Hanukkah Paper Doll Printables Round Up for 2025 & A Hiatus Announcement

After a quiet November, I’m taking a short break for the rest of December to recharge and dream up new paper doll ideas. In the meantime, you can still enjoy my Hanukkah paper doll gallery with festive dolls, outfits, and accessories for the season!

Whatever holiday you celebrate (or don’t) at this time of the year, I hope your winter (or summer for those down on the other side of the globe) is a lovely time with family.

Hanukkah Paper Doll Printables From Hanukkah’s Past!

Happy Hanukkah! I hope this season brings you light, joy, and time for reflection and hope. I don’t manage to make a brand-new Hanukkah paper doll every single year (December tends to be wonderfully hectic, as I’m sure you can relate), but I always try to share something so it’s easy to find Hanukkah printables to celebrate and enjoy with kids.

Click on the images to go to the post to download whichever Hanukah paper doll printable, you like best.

Plus, I’ll be sharing a special printable just for my patrons later this month, and quietly working behind the scenes on a new paper doll series and some big, fun plans to kick off 2026 in style.

As always, Paper Thin Personas is very much a one-woman show, and I’m deeply grateful for every visit, comment, bit of encouragement, and all your patience and support.

If you’d like to support the site, get more paper dolls, and help make future paper doll projects possible, consider joining me on Patreon or simply browse the gallery and download a doll or two to enjoy this season.

12 Autumn Fashionista Paper Dolls In Color or Black and White for Coloring!

So, as I was sorting through my archive of paper dolls this week (as I occasionally do), I pulled together a dozen designs that felt perfect for autumn and all have fun contemporary fashion vibes They all have rich colors, cozy layers, and that unmistakable sense of shifting seasons. Funny enough, a few of these dolls were originally meant for winter, and a couple I sketched with summer in mind, but looking at them now, they all feel like they belong squarely in fall. I’ll probably change my mind about this later, but that’s the artist prerogative, right?

Here in Alaska, there’s already snow on the ground, but I know that like in many parts of the world, autumn is still lingering with full of color and crisp air and the last golden days of the season. I’m only a little jealous. So, wherever you are, I hope these twelve autumn fashionistas bring a little bit of that magic to your day.

12 Printable Fall Fashionista Paper Dolls

I confess openly that I haven’t been drawing much lately. I’m having a bit of artist’s block. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, I usually return to my archives to spark some inspiration. Looking back through old paper doll designs reminded me just how much I love the feel of this season.

(I know autumn is more of a British term than an American one, but I think it sounds so much nicer than fall.)

I hope everyone is having an amazing autumn, or fall, or whatever you call it in your part of the world. And if you have a favorite fall-themed paper doll that I’ve missed, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Creating a Paper Doll Book: Doodling & Planning Big Eyed Girlies

In honor of my newest paper doll book, Big Eyed Girlies, now available from Paper Doll Review, I thought it’d be fun to take you behind the scenes over the next few weeks. I’ll be sharing a closer look at the creative process, from initial sketches to coloring. All the little choices in between that helped bring this quirky and colorful project to life.

In today’s post, I’m talking about: planning & doodling.

If you know me, you know I’m a planner by nature. So naturally, before I ever picked up a pencil, I did… math!

Yep, so glamorous, I know.

I wanted to figure out how many individual paper doll pieces I would need for the book. I counted the pieces in a few books in my collection per page. Most books had somewhere between six and eleven pieces per page. So, a little math later, anywhere from 48 to 88 individual pieces.

Since I tend to be a “more is more” kind of creator, and because I think most people want more outfit options for their dolls, I set my target at around 80 pieces. I wanted plenty of material for the fantastic Julie to work with when it came time to layout the book, even if a few paper doll designs got trimmed during editing.

And to be honest, part of publishing with people you trust is allowing them space to make editorial decisions about what will make the very best paper doll book.

After planning, I started thinking up ideas. As I sketched, four distinct style collections began to emerge. In my mind, I gave them working titles like:

  • Pretty-Pretty Princess Dresses (Bows, Ruffles, Puffy Sleeves)
  • Vintage Circus (Diamond Patterns, Braid, Top Hats)
  • Dapper Gangster Suits (Pin Stripes, Ties, Fedoras)
  • Groovy Mod 1960s Graphic Minis (Tights, A-Line Dresses, Boots)

I knew I would need more than this, but this was where I started. I ended up with six themes in total, which is what you’ll see in the final book.

I never think of thumbnails as final designs. It’s just idea generation. Maybe some will make it past this stage, but most won’t. It’s a space for me to play and explore different ideas before moving on to finished art. I try to keep these sorts of things very loose. I add notes, so I remember what I was thinking or what I thought was important. The most crucial thing about these thumbnails is that I don’t edit myself.

That’s just a peek at the early stages of the process. Next time, I’ll show some of the penciled designs and their inked counter-parts. You might be able to pair a few from these doodles to those designs.

If you’re excited about Big Eyed Girlies and want to be one of the first to get your hands on a copy, it’s available now for pre-order at Paper Doll Review.

Fun Fact: I did not title the book. Titles are not my forte. The fun title was all Jenny of Paper Doll Review.

Thank you so much for following along and being part of this paper doll-loving community. I can’t wait to share more soon!

Big Eyes, Big Style: Big Eyed Girlies My Newest Paper Doll Book Is Here!

Preview of Big Eyed Girlies paper doll book with retro style outfits and big-eyed dolls
Big Eyed Girlies Book Cover

I’m so excited to share that my newest paper doll book, Big Eyed Girlies, is officially available for pre-order from Paper Doll Review! If you’re a fan of dolls like Blythe, Pullip, Bratz, Rainbow High then you’ll feel right at home here. And if you love whimsy, color and fun, this book has all those in spades.

A love letter to everything I adore about paper dolls, I packed Big Eyed Girlies with whimsy, nostalgia, and all the creative fun that comes from cutting out tiny paper outfits.

Big Eyed Girlies has three big-eyed dolls and over 65 pieces to dress them up in. That’s a lot of outfit options.

Because paper dolls deserve variety, don’t you think?

From mod brights to romantic dresses, casual styles to circus whimsy, this book covers it all. One of my favorite spreads pairs soft pastels with dramatic black for a lace-and-ruffles tea party look that’s part Victorian, part Rococo, and 100% fun. There’s even a sundress with a video-game-inspired landscape, and some gloriously over-the-top ringmaster jackets with braided trim and thigh-high boots.

The best thing? Every single outfit fits all three dolls. So, no paper doll gets left out of the outfit switching fun here.

Preview of Big Eyed Girlies paper doll book with big-eyed dolls and lots of different outfits
Pages Preview from Big Eyed Girlies!

A huge thank-you to two amazing women who helped make this book happen. Jenny Taliadoros at Paper Doll Review has always been such a kind and supportive publisher. Julie Matthews took my illustrations and worked her magic, adding polish, shadows, and depth that really brought everything to life.

Big Eyed Girlies was such a joy to create. I poured so much of what I love into it. Paper Doll fashion, playful nostalgia, and a big dash of whimsy, these are the things I love to illustrate and share.

So, if you’re a collector, a fellow artist, or just someone who never stopped loving paper dolls, I hope Big Eyed Girlies brings a smile to your face.

Pre-orders are open now at Paper Doll Review.

Wrapping up the 100 Day Project: I made it!

Over the years, I’ve never actually finished the 100 Day Project on time. For those who aren’t familiar with the 100 day project, it’s a creative challenge where you commit to doing something artistic every day for 100 days and share your progress along the way.

I’ve started a lot of them and inevitably petered out mid-way through or took a long time off and then managed to wrap it up. (Here’s my project from 2019 and my project from 2020 and Julie’s Project from 2019).

This time I finished! And on time, too! Yay!

Now that it’s done, I’m giving myself a short break, but I’m already thinking about how to turn this series into a downloadable set or something bigger like a coloring book… Stay tuned!

Days 100, 99 and 91

My project was simple: draw 100 outfits for a new series of kid-friendly paper dolls. Yes, there are dolls. No, I’m not sharing them publicly, only paid Patreon members get a preview.

From the start, my goal was to produce 100 outfits. I’d read somewhere (can’t remember where) that 100 day projects can be about play, practice, or production. This time, I focused on making something tangible. So, my goal was production.

To me, that meant batch-working was fair game. I also gave myself permission to skip Instagram or Facebook updates when it got overwhelming (which it did) and focus on Patreon instead. And if I worried about over-posting? I reminded myself: patrons can always turn off notifications.

Day 65, 59 and 55

What did I learn along the way?

Honestly, it wasn’t so much about learning something new. After all, I’ve been drawing for a long time. I already know that creativity feeds itself. Once I get started (which is often the hardest part), the act of making something inspires me to keep going. The more I create, the more I want to create. It becomes a loop of positive reinforcement.

What I was reminded of, though, is that I have complicated feelings about creativity. Often, I feel like I “should” do things a certain way: I should be able to do a daily project (even though I always burn out when I try). I should want to post regularly on social media (even though I don’t enjoy it). I should write intelligent and witty things about everything I create (even though sometimes I have nothing to say, also how witty can you be about cargo shorts?).

This project helped me try to let go of some of those “shoulds” and work in a way that actually suits me. I worked in batches (eventually). I pre-scheduled things. I set up a plan and then I executed it as best as I could. I like a plan, but I also gave space for- I am sick of drawing this now and I just want to do something easy like jeans.

Days 80, 75, and 67

Finishing this project (on time!) felt like a big win. Not just because I completed 100 outfits, but because I let go of perfection, ignored the pressure to do things “right,” and trusted a process that actually works for me. That was harder than it sounds. I still feel a little guilty for not following the “rules”, but there really aren’t any rules when it comes to making art.

Just do what works for you.

Having said that, I do think regular practice (even if it isn’t daily) is really central to getting better at anything and also to keeping creativity alive.

That said, by the end, I was exhausted. A little grouchy, too. One hundred days is a long time to stick with anything, even something you enjoy.

Thank you to everyone who followed along, left kind comments (especially when a day or two were missing), and supported me on Patreon. Knowing you were out there cheering me on really helped; especially when I was staring at my iPad thinking, I swear I’ve already drawn this dress….

Will I do it again next year?

Absolutely. Maybe even sooner. Or maybe that’s just the post-project high talking…

If you want to learn more about the project, #the100dayproject podcast inspired me, this article helped me structure my project, and I kept this tracker, because checking off boxes feels super-duper satisfying.

You can see all 100 outfits on my Patreon. Free and paid members can view the outfits; paid members also get a peek at the dolls that go with them (well, some of them, I still have a few more to make).

Sixteen Different Printable Paper Doll Coloring Pages from Past Mays

Looking for printable paper doll coloring pages and don’t feel like digging through the archives? Who can blame you.

Over the years, I’ve created a wide range of paper doll printables from fantasy characters to historical fashion. This curated collection features 16 unique coloring pages you can download and enjoy, whether you’re a parent, teacher, or just a fan of paper dolls.

To keep myself from getting too lost in my own archives (which is very easy to do), I decided to focus on things I posted during the month of May from the blog’s beginnings all the way up to last year. It gave me a clear timeframe to work within and helped me narrow down the massive collection of paper dolls I’ve shared over the years.

I will openly admit that when I go back through my own archives, it is a little like a time capsule, highlighting things I forgot I drew and the stuff that I was going on my life that I felt like sharing.

Sixteen Different Printable Paper Doll Coloring Pages

Some of these are paper doll coloring pages for kids like Ethan or Emily, while others of these are more teenager focused like my bone fairy. The bone fairy was part of a whole series of mildly creepy paper dolls I drew in college.

Want even more printable paper dolls? Explore my Etsy shop, Patreon collection, or browse hundreds of printables in the archives here!

There is a lot to explore, I have to say.

Celebrating being 50% done on my 100 Day Project- 100 Paper Doll Outfits

If you’re a Patron or follow me on Instagram, you probably already know that I’ve been quietly working away on a 100 Day Project since February. For those unfamiliar, the 100 Day Project is a creative challenge where you commit to doing something artistic every day for 100 days and share your progress online.

My version of the project? Drawing 100 paper doll outfits for a new series of kid-friendly, crayon-approved dolls. It’s been a “just draw and keep going” kind of project—simple, consistent, and as low-pressure as committing to something for 100 days can be. I’ve tried to do this before, but nearly every time I burn out, because I am too ambitious, so this time I was trying very hard not to be ambitious.

I’ve mostly been posting the outfits over on Patreon (with occasional updates on Instagram when I’ve had the time and energy). But now that I’ve officially passed the halfway mark, I thought I’d share a little peek here on the blog—for those of you who don’t follow me elsewhere and may have been wondering why things have been a bit quiet.

While the doll bases themselves are currently only available to paid patrons, the outfit sketches are visible to all patrons—and yes, you can join for free to follow along! Or you can check out more of these on Instagram.

Will this project eventually become a fully finished paper doll set with polished layouts and tabs? Honestly… I don’t know yet. Right now, I’m just focused on showing up and getting to 100. What happens after that is a problem for future Rachel.

A Rapunzel Paper Doll by Ralph Hodgdon

If you want to win me over on a paper doll, basically all it takes is history or fairy tales, so imagine my excitement when I saw that Ralph Hodgdon had illustrated a Rapunzel paper doll.

Many of Ralph Hodgdon’s paper dolls illustrate various movie stars. He’s an incredible artist and I enjoy looking at his movie star paper dolls, but as I am not a movie star paper doll collector. But fairy tales? I am always up for fairy tales. Plus, this isn’t just a Rapunzel paper doll, but a glam 1980s Princess Bride meets Barbie experience I never knew how much I needed.

Seriously, check out that fantastic blue eyeshadow.

All right, so let’s talk the book- it’s the usual 8/16 page format. (16 pages, but one sided so 8 pages of content.) There’s seven dresses and the whole text of Rapunzel from a 1882 version of the tale from the Brother’s Grimm. So, this version includes all the brutal bits. Personally, I like fairy tales in all the gruesome glory, but I know not everyone feels like I do. The text does contrast a bit with the gowns, which are very very fun and colorful.

I’m just going to take a moment now and gush over this art. Look at the line quality here. How the folds of the gown and way the knuckles on the hand are indicated. The nails being illustrated through paint color rather than black line work. The highlights on the gems. The reflectiveness of the gold. I feel like I could examine this art for hours and learn things.

That’s before I even get into the hair… like seriously that hair..

I’m done gushing. I swear. Except the borders on the pages match the dresses! That’s fantastic. The care that went into putting this together is so evident and that’s just wonderful. There’s so many paper doll books feel tossed together and this does not. Such care and consideration went into this book.

So, if you want this one, you can grab it from Paper Doll Review. I’m very excited about adding the book to my little collection.

Reflecting on 2024: The Year with Paper Thin Personas

So, it’s now 2025 and I am feeling a little like “Oh, where did 2024 go?” but I always feel that way at the end of the year, so what else is new? I had a very quiet end of the year mostly at home with my cat and my husband. Since I saw all my family for Thanksgiving, we didn’t gather again in December, which was quite all right with me. Sometimes a little quiet is very good for me and I traveled nearly every month of 2024, so I was very okay with not traveling in December.

Let’s talk about how the year 2024 went for Paper Thin Personas and my paper doll creations.

Four big things happened in 2024, two are sort of behind the scenes and two are fun paper doll projects that I got to work with other folks on. I rarely get to do that, so that was really nice.

My work in Colouring Heaven’s Paper Dolls magazine issue #74.

Behind the Scenes Things:

  • I got a new logo and color scheme, which I really like. (More about that here.)
  • I got the site properly registered with Google Search Console (This is super backend, but was pretty easy once I realized what I needed to do and looking at my stats, I do think it made a difference.)

Fun Paper Doll Projects:

  • I got to design the menus for the 2024 Paper Doll Convention in Indianapolis. It was so much fun. Really. The designs were cute and they came out beautifully, though I remember struggling for ideas for a while.
  • My art was licensed by Colouring Heaven for their Paper Dolls issue 74 of their magazine. The magazine is available to order in a print version or a digital printable version. You can get it from newsstands in the UK, but since I don’t live there, I don’t know the details on that. I did get some copies for myself and I’ve been coloring them and they’re very fun.

Paper Thin Personas By the Numbers

So, according to Google Analytics, I got about a 50% increase year over year in visitors to Paper Thin Personas. Given that the site is held together with digital chewing gum, duct tape and string, this has strained all the things. I’m in contact with someone who I hope can fix up some things. So, that’s a 2025 problem to solve, but it is a good problem to have.

Over the course of 2024, I posted 56 times (mostly paper dolls), but there were some WIP posts and other things. I did 39 new paper doll posts and 12 exclusive posts for my Patrons.

I had 13 historical paper doll posts, 12 fantasy/sci-fi paper doll posts and 6 contemporary fashion posts.

An illustration of my Valentine's Day paper doll with her heart themed wardrobe. She was the most popular paper doll of 2024.
The most popular paper doll by views in 2024.

I think my 1930s project and my current 1830s project skew the numbers a bit. All in all, I am super happy with these. I am very proud of the work I put together this year. Because 2024 was a very busy year for me professionally, I didn’t have nearly as much time to work on Paper Thin Personas as I had hoped. Most of the year, I felt “way behind”. Seeing these numbers makes me feel a little better about things.

So, what was popular this year? Let’s find out…

Top 5 Most Viewed Paper Dolls Created in 2024

Top 5 of Posts in 2024 Over All

  • Marisole Monday Modern Girl in Black and White remains the most popular post on the site by a huge margin with 13K views this year. It’s always the most popular post on the site, not idea why, but I strongly suspect it’s positioning on Google Image Search has everything to do with it’s popularity.
  • Citrus Summer has impressively managed to push aside other contenders to slip right behind Modern Girl in popularity.
  • Black and White Printable Paper Dolls…. Marisole Monday & Friends is a collection of three different black and white sets. Again, I have no idea why it remains so popular.
  • Female Proportions for Drawing was a post I made for my own reference, but I am glad other people seem to find it helpful. It’s not very detailed, but it is popular.
  • Calculating clothing combinations… is another one of my posts which always shows up in my top lists as I compile them. I have no idea why it shows up so often, but hey- a little algebra never hurt anyone. I think people use it for calculating packing for trips. I don’t think most people are using it to calculate paper doll statistics.

I really don’t think of the above list as being at all trust worthy. It rarely changes, honestly, these have beern the most popular posts on Paper Thin Personas for literally years. I debated even putting it out there, but who knows? Maybe someone finds it interesting.

Ever wondered something about Paper Thin Personas? Let me know in a comment. I’m always happy to answer questions and who knows? It might become another post.

Absolutely thrilled to be featured in Colouring Heaven Magazine!

I have some really cool news that I wanted to share. Colouring Heaven magazine issue 74 will feature my paper dolls! I’m so excited (excited enough to be using exclamation points which I tend to view as an insidious form of punctuation.)

This all started a few months ago when the incredible team at Colouring Heaven magazine contacted me about licensing some of my paper dolls for one of their upcoming issues – an issue devoted to paper dolls! I am thrilled that it’s live now as a print version (with really great paper) or a digital printable version.

For those who might not be familiar, Colouring Heaven is a UK publication (hence the British spelling). They produce some of the most beautiful coloring magazines out there. I’ve actually bought several of their coloring books for my niece, and she LOVES them! (We spent a lot of Thanksgiving coloring together.)

What makes all this more meaningful to me is that Colouring Heaven publishes human-only art, a cause I’m all for. As you can imagine, I’m honored to be part of this great magazine. My hope is that this helps introduce paper dolls to even more people. The more paper dolls in the world, the better, right?

As I mentioned above, the magazine is available in a print version or a digital printable version. I think it will also be available on newsstands in the UK.

A Pair of Paper Doll Books: A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney & Ellen’s Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll by Patti Fertel

I recently realized I had forgotten to renew my subscription to Paper Doll Review magazine. So, I hopped over to Paper Doll Review and while I was there I decided to pick up a few new paper doll books. I mean, I was there anyway right?

(This was totally my justification.)

So, I picked up A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney and Ellen’s Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll by Patti Fertel. Both books are beautiful, of course.

Since both of these are historical paper doll books, I thought I would group them together in one blog post. I did get one other paper doll book, but that one I’ll save for another post.

If you’re thinking… Rachel, are you just writing up a post about paper doll books to justify that fact that you bought them? Why yes, yes I am. But also because I really respect the work that goes into putting these books together and I want to celebrate that.

So without further delay…

A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney

Let’s start with a few of the basic details. A Timeline of Fashion is in the usual Paper Doll Review book format- one book, eight pages. The book is larger than letter size, but I didn’t measure it. It’s got a lovely blue border. As always, the paper used by Paper Doll Review feels like butter.

The dolls are printed on the same weight stock as the clothing. If I was going to cut up and play with this, I think that would bug me a little. That’s just because I grew up with Dover paper doll books which were printed on gloss cardstock all the way through. So, that’s just a little “Rachel has a bias about this” thing.

There’s eight time periods covered in A Timeline of Fashion: Ancient Crete, Medieval (specifically the 1400s), Italian Renaissance (specifically Venice), Tudor, Regency, Antebellum (1860s), the Early 1900s (Gibson Girl era) and the 1930s. If that list feels a little random. It is a little random. I love that this set jumps from 1400 BCE to 1400 CE, like a 3000 year division is totally a reasonable step in a fashion timeline.

I digress.

One thing that really struck me as I was looking through A Timeline of Fashion which I found particularly enchanting was the faces of the dolls. Every doll feels very unique and based on what little I know about the beauty standards of the eras, each one feels like it is attempting to embody them. I loved that.

I also loved the care that clearly went into selecting the borders of each plate. Each border felt very appropriate to the time period and colors of the paper doll and her fashion. All in all, a lovely book I’m very happy I have added to my collection.

Ellen’s Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll by Patti Fertel

Patti Fertel’s Ellen’s Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll is really unusual. She specializes in adapting fashion plates into paper dolls. How cool is that? (Also I met her in Indiana at the Paper Doll Convention and she’s a delightful person.)

Each dress is based on an illustration from 1864 appearing in Demorest’s Illustrated Monthly magazine. So a little history to start us off – Ellen Louise Demorest nee Curtis invented the tissue paper pattern and, along with her husband, started a magazine to promote the patterns. Demorest’s Illustrated Monthly Magazine and Mme. Demorest’s Mirror of Fashions had very wide circulation in the United States in the 1860s. Not only are the dresses coming from those fashion plates, but the magazine would describe the colors, so each dress is also colored matching those suggestions. These would have been black and white, I assume, so Fertel colored them.

What a fun project. I love it.

The book has one doll and ten dresses. The doll’s profile pose really shows off the shape of mid-1860s skirts where the fullness was moving towards the back of the skirt. In about 6ish years, this would become a bustle, but fashion wasn’t there quite yet in 1864. The shading on the doll resembles the lines used to shade engravings, which are what the dresses are adapted from. Also, look at her tiny feet! Very 19th century.

What really struck me, as I flipped through the book, was how much the care was taken to select each dress. You see a fun cross section of women’s fashions from the 1860s from formal to casual wear and ending, of course, in a wedding gown.

As someone who loves fashion plates, I just find the idea of adapting them in this way really enchanting. As always, the attention to detail Paper Doll Review puts into all their books is really apparent in this one. The frames are beautiful and each one reflects the colors of the gowns. It’s such a beautiful book.

Victorian magazines refer to children cutting up newspapers and other publications to make paper dolls. So, there’s something really fun about the idea of using fashion plates in this way. It feels like a throw back to something a child might have done in the 1860s and I love that.

If you want to grab your own copies of either of these beautiful paper doll books, you can do that from Paper Doll Review. I highly recommend both A Timeline of Fashion by Tom Tierney and Ellen’s Elegant Fashion Plate Paper Doll by Patti Fertel. They’re great books and I’m super happy to have added them to my collection.

The 2024 Paper Doll Convention Recap

I attended the 2024 paper doll convention in Indianapolis. I confess that it was all a little bit of a blur, but I am going to try to recap it as best as I can in brief here. Julie has a nice write up, too.

It was such a great event! Sharry & Micheal O’Hara and Beth & Kevin Wilkins really knocked it out of the park. Truly, their hard work make it all possible. I’ve helped organize conventions before and I know how complicated the logistics are, so it really was a feat that they did it all and it ran so smoothly.

Preparing for the Convention & Flying out on Thursday

On Wednesday and Thursday, Brunhilde, the fancy printer I have, was hard at work printing off my paper doll prints on beautiful paper from Red River Paper. I used the Matte Polar paper and printed a mix of one page and two page sets. I didn’t print many copies, focusing instead on variety. I packed as light as possible, so just a carry on bag. It did mean that everyone saw me in the same outfits the entire time- I didn’t dress up for anything, but maybe I will next time.

All packed up, I headed to the airport to fly out at 2:30 am on Thursday morning. Because it’s a nearly a four hour flight to Seattle, I had to take a red-eye if I was going to make it to Indianapolis in one day. (Time zones are really annoying when flying to and from Alaska.)

My flights went smoothly, but my second flight got a bit delayed and so I didn’t get to the hotel until after 7:30pm. I slipped into the back of the opening reception to eat some tasty food (the food was good at the whole event) and listen to the end of Beth Wilken’s talk on 1920s history.

Friday

Julie’s workshop was Friday morning, I had a fun time gluing little pieces of paper together. (I do like playing with paper.) Then I slipped out of the event to run a quick errand (I’d forgotten contact lens solution and needed that to get through the next few days) and returned in time to see Brenda Mattox’s amazing talk on historical 1920s clothing using examples from her own collection. So very cool!

This was followed by a great talk from Kwei-lin Lum whose site- Flat Doll– was a big influence on me as I’ve moved through the paper doll world. One of the things she talked about was the idea of paper dolls as “an arrangement of parts” with the connections between those parts (the doll and her clothing) largely being suggested, rather than stated. This has always resonated with me. The idea that each piece of a paper doll is part of a story being told through suggestion rather than overt means. Her artist’s statement on Flat Doll is wonderful reading about paper dolls and art.

Saturday

Saturday was sales day, but I overslept and ended up panicked running downstairs to set up my table in just a few minutes. I got everything set up and tidy though. My one page sets sold the best (which surprised me). I also sold out of all the copies of my book that I brought.

On Saturday evening, I had dinner with several very folks from all around the country. I won the centerpiece, but I had no way to get it home without mangling it, so I passed it on to another lady who was there. Eileen Rudisill Miller was honored with a Fanny Gray Award for her contributions to the paper doll world. It was really a wonderful moment.

Highlights from the trip for me all about getting to meet and see people. I didn’t purchase much and I was sort of exhausted by the end of it, but it was also super fun and I am so happy I went.

Next time, I need to pace myself a little better. But I always say that after events like this, and I never seem to do it. Big thank you to everyone, especially the organizers- Sharry & Micheal O’Hara and Beth & Kevin Wilkins- who made it all possible.