Sapphire as Gallant Lady

A black and white printable paper doll with curls and medieval fantasy dresses.
A black printable paper doll with fantasy dresses

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So, occasionally, I have a reason to dig into my own archives, which is always a kind of weird experience. Seeing art I made like 10 years ago feels… strange. Anyway, I was looking for something else and I came across Knights and Ladies for Marisole Monday from 2011. It was a paper doll printable that I made way back in the early days of site which, at the time, was only 2 years old.

Man, I was back in Library School then. Wow, it’s weird to think about that era of my life.

A medieval inspired printable paper doll from Paper Thin Personas.
The Original Knights and Ladies Paper Doll

Anyhow, this was a paper doll I have very distinct memories of. I drew her in the library while I was in grad school and I was stuck between classes and I didn’t want to leave campus. I based the sleeves on some 19th century fashion drawings I’d been skimming through.

I saw it and I thought, man… I could do so much better now.

There’s things about the original Knights and Ladies that I found super compelling. I liked the hair and I was interested in the belts.

So, I decided to would draw the paper doll printable design once more for the Jewels and Gemstones series. This time I tried to think about how the belts would actually “function” if they were made of leather. I added some new details to the dresses and I fixed the skirts- before they clung way to much to the doll’s legs and I wanted more pooling. Though I debated recoloring the dresses, I decided against it. I thought I’d stick with my original color scheme.

I did go with a lighter hair color, because I wanted to keep the doll’s hair brown and I wanted a nice contrast with the skin-tone. I also was pretty sure that the original crown wouldn’t work very well on the doll, so I redesigned it to have the doll’s hair integrated.

All in all, I am very happy with how the new version of the Knights and Ladies came out. I don’t know how often I’ll do this, but it was a fun diversion.

What do you think of this paper doll? Let me know in a comment. I love hearing from y’all.

Witchtober- The Bones & The Birds (Or Bird Bones in this case.)

Download the PDF to Print | The Rest of This Project

So, the first two themes, Julie and I chose were Bones and Birds…. Well, actually, Julie chose the themes, because I saw the list and I had immediate decision paralysis.

My capacity is super limited once the school year starts, plus October is National Archives Month. So, my job tends to decide that we’re going to do “all the things” and I am left feeling a little dazed. It’s fun, but.. it is also a lot. Needless to say, October is never the easiest time of year for me.

And it snowed yesterday… which I am sort of bitter about. Sure, I live less than an hour from the Arctic circle, but that doesn’t mean I want it to snow.

Anyhow, the “bones” dress was inspired by 1950s pinups and the dress on the right- the “Birds” dress was inspired by 1930s slinky evening gowns. I was nervous about drawing a raven skull, but I think it came out pretty well, all things considered. I thought the back drapes of the gown felt a little like wings.

If you missed the doll, you can grab her here. If you need more additions to this wardrobe, Julie Matthews is my partner in crime here and you can check out her contribution over on Paper Doll School. It’s lovely.

Tune in next Monday for another set of gowns for our Halloween witch.

And Now, Vivian’s Sorceress Gowns for Patrons

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For my patrons: Vivian’s October Ball Gown

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Welcome to Witchober: A Paper Doll Project with Julie Matthews!

A witch Halloween coloring page printable paper doll with one dress and accessories.

Download the PDF to Print | The Rest of This Project

It seems obvious to me that there’s no better holiday for paper dolls than Halloween. So, I am happy to share this Halloween coloring page featuring the first of what will be a month of paper dolls featuring this stylish witch and her stylish wardrobe.

I was super psyched in my planning for the month of October when Julie of Paper Doll School reached out and suggested we go back to our paper dolling roots and do some sort of joint project. The last time I attempted a collaborative project was in 2019 and I lost steam around September and never finished it. Of course, that was also around the same time I was diagnosed with some pretty serious medical stuff, so I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on myself.

So, this year, Julie suggested a Witchtober theme. She drew a super fantastic paper doll. I played Dr. Frankenstein in photoshop and put a head I drew on the doll and we are off to the races. The first dress, we both decided would be a basic “witch” dress.

Then we agreed on 8 different themes from this list by Juan Joltaire of witch themes for October. The idea is to post two outfits on a page and share them once a week on Mondays.

I’ll be totally honest- I am not confident I’ll get through the whole month. I’ve already discovered that with the size of the doll and my tendency to draw gowns… layouts might get creative, people! I may need to stop including the stand in the dresses… I did that for my first few pages and it adds a lot of space…. thinking…thinking…

Anyway, I figure even if I don’t get all 8 outfits done and posted on the Mondays of October, it’ll still be a fun distraction!

And a big thank you to Julie for not only designing the doll, but also making the super cool frame around the doll! Her version is also super neat.

The Patreon Vivian Project Round up of Everything Else: Part 1

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Dolly for September 2022 for my Patrons

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Greek Fantasy Dresses with Evening

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We had out first super hard frost a few days ago and now there’s been some snow mixed with rain. Winter is coming! I can tell as the days keep getting shorter. Sigh. Well, that’s the downside of living as close to the arctic circle as I do. Let’s move on.

So, there’s a lot of Xena Warrior Princess/Hercules and the Legendary Journeys wrapped up in this set. Not gonna lie. I wanted an autumnal color scheme without feeling too obvious and I figured the jewelry could help tie together the colors of the dresses. Evening here hasn’t gotten as many sets as some of the other dolls. She’s the newest, but she’s catching up fast.

As I mentioned in my last goals review post, this is my 7th Dolls Du Jour doll this year. Woot!

I want to do a few more historical themes for Dolls Du Jour. I’ve been asked for 1950s. Is there another period people would like to see? I’m leaning towards either 1950s (because someone asked) or 1400s (like this, if you’re wondering.)

By the way, did you know I have a newsletter? You can sign up for that Newsletter here. There’s going to be some super cute Halloween content in there come October. I’m excited, at least.

Checking in on my 2022 Goals

1. 100 Jewels and Gemstones 2.0 Paper Dolls

Technically, last week I posted my 99th Jewels and Gemstones post, but it wasn’t actually my 99th set, because there are round up posts and other J&G related posts in the that category. So, I think if I am counting right, there’s more like 98 at this point. Anyway, I’m pretty sure I’ll meet this goal by the end odd 2022, one way or another and that makes me happy.

2. 10 Historical Paper Dolls

So, we started the year with this fantastic 1960s set and there have been nine so far. Other then a short dip into the Italian Renaissance, almost everything has been 20th century. While the last time I asked my patrons, 1910 won my poll, I think I’d like to do something else not 20th century, so I need to decide on a period. Regency stuff is very popular these days, or maybe something 18th century? I haven’t done that in a while… I do have a big 1950s set in progress, but I confess I’m a little stalled on it.

3. Send Things to OPDAG for Paper Doll Review

Achieved! I mailed off my plaid contribution this month and I sent out animals already. The next theme is World Adventures, but I am not 100% sure what that means, so I may give that one a pass. We’ll see how I feel when I get closer to the December deadline.

4. Finish Another Book/Print Project

So, this one is on pause. I’m very proud of the book I created on Lulu, but I have had mixed feelings about the quality of the prints that I have gotten from Lulu. I may need to come up with another option for this. I have ideas. But it may not look like I had planned it to look.

5. Continue with the Newsletter for 2022

So far so good! I do enjoy making my little newsletter. Sign up here, if you haven’t. It’s a project that while I enjoy it, I am not 100% I’ll keep going in 2023. I guess I’ll decide how I feel when I get there.

6. 10 Dolls Du Jour This Year

All right, well, there’s 7 so far. I think we’ll hit 10. I have faith. I’ve got one whose going up later this week and then I need to draw some more, but I am full of confidence that this one is going to work out just fine.

So, I think, in terms of my goals for 2022, I am feeling pretty good.

For my Patrons, Here’s Vivian’s Visiting Dress

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