Category Archives: Marisole

Magnetic Paper Dolls for a Quilting Retreat

Click on the images to download the PDF file for printing the magnetic paper dolls.

Thumbnail link image Thumbnail link image

First off: I was not abducted by aliens or eaten by a polar bear or killed by some strange monster which lives in the depths of the library stacks.

Rather, I was busy working on class things, working on work things and working on thesis writing things. The truth is that for the next semester, the blog is going to be neglected and I am going to feel guilty about it, but I am really really crazy busy. Thumbnail link image

My mother attends a quilting retreat each January with some friends and there is a tradition of bringing a little gift for the other quilters. Since I gave her a set of magnetic Marisole paper dolls this year for the holidays, she decided she wanted a set for her quilting friends. Everything about these paper dolls was produced with her consultation.Thumbnail link image

The magnetic paper doll (who can can clothing with magnetic Marisole) has gray hair, red glasses. She comes with her sewing machine, a rather lopsided quilt and several different important quilting accessories (scissors and things).

After she approved the paper doll design, we went through all of the Marisole paper dolls I have drawn and selected a collection of clothing to go with the doll. Each attending person got one main doll and then one page of extra clothing. Thumbnail link image

It was fairly entertaining to sit down with Mom and have her select what she liked. Sometimes, I guessed right on what she would pick, but often I was surprised. My mom and I have similar taste in clothing and jewelry and fabric, so I suspected we’d have similar taste in paper dolls.

I knew she’d like the pirates and the commercial fishing paper doll. I was fairly certain she would go for something fantasy and I thought the art deco stuff was a shoe in. I knew Tones and Shades would be important since she shares my love of beautiful textiles that are used in Kimono. I was a little surprised by the fantasy set she liked, since it’s one I’m not totally pleased with.

I have come up with some quick fixes which I think should at least feed the blog while I’m so very busy. There will be some sketchbook posts, probably some black and white posts (mostly of things which have already appeared once in color since that is the easiest sort for me to do) and possibly something else as I figure out what I can find time for. I don’t want to give up PTP, but I do have a thesis to write.

One last note on these magnetic paper dolls, they are sized as an 8 by 10.5 inch image, rather then my usual 8 by 10 inch, since I knew which printer I would be printing them on. Double check the PDF settings before you print them to make sure they will fit. Enjoy them.

Posted in Full Color, Magnetic Paper Doll, Marisole, Printable Paper Dolls | 8 Comments

Marisole Monday: Spirit of the North

Thumbnail link image printable paper doll {Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for More Paper Dolls in this Series}

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.

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.

Posted in Marisole, Printable Paper Dolls | 9 Comments

Marisole Monday: Candy Coated Couture

Thumbnail link image printable paper doll {Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

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.

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.

Posted in Full Color, Marisole, Printable Paper Dolls | 1 Comment

Marisole Monday: Folkloric Fairytale

Thumbnail link image printable paper doll {Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

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.

Posted in Full Color, Marisole, Printable Paper Dolls | 5 Comments

Marisole Monday: Coffee, Stawberry and Cream

Thumbnail link image printable paper doll {Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

So, 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.

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.

Posted in Full Color, Marisole, Printable Paper Dolls | 6 Comments

Marisole Monday: Commercial Fisher

Thumbnail link image printable paper doll {Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

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.

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.

Posted in Full Color, Marisole, Printable Paper Dolls | 8 Comments

Marisole Monday: Trick or Treat

Thumbnail link image printable paper doll {Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

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.)

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.

Posted in Full Color, Marisole, Printable Paper Dolls | 3 Comments

Marisole Monday: Book Loving Princess

Thumbnail link image printable paper doll {Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

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.

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.

Posted in Full Color, Marisole | 3 Comments

Marisole Monday: Art Deco Goddess

Thumbnail link image printable paper doll {Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

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.

Starting that trend is today’s Marisole paper doll. She’s wearing a wardrobe taken from the 1920′s. 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.

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.

Posted in Full Color, Marisole, Printable Paper Dolls | 11 Comments

Marisole Monday: Mint and Roses

Thumbnail link image printable paper doll {Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

I am so happy to announce that Kat’s comment, number seven was the number which random.org decided was to be the winner of my drawing. Congratulations Kat and please email me [paperthinpersonas (at) gmail (dot) com] with a description and reference photos of what sort of paper doll you would like. And your paper doll doesn’t have to be a Marisole, it can be any of the paper doll series I draw (Pixie, Dictionary Girls, or Shadow and Light.)

Today’s Marisole paper doll has what I think of as my medium brown with cool undertones skin color and orange hair. It seemed like a good idea at the time… (mind you, “the time” was nearly midnight). I do love her muted, spring soft color palette, I’m just unsure about her hair/skintone combo. What do other people think?

In other news, I have had so much fun reading people’s comments and they have all made me smile. I thought I would post my favorite ten (okay, eleven) Marisole paper dolls in reverse chronological order. If you’re interested keep reading below. If you’re Kat, please email me. Otherwise, have a fantastic Monday and enjoy the paper doll.

Continue reading

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Posted in Full Color, Marisole, Printable Paper Dolls | 4 Comments