Ramblings

Archives Collection: The 4th of July Paper Dolls

I love drawing paper dolls for various holidays. So, here are all the 4th of July paper dolls I’ve created for the site.  I wanted to post these early, so if you wanted to print some out for kids at a party or something, than you’d have time before the big events on the 4th.

4th of July Paper Dolls to Print

So, I am from Alaska, as a lot of you know, and in my home town the fireworks go off on midnight of the 3rd, because it doesn’t get dark until close to 11 pm. Some of my fondest childhood times were spent trying to stay up late enough to see the fireworks on the beach.

The 4th of July sneaked up on me this year, so we’ll see if I have time to get something draw for the Jewels and Gemstones to celebrate the holiday.

Archives Round Up: 10 Knights!

Secretly, I think of this set as paper doll knights, the practical armor edition. Because I also have a love of super impractical armor and I suspect someday I’ll have to gather those up too for a collection.

10 Knight Paper Dolls

It always fascinates me to see all of one style of paper doll in one place, especially when the dates range from the early part of the blog’s life back in 2014 with Rebecca Grace to something I created just a few month my Noble Knight set.

And, since it is Friday, I thought I would remind folks that there’s a Friday paper doll on Patreon every week. Just 2 dollars a month gets you access.

Archives Dive: Paper Dolls of the 1960s & Their Clothing

I love 1960s fashion. So, I also love paper dolls of the 1960s and these paper dolls are my ode to that era and it’s amazing fashions. Seriously, drawing this beehive for Abigail was maybe the most fun thing I’ve done in a while. I still find the beehive one of those hairstyle that you think must be a joke, until you find vintage photos.

And then it is like, nope… that was a real thing. (Yes, I know I can’t make too much fun- I was alive in the 1990s.)

Paper Dolls Of the 1960s & Clothing of the 1960s

The other really great thing about the 1960s is how colorful it was. One of the best parts of that decade was that they really embraced radical color schemes. I know some people might argue some of the radical color schemes weren’t attractive, but as someone who loves color. I think it is super fun.

As always, it is Friday, so a friendly reminder that over on patreon there’s a Friday Paper Doll Post for my 2 dollar and up patrons every Friday.

I’m Doing #The100DayProject

Prepping for the 100 Day Project!

I could not be more excited to say that I am going to tackle the 100 Day Project this year! I’m going to try super hard not to cheat and create a bunch at once, unless I absolutely have to. I will be doing some travel, so some of that maybe necessary.

What is the 100 Day Project? Well, I’m glad you asked! It’s basically a challenge born on Instagram to pick a project and then do it for 100 days.

A best friend is doing 100 days of 100 words a day. I’m doing 100 days of paper doll clothing. No full outfits mind you, but like a shirt, or shoes, or dress or something. I suppose if I need to do something super quick, I could even do a necklace. But the idea is to do 100 days of different paper doll pieces.

And what is the prize? Well…. nothing. I just get to say I did.

The paper doll I’ll be drawing for is from my Etsy store. I’ve been meaning to create more clothing for those dolls for weeks/months and I am WAY behind. So, I thought- Well, this is a great chance. I know I need about 8 to 10 pieces to make up a page, so I can try to get 10 or more pages done.

If you want to follow along as I do my drawing, then follow me on Instagram. I’ll be posting there. I will try to remember to also post to Facebook and Twitter, but I’m not 100% reliable about that.

Tomorrow I’ll share my first piece on Instagram! Come say Hi! I could use the moral support.

Archives Delve Superhero Paper Dolls!

In honor of Monday’s super hero paper doll, I thought it would be fun to show a few of the other Super Hero paper dolls I’ve drawn over the years. Also, I saw Captain Marvel this week and really enjoyed it. I guess I’m just in a super hero mood!

Super Hero Paper Dolls!

An interesting fact about comic books: Before digital printing, comics were printed using four color printing. The colors were yellow, cyan (blue), magenta (red) and black. Every other color was made up of dots of these colors printed in various percentages. This meant there were only about 64 colors that could be used in comic books and, in reality, about half of them in darker shades looked the same in print.  So, choices were often made based on which colors were more easy to print and would stand out. That’s why bold color contrasting combinations (red and blue, green and purple, blue and yellow, ect… ) tend to show up. It was easier to print and  you got better results.

So, I tend to stick to this same principle when I’m designing Super Hero paper dolls. Meanwhile, as some of you probably already figured out, I’m stepping away from a regular schedule. I’ll be updating erratically- ideally three times a week or so, but no promises on that either.

If you want more regular updates, then join us on Patreon where there will be a Friday paper doll or outfit.

Hiatus February 25th Through March 1st

I am putting the blog on hiatus for this week. I just had too much to do last week and this week. So, I’ll return next week. Thank you for understanding while I deal with some personal stuff.

Update: So, life is taking a bit longer to settle down than I thought it would. I’m extending my Hiatus until the end of next week. I’m fine, but I just need to deal with some “real world’ thing. Thank you for your patience.- Rachel

Archives Collection: All the Valentine’s Day Paper Dolls Thus Far!

I know, I know it’a not Friday. I’m mixing things up this week. The thing is that if say a parent wanted to print out a Valentine’s Day Printable for their kid, it would be much easier to do that today rather than wait until Thursday.

So, while there will be a Valentine’s paper doll on Thursday, I thought should do my weekly archives post today in case one of these other Valentine’s Day paper dolls might be something you might want to use.

I will also add, I felt a little weird putting this together, because it will be out of date the moment I get up this years paper doll, but that happens.

Valentine’s Day Paper Doll Printables

Valentine’s Day is one of my two favorite holidays to draw paper dolls for. The other is Halloween, of course.

Do you have a favorite holiday to create for? Let me know in a comment.

Archives Collection: All of the Flora Paper Dolls

I occasionally feel odd posting things that are as old as this. I drew flora back in 2011 towards the end of my first master’s program. She was inspired by the fashion dolls of the early 19th century. I had a lot of fun drawing her and drawing all her dresses. Who knew it was so much fun to draw regency coloring pages? Seriously.

Some of these dresses I did a good job citing, but others not so much. I’ve become much better at that now. Still, I think there’s a nice range of designs from early fashion to later styles.

I really loved drawing for Flora and the exercise did give me a much better knowledge of clothing of the early part of the 19th century. I wasn’t as good at noticing trends in historical dress as I am now. I’ve learned a lot. She would be such a fun project to cut and color for a child learning about the era.

Flora & Her Wardrobe: Regency Coloring Pages

I really fell in love with history through clothing, so I often think of children like me (when I was one) when I design my historical paper dolls. I want to open up the complexities of social history and present it in a way that seems approachable. So, I hope these regency coloring pages might do that.

I hope everyone has enjoyed regency fashion week as much as I have. If you’re a patron, there’s a morning dress which I think is super fun (and covered in ruffles).

Archives Dive: Pirate Paper Dolls! Sailing the High Seas

My favorite novel as a kid was Treasure Island. I loved that book (and I still do). I also adore a good pirate movie full of ship and swashbuckling. It’s just so much fun! Historical inaccuracies abound and I enjoy them very much. That’s part of why I love creating pirate paper dolls.

I do not, I want to make this clear, draw historically accurate pirate paper dolls. And these are all pretty traditional pirates, I omitted some of what I call pseudo-pirates (like Tuesday’s paper doll outfit) and stuck with pirate traditionalists.

17 Free Pirate Paper Dolls to Print

All right, y’all I’m not sure what next week will look like, but this week was fun! I wanted to make sure folks know that if they join on Patreon (by clicking that big banner below) there’s an extra Friday paper doll outfit! And this time it’s Qi Lolita themed. Check it out by joining at the 2 dollar or up level.

By the way, if you do the math, at 2 dollars a month that’s 50 cents a paper doll outfit, plus you get a behind the scenes blog, polls and generally get to listen to me ramble. Who doesn’t enjoy random Rachel rambling? (I hope you kinda enjoy it or one has to wonder how you’ve ever enjoyed PTP.)

Archives Delve: Astronaut Dolls To Print & Play With

Since I enjoy creating strange space related things, here’s all the astronaut paper dolls I’ve done from 2009-2018. Most of them are totally impractical, but still a lot of fun. They’re all ladies, because girls need to know they can be astronauts, too!

My first ever astronaut paper doll (Emily) was created, because I got an email from a little girl asking for an astronaut paper doll, because she as going to be an astronaut one day. Well, that was incentive enough. Also, she is my only paper doll to ever have a graphing calculator as an accessory.

I had hoped to get the first of the 2019 Paper Doll Collaboration done today, but frankly life got in the way of that. So, I should have that to share the 31st.

Astronaut Dolls To Print & Dress Up

Clearly my astronaut instincts tend towards the sci-fi fantasy type much more than the actual practical type. However, I think that just makes sense, because space princesses are winning my current Patreon poll. So, I obviously need to dust off my Retro Sci-Fi Pinterest board and get sketching.

Meanwhile, there’s another fantastic winter fashion set on Patreon for all my Patrons. Their support makes the blog possible and they get cool extra paper dolls.

Delving into the Archives: Greta’s Trousseau or Steampunk Coloring Pages for the Fashionista

Of all the paper doll series I’ve ever done, there’s something about these steampunk coloring pages I did for two years creating different pieces for a neo-Victorian fantasy trousseau that I still adore. It was just so much fun to create and tapped into my love of trousseaux.

But I’d never rounded up all this set and put it together before, I thought I would today. If you have a chance, I would urge you to visit each post, because there are detailed explanations of the outfits in these steampunk coloring pages and where they came from. Many of them were inspired by actual Victorian clothing and I often link to the sources.

Greta’s Trousseau: A Collection of Steampunk Coloring Pages

All the Coloring Pages in One PDF

Now, I will openly admit that I have a lot more steampunk paper doll stuff that you can see under the steampunk and Victorian inspired paper doll tags, but I still have a soft place in my heart for these pages.

Archives Round-Up: 13 Rocking Punk Fashion Paper Doll Designs to Print for Free

Maybe it’s because I’m a cardigan wearing librarian in the real world (seriously, I wear a cardigan to work nearly very day), but people are always shocked to find me listening to the Sex Pistols and the Ramones in my car.

I don’t know why. I love 1970s classic punk music and so today I thought I’d feature the paper dolls I’ve drawn embracing punk fashion. I think this is all of them, but this collection wasn’t was easy to put together as some of my other archives dives might be.

Most of the Punk Paper Dolls of Paper Thin Personas

I know it might have been more apropos to do a cybergoth round up today, since that was this week’s theme, but as I’ve only ever drawn one cybergoth paper doll- Circuits and Fishnet– before this week I didn’t feel like that was really enough for an archives dive when a simple link would do.