Marisole Monday & Friends

Marisole Monday & Friends Masquerade: Monica as a Hummingbird

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds, Chokers, and Yellow Hibiscus Flowers

A beautiful hummingbird inspired masquerade dress and black paper doll to wear it from paperthinpersonas.com. Also available as a coloring page.

This was the only dress I based on a specific bird subspecies. I knew I wanted to so the Red Throated Hummingbird from the start. Hummingbirds come in so many color combinations, I really felt like I had to pick just one to focus on with this paper doll masquerade gown modeled by the wonderful Monica.

Of course, the choker is red to match the red throat of the hummingbird. The flowers decorating the wig and the gown are yellow hibiscus which are a hummingbird friendly flower. If my Raven masquerade gown was a gothic fantasy, than this gown is much more romantic and soft.

I have some wig instructions if you’re not sure how to make the pocket by pasting on the backing piece. Read them here.

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Tomorrow will be the last bird masquerade gown- a gown based on the Loon.

Need a more outfits for today’s Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Doll? Find More Clothing Here. 

Marisole Monday & Friends Masquerade: Margot as a Raven

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Ravens, this Gold Corset, and 18th Century Hair Styles

An elegant Raven inspired masquerade costume for a paper doll with matching shoes and a mask and wig.

I love Ravens. I grew up in Southeast Alaska where there are a lot of Ravens. We also had a fair number of Crows, but I hate Crows for being loud and annoying, so I refuse to draw a paper doll gown based on them.

So, this is a Raven Masquerade dress that Margot, of the Marisole Monday & Friends paper doll series, is modeling.

Ravens are some of the smartest birds in the world and they can do fairly complex problem solving. No unsurprisingly, they show up a lot on myth and legend. In Tlingit stories, Raven is trickster who frees the sun, moon and stars. In Norse mythology, the god Odin is depicted as having two ravens serving as his eyes and ears. They are named Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory). In Ancient Greek myths, ravens are associated with Apollo, the god of prophecy.

And of course, there are always the ravens of the Tower of London who, should they ever be removed, would foretell the fall of the Kingdom of England.

So, if you want folklore heavy animals, it doesn’t get much better than the Raven.

This is the most fitted of the gowns. There’s something mysterious about Ravens and I wanted the masquerade gown to capture some of that mystery.

Here are some instructions for the wig, if you’re not sure how it works.

If you like the blog, please think about supporting it on Patreon.

So, I am curious, what is the favorite Masquerade gown so far? Let me know in a comment!

Need a more outfits for today’s Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Doll? Find More Clothing Here. 

Marisole Monday & Friends Masquerade: Marisole as a Flamingo

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Flamingos, 1980’s Prom Dresses, and Spiky Hair Cuts

A paper doll masquerade ballgown based on a flamingo available in black and white or in color from paperthinpersonas.com

There is something really silly looking about flamingos. Still, I love their color and I wanted to do something a little playful for one of the masquerade gowns, and who doesn’t want to dress their paper doll up like a flamingo?

I was trying to research flamingo folklore and I didn’t find much. I did however find a great history of the pink plastic lawn flamingo, should anyone be curious. I also learned, though I haven’t been able to confirm this through a really reputable source, that in Ancient Egypt Flamingos were considered sacred to the sun god, Ra.

The over-skirt of the gown is meant to mirror the fuller body of the flamingo. Originally, I had a very narrow skirt attached to the bottom, but later I altered it to fit in better with the rest of the gowns. Due to the very low neckline and decorate edging, I think the dress will work best with floating tabs, so I positioned two on the page. You may need to add some longer floating tabs for the skirt.

Our printable model for the flamingo costume is Marisole. I thought her light brown skin-tone would be set off really beautifully by the pink gown.

If you’re not sure how the wig works, here are instructions. Also, I would recommend adding some additional tabs to the skirt as needed. It is a very wide skirt.

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Need a more outfits for today’s Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Doll? Find More Clothing Here. 

Marisole Monday & Friends Masquerade: Meaghan as an Owl

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Owls, Victorian Ballgowns, and Platform Sandals

An owl masquerade dress for Meaghan of the Marisole Monday & Friend's paper doll series. Free to print from paperthinpersonas.com.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween always feels like it is a holiday ripe for paper doll activity. It’s all about costumes, after all. So, while I abandoned themes last week, I will be returning to them this week. Each day this week there will be a different Marisole Monday & Friend’s doll and her bird themed masquerade ballgown.

Meaghan is starting us off with an owl themed paper doll masquerade dress which was the first of the dresses that I designed. The sketchbook page of this gown on Instragram went up a few months ago, but it can take a long time for things to be finished. My goal was to capture the idea of an owl without being specific to species, so the buns on her head are supposed to be like the owl’s ears and the layers in the skirt give a sense of wings.

Due to the width of the skirt, I would strongly recommend adding some floating tabs to the back of it. Her wig is designed to work with my usual method of pasting the back to the front and leaving a pocket for the dolls head. Here are the full instructions. I really should do full instructions on floating tabs, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Now, tomorrow there will be a flamingo and after that, I haven’t decided which ballgown will go up next.

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Need a more outfits for today’s Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Doll? Find More Clothing Here. 

Marisole Monday & Friends: A Retro Astronaut Paper Doll

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Retro Sci-Fi Magazine Cover Art, Krylorians and Lavender Hair

Sometimes, I feel like drawing a different sort of paper doll, so today we have a little pink skinned retro alien astronaut paper doll, because why not?

Over the course of the year, I have continued to move closer to my roots. And today, I am moving there even further. When this site started, before the whole thing went down in flames in 2009, there was just one series and that series updated with whatever the heck I felt like. Later, I added the first Curves series, but continued to post whatever I felt like.

Starting today, I am going to abandon weekly themes, except when I feel like there is a real reason I want to do one.

For example, I have only one astronaut paper doll until today. For several years, I’ve wanted to draw a really retro inspired, pin-up inspired sort of astronaut, but I’ve never wanted to make a whole set like that. But during my short hiatus I had an epiphany, I realized that I didn’t have too. There was no reason I had to do a whole week of retro-astronauts. I could just do one!

And on the next day, I could do something else entirely.

So, today enjoy this “Friend of Marisole Monday” and her retro inspired astronaut suit. I also gave her a pair of somewhat impractical shoes, because I thought she might want to wear something other than her space suit and with her pink skin, burrowing shoes might be straight out, unless they were boots.

Thoughts on the new plan? Do let me know in a comment. And if you love the blog, than think about supporting it through Patreon.

Need a more outfits for today’s Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Doll? Find More Clothing Here. 

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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marisole-modern-summer-3

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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marisole-modern-summer-1

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?

Marisole’s Fresh Summer Fashions: Yellows & Whites

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Summery clothing fashions with capris, a crop top and a tunic. Free to print and dress up some paper dolls with!

Before I moved to the south, I just didn’t get white pants. Now I have discovered them from living down here, I totally love them. Nothing looks quite so crisp as white pants and I know it’s after labor day and there are rules I think about white and Labor day, but I don’t remember what they are.

Anyway, today we have a crop top, a tunic top and a pair of white capri pants for the printable paper dolls. I have a “no frump” rule for my paper dolls. I think they should get to be stylish and fashionable to the best of my ability. Of course, either of these tops could be paired with yesterday’s white shorts.

Now, I did design these to go with Monday’s paper doll set, but if you feel like you want some more wardrobe options, than might I recommend Denim and Bows or Seagulls and Seaside as other options.

Of course, the clothes can be worn by any of the Marisole Monday & Friend’s paper dolls. That is, after all, the point of having a paper doll series.

And if you’re interested in the black and white versions, they are linked at the top of the page, so you can color them yourself. One of the nice things about these pieces is that they are versatile

Now, if you want to support the blog, please think about joining the Patreon page. It really is helpful to defray the costs of keeping PTP on the web.

Meanwhile, tomorrow there will be some fun sundresses (my favorites this week, I confess) and then Accessory Thursday, of course, and then we’ll wrap this week. So, things should putter along here.

As always, leave a comment if you like! I always like to know what y’all think.

Marisole’s Fresh Summer Fashions: Jumpsuit & White Shorts

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A young fashionable black woman with some summer clothes- a jumpsuit and shorts. She can wear any of the clothing from the Marisole Monday & Friend's paper doll series.

Originally, back when I was making plans, I hadn’t planned on doing two contemporary fashion sets in a row. I thought I would do something else between, but then I ended up needing to move and life has away of laughing at our best laid plans.

So, here I am posting two contemporary fashion printable paper doll sets in a row, but they couldn’t be more different. Last week, I forayed into Hip-Hop paper doll fashion. This week we are sticking with what I am far more comfortable with, summer fashions from the fashion magazines like In-Style and Vogue.

This week, our paper doll model is Marisole. As some of you probably remember, Marisole is the first of the Marisole Monday & Friend’s paper dolls and she leads our charge. Today, she has a strapless jumpsuit and a pair of white shorts. I swear later on there will be top options to go with her shorts.

This week’s theme is fresh summer fashions- expect a lot of whimsical prints including lemons and flamingos, plus sundresses and cropped tops.

And of course, there’s Patreon if you want to help support the blog, plus PTP is on twitter- @paperpersonas. Twitter is a great way to ask me questions, because I tend to answer them faster than comments.