{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG to Print} {Click Here for The Rest of this Series}
Originally, I was going to call this peaches and cream, but I already used cream, so I had to come up with something else to call it. I’d say what I thought of this color set in detail, but I don’t want to influence people. Needless to say, I do really like the two tone blouse and I think it changes the look of the garment considerably.
I think it’s interesting what this soft color palette does for the edgy clothing. Very different look from the other sets. 
And since we’ve had the whole set of Calla’s posted this this week, I’m curious if people’s favorites turned out to be the ones they thought would be their favorites based on the swatches. Peaches and Ice was winning the swatch poll, but on the actual paper dolls it’s not my favorite. What do other people think?
I had voted for this as my favorite, but honestly I like different pieces in each doll and don’t know now which one I like best. I liked the hot pink pants, but the dress in the avocado and cream set.
The hot pink pants are my favorites, too.
I was thinking about your shoe dilemma (namely how shoes cannot easily be shared amongst dolls due to the base skin color) and I came up with a simple solution. If people are comfortable with using one, an Exacto knife can be used to carefully cut out the skin-colored parts of the shoes. This may weaken the shoe bit and make it more fragile or more easily creased, especially the sandals and strappy heels, but it’ll be well worth it in the end.
I would love to thank you and Brenda Sue Mattox for the wig idea. I’m designing my own paper dolls (mostly for my own entertainment but I might post them for the world just for kicks and giggles) and I didn’t want to corner people into being stuck with static eyes and hair. The eyes were easy enough, but the hair proved to be a challenge until I found this blog. Thank you so much for the idea- it really helped so much!
It is, of course, possible to cut apart the shoes to allow the various skin tones to be visible, but when I’m designing a paper doll I like to think about ease as much as I think about anything else. The shoes stand in for a whole slew of different times when “skin” is visible with paper doll costumes. Happens more often then you might think.
That particular “wig” method works well, but remember that people have to have enough space to glue the two pieces together which can be hard when there’s not enough of a border between the “doll head” and the outline of the “wig” hair style.
And I have to ask, what was your solution for changing out eyes? I’ve never even thought about that as a possibility.
I understand. It was just an idea I had.
I was thinking the same thing about the fold-ver wigs… Maybe the wig design you use for the Dictionary Girls would work better? I’ll have to think more about that.
As for eyes… The dolls I drew are pretty cartoony (one could say chibi-like. Here’s a link to my DevArt page, where I put up a kind of preview for them: http://elfmaiden687.deviantart.com/#/d5d50i8 ) They’re designed to be printed at 8″ tall, so the eyes are pretty big themselves. I intended for the eyes to just be cut out and placed on the doll using a temporary medium- either “sticky tack” or maybe as a magnetic doll. I also just now thought of maybe a sort of tab variety, cutting out a slit in the face that a tab can be inserted. It would help make the eyes placement fit with anything I make for the head or face. That might be worth a try.
Yeah some sort of tab system would probably work… for eyes, I mean.
I find every paper doll is a different challenge. I love the work of Nandor Hanti, because despite being double sided and complicated, the paper dolls are still fully usable. The clothing can be removed and the hats fit. They are shockingly complicated and, at the same time, beautifully designed to work.