There was no way I was going to create a fantasy armor coloring page paper doll and not end up with armored corsets. I mean, I am me. Two things I love are corsets and fantasy outfits featuring pants. After all, I have a Pinterest board devoted to fantasy armor and another one solely for “fantasy outfits with pants” and I probably should have one for corsets, but I do not.
One of the things that keeps me so drawn to collecting reference images on Pinterest is that they constantly inspire new interpretations. I remember a lesson from a poetry class in college that I’ve carried with me: My professor said that waiting for inspiration to strike is a surefire way to spend more time waiting than actually creating. Waiting for the perfect spark is less effective than actively engaging in things that will give you ideas. Paper dolls are a visual medium, so I tend towards visuals.
If you want to support my work (and dress some paper dolls while you’re at it), take a look at my Patreon and my newest book from Paper Doll Review, Big Eyed Girlies.
I’m thrilled to share the latest paper doll addition to the Ensemble Eclectica series called Sunshine & Scallops in both a full-color printable paper doll and a black-and-white paper doll coloring page versions, so you can decide which was brings you more joy.
Sunshine & Scallops is a summer paper doll set featuring a stylish doll with glasses, a bright smile, and a fabulous wardrobe full of scallop-trimmed fashion. Think breezy dresses, mix-and-match separates, and cheerful accessories in a palette inspired by sunshine, sherbet, beach days other summery things. I think of her as being Latina, but you know, there’s no reason why she has to be. You do you, as my students are fond of telling me.
A quick tip! Don’t forget to trim along the doll’s shoulders to make the outfit tabs fit correctly. I include small dots to guide where to cut, but it’s easy to miss if you’re new to my designs or paper dolls. It’s so easy for me to forget that people are discovering paper dolls everyday and maybe they don’t know how they work.
Funny story: I was just explaining them to an teenage boy this week who had no idea what I was talking about until I finally got out pictures. Not sure I made a paper doll fan out of him, but at least now he knows. And as they say, knowing is half the battle.
If you’re thinking: Wow, you seem to be doing a lot of paper dolls with glasses lately, you are right! I think paper dolls with glasses are an unserved segment of the paper doll world.
If you love what I do and want to support the creation of more paper dolls, consider checking out my Patreon Page. It’s a lovely way to help keep the site going, and you’ll get early access, behind-the-scenes sketches, and monthly exclusive content. Every little bit makes a big difference.
So, as I mentioned last time I shared one of these knights, you know that moment when a single idea takes hold and before you realize it, you’ve found yourself fully immersed in a creative rabbit hole? That’s exactly what happened here.
I thought I’d just draw a little fantasy armor, and then things spiraled. Before I knew it, I had created a whole series of knight paper craft designs—more than I honestly knew what to do with. Well, that’s not totally true. I knew exactly what to do: finish them up and share them here. This blog exists because I need a place for all the paper dolls I make, and these knight paper craft creations fit right in.
I should probably always include a disclaimer with these posts: I know next to nothing about how actual full plate armor works, and I’m sure I’ve gotten plenty of details wrong. But hey, artistic license, right?
On my head, this paper doll is the sort of “serious warrior” of the group, since she’s the one with full-plate armor, where everyone else has sort of more light weight armor options. So, maybe she’s a paladin, to put things in Dungeons & Dragons terminology.
If you want to support my work, don’t forget I have a new book, Big Eyed Girlies, from Paper Doll Review, and a Patreon. The book features fun paper dolls and Patreon supporters get an exclusive extra paper doll each month.
Say hello to the latest addition to the Ensemble Eclectica paper doll series! This week’s printable paper doll is a pastel punk Black girl paper doll with her hair up in dreads and funky glasses.
Pastel Punk is what happens when soft, sugary pastels collide with 1970s punk fashion and somehow it works. From my limited understanding, the style pulls some inspiration from Kawaii and Harajuku fashion in Japan, mixed with the grit and DIY spirit of classic punk. I like the contrast of the surgery sweet with the spikes myself.
With more than fifty potential outfit combinations, she undoubtedly possesses a wealth of sartorial choices, as any paper doll should. I wanted these pieces to all be able to be mixed and matched for maximum versatility, so I kept to a very limited color palette. After all, what paper doll doesn’t need the juxtaposition of soft lilacs and mints paired with skull prints, fishnets, and a serious attitude? I can’t think of one…
Of course, if you’d prefer a more traditional punk color scheme, there’s always the coloring page version. Maybe she’s more red and black tartan punk than lavender and mint. You do you.
Don’t forget, she can share clothing with my other Ensemble Eclectica paper dolls. She has the same skin tone as some of my other Black girl paper doll creations including Sweat in Style, Straps and Lace, and In 1938. None of them match as well stylistically as the Gothic Glamour sets I did for Halloween back in 2023. Lots of skulls in those sets to expand her collection here.
I’ll admit that drawing alt fashion always makes me a little nervous. I’m more of a t-shirt and jeans (or cardigan and tweed) kind of person. I love the boldness of alternative styles, even if I’m not brave enough to wear them myself. They are a lot of fun to draw.
If you like this set, please consider sharing it on Pinterest or supporting my work through Patreon or Etsy. Even a little love goes a long way in helping me keep creating these!
So, last week I shared a little about the brainstorming stage of my latest paper doll book, Big Eyed Girlies. This week, I wanted to take you a bit deeper into my process by showing off a few side-by-side images of penciled versus inked pieces I created for the book.
Penciled and then Inked Versions of Two Designs from Big Eyed Girlies
Big Eyed Girlies from Paper Doll Review
For me, inking isn’t just about tracing over lines (though yes, I do find that part incredibly therapeutic—there’s something so meditative about it). It’s also a stage of refinement. This is where I often make small but meaningful decisions. I might draw something in pencil and realize during inking that it needs a little something extra, or that a line isn’t quite working the way I imagined. In those moments, inking becomes a space for problem-solving and quiet reconsideration.
For a long time, I thought this was a flaw in my process. Somehow, I should be able to make all the right decisions in the pencil stage. I’ve come to understand that this is just how I work. Inking isn’t just a darkening of pencil lines, rather it is where the work settles into its final shape. It’s where the ideas get polished and where I decide what stays and what goes. It’s both editing and clarifying.
And honestly, it’s kind of magical.
As you look at these pencils vs. inks comparisons from Big Eyed Girlies, I hope you’ll see how much things change and how much they don’t.
One thing I like about digital inking is that I can erase it if I need to. I try not to do too much of that because I want things to feel organic and have those natural, human imperfections, but it’s nice to know I can make changes if I want to. Things can get over edited and end up looking too stiff.
I learned to draw with ballpoint pens, and I still sometimes struggle with using a stylus. There’s a lot of muscle memory and feel that goes into drawing, and I forget how much that matters until I’m actually working on something.
In the sketches above, you can see a few of the small changes that happened between penciling and inking: a collar got removed, sleeves were adjusted, a choker was added, and a pattern was refined. All subtle, but meaningful shifts that help the piece come together.
Inking might be my favorite stage of the process. It’s super therapeutic and meditative for me. I pop on a favorite podcast and just get to trace little lines on a screen. Hard to beat that for relaxation mode.
If you haven’t checked out the book yet, it’s currently available from Paper Doll Review! It’s full of big eyes, bold outfits, and lots of whimsy.
Have I ever mentioned how I tend to get into a “theme” and then realize I’ve drawn way too much of it? Yeah, that’s pretty much what happens to me.
I decide I want to draw armor. The next thing I know, I’ve done like five different versions of a warrior woman paper doll. And I’m just like… welp, that’s getting into series territory, ain’t it?
Part of this was about me learning to draw chainmail on an iPad. Part of it was me just wanting to draw some cool fantasy armor for ladies.
Anyway, this is the first in a little collection of paper doll knights, adventurers, warrior women, and ladies wearing fantasy outfits that include pants… you can call them whatever you like. Fantasy armor and outfits with pants are recurring obsessions of mine. I have an entire Pinterest board devoted to fantasy armor and another one solely for “fantasy outfits with pants.”
Please, don’t judge the clothing of this warrior woman paper doll based on practicality. Because, let’s be honest, could someone survive an actual fight in these outfits? No idea, but they look cool.
I might be defeating my own argument about not caring for practicality when I admit that my obsession with fantasy outfits featuring pants probably started as a child. Back then, I watched Xena and thought, “Someone, anyone, get these women some dang trousers, please.”
I wanted to be Xena really badly, but I also really badly did not want to wear a skirt. So, maybe all my armor drawing is my way of solving this problem for young Rachel.
If you want to support my work (and dress some dolls while you’re at it), don’t forget that I have a new book Big Eyed Girlies from Paper Doll Review. This one’s close to my heart, and I’d love for you to check it out.
In honor of my newest paper doll book, Big Eyed Girlies, now available from Paper Doll Review, I thought it’d be fun to take you behind the scenes over the next few weeks. I’ll be sharing a closer look at the creative process, from initial sketches to coloring. All the little choices in between that helped bring this quirky and colorful project to life.
In today’s post, I’m talking about: planning & doodling.
If you know me, you know I’m a planner by nature. So naturally, before I ever picked up a pencil, I did… math!
Yep, so glamorous, I know.
I wanted to figure out how many individual paper doll pieces I would need for the book. I counted the pieces in a few books in my collection per page. Most books had somewhere between six and eleven pieces per page. So, a little math later, anywhere from 48 to 88 individual pieces.
Mod-1960s Doodles (Left) and Vintage Circus Doodles (Right)
Since I tend to be a “more is more” kind of creator, and because I think most people want more outfit options for their dolls, I set my target at around 80 pieces. I wanted plenty of material for the fantastic Julie to work with when it came time to layout the book, even if a few paper doll designs got trimmed during editing.
And to be honest, part of publishing with people you trust is allowing them space to make editorial decisions about what will make the very best paper doll book.
After planning, I started thinking up ideas. As I sketched, four distinct style collections began to emerge. In my mind, I gave them working titles like:
I never think of thumbnails as final designs. It’s just idea generation. Maybe some will make it past this stage, but most won’t. It’s a space for me to play and explore different ideas before moving on to finished art. I try to keep these sorts of things very loose. I add notes, so I remember what I was thinking or what I thought was important. The most crucial thing about these thumbnails is that I don’t edit myself.
That’s just a peek at the early stages of the process. Next time, I’ll show some of the penciled designs and their inked counter-parts. You might be able to pair a few from these doodles to those designs.
If you’re excited about Big Eyed Girlies and want to be one of the first to get your hands on a copy, it’s available now for pre-order at Paper Doll Review.
Fun Fact: I did not title the book. Titles are not my forte. The fun title was all Jenny of Paper Doll Review.
Thank you so much for following along and being part of this paper doll-loving community. I can’t wait to share more soon!
Today’s Asian printable paper doll features a retro 1950s-inspired wardrobe, complete with classic women’s suits, soft tucked-in blouses, and a couple of purses I low-key wish I owned. (Even though I’m totally a cross-body bag kind of person. I just can’t carry a purse in my hand all day.) Of course, this isn’t the first time I’ve dived into vintage styles for the Ensemble Eclectica ladies. You can look at this more colorful 1960s inspired one if you need more outfit options. There’s also actual historical 1950s fashions, I have a whole collection of those.
As I was coloring Dapper Daze here, I kept thinking about a long conversation Julie Matthews (of Paper Doll School) recently had about mix and match paper dolls and how important a consistent limited color palette is to make a set really versatile.
Yes, this is what I text my friends about. Don’t judge me.
Lately, I’ve been on a mission to finish up all the paper doll projects gathering dust on my iPad. Starting things? Easy. Finishing them? A little harder in digital format, where it’s way too tempting to start something new instead of wrapping up what’s already halfway done. It’s so easy.
So, I dug through the files, polished off a few nearly-finished pieces, and ta-da! Today’s paper doll is finally ready to share. (Though I’ll admit I don’t fully remember what I was thinking when I first designed her. Artist brain is a mystery.)
Still, it feels great to finally bring some of these printable paper dolls across the finish line. I have more to share. Promise.
I’m so excited to share that my newest paper doll book, Big Eyed Girlies, is officially available for pre-order from Paper Doll Review! If you’re a fan of dolls like Blythe, Pullip, Bratz, Rainbow High then you’ll feel right at home here. And if you love whimsy, color and fun, this book has all those in spades.
A love letter to everything I adore about paper dolls, I packed Big Eyed Girlies with whimsy, nostalgia, and all the creative fun that comes from cutting out tiny paper outfits.
Big Eyed Girlieshas three big-eyed dolls and over 65 pieces to dress them up in. That’s a lot of outfit options.
Because paper dolls deserve variety, don’t you think?
From mod brights to romantic dresses, casual styles to circus whimsy, this book covers it all. One of my favorite spreads pairs soft pastels with dramatic black for a lace-and-ruffles tea party look that’s part Victorian, part Rococo, and 100% fun. There’s even a sundress with a video-game-inspired landscape, and some gloriously over-the-top ringmaster jackets with braided trim and thigh-high boots.
The best thing? Every single outfit fits all three dolls. So, no paper doll gets left out of the outfit switching fun here.
Pages Preview from Big Eyed Girlies!
A huge thank-you to two amazing women who helped make this book happen. Jenny Taliadoros at Paper Doll Review has always been such a kind and supportive publisher. Julie Matthews took my illustrations and worked her magic, adding polish, shadows, and depth that really brought everything to life.
Big Eyed Girlies was such a joy to create. I poured so much of what I love into it. Paper Doll fashion, playful nostalgia, and a big dash of whimsy, these are the things I love to illustrate and share.
So, if you’re a collector, a fellow artist, or just someone who never stopped loving paper dolls, I hope Big Eyed Girlies brings a smile to your face.
Over the years, I’ve never actually finished the 100 Day Project on time. For those who aren’t familiar with the 100 day project, it’s a creative challenge where you commit to doing something artistic every day for 100 days and share your progress along the way.
Now that it’s done, I’m giving myself a short break, but I’m already thinking about how to turn this series into a downloadable set or something bigger like a coloring book… Stay tuned!
Days 100, 99 and 91
My project was simple: draw 100 outfits for a new series of kid-friendly paper dolls. Yes, there are dolls. No, I’m not sharing them publicly, only paid Patreon members get a preview.
From the start, my goal was to produce 100 outfits. I’d read somewhere (can’t remember where) that 100 day projects can be about play, practice, or production. This time, I focused on making something tangible. So, my goal was production.
To me, that meant batch-working was fair game. I also gave myself permission to skip Instagram or Facebook updates when it got overwhelming (which it did) and focus on Patreon instead. And if I worried about over-posting? I reminded myself: patrons can always turn off notifications.
Day 65, 59 and 55
What did I learn along the way?
Honestly, it wasn’t so much about learning something new. After all, I’ve been drawing for a long time. I already know that creativity feeds itself. Once I get started (which is often the hardest part), the act of making something inspires me to keep going. The more I create, the more I want to create. It becomes a loop of positive reinforcement.
What I was reminded of, though, is that I have complicated feelings about creativity. Often, I feel like I “should” do things a certain way: I should be able to do a daily project (even though I always burn out when I try). I should want to post regularly on social media (even though I don’t enjoy it). I should write intelligent and witty things about everything I create (even though sometimes I have nothing to say, also how witty can you be about cargo shorts?).
This project helped me try to let go of some of those “shoulds” and work in a way that actually suits me. I worked in batches (eventually). I pre-scheduled things. I set up a plan and then I executed it as best as I could. I like a plan, but I also gave space for- I am sick of drawing this now and I just want to do something easy like jeans.
Days 80, 75, and 67
Finishing this project (on time!) felt like a big win. Not just because I completed 100 outfits, but because I let go of perfection, ignored the pressure to do things “right,” and trusted a process that actually works for me. That was harder than it sounds. I still feel a little guilty for not following the “rules”, but there really aren’t any rules when it comes to making art.
Just do what works for you.
Having said that, I do think regular practice (even if it isn’t daily) is really central to getting better at anything and also to keeping creativity alive.
That said, by the end, I was exhausted. A little grouchy, too. One hundred days is a long time to stick with anything, even something you enjoy.
Thank you to everyone who followed along, left kind comments (especially when a day or two were missing), and supported me on Patreon. Knowing you were out there cheering me on really helped; especially when I was staring at my iPad thinking, I swear I’ve already drawn this dress….
Will I do it again next year?
Absolutely. Maybe even sooner. Or maybe that’s just the post-project high talking…
You can see all 100 outfits on my Patreon. Free and paid members can view the outfits; paid members also get a peek at the dolls that go with them (well, some of them, I still have a few more to make).
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