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Jewels & Gemstones: Floral Elves Paper Dolls
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Well, when I decided to shift to this newsletter and monthly update schedule, I did not consider the downsides. The biggest one being that it’s much harder for me to step away as might be needed from time to time. I need to think on that, but I am enjoying the newsletter most of the time.
This month has just been very busy with non-paper doll related tasks. The statewide library conference was in-person for the first time in years, so I went to that. And I have two more library related conferences I’m attending this year. Plus, I’ve been working on a side project that isn’t quite ready for prime time (soon it will be and I couldn’t be more excited). And I’ve been prepping things to become prints for the paper doll party in May. Any leftovers from the party, I plan to offer for sale on Etsy, so maybe that’ll be an interesting change of pace.
Anyway, about this paper doll set- I admit that I started on these paper dolls largely, because I wanted to work with an old Marisole Monday set- Fabulous Fairy that I’ve always had a fondness for. Originally, I had planned on drawing wings, but actually ended up running out of paper in a sketchbook and not having a back up one. Opps. I really didn’t want to deal with paper I didn’t like. So, needless to say, the wings never happened.
Influences were largely flowers and the fact that I like gardens. I’m not much of a gardener, though I keep thinking I should take it up. I rent, so I don’t really know if tearing up the yard would be okay. I do keep herbs on my porch when spring comes and I like flowers. Flowers are pretty, useful to insects, and smell nice. It’s hard to be opposed to them, really. Plus, you can eat some of them.
The other big influence over this drawing fantasy hair which I don’t get to do nearly as much as I’d like. I love complicated hairstyles. You can check out some of my influences on my fantasy section of my Hair pinterest board.
If you’re a patron, there will be a Vivian gown sometime next week (exact date depending on how life shapes up) and we’ll continue on from there.
The 2022 Jewels and Gemstones Round Up!
Every year for the last few years, I’ve done a round up of all the Jewels and Gemstones Paper Dolls and I thought I would continue that tradition this year. It’s always fun to see everything! One of my goals for 2023 was to get up to 100 paper dolls in the Jewels and Gemstones series and I am so happy to say we did it!
As some of you may know from my Monday post, things are going to be looking pretty different around here for 2023. I don’t know exactly what this means for Jewels and Gemstones, yet, but I do know anything new I made for the series will be compatible. I am not resizing the series again! I promise.
Jewels and Gemstones in Historical Clothing
Over this year, I did 11 different historical dolls (one was a Patron exclusive and she’s down at the bottom in that section). I explored the 1980s, the 1950s, the Italian Renaissance and the 14th century. All fun eras! My favorite, I think, was my 1980s aerobics paper doll set.
Jewels & Gemstones in Modern Clothing
My modern paper dolls this year focused on a lot of trends like coastal grandmother and regencycore. I also did a Purim paper doll which I am super happy with. There aren’t enough purim paper dolls in this world.
Jewels & Gemstones in Fantasy & Sci-fi Costumes
My fantasy and sci-fi paper dolls are some of my favorites and based on your feedback- you’re all big fans too! My favorite fantasy paper dolls from this year I think were my regency fantasy set, my circus set and my mermaids (both Opal and Citrine got to be mermaids this year!).
Jewels and Gemstones just for my Patrons!
I debated how to share my Patron paper dolls for this year. I wanted to both show off what I’ve made for my amazing supporters and maybe entice a few of you who aren’t supporters yet to consider joining us here! As always, thank you so much to those of you who support PTP. It really does make a difference.
And that’s it folks!
The most popular post on PTP this year was Gallant Ladies! I was surprised, I confess.
Did you have a favorite? Let me know in a comment!
And now, the Late 1950s with Jade!
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And the 1950s styles continue with Jade here. In the Late 1950s, you start to see the 1960s silhouette sneaking in with the higher waisted dresses and the shape of the skirts. So, our paper doll is more about that easing into the transitional era of the early 1950s. I did some digging around into black fashion magazines of this era and tried to match the colors I saw in those sources when deciding what colors to use on today’s black 1950s paper doll.
Let’s talk sources!
The red dress came from this catalog page from 1958 Sears and the pink dress is from this Vogue 9137 from 1957. Her swimsuit is from the Spring/Summer Sears from 1957. The yellow dress is from this 1959 Sears Spring Summer Catalog, but I don’t think I got the skirt quite right. You can see more of this style here. The whole thing is that there was a distinct silhouette change going on as the decade changed. The goal was to show off how the shape of dresses as transitional at this point.
Jade’s hair is based on this photo of a very young Diahann Carroll from 1955. The paper doll’s swimsuit is from the Spring/Summer Sears from 1957. As usual, I find movie stars to be a super useful way to track down hairstyles. Her lipstick color is also based on what I was seeing in fashion magazines from the era- lots of very red or very pink lipstick.
So there you have it, a few of the sources of this 1950s paper doll and her five dresses from five different years. That last bit was not on purpose- it just sort of worked out that way.
Enjoy!
In upcoming paper doll news, I am going to share a Patreon treat on Friday and then take a bit of a vacation until sometime in January, when I hope to return full of pluck, persistence, and paper dolls.
Ruby Dressing Up in the Mid-1950s
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I mentioned in my last 1950s printable paper doll about how important I thought it was to have some 1950s fashions for these paper dolls that include pants and Ruby is getting two pairs of them. She has what was known as a “playsuit”- basically, a romper. There’s something very infantilizing about the terms “playsuit” and “romper”, though I’m not sure I have the energy to really dive into how infantilizing the 1950s was towards women. I mean women couldn’t get mortgages on their own until the 1970s, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
I digress.
The point is that women wore pants in the 1950s and I wanted to illustrate some of those styles for this paper doll.
As usual, my references were mostly catalogs- Sears and Montgomery Ward. I went through do many catalog pages and I did not do the best job of documenting what I used. However, you can see the romper from 1954 here and the camisole and Bermuda shorts worn together from 1955 here. You can see some of the hats here from 1956 and one of the dresses here also from 1956.
As November wraps up, we are stumbling into December which is always a hit and miss month for me. I have an idea that I hope I’ll get finished. Then January will come which may be a month off, I’m still debating, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Hope everyone has been having a lovely end of Fall and beginning of winter (though given that it was -27 here yesterday, I think winter is already here in Alaska.)