazing Valentine’s Day. I confess I have a history of awful Valentine’s Days (in college, I got dumped on Valentine’s Day) but I still like to draw paper dolls for the holiday.

Imperial Elegance: An Hanfu and Kimono Inspired Fantasy Paper Doll

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

This pair of fantasy gowns were heavily inspired by hanfu, which are traditional Chinese clothing, specifically those of the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE). However, this has about as much in common with actual historical Chinese clothing as this paper doll has in common with actual historical English clothing. That’s to say- not a whole heck of a lot.

Rarely have I had a set that I have more trouble with coloring. This gave me fits! I initially planned on the two dresses coordinating, but then decided that seemed boring, so broke out and did two very different color schemes inspired by seasonal Japanese colors. (Yes, I know hanfu are Chinese, not Japanese, but again- this is fantasy clothing.)

In Japan, traditional kimonos are styled with seasonal color schemes. So, I tried to base these color schemes on traditional seasonal colors of Japan. One dress uses February colors, crimson and purple. The other dress uses March colors which are peach and khaki. The Kimono Lady, a defunct blog, has a really detailed write up about March colors here. I had a little more trouble finding references for February colors, but this yukata influenced the colors I chose.

I love color, but I find my own eye attracted to specific color schemes. It’s really valuable to see how different cultures combine colors. I never would have used purple and crimson together in the way that I did, but once I did it- I really loved how graphic it made the dress.

Astro Allure in a Different Color Scheme for my Patrons

Grab the Paper Doll From Patreon Here | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

In case you missed it, earlier this week, I shared the blue version of this paper doll with her mostly black and white wardrobe.

When I was working on a color scheme for this paper doll, I kept thinking about how I wanted to try a second color scheme. I was having way to much fun playing around with colors. Inspired by the chilly weather outside, I decided to experiment with warm and cheerful colors. Thus, the second iteration emerged, bathed in shades of pinks and yellows. These colors, reminiscent of spring and summer, hopefully bring a sense of summery happiness, especially in contrast to the dark chilly winter nights I’m currently experiencing.

I really love pink.

One subtle is that all the black on this set isn’t actually black- it’s a very dark gray with a pink tinge. So, that was an attempt to tie the whole thing together.

By the way, I really want to express how much I appreciate all of you who have supported this creative journey. Thank you for being a part of this adventure, especially since right now things are sort of unknown.

Additionally, I think I somehow messed something up on Patreon by pausing things in January, so… I likely won’t be doing that again! Meanwhile, we’ll triage along best we can!

Astro Allure: An Alien in Blue

Black and white alien paper doll cut outs to color with a doll and 10 piece wardrobe.
Super fun alien paper doll cut outs with a doll and a mix and match wardrobe.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

Yes, it is another one of the alien paper dolls! This is the last of the alien paper doll cut outs I’ve got ready. I think for the moment I am over aliens, but I sure did have a lot of fun drawing them for a while.

When I was working on my alien paper dolls, I knew I wanted one to feel very feminine in her clothing. So, I designed a lot of baby doll style dresses for her. I was influenced a lot by this older paper doll, David Koma’s Winter 2014 Collection, and a dash of retro-futurism. So, an eclectic collection of influences there.

Beyond acknowledging the fun I had drawing all of these pieces, I want to emphasize how mix and match the whole little aliens series is. Some of these pieces would go great with Galaxy Glamour, Interstellar Seas, or Stardust Styles.

While today’s paper doll’s color scheme is very monochromatic, I actually went through a few different color schemes. So, there’s a second color scheme for today’s paper doll and I’ll share that one later this week for my Patrons (you can join us here).

Warmest Wishes: A Cozy Winter Paper Doll

A cute winter paper doll coloring page with short brown hair, glasses and an eight piece mix and match wardrobe.
A cute winter paper doll with short brown hair, glasses and an eight piece mix and match wardrobe.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

When I was designing this winter paper doll, I wanted her to have glasses (because I hadn’t done any Ensemble Eclectica dolls with glasses yet) and I wanted her to feel distinctly different from my other winter paper doll in pastels. I also wanted to make sure things could layer well, because on thing about winter clothing is that layering is critical.

I basically live in layers in the winter- lots of long underwear, lots of socks. So, everyone I know has at least two parkas, sometimes more. I have my “wet weather” set up- which is a fleece under a raincoat. I have my light weight parka, which I wear until it gets below -10 and then I have my heavy parka, which I bust out for colder weather. If I end up needing it, I also have a variety of layering pieces I can add- wool and silk long underwear and heavy socks.

But up here in my part of Alaska, this winter has been weirdly mild, until this week when it’s finally dropped down to -30 where it should be this time of year. Since it’s been above 10 degrees several days this January, which is not normal, everyone is sort of relieved to get some actual winter. I actually busted out my big parka, finally. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised- climate change- but I don’t love the increase of snow. Usually, it’s too cold to snow here and the roads stay pretty dry and easy to drive on. I’m not a snow lover, even if I don’t mind the cold.

Anyway, I do try to match my paper dolls to the seasons, but this is hard, because it can take me a long time to finish things. Working digitally has sped me up a bit, but I’m still someone who tends to ink a bunch and then color and bunch and then do layout and then… etc.

Do you have a favorite season? Let me know in a comment. Despite the cold, I really don’t mind winter. However, I think autumn is my favorite.

Developing Some Goals for 2024

This is not usually a hard post for me to write. I am a very goal oriented person. I like making goals. I like setting goals and working towards them. It brings me a lot of satisfaction. However, this year I’ve struggled a little with my goal setting.

Primary Goal

Develop a workflow for my paper doll creations that both maintains my momentum and is sustainable within the confines of my other hobbies and obligations.

However, this isn’t a goal that’s easy to measure or on that I really know how to start with, so here’s a few concrete goals I’m working towards-

1. Post to the Blog Weekly- Except when I take vacations

I really like having a simply goal regarding consistency and I think planning for a minimum of a one post a week works well for me. I particularly want to balance pre-scheduling posts and not losing the motivation that a regular schedule gives me.

2. Restart Monthly Newsletters

After a lot of debate, I’ve decided to keep the Newsletter (I almost killed it) and focus on it being a slightly longer monthly format. I want to bring back a newsletter paper doll and I think it will go out either the first or the last Friday of the month. If you haven’t signed up yet, you can do that here.

3. Exclusive Monthly Paper Dolls for my Patrons

My plan is to continue a having exclusive paper doll series for my patrons. In February, I’ll have a poll for my patrons to vote on what you’d like to see for this year. Also, there will be occasional exclusive WIP posts and polls and things. If you want to join, it will officially reopen on the 1st of February.

4. Create More Prints

One big development in my artistic life is that I ended up with an art printer, specifically an Epson 3800, which was destined for donation to a recycling center before my husband adopted it. We didn’t know if it would work and it took a bit of work on his part to make it work, but now it does work. We’ve named it Brunhilda. The prints Brunhilda creates are so beautiful. Really really beautiful- like professional art print beautiful.

I never in a million years would have paid to get one of these (because wowzer, these are not cheap), but now that I own one, it seems a pity not to use it. In fact, you have to use it at least once a month, or you can have issues with the nozzles clogging.

Stretch Goals

These are goals that I really don’t think I’ll successfully do, but I think dreaming big is important.

Complete a 100 Day Project

I keep telling myself that one day I will complete a 100 day project. I never have, but maybe someday I could? Or would? I think rather than focusing on doing something for 100 days, I think I want to focus on doing 100 of something over the course of the year. No idea what yet, mind you, but something.

I think I just love the idea of a paper doll with 100 outfits. So, that probably has something (everything) to do with it.

Sell Prints on Etsy

To be totally honest, I don’t know if I want to do this, but again- I have the printer to do it- I just don’t know if I’d like the extra work of trying to mail things to people or if that logistical challenge is one that I would end up absolutely hating. I’ve never done it, so it’s tough to say for sure.

Anyway, those are my goals for 2024. I don’t know where I’ll do with all of them, but I am going to see. I have to keep reminding myself that changing a goal isn’t failure.

Little Break in January

While I haven’t got formal goals yet for 2024, one of my informal ones was not to disappear from the blog without some announcement (if only because my mom then texts me to make sure I am okay), so here’s my little announcement that I’m slipping away for a few weeks.

By the way, if you’re a patron, Patreon did a strange thing with the bank holiday for New Years and time zones and rather than stopping charges, it looks like it might be refunding them for January? I’m not sure exactly what’s happening. Just incase you get an odd message, that’s what that’s about. If you have any questions, reach out to me and I’ll try to help!

Here’s 2023 in Review!

This December has been a little tough. I got walking pneumonia, but am on the mend. I spent a lot of the month resting and recovering. However, as 2024 begins, I have had sometime to reflect and gather some stats. It dawned on me that I used to regularly share year-end posts, a practice I somehow drifted away from. But I missed crafting these reflections on the passing year, so here we are and I hope you find it interesting.

This is not my goals for 2024 post, because I haven’t got those sorted quite yet. Until then, I hope you find some facts, figures and reflections interesting.

Paper Thin Personas in 2023 in Numbers

The 2023 blog stats in colorful circles. 60K unique visitors. 87 blog posts. 28 newsletters.

Let’s start with some numbers… Paper Thin Personas (PTP) had about 60K unique visitors in 2023. I created 87 blog posts of which 62 were paper doll post. I published 28 newsletters. As you may recall, I had planned on transforming PTP into a newsletter in 2023 and that did not work.

The most popular post of 2023.

So, I do plan to continue the newsletter, but I think I’ll migrate it to a monthly little paper doll update for everyone’s email inbox.

  • The most popular new post of 2023 (because this post remains the post popular post of all time, by a wide margin), was my Citrus Summer Paper Doll. (No idea why, but there you go.)
  • Other than Google, I get most of my visitors from Pinterest.
  • The majority of my visitors are from the United States with Canada, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom as other common spots.
  • My busiest month was November 2023 (no idea why) and my least busy month was April 2023 (again, no idea why)
  • On average, visitors to the site stick around about 2.3 minutes and look at 3 different pages. Of course, this is a little messy of a stat, because of how Google counts people.

All in all, I am really very happy with how the blog is doing in the numbers game. Paper dolls are a niche hobby (to say the least) and I don’t expect they are suddenly going to become as popular as K-pop or something.

Achievements of 2023

The cover of the paper doll book- Styles of the 1920s by Rachel Cohen.

My book came out! Paper Doll Review agreed to publish a project I’d been drawing for a while and they did just a really fantastic job. Julie Matthews colored the line-work I created so beautifully. Jenny Taliadoros held my hand through the whole thing.

Also, I went to a paper doll party! I’ve been talking about going for so long. I thought about going last year, but decided to get married instead. I met so many amazing people and it was the push I needed to really commit to moving to digital art.

Anyway, I don’t know how I could have topped either of those two events, but I did also want to share my favorite paper dolls that I posted onto PTP in 2023, each one for a different reason.

The three posts I am super proud of are the first night of Hanukkah set, Stardust Styles, and my 1894 suit.

My Favorite Paper Dolls of 2023

My 1894 suit is a favorite, because it was the first set that I drew where I feel like I really embraced the possibilities of digital art. I learned so much during its creation process and I used so many tools. It felt like a moment where my art shifted in some real way.

Stardust Styles is a favorite, because it surprised me. Sometimes I come up with ideas and then I don’t really like how they end up. Stardust Styles was the opposite. I came up with the idea and I wasn’t sure about it. However, once I drew it and colored it, it came together so much better than I hoped it would.

The first night of Hanukkah set was a favorite, because it came out exactly as I imagined it. Sometimes art is easy (not often for me!) and this was one of those times. It feels timeless. I can imagine my nephew or niece giving this set to their kids. That makes me happy.

Do you have a favorite from 2023? Let me know in a comment and have an amazing start to 2024. I’m taking a little blog break until the 22nd (one of my goals for 2024 is to try not to just disappear for weeks at a time… we’ll see how that goes) while I deal with some behind the scenes stuff and I plan to return on the 22nd.