RLC

Faye in the Woods: A Fantasy Maiden Paper Doll Dresses

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A folk costume inspired fantasy paper doll outfit in black and white for coloring. Designed to fit the Mini-Maiden paper doll series.

On Monday, I posted Faye and the first of her folk art inspired outfits. Continuing our folk costumes inspired theme for paper dolls this week, today we have a fantasy paper doll outfit featuring a blouse and skirt. The blouse is decorated with a tulip inspired pattern and abstracted tulip decorations on the sleeves.

The skirt has a stencil inspired rose motif. Every paper doll needs a skirt covered in roses.

Both of these designs remind me a little of rosemaling. Rosemaling is a Norwegian technique of painted curves, spirals and floral designs. Back home in Alaska, there is a town called Petersburg which is very proud of it’s Scandinavian heritage. I remember some of the buildings having rosemaling on them.

So, I’m trying out Instagram, but I’m not that good at it. Still, follow me if you want. And there’s always Patreon if you want to help support PTP.

The blog is also on twitter @paperpersonas. I am sometimes reminded that my Blog is better at Social Media than I am.

Oh, well.

So, what do you think of today’s outfit? Would you wear it? I think it’s lovely, but I probably can’t pull off the skirt or the blouse.

Need a Mini-Maiden paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Mini-Maiden Paper Doll Here.

Faye in the Woods: A Fantasy Maiden Paper Doll

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This week we have Faye dressed up in some fantasy clothes.

Some paper dolls are easier to write about than others. Often this has to do with how long ago I drew the paper doll and how much I remember about the original conception. I confess I try to make notes, but I don’t often succeed at that.

I seem to remember thinking of Little Red Ridinghood when I designed these garments, but really it could have been any maiden in the woods. It seems to me there’s always in fairy tales, a young woman who lives in the woods and then there’s a woodcutter or something else.

Often there’s an evil stepmother eventually who sends the maiden out to find something and we all know how that goes. Or she is kind to an old woman and then gets something like gems every time she speaks.

I think a bit part of the pleasure of black and white paper dolls is coloring them in. I wasn’t much into coloring books as a child, but I liked details when I did color. In these costumes, I tried to add details that a person would like to color.

Plus, I’ve always loved how lavished embroidered folk costumes looked.

Bodacious & Buxom: A Curvy Fantasy Paper Doll’s Purple Gown

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Purple medieval fantasy paper doll dress with a black belt and floral detailing. Free to print from paperthinpersonas.com

Every week I seem to end up with a favorite dress. I sometimes like to save those dresses for Friday as a way of brightening up at the very end of the week.

Today’s dress is based on Mia’s Garden Ballgowns, a set I did in 2014 based on Wa and Qu Lolita fashions. The color scheme was a little challenging, as it was based on a kimono. I wanted to see how the same colors worked on a totally different dress style. Big fluffy ballgowns vs a simple medieval inspired one.

When I was thinking about Monday’s paper doll, I found myself thinking a lot about color. I tend to do these medieval inspired dresses in a more sedate color schemes, as I did with Phillipa, Marcus as a Warrior, Court Alchemist and In the Land of Dragons.

This time I wanted to do something more vivid and vibrant which is why I went with the rich purple for the body of the over dress and accented it with the undresses cloud blue. The “black” is actually a very very dark red and it’s a subtle thing, but I think it softens the look.

A Curvy Medieval Maiden and her Fantastic Fantasy Wardrobe

So, I am super hopeful I will get a set done for next week. I confess that it is Friday and nothing is done yet, but I want to make something for Monday. Things have just been very busy this week, so if I end up having to go on a short Haitus, I’ll make the announcement on Monday.

Meanwhile, follow the blog on Twitter @paperpersonas and if you love the blog, think about becoming a Patron. There’s a Patron only dress this week, if that’s a lure for anyone.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I’ll be spending mine vacuuming a lot. Stupid fleas.

Bodacious & Buxom: A Curvy Fantasy Paper Doll’s Accessories

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Today’s Accessory Thursday post is a little late and I feel guilty about that, but in my defense, let me explain.

So, remember how I said I was moving? And I did move and I love my new place. However, the previous tenant had pets.

And I discovered Monday that those pets left behind some… friends. Small jumping biting friends.

Fleas.

I reported my unwanted roommates on Monday. They sprayed the unit yesterday and I spent most of yesterday evening either out or sitting on the back patio while the unit aired out. But seriously, I have never been more happy to smell the scent of pesticide in my life.

Anyway, with all the laundry and other things I’ve been doing, there just wasn’t time to work on this blog post much.

So, that’s why its a little late.

Anyway, enough about my Adventures with Fleas! Let’s talk about paper dolls.

Today, we have three pairs of shoes. Each one is colored to match one of the three dresses, including the paper doll dress that goes up on Friday. There’s also a book and a musical instrument and some papers. I struggle a little with scale sometimes with the B&B dolls, because they have such huge heads.

(Don’t get me wrong, I like huge heads, but it makes some stuff challenging.)

Two usual pieces of housekeeping: The doll was posted Monday and the black and white versions are at the top of the post. Enjoy!

Bodacious & Buxom: A Curvy Fantasy Paper Doll’s Spring Dress in Pink

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I never used to like pink. I mean, I went through a phase when I was like four and I demanded that my room be painted pink. My mother kindly did this for me. Later, the room was painted a bright yellow. I distinctly recall returning from camp or something and the room suddenly being yellow. My mother had painted it while I was away, though I do at least remember that she had asked me if I minded it being yellow before she painted it. During this whole time, I refused to wear pink. Pink, I decided sometime around second grade, was not a color for me.

I’m saying all this, because I have completely come around to pink. I think it is a beautiful color. I have to stick to brighter or darker pinks in the real world, but in paper doll land, the sky is the limit on my shades of pink.

So, today’s paper doll dress was colored using the color scheme from Dreaming Princess as the base. Dreaming Princess is one of the most complexly patterned sets I have done in years and the color scheme was a real struggle. Still, I loved how the original set came out and I wanted to adapt those colors to today’s paper doll dress to print.

Every paper doll dress is a little different, of course. Yesterday, we had an autumnal scheme. Today’s dress, I think is more spring-like. I am, I confess, not totally pleased with how the hem detail turned out. I didn’t properly adjust it for the curve of the paper doll’s body. I’m a bit disappointed in myself.

Anyway, enjoy the paper doll dress! Tomorrow we have shoes and stockings.

Bodacious & Buxom: A Curvy Fantasy Paper Doll’s Autumnal Dress

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An autumnal fantasy gown with a belt decorated in beads for my curvy printable paper doll series called Bodacious and Buxom. Also available in black and white for coloring.

Can I be totally honest with y’all? I feel like I can.

These are the sorts of dresses I draw when I am feeling exhausted and I know I have to get a set done. Is that a bad thing to admit? It’s not that I don’t enjoy drawing them, but they don’t take a lot of mental energy. It’s like safe drawing. There’s not a lot of stretching here.

Sometimes though, I do think that is okay.

As I said on Monday, the color schemes for all of this week’s outfits are based on previously posted printable paper doll sets. For example, today’s paper doll dress for the B&B series is based on my Pixie series paper doll Malina who was posted in 2014. I have always really loved Malina’s color scheme and I thought it was a fun one to transform into this medieval fantasy dress. Malina is a contemporary fashion paper doll, but I think her color scheme is very universally autumnal.

It’s September and it should be chilly and there should be changing leaves. I confess I am getting neither changing leaves nor chilly weather here in Alabama, but I want it! I love the autumn and I want to get to experience some of it, darn it!

Now, a friendly reminder, you can get the doll that I drew to go with today’s printable paper doll dress from Monday’s post, but feel free to dress up any of the B&B dolls in this fantasy gown.

Also, if you like the blog and want to help me keep it online, please consider becoming a Patron. I know I say this a lot, but it really does help me subsidize the server, security and related costs to running PTP.

And, of course, I always love to hear what you think about today’s dress.

Bodacious & Buxom: A Curvy Fantasy Paper Doll & Her Nightgown

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Our theme this week is fantasy gowns and this is the first Bodacious & Buxom set of paper dolls to be posted in the new format! Exciting, no? (Okay, maybe just for me.)

A few things, every dress this week was colored based on the color scheme of an older paper doll set which I thought was kinda a cool idea. Plus it saved me from having to come up with color schemes all my own. See? Saved by my own laziness.

That’ll start tomorrow.

Meanwhile, our curvy fantasy paper doll has a nightgown, because every girl needs a nightgown. My only big regret with this paper doll is her hair. I had planned on a big, over the top, fantasy hair style, but then I thought it didn’t go with the dresses and I think I redrew her hair about six times before finally saying, “Good Riddance!”

And just making it long and simple.

If you’re thinking, her hair is boring, I want a different model… I’ve set up a Dolls category and a Clothing category for the Bodacious and Buxom paper dolls and I am currently working on populating those categories for the other paper doll series. So, you can find all the dolls and all the clothing.

Meanwhile, please feel free to follow the blog on Twitter @paperpersonas. And if you love it, support it through Patreon. Patrons get early previews, extra outfits and to listen to me ramble about process.

And who doesn’t want to listen to me ramble about that?

Patron or not, I hope you enjoy today’s paper doll and her dresses this week.

 

Marisole’s Fresh Summer Fashions: Watermelons & Crop Tops

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A watermelon skirt with two matching tops for a printable paper doll. Free to print from paperthinpersonas.com.

We are closing the week with watermelons, because I really don’t think there’s anything more summery than watermelon. I have fond memories of spitting the seeds off the back deck to see who could get it the furthest into the woods.

Of course, the watermelons in question are on a paper doll skirt rather than an actual melon, but that’s what you get when you come to a paper doll blog, right?

It would be kinda off if I was offering actual watermelons.

When I was designing pattern motifs for this series of paper dolls, I really got to thinking about summer symbols- watermelon, citrus fruits, flamingos, suns. All things I associate with sand and summer.

I made this skirt more of a middie length so it could be worn a little more formal if you paired with the right top. I was thinking of the pink one for that look. That pink top would also be very cute with the white cropped pants from Tuesday or the denim top with the white shorts from Monday.

Marisole’s Fresh Summer Fashions: A Paper Doll & Her Clothes

As usual, I tried to make sure all the pieces could mix and match together for this week. I am considering abandoning weekly themes though and just posting random stuff. Thoughts about that idea from my readers?

A friendly reminder, that you can follow the blog on Twitter and support it by becoming a Patron.

I hope everyone has a delightful weekend.

Marisole’s Summer Clothes: Accessory Thursday!

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Happy Accessory Thursday! The day when I get to do what I like a lot which is show off paper doll shoes! (Everything is better with paper doll shoes. There’s been a study.)

I designed these shoes to go with Monday’s paper doll, but since I use the same set of seven skin-tones for most of my paper dolls, these shoes should also work with A Little Retro, Beautiful Boho, Sweet and Saucy, Secret Agent, Prima Ballerina, my Divergent Paper Doll and Hearts, Denim and Bows since they all share the same skin-tone as Monday’s Marisole paper doll.

I designed these shorts and I added them in with these two sandals. I colored them and I like their pattern of suns, but I couldn’t decide what they went with. So, I decided to post them with these shoes and bags. I think they could go with the yellow crop top from Tuesday.

The back strap on the cross-body purse is designed to tuck behind the paper doll’s body. That’s how that works incase anyone is wondering what that white tab is for- it’s just to hold the purse against the doll. Nuances of printable paper doll design you never knew you never knew.

Now, if you’re thinking… I’d really like to support PTP than consider joining Patreon if you want.

Meanwhile, I always love to hear from my readers.

Marisole’s Fresh Summer Fashions: Flamingos and Lemons

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Every week I seem to end up with a favorite set of printable paper doll clothes. It’s not on purpose, it just seems to happen. This week, these are totally my favorites. Hands down. No question. I mean, who doesn’t want a sundress covered in lemons or one decorated with flamingos? I want one! I totally do.

I confess I probably wouldn’t wear it though. I am much more of a maxi-dress kinda girl.

If you’re thinking, but where is a doll to wear these fantastic whimsical sundresses, than here’s Monday’s paper doll, but any of the Marisole Monday & Friend’s printable paper dolls can wear these clothes.

As usual, the black and white coloring page version is linked at the top of the post. I have gotten several emails asking where it is lately, so I am wondering, is it really that hard to find?

I wanted to do a flamingo covered dress, because I have a strange fondness for plastic lawn flamingos. When I was a kid, there was a house that faced the main road that had a flock of plastic flamingos that would be arranged in different styles. During the 4th of July, they would be marching with flags and around Christmas, they were festooned with Santa hats.

I never met the people who owned the house, but I’ve always thought I would get along with them. Anyone who arranges their lawn flamingos in thematic displays is my kinda person.

So, when I moved into a townhouse down here in Alabama which was identical to every townhouse next to it, I ended up being given a lawn flamingo by a friend as a gift. It got broken when a nasty storm knocked it over and then I moved into a place where a lawn flamingo wasn’t really viable.

Now that I am back in a place with a yard, I am looking forward to picking up a pair of flamingos. After all, if I just have one, it’ll get lonely. 🙂

Meanwhile, enjoy the paper doll dresses! I don’t have any stories about lemons to tell you, but I had fun doing the lemon dress, too.

Thoughts on lawn flamingos? Cheesy? Or fun?