Full Color

Ensemble Electica: A 1938 Paper Doll

A fashionable lady 1938 paper doll with a four piece wardrobe to color and play with.
A fashionable black lady 1938 paper doll with a four piece wardrobe to print.

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Today’s creation is a 1938 paper doll with dresses from that year. I did a preview of these 1930s paper dolls a while ago. So, here we are, debuting the first member of that collection. I am super happy with how she came out.

In the late 1930s is the time, you begin to see some hints of what will come in the 1940s. Particularly, the strong shoulders that will be the big trend in the next decade. Skirts are also a bit shorter. It’s a fun time period, though the sleeves aren’t quite as wacky as they were earlier in the decade.

One new to me thing I tried out with these paper dolls was this jacket technique I’ve seen other do. Where the jacket can be a layering piece with the top of the dress as one piece. I’ve not really done that before. One thing I noticed when going through 1930s fashion magazines, was a lot of shrugs and jackets designed to match dresses. Bare arms were either a super casual or super formal- it’s like ballgown or tennis dress, but not afternoon shopping. Social rules are weird.

Most of the fashions in this paper doll were copied from Fashion Service Magazine‘s Summer 1938 Issue. This was the magazine of the Woman’s Institute. I picked up a digital version from Mrs. Depew. This magazines helped a home sewists create the latest fashions for herself or as a home business. I don’t know how popular it was, but it seems less trendy than some of others I have seen. I did use a few books from my own collection for hats and shoes, because the magazine was mostly about things people sew. Shoes not being known for being homemade, even in the 1930s.

Because planning projects fully isn’t really my jam (to the surprise of none of my long time readers), I had a few extra pieces that wouldn’t fit on this page for all my 1930s sets. So, those’ll be a paid patron exclusive while I post this series. My thank you for those folks who help support this little corner of the internet. I’ll probably post it on Friday, if I can (this is never a certainty.)

Ensemble Eclectica: Specs & Posies

Cute printable paper doll with glasses and several different mix and match pieces. This fun coloring page for kids. She has thirteen mix and match pieces.
Cute printable paper doll with glasses and several different mix and match pieces. She has thirteen mix and match pieces with a modern colorful theme.

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I don’t often create printable paper doll with glasses, but I wear glasses (blind as a bat without them) and therefore I thought, I should make more paper dolls with glasses. Glasses are cute and fun.

So, I’ll be honest- I am still learning to use Procreate a year after starting. Because I’m still getting used to the tools, I’ve been a little conservative about what I’ve attempted. I did a lot of playing around last year, but this year I’m trying to give myself space to get comfortable.

As part of that process, I’ve been revisiting older paper dolls that I liked. Sometimes, I stick close to the original like I did with Rose, Coffee, And Mint Redux and Coffee Strawberry and Cream, but other times I end up heading off on my own little side trek as I did with Bright Boho from Wings and Petals. This time, I think it is somewhere in the middle.

Marisole Monday & Friends: Late Summer Flowers inspired this new printable paper doll with glasses. I kept the glasses, changed up the hair, and kept the color scheme, though used it in a different way. My two favorite pieces from the original (the shoes with flowers on them and the shorts) I redrew. The pattern on the shorts was a great learning experience about how to manipulate lines in Procreate.

Chic Contrasts: Fun Color Blocking Paper Doll

Printable modern Asian paper doll coloring page with a 14 piece mix and match wardrobe.
Colorful printable modern Asian paper doll with a mix and match wardrobe.

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As I mentioned a while ago, learning to use Procreate (which I am now using for my paper dolls) has been a learning curve. One of the things I dislike about it is that it is not easy to draw a perfectly straight line between two points as I would like. Either way, I am coming around to it slowly.

When I first started using Procreate last year, I decided that learning to use the program was a large enough ask without adding “create totally original art every time” with it. So, I set about drawing paper dolls inspired by pervious paper dolls I’d created.

This set was inspired by Seagulls & Seaside, a set I first drew a decade ago. I still think that paper doll feels pretty modern, though color blocking is not as strong of a trend as it was at the time. I kind of think color blocking is never not in style. The original set’s color scheme was inspired by signal flag colors for ships. I really loved that inspiration. I hadn’t planned on matching the color scheme so closely, but I realized that it looked really good. So, I kept it.

I really do love nautical and ocean themed things. It’s probably because I grew up commercial fishing.

Enchanted Elegance: A Fantasy Paper Doll

A printable medieval princess paper doll coloring page with two fantasy gowns and accessories. She has braided hair and two fantasy gowns, along with other accessories.
A printable medieval princess paper doll with two fantasy gowns and accessories. She has long blond hair and two fantasy gowns.

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I don’t know why this paper doll looks Russian to me. I have no explanation for that one, but something about the hair just screamed “slavic fairytale” to me. Once I decided that, than she needed to be blond, because if I was going to go slavic fairy tale, I might as well lean into all the stereotypes.

For some reason, and I don’t know why, I’ve found that working digitally means I am less drawn to doing fantasy as I was in pencil. Again, I’m not sure why. I suppose I’ll figure it out.

Actually, I’ve been frightfully unproductive over the last few weeks/months. I mean, I’ve been very productive, but not paper doll related. I’ve been working on a million other things. I have some work to get done for the convention and so that’ll get me motivated I hope.

Meanwhile I do have lots of thing “in-progress”, but I am struggling quite a lot to get those things over the finish line. We’ll see where it all ends up, I suppose.

Retro Refinement: A Vintage Fashion Inspired Paper Doll for my Patrons

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A Purim Paper Doll for 2024!

A paper doll coloring page for purim kids activities!
A printable paper doll for purim kids activities!

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Today’s paper doll is a Purim themed paper doll. So, I historically have saved holiday paper dolls for the actual day of the holiday, which for Purim this year is March 24th. However, this year, I decided that if people were going to print these off and use them for any sort of Purim kids activities, posting them early made sense. So, I’m trying this out to see how it feels.

My niece loves purple. She inspired this color scheme. I had a much more sedate color scheme in mind and then I thought, “What would my niece like?”

And this where I ended up. A lot more bright and colorful than I tend to go under normal circumstances, but still a lot of fun.

I won’t recap the entire story of Esther here (because you can find that elsewhere). Our paper doll has most of the things I think you need to celebrate the holiday. There’s an Esther scroll. The Book of Esther is not in the Torah, so it is held on a separate scroll. There’s a grogger for making noise and a big plate of hamantaschen. Plus, an Esther costume for dressing up (which is traditional). Technically, you can dress up in any costume that suits you, but when I was kid the person everyone wanted to dress up as was Esther. So, there you go.

I’ll be dusting off my hamantaschen baking skills this week to make up some for work, because I love making them and the recipe I have from my grandmother makes a huge amount. Personally, I like poppy seed ones, but most people I know prefer apricot. I had such a hard time finding poppy seed filling last year, that I ordered extra from Amazon. It’s been quietly waiting since last year, so it’s time for it to get used.

St. Patrick’s Day Paper Doll for 2024

A black and white printable paper doll celebrating St. Patrick's Day!
A colorful printable paper doll celebrating St. Patrick's Day!

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I usually save Holiday paper dolls for the actual date of the holiday. The Saint’s Day for St. Patrick is March 17th, which is a few days from now. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that folks might want these paper dolls early. That way they can print them and actually give them kids on St. Patrick’s Day. So, it makes more sense to post it early, I think.

Plus, I can post on social media on the day of the actual holiday, because that’s how social media works. (I’m still learning how social media works.)

St. Patrick’s Day is the feast day for St. Patrick, patron Saint of Ireland. From what I’ve seen it is mostly celebrated in the United States by parades, dying the Chicago river green, and drinking green dyed beer. Now, you might be wondering why I like drawing St. Patrick’s Day paper dolls when I am neither Irish nor Catholic, and don’t drink beer (green or otherwise). The thing is I studied in Illinois and became friends with many very Irish-Catholic people and I started drawing St. Patrick’s Day paper dolls.

And then I got requests for more of them when I missed a few years, so there you have it.

Since I don’t know enough (read: anything) about the actual traditions of St. Patrick’s Day from a religious perspective, I keep my St. Patrick’s Day paper dolls strictly secular. I chose rainbows and clovers as the primary motifs.

By the way, my favorite St. Patrick’s Day paper doll ever was this one, where I drew clothing from historical eras that connected to the holiday. I should really re-draw that one… I think I’d have fun with it. Well, there’s always next year.

Snowflake Sophistication: Winter Princess Paper Doll

A winter princess paper doll coloring page with two dresses and accessories.
A winter princess paper doll with two dresses and accessories.

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When I think of a winter princess paper doll, I think of elegance, but also quiet and soft colors. I like winter and I love bright colors, but this time of year where I live, everything feels muted. The mountains in the distance look pale blue and white and they seem to melt into the sky.

So, when designed a winter princess paper doll, I went for blues and soft purples and lots of layers.

I was inspired by this Winter Princess Dress from 2018. In my little paper doll world, “big gown” is my mental short hand for these 1860s inspired gowns that have bit skirts with lots of fancy layers. I realize that these gowns don’t have to be for princesses, but I watched a lot of Disney at an impressionable age and therefore I will always associate princesses with these big gowns.

In my head today’s winter princess gowns are the sort of thing a fairy tale princess might wear while wandering through a snow covered landscape. Possibly to meet a prince or possibly just because, she felt like it. Princes need not always be involved. 

In fact, princes never really were involved in my princess games as a child. They were not needed. Princess could do everything they needed to do.

So, I will admit that I had to get pretty close to the edge to fit on these big skirted princess dresses, but since the images I made had a .5 inch border, they should still print just fine onto letter sized paper. I would strongly recommend adding floating tabs to the backs of these skirts to help hold them to the doll.

What do you think? Do you love winter?

Imperial Elegance: An Hanfu and Kimono Inspired Fantasy Paper Doll

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This pair of fantasy gowns were heavily inspired by hanfu, which are traditional Chinese clothing, specifically those of the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE). However, this has about as much in common with actual historical Chinese clothing as this paper doll has in common with actual historical English clothing. That’s to say- not a whole heck of a lot.

Rarely have I had a set that I have more trouble with coloring. This gave me fits! I initially planned on the two dresses coordinating, but then decided that seemed boring, so broke out and did two very different color schemes inspired by seasonal Japanese colors. (Yes, I know hanfu are Chinese, not Japanese, but again- this is fantasy clothing.)

In Japan, traditional kimonos are styled with seasonal color schemes. So, I tried to base these color schemes on traditional seasonal colors of Japan. One dress uses February colors, crimson and purple. The other dress uses March colors which are peach and khaki. The Kimono Lady, a defunct blog, has a really detailed write up about March colors here. I had a little more trouble finding references for February colors, but this yukata influenced the colors I chose.

I love color, but I find my own eye attracted to specific color schemes. It’s really valuable to see how different cultures combine colors. I never would have used purple and crimson together in the way that I did, but once I did it- I really loved how graphic it made the dress.

Astro Allure in a Different Color Scheme for my Patrons

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In case you missed it, earlier this week, I shared the blue version of this paper doll with her mostly black and white wardrobe.

When I was working on a color scheme for this paper doll, I kept thinking about how I wanted to try a second color scheme. I was having way to much fun playing around with colors. Inspired by the chilly weather outside, I decided to experiment with warm and cheerful colors. Thus, the second iteration emerged, bathed in shades of pinks and yellows. These colors, reminiscent of spring and summer, hopefully bring a sense of summery happiness, especially in contrast to the dark chilly winter nights I’m currently experiencing.

I really love pink.

One subtle is that all the black on this set isn’t actually black- it’s a very dark gray with a pink tinge. So, that was an attempt to tie the whole thing together.

By the way, I really want to express how much I appreciate all of you who have supported this creative journey. Thank you for being a part of this adventure, especially since right now things are sort of unknown.

Additionally, I think I somehow messed something up on Patreon by pausing things in January, so… I likely won’t be doing that again! Meanwhile, we’ll triage along best we can!