Marisole Monday & Friends

Spring has Sprung: Asian Printable Paper Doll

Yay, it’s a printable paper doll.

I promised myself I wouldn’t spend this post whining about everything i have been trying to get done or making excuses. I had this last week off for spring break and I did get some stuff done, so I can’t be all unhappy about it. I don’t seem to be getting as much done I had hoped, but perhaps I have less then realistic expectations of myself.

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Today’s Marisole recycles a few things I’ve done before such as the shoes and the sewing machine. I really wanted to have a sewing machine for the paper Marisoles as well as the magnetic ones and I am just pleased that it came out well. The grey shoes are recolored from the set I drew for my Mother’s quilting retreat and the other shoes were drawn at the same time, but not used because she thought the heels were too high. I personally think high heels are fun.

I can’t decide how I feel about the patterned shirts in this set. I like them, but I’m not sure how much I like them… I was trying to do more patterns, but I’m not sure I should have. I really don’t like the black background that seems to happen when my pictures open in a new window… is it just me or do other people see it too? And does it annoy you all as much as it annoys me?

Circuits and Fishnet: Cyberpunk Printable Paper Doll

Today Marisole printable paper doll is going cybergoth since there’s just not enough neon and shiny in Marisole’s eclectic paper wardrobe. This is the first new Marisole in a depressingly long time… I confess I spent time I probably should have spent revising a paper on this, but after five hours in the library my mind is pretty much non-functional anyway. And it’s nice to come home to paper doll coloring as a relaxing project to work on.

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Now, I did recently get my hands on Gothic: Dark Glamour by Valerie Steele. While I normally I like Steele’s work, I was a bit disappointed by this book. It didn’t have the lavish pictures I have come to want in any costume book I buy. Still, it did have a fairly nice description of cyber-gothic and helped me narrow things down to black with neon accents. The hair was the hardest part of this paper doll, but I am actually quite pleased at how it came out. The other piece I am most proud of is the shiny black corset. Shiny fabrics are something I am still practicing and I am totally excited at how perfect the corset turned out to be. It’s rare that I really feel like I’ve achieved what I wanted with texture. Texture is hard.

So, I’ve done a dark steampunk paper doll over the years, a gothic Lolita one and one punk paper doll, but I don’t think I’ve ever really done a traditional gothic paper doll unless you count my vampire paper doll in 2010. I wonder if I should? What do other people think?

Spirit of the North: Black and White Printable Paper Doll

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So, I have good news, bad news and slightly indifferent news. The good news is- Hey, look it’s a paper doll post. The bad news is that it will probably be the only one for the whole week. The indifferent news is that the paper doll is in black and white. I chose to post Spirit of the North in black and white since the dolls dresses have a lot of pattern to them and I thought it would be more interesting to color than some of my other paper dolls.

I think it might be cheating to recycle content like this… But so far people have been nice about it. 🙂

At the Big Gala: Black Printable Paper Doll

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day to all those in the United State who, like me, get the day off. I’m spending mine doing laundry and getting ready for classes, but hopefully other people are having more fun. Marisole is all dressed up for a big gala this week. I confess that my schedule for this coming semester is looking crazy and I don’t know how much time I’ll be able to devote to the blog, but we’ll see how it goes.

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So, my father is trying to get me to create some magnetic paper dolls to sell. I’m not so sure about the idea myself, but he’s convinced that in the tourist heavy summers of Juneau Alaska that they would be a hit. He’s promised to do the research, if I draw the paper doll. My question to all those grandparents who read this blog or parents or anyone else who buys gifts for children (or themselves, lets be honest here) how much would you pay for a magnetic paper doll, neatly packaged with an Alaskan theme (assuming you’re in Alaska to begin with, mind you). Five bucks? Ten? I’ve seen them on Etsy for as much as 30 dollars, but I can’t imagine anyone paying that amount (I certainly wouldn’t). How much would you spend?

Edit 4/6/2014: This set is now available here in black and white for coloring. Yay!

Spirit of the North: Printable Paper Doll

We still haven’t had much snow here, but I don’t mind. I’m able to walk home from work which is just about a mile and a half and it’s a nice walk to do when the weather isn’t too cold. I’m dreading when it gets colder and I’ll have to decide between wait ten minutes for the bus or walking 25 minutes in the cold. It’s a hard call and depending on how horrid it is, I usually decide right after work.

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I’ve been playing around with color pallets a lot lately. I realized, I’d never done a sort of Norse/Anglo-Saxon/Medieval fantasy paper doll in a pale color scheme. Somehow that lead to this and then the idea of giving the paper doll blue skin came to me last minute. Once the paper doll was fully colored, I knew she had to be some sort of other worldly winter fairy or something. She might be smiling, but I get the feeling she might be very dangerous. Not someone you’d want to cross.

And, in case I haven’t mentioned it or you haven’t noticed, there’s a poll. Feel free to vote or tell me what you think in a comment.

Candy Coated Couture: Printable Paper Doll

I wanted to play around with bright colors and when I play with bright colors, I like to use a darker skintone on the paper doll. I think it looks lovely with the bright greens, blues, pinks, oranges and purples which make up this set. Colors inspired, I confess by those runt candies. Remember those? I loved Runts when I was a kid.

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Candy Coated Couture’s skin tone is the same as Book Loving Princess, so they can share shoes- should you feel the need to give the princess some rocking multi-colored platforms. (Who doesn’t need rocking multi-colored platforms, I ask you?)

There probably won’t be a Dictionary Girls update this week, because I don’t have one ready and I’m traveling on Wednesday to visit family for the holidays, there will, however, be Shadow and Light up on Friday and a one-shot paper doll to make up for the lack of Dictionary Girls.

Edit (10/7/2013): I just posted this paper doll set in black and white, so if you want to color her- now you can!

Folkloric Fairytale: Fantasy Printable Paper Doll

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Today’s Marisole is brought to you by the illustrations of Ivan Bilibin and Russian fairy tales and this random blog post I found of some fairy tale fashions from 2009. Also, the letter F.

I’ve also posted three new pages of clothing for the magnetic Marisole paper dolls. One is a page of fantasy clothing and the other two are historical sets of clothing. I will be posting a new magnetic paper doll set later this week which should be exciting. 🙂 If anyone wants to print out the magnetic paper dolls, this is a great time of the year to find cheap tins all over the place. I’ve seen them at Walgreens and the Dollar Store.

Coffee, Stawberry and Cream: Printable Paper Doll

goldenSo, I did this paper doll set once before, well… not this set exactly, but a very similar paper doll set called Mint and Roses. Now the idea was to try a similar color scheme and see if I liked it better. I think I do. I traded the grey for a dark chocolate brown (which has a lot of blue undertones) and the green is less muddy. On the whole, I think this set works better, though I sort of miss the orange hair of the other paper doll.

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Things are up a little later tonight then I had planned. I have been fighting with the United States Postal Service lately about if I do or do not exist. They think I don’t exist. I swear I do exist. I’ve called them twice now and spoken to them in person once. I am getting ready to leave a nice little note in my mailbox for my carrier assuring him or her of my continued residency. I should add that I actually love the USPS. They do amazing things. They get mail across this country in a remarkably short period of time. They are amazing.

Anyway… on an unrelated, look its a paper doll. She’s cute. She has a really puffy skirt.

Commercial Fisher: Printable Paper Doll

Technically, it’s just past midnight here in Illinois, but its still Monday in Alaska, so I think she still counts as on time.

When I was a child, the we’d go out for a few weeks each summer and commercially fish for salmon and halibut, so I wanted it to be accurate beyond my own memories. Commercial fishing is some of the most back breaking labor I have ever done. It’s hard work, but you can’t beat the views. When I was 16, I was offered the choice of working for the summer fishing or finding a job.

I found a job.

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My mom actually requested this paper doll a few months ago and it took me a while to decide what exactly to include on the sheet (Hi mom!). So, we have Marisole, with coloring as close to a self portrait of me as you’ll ever get on this blog, and she has a wardrobe of proper fishing clothing from her heavy duty dark green rain gear (overalls and a jacket) to her bright orange rubber gloves for baiting hooks and cutting fish. She comes with a small Pacific Halibut (slime not included) and a King Salmon, though neither looks as good as I wanted it too. She also has a gaffhook, a gutting knife and a little green tin of bag balm to wear under her gloves.

The cold storage we sold our fish too was in Hoonah, Alaska and it gave away baseball caps. I still remember my father walking around in his jeans with his bright pink Hoonah Cold Storage cap on his head. I had one for years, but I don’t know what happened to it. So, Marisole has one of those too along with some t-shirts, jeans and long underwear. Most importantly, Marisole has her Xtratuff boots which are a required part of any fisherperson’s wardrobe.

Personally, I think she’s prepared for her adventure.

Edit 3/28/2016: There is now a black and white version of this paper doll. Find it here.

Trick or Treat: Halloween Printable Paper Doll

Happy Halloween! And to celebrate this festive day, I have a halloween paper doll.

Now, this isn’t the first Halloween paper doll I have done. After all, there was the vampire paper doll from last year, so you can celebrate with her too. (Also, there’s a zombie who would fit in well.)

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I always have these high expectations and plans for Halloween. I mean, is there a better holiday for paper dolls? It’s all about costumes, for gods sake. It’s perfect. And yet, somehow, I never manage to actually get my act together enough to do anything major for the holiday. Sad, but true.

Last year, I actually drew this paper doll set. The idea was to do a whole month of costumes. Obviously, that didn’t happen last year and it didn’t happen this year, but since I’d never finished coloring this set, I thought I would post it now. The strapless white dress can either be used as the base for the Egyptian Queen costume set or the Angel costume set. The wings should be glued to the back of the doll along the white strip.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween. I’m planning on spending mine doing laundry, cleaning the apartment and handing out candy to small children.

Book Loving Princess Paper Doll with Braids

I love her braids. I am less pleased with the title of this set. I am running out of things to call these darn sets. So, I just sort of pick words out of the air. I’m not sure that they are that informative for people, but what the heck? It’s a paper doll.

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I have been working on creating a new pallet of skin tones based on photographs of supermodels/actresses of various elasticities. It is slow going. I tend to think of skintones in terms of color- light brown, dark brown, brown with a little red in it, brown with grey undertones, peach with yellow undertones, peach with red undertones… I rarely think in terms of ethnicity, so I find myself skipping around looking for various “colors” to adopt. It’s been educational and I like the colors I am getting out of it.

Also, I know I owe a Puck paper doll to Kat the winner of my drawing. Fear not, Kat, it is nearly done and will be up this coming Sunday. I have not forgotten, I just didn’t get it quite finished last week.

Edit 8/10/2013: There is now a a black and white version of this paper doll for coloring. You’ll need to scroll down a bit in the post to see her.

Art Deco Goddess: A Flapper Paper Doll from the 1920s

Sometimes, this blog feels a bit like albatross around my neck, only with fewer feathers. It’s gets heavy and awkward and then I don’t update for a few days and I feel guilty for not updating.

And I tell myself, “No one reads it” (which I know to not be true, but it’s a good line) or “I don’t have anything to post” (which is also usually false) or “There’s no point in posting something when I know I don’t have a weeks worth of posts” (also not true, but it’s an excuse) and, of course, “I’m too busy” (which of all my excuses is actually sometimes true).

None of these excuses really keep me from feeling guilty about the whole thing, but they make the guilt slightly easier to deal with.

I wonder if other paper doll bloggers feel this way. I don’t know. We’re not exactly a massive community.

Wow, this might be the most melodramatic post I’ve ever put up on this blog and I almost didn’t post it, but I’m struggling to be more personal on the blog. The irony is that I have been drawing, but none of it has been blog related and I have tons penciled, but am having a hard time getting around to inking, scanning and coloring. But I buckled down this weekend and got some done, so I have high hopes for at least getting back to some updating.

A flapper printable paper doll in full color with an eighteen piece mix and match wardrobe from suits to swimsuits. Free to print from paperthinpersonas.com.

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Starting that trend is today’s Marisole flapper paper doll rocking some roaring 1920s fashions. She’s wearing a wardrobe taken from fashion plates and magazines of the twenties. While I love 1920’s fashion, I don’t know if Marisole wears it very well. She has pretty serious hips and this was a time when long and lean was the name of the game. So, I have some mixed feelings about how they all look. Still, I have enjoyed getting to do some historical stuff with Marisole and I do think she makes a pretty cute “flapper”.

I’m also playing around with this new “related” posts feature which I think might be totally useless. I’ll give it a few more weeks.

Edit 8/23/13: This paper doll is now available in black and white for coloring, scroll down a bit on the post and you should see her.