Isadora Archives • Paper Thin Personas

A New Isadora Mini-Maiden Paper Doll to Color

December 6, 2020October 2, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Fall Fashions

It does feel like autumn might finally be coming to Alabama. The weather is starting to cool down and today was just beautiful. I spent part of the weekend at the local botanical gardens. They are free and a wonderful place to go walking. I really enjoyed them and I want to go back again.

Today’s Mini-Maiden paper doll is Isadora who I haven’t featured since March when she was a faun. Isadora is named for Isadora Duncan, the dancer. I can’t remember if I mentioned that recently, but someone asked me how I name my paper dolls a while back and I was like, “Well… kinda randomly, truth be told.”

Anyway, I’ve been going through the fashion magazines of the season. I am ready for boots and I am ready for tights. Isadora doesn’t have tights, but she does have some fun boots. I love autumn and winter. They are by far my favorite seasons in Alabama.

Her other shoes are more formal. I thought her dress could go either way depending on the shoes. I also try to draw extra shoes when I draw dolls. An old habit from my full color dolls with skin tones.

Isadora, being in black and white, is a paper doll you can color anyway you wish. That’s part of the flexibility of black and white paper dolls.

I confess though, I was never a big “colorer” as a kid, so I still prefer the ones in color.

I hope everyone is having a great Monday and let me know what you think if today’s Isadora in a comment.

And if you love the blog, think about becoming a Patron, following it on Facebook or telling a friend about it.

Need a more outfits for today’s Mini-Maiden Paper Doll? Find More Clothing Here.

Isadora as a Faun

March 13, 2017

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Patron Requests for More Fantasy Creatures

Not a lot to say tonight about today’s faun paper doll. It’s been a super productive weekend in paper doll creation land, but I rather forgot about today’s post until late Sunday night.

I admit I don’t mind working against the clock, but I don’t write my most compelling posts when I am up against the wire like this.

So, fauns… I wanted to do a fantasy creature that I had never done before. Something that wasn’t a mermaid or a fairy or an elf. I spent some time gathering image source ideas on my Fairies and Fauns Pinterest board.

I’ll confess that at first I was thinking a deer woman, but only male deer have antlers, and I don’t think without horns it would be obvious what I was drawing. Unless I did like a caribou woman (caribou females have antlers).

See, I did some research.

So, I settled on a faun which is basically a goat woman. Both male and female goats have horns. (See, more research.)

Meanwhile, I designed this set so that the hooves and legs can fit any of the Mini-Maiden dolls.

As always, if you love the blog, think about becoming a Patron, following it on Facebook or telling a friend about it.

Need a more outfits for today’s Mini-Maiden Paper Doll? Find More Clothing Here.

Isadora Goes to Prom

May 19, 2020July 11, 2016

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All right, for those of you who missed Friday’s post, here’s the new plan for the blog:

Every Monday (which is today), I’ll post a doll and an outfit or accessories. Each day for the rest of the week, I’ll post another outfit to fit that doll. Most of the time, each week will represent a theme like 1860s children’s clothing, steampunk attire or, as this week, prom night!

(Regrets and bad decisions on Prom night will not be illustrated in paper doll form. You’ll have to add your own.)

On Friday, a gallery post of all the paper doll pieces and links to every post will go up, so if you missed one you can pick it up then, plus that day’s outfit.

Than, I’ll do it all over again.

All righty, so this week’s theme is formals or proms or possibly red carpet, but I confess I was thinking prom when I designed this set of gowns. Our model is Isadora, one of the Mini-Maidens. Not for any reason, except she’s got fewer sets than all the other Mini-Maidens. I felt bad for her. What can I say?

Her first dress is a floor length number with a boned bodice. She has strappy high heeled shoes and her hair is up in a formal undo. I once had my hair styled like that for a winter formal in high school. It looked pretty wonderful, but it made me almost taller than my date who was 6’2”.

Anyway, it gave me a life long love of curly undos.

Lastly, if you like PTP and want it to stick around than consider becoming a patron.

A 1960s Paper Doll to Color Featuring Isadora

May 19, 2020February 26, 2016

I have, over the years, created a lot of paper doll sets and I just couldn’t believe I’ve only done one 1960s paper doll and I haven’t felt comfortable calling her historical, because I can’t verify my sources on her. So, here’s another one, giving me two 1960s paper dolls.

Let’s talk sources, since that’s what divides “historical” paper dolls from “inspired by” paper dolls. (At least that’s my standard today, I haven’t always been SO militant about it.)

The dresses for this paper doll set were drawn based on this image and this image both of which are Creators Studios fashion illustrations from the New York Public Library Digital Gallery. Two of the other dresses were based on pattern covers from McCalls in 1965 and Simplicity in 1965. Ankle boots from the V&A dated 1967.

Another of the dresses is an André Courrèges mini-dresses from 1965 thanks to the FIDM Museum Blog which is totally my favorite museum blog. Is that bad? Am I allowed to have a favorite? Cause I totally do.

I swear I had a reference for her other boots and her pants and matching top, but I’ll be darned if I can find them… So, I’ll add them if I track them down.

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So, can I confess that I tend to get Isadora and Hazel confused? I totally do. And so as I was working on this post, I actually had it labeled as Hazel for a few hours before I realized that I wasn’t looking at Hazel.

How embarrassing!

Today’s 1960s paper doll was a request from one of my Patrons. (Want to join?) At the end of 2015, I sent a private survey to all my Patrons asking for ideas for 2016. It was anonymous, so I don’t know who put down 1960s, but I do confess it made me realize I’d done very few 1960s paper dolls.

And that was easy to fix!

Thoughts on Isadora and her sixties fashions?

Isadora in Ruffles & Bows: Printable Paper Doll in Black and White

December 6, 2020November 13, 2015

I’ve been in this whole printable paper doll drawing thing for a while. There’s a few things I have learned and one of them is that what I like is not always what my readers like.

Now, a lot of the time I don’t care. Sorry, folks, but I draw for me first and for most. Don’t get me wrong, I love that I have active readers and every comment I get makes me smile, but if I couldn’t draw what I liked than I would go mad. Mad I tell you!

(Okay, maybe that was a little overly dramatic. 🙂 )

I mention this in direct relation to black and white paper doll sets. They are easier for me, since coloring takes time, but when I was a kid I really didn’t like to color. I know that sounds odd, but I never really “got” coloring books. They were boring. I far more wanted to draw my own stuff than color someone else’s drawing.

So, sometimes I forget that I have readers who LOVE my black and white paper dolls.

That’s part of why I created the Mini-Maiden’s series. I wanted to share with my readers something just for the black and white coloring readers that I have. I might not “get it”, but I am do enjoy drawing them and not having to color them in does make them easier to finish.

{Download a PDF to Print} {View a 150 dpi PNG} {Check out some More Mini-Maiden Printable Paper Dolls}To bring this around to this actual post, let’s talk about Isadora. Isadora has only had three other outfit sets and none of them are contemporary. The poor girl can go to balls or fight off radioactive hordes, but she hasn’t got a decent pencil skirt. (Everyone needs a decent pencil skirt.) Well, all that ends today!

When I do contemporary sets, I like to do them in themes. So, for this set I was thinking about sweet, lady-like fashions. I wanted some delicate details like the rose pattern on the shorts and the scalloped hem on the pencil skirt. I often see these styles on the college students I work with, being that this is the South and all, so I wanted to do something of a Southern Belle. All she needs are white lace gloves and a mint-julep to sip while sitting in a white rocking chair.

Her short hair was intended to contrast with the wardrobe.

Today is Friday the 13th, if you’re the superstitious sort. I think paper dolls are good protection from such things. 🙂

By the way, speaking to my coloring readers, I know some people use simple coloring programs, but I have no ideas what they are. So, my questions are: What programs to y’all use? What file formats do those programs like? And would coloring sheets with no grey be useful?

(I’m thinking about digital paper dolls for sale right now and trying to decide what file formats to offer.)

And if you like my paper dolls, please consider supporting me through Patreon.

Isadora Goes to the Ball: A Fantasy Princess Printable Paper Doll Coloring Page

May 19, 2020July 4, 2015

This is not an Independence Day paper dolls, but I have some links to a few down at the bottom of the post. This is a princess paper doll.

Let’s be honest for a moment: A lot of the appeal of princesses lies in their glorious dresses.

We all know intellectually that being a princess would kinda suck. (There’s a great video about this by Amy Schumer.) You’d have to marry someone who you likely didn’t choose. Your value would be entirely defined in your ability to produce an heir. Also, that person you would marry might end up being your cousin.

Never the less, your wardrobe would rock.

So, I’m not sure if Isadora would be a princess, because she doesn’t have a crown. Do princesses need crowns? I suppose they should if they are coronated. But once they get coronated than are they actually queens?

Royal stuff is complicated.

{Download a PDF to Print} {View a 150 dpi PNG} {Check out some More Mini-Maiden Printable Paper Dolls}These three gowns are all ball-gowns in my head, but the glory of paper dolls is that we can choose what they are. Maybe these are what Isadora wears to the grocery store. Actually, if I had these dresses, I might wear them to the grocery store, though I have been told that driving in a hoop-skirt is really difficult.

So, this is the fourth of July or Independence Day in the USA. I did not, however, get a thematic paper doll done. If you wish for one, then I recommend Hazel’s 4th of July set, my Marisole Monday & Friends 18th century 4th of July set or Marisole Monday’s Nautical set which, while not technically 4th of July related, does have a red white and blue color scheme.

Medieval Fantasy Paper Doll to Print and Color

May 19, 2020August 27, 2014

This is the second Isadora paper doll and a member of the Mini-Maiden paper doll family. I haven’t done a fantasy Mini-Maiden before, so I thought I should and I have been in a psuedo-medieval mood as of late. Perhaps simply because I am wishing I was living somewhere cooler than Alabama which is having a humid hot August.

I can not wait for fall. Fall is full of wonderful things and I can start wearing tights and boots again.

I love both tights and boots.

Plus September brings the big fall fashion magazines and that will mean a spasm of paper doll drawing and a spate of contemporary styled paper dolls, as it always does.

Until then, of course, we have Isadora as a fantasy Mini-Maiden. I am hesitant to call her a princess, as she doesn’t have a crown, but she can still live in a castle, I think. Personally, I think it would have been dreadfully drafty and cold in castles, but I suppose at least it was better than living in a hovel.

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Anyway, now Isadora can either be living in a castle or fighting radioactive zombies in the wastes of a destroyed civilization. Basically, she’s ready for whatever life might throw at her, though I think she also might want to raid another Mini-Maiden’s closet for some more… shall we say… normal clothing. I think she’d look awfully cute in Faye’s girly get up or Hazel’s vintage vibe or Greta’s I-couldn’t-come-up-with-anything-alliterative outfits.

There will be one more update this week (nothing major, just some sketchbook stuff) and then hopefully a new Marisole on Monday as I get myself back into the rhythm of things. For updates, you’re welcome to follow me on twitter @paperpersona, though you will also have to put up with other inane, unpaper-doll-related rambling about my life.

Black and White Printable Post Apocalyptic Paper Doll Named Isadora

May 19, 2020June 26, 2014

Meet my new Mini Maiden printable paper doll named Isadora. This is the first Isadora paper doll, though there will, of course, be others. Her name is for Isadora Duncan, the famous dancer who died in a rather horrible car accident. A rather morbid name for a paper doll, perhaps, but Duncan revolutionized dance and I do really love the name Isadora. I loved the name long before I knew of it’s rather dark history.

My Isadora paper doll is not a modern dancer who revolutionized dance culture, but rather she is armed with several machetes and a knife and comes from a post apocalyptic wasteland desert where she fights mutants and scrounges for water.

You know, the usual things one does in bad B-movies from the 80’s with bombed out towns and questionable clothing choices.
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I have been traveling a lot lately, three trips in three months. One of the places I am visiting in Las Vegas. At night, the “strip” is all rather glitzy, but during the day it just feels fake. Never the less, as I flew over the desolate beauty of the desert before coming into the airport, I was struck by the vastness of it all. I was inspired to draw todays paper doll long before flying over the desert, but while I flew over the desert I was reminded that she was done and ready to post.