Today, we have some clothing previews. I’m actually pretty far along at this point (thank goodness) or I would be having a panic attack at the moment.
I’ve been working on layouts for everything and getting the first few weeks of January scheduled.
So, it’s a short update for today!
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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Â Burgundian Gowns,
Sorta Kinda
I’m a sucker for an over the top princess dress. Always have. Always will be. One of my favorite sticker paper dolls when I was a kid was called Storybook Princess.
You can still get it from Dover, should you like.
I bought it more than once and played with it for hours before the stickers would wear out and I would have to buy a new one.
My other favorite was a cat sticker paper doll that had outfits for each season. I don’t think they make it anymore.
I digress.
So, the whole idea with today’s princess paper doll dress was to have fun and draw something that I imagined a little girl would love.
The basic silhouette of the dress and the headdress are both Burgundian, but really… there’s nothing historically accurate in either. Last year, I did a snowflake Burgundian inspired fantasy Poppet gown which could definitely go with this one.
For my Patrons, there’s an different color scheme of today’s dress. Join if you’d like to see it and/or support the blog.
Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.
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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Snow, Snowflakes,
the Usual
I have been so wrapped up working on new things that I almost forgot to get this post done. It was rather embarrassing.
Anyway, here is a fantasy set for the Ms. Mannequin series celebrating the winter time. The boots are trimmed in fur and the dress is decorated with a snowflake motif. Just for my readers who tell me that not every dress has to be worn with heels, I made these flat soled boots.
I went back and forth on colors. Once I realized it was going to be posted on Christmas Day, I sort of felt bad that I didn’t think to color the dress in greens and reds. Oh well… I’ve not been very on the ball with my holiday themes anyway.
Merry Christmas to anyone who is celebrating.
And for those who aren’t, like me, I hope you enjoy your day.
If you’d like to give the blog a Christmas present, than think about becoming a patron.Â
Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick out a Ms. Mannequin Paper Doll Here
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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Vintage Santa Claus Illustrations and Layers
After I finished my Autumn sorceress gown, I began working on designs for a winter version. I knew I wanted fur and heavier looking fabric. After a few drafts (and with some inspiration from old illustrations of St. Nick), I came up with this design. I wanted it to feel lavish, but also warm.
Like the other dresses in the Sorceress Gowns Project colors really mattered. Initially, I wanted to make her fur trimmed coat red, but that felt a little to Father Christmas for me. So, instead I chose colors that reminded me of my visit to Alaska in November. Blues and greys that evoked the cool peacefulness of a winter day.
I wanted some big statement jewelry for her to really stand out against the turtle neck of her dress. So, I had fun designing that big gold bib necklace.
For her magical staff, I wanted snowflakes and the north star. I also added a ski poll like pointy bottom for hiking through the snow and being safe while doing so. I couldn’t decide between gold and silver for the colors of the staff, so I used both.
Her boots are fur trimmed. The soles are meant to reflect ice skates.
I also had a lot of debate about what color to make her stand. I almost made it white, but then I felt like it looked “unfinished” somehow, so blue won.
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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Crocuses and Melting Snow
When I think of spring I think of crocuses. Perhaps, because I grew up in a snowy place. I think of their little flower heads poking out through the melting snow, seeking light and warmth. So, when I set out to draw a Spring inspired Sorceress gown, I knew crocuses were going to be featured.
Beyond the crocus, I knew I wanted drape and layers. I wanted something that was soft and warm, the way I think of spring sun as being soft and warm.
The pattern on the dress is meant to invoke the melting snow. The white dripping down and off the grass and the slow emergence of color again. I love winter. I love the stillness and the peacefulness, but spring is a time of transformation.
Color wise, I returned to the crocus. I wanted greens and purples and rich yellow. I wanted things that were soft and sweet, but also vibrant. Spring is not peaceful to me (unlike winter).
Her corset features a crocus, of course, and so does her staff.
So, today’s two Sorceress Gowns Project paper doll dresses were about two very different seasons. I am deeply proud of both gowns, though there is a lot of diversity in them.
What do you think of today’s gowns? Do you have a favorite? Let me know in a comment.
Need to get a Bodacious & Buxom paper doll to wear these fabulous clothes? Pick one out here.
So, I’ve been coloring paper dolls like a mad woman all week, super enjoying myself.
Here is the first set of girl paper dolls.
The top two dolls are in the A pose. The doll on the left is Alice and the doll on the right is Akiko.
The bottom two dolls are in the B pose. The doll on the left is Benedita and the doll on the right is Beatrix. These girls are still in progress, obviously. I need to color Beatrix and finish coloring Benedita.
Each doll’s face will be used regularly and I’ll note each new style of doll with the term “version” so these are all version 1. The dolls won’t always come with just shoes, but these first ones will in order to establish and certain number of shoes seemed logical. I want to later do themed dolls with at themed outfit, like this Min-Seo punk doll, for example.
There will be guys as well, of course. They will be in the C pose and will all have C names. I am still working on them. Like often happens, the ladies took priority.
So, what do you think? Do you have a favorite already?
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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Â Montgomery Ward Fashions of the Twenties
Today I am doing something special and posting two Poppet’s dresses- a school dress and a party dress from 1927. First up, the school dress.
When I was a kid, I loved the idea of a school dress. Despite my mother’s horror stories of wearing patent leather shoes to school, I imagined the idea of having a school dress as something very romantic and old fashioned.
Despite realizing that there’s nothing magical about having special dresses for different activities, I still love the concept.
As anyone who has been following this blog for any length of time has probably figured out, I love the idea of changing clothes several times a day for different events.
I do realize in reality, this would be a total pain in the butt, but hey, it’s a neat idea.
So, I knew I wanted to find a school dress for the Poppets for their 1920’s children’s wardrobe collection. This choice is from the Montgomery Ward catalog of 1927.
The pleated skirt makes me think school dress even though there’s no other reason to associate it with such.
I picked out the hat, because I thought the detailing was similar to the dresses piping details. The dress and the hat both come from Montgomery Ward Fashions of the Twenties. I don’t highly reommend this book, unless you already have a lot of 1920s books. It’s just from 1927, so it doesn’t really give you the range of years that some other books do.
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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Â Montgomery Ward Fashions of the Twenties
When I was going through the Poppet’s 1920s Children’s Wardrobe Collection, I noticed that they didn’t have a party dress. I poured through the different books I have until I found this one in the book Montgomery Ward Fashions of the Twenties.
Something about this dress made me think of spring time, even though outside the weather is chilly and there was even snow a few weeks ago. Snow in Alabama is a big deal. Everyone buys milk and eggs. Even I buy milk and eggs and I don’t even like milk or eggs very much.
I digress.
The point is that I decided to color this dress pale green, because I thought it seemed like a summery dress. The ruched waistline was tough to draw and I am not sure I was entirely successful. I really had fun drawing the ruffles.
I like drawing ruffles.
Tomorrow, I’ll be sharing some clothing probably? I mean, I haven’t really decided yet what to share about the new series. So, I should get on that. 🙂 Friday will be B&B Sorceress gowns.
Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.
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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Trendy Tropical Clothing
The trend for this winter is sleeve detail. As I write this, I am wearing a flared sleeve sweater and that was a tame version of some of the things I have seen out there. I couldn’t imagine not creating some trendy sleeved tops for the Ms. Mannequins and here they are.
The sweater is pretty close to what I am actually wearing today (though mine is a tunic and has a lace up neckline, so maybe… not that close?). Anyway… I’ve certainly seen sweaters like the one I’ve drawn for them. The blouse is floral (also a trend) and has ruffle details on the sleeves. I tried on a blouse like that recently and I did not look good in it, but part of the joy of paper dolls is that they do not sure our own insecurities about their arms.
Nor do they worry they will get the ruffle cuff in their soup when they try to eat it. Life maybe, I confess, easier if you are a paper doll.
On the flip side, I suspect paper dolls have phobic feelings about puddles and being accidentally ripped in half.
So, perhaps paper doll life would be more wrought with terror than I thought.
Meanwhile, what do you think of today’s paper doll outfits? Would you wear crazy sleeves? Do you wear crazy sleeves?
Wednesday, there will be the last two 1920s dresses for the Poppets. Forever. (It sounds so dire when I put it that way.)
Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick out a Ms. Mannequin Paper Doll Here
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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Â Her Ladyship’s Skating Outfit
Several years ago in 2014, I created a black and white paper doll called Her Ladyship. It was a fun project and I still really like a lot of the designs I made for that paper doll. If you like to color, than I would highly recommend printing her out. She’s a hoot to color. An ice-skating toilette from that paper doll inspired today’s Poppet ice skating toilette.
Sometimes, when I am short on ideas, I go back to my own older work and look for things to adapt to the new series or dolls. I never do this one request (so please don’t ask me), but I do it when I feel moved to do it.
Personally, I think of this as a princess outfit (though here is no crown) and it could go with some of the other fantasy things I have created for the Poppets, especially this one and this one.
There’s a much more pink version of today’s ice skating outfit over on the Patreon page for my Patrons. It’s very pink.
In case you’re wondering, next week will be Ms. Mannequin paper dolls and the B&B series. As I mentioned on Monday, I am basically posting backlog for the month of December while I work on new things to post beginning in January.
By the way, I’ve clearly been playing around with putting up my new blog theme. Please be patient with me while I work out all the kinks.
Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.
In 2009, something horrible and magnificent happened- I crashed my entire blog.
I didn’t have a great backup and I didn’t know that I had a friend (he was just an acquaintance then) who could have probably fixed it.
It was simitaniously horrible and completely liberating. Freed of the constraints of what I had done before, I started fresh with a new format, new layouts, new everything.
Lately, I have felt a great deal of blog ennui. Since I haven’t crashed the entire site (thank goodness), I don’t have any kick in the pants to change things.
A week ago, a dear friend said to me: If you could do anything with the blog, what would you do?
It took only an instant to know the answer: Update daily and only have one paper doll series.
And then I gave all the reasons I couldn’t do that: Marisole Monday is my most popular series. B&B is my only curvy series… I have a million reasons.
But the reason I should do it was also utterly clear- It excited me.
Ever since I made the decision, I have been working with the sort of manic delight that I haven’t felt about creating paper dolls in at least a year or more. Last time I really remember feeling it was when I was researching vikings for my Viking paper doll.
I spent all of Saturday sketching and erasing and scanning and fixing. I called my mom and asked what she thought of various names for the new series.
I lost track of time and stayed up far to late working on shoes and watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Hulu.
In short, I felt delight and delight is why I have this hobby to begin with.
Every Thursday until the end of the year, I will share updates about where and how this is going. I will keep you all as much in the loop as I can. Until then, I hope you can share my excitement as I close the door on one period of the blog’s life and open it to another one.
Here’s the two previews to share:
The templates I sketched in my notepad. On the left, many many drafts of the guys. I confess I am still not great at drawing guys. On the right are the ladies.
The base dolls of the new series whose name will probably be Dames and Dandies. The gents on the left and the two lady poses on the right. I will share more next week.
Let me know what you think in a comment.
P.S: I am currently working on updating my theme. Please forgive me while things look a little messy and strange around here. 🙂
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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Â Montgomery Ward Fashions of the Twenties
First off, Happy Hanukkah to anyone, like me, who is celebrating. It’s the second night tonight and my menorah is burning in the window. No Hanukkah paper dolls this year, which I am a little sad about, but I didn’t manage to get one done in time.
As I mentioned Monday, all the latest 1920s Poppets stuff comes from Montgomery Ward Fashions of the Twenties by JoAnne Olian. This dress was described as an ‘apron dress’ which is a term I’ve seen as far back as the Edwardian era to describe dresses with that flap tabard like thing in the front. This one was one of the less expensive dresses on the page, so I suspect it is meant to be more of a home dress, rather than a school dress.
I loved the piping in the design and the patterned contrast cuffs and pockets.
The hat was on a different page and might not have been worn with the dress, but I really enjoy drawing hats and I thought it was awfully cute.
If you pop over to my Patreon page you’ll find a pastel based version of today’s 1927 apron dress that you might like better. I was fully divided on which version I preferred, I confess.
So, if you like this than check out the rest of the 1920s Children’s Wardrobe collection which is full of 1920s goodness. There will be another Poppet outfit on Friday- it’s a fantasy ice skating toilette.
Tomorrow, there will be a post about the future of the blog! With pictures! Tune if you like. Otherwise, I shall see you Friday.
Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.
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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:Â Montgomery Ward Fashions of the Twenties
One of the books I treated myself to recently was Dover’s Montgomery Ward Fashions of the Twenties by JoAnne Olian. It was on sale as I recall. Anyway, the book is fashions from one year- 1927 and all from Montgomery Ward which was a higher end department store. So, this next batch of Poppet’s 1920s Children’s Wardrobe collection all comes from this book.
Today’s addition to the 1920s Children’s Wardrobe collection is a pair of pajamas. One of my Patrons asked for Pajamas a while ago and I realized I’ve done very few pajamas over the years. So, here we are. Pajamas!
This week will be all Poppets paper doll posts. I have a bunch done and I wanted to share them. In fact, this whole month will be a bit random, because I am clearing out the backlog I have of current paper doll series.
In January, all the of the current paper doll series will cease updating and a new series, as of yet unnamed, will take their place. I know this is a big deal and I know there are probably questions.
But at the moment, I have limited answers.
Two things I can promise:
1. The blog is not going anywhere.
2. None of the old content is being erased.
So, I’ll share more as I sort it out in my head, but until then, please feel free to ask questions in the comments and I hope everyone enjoys today’s foray into the 1920s.
Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.
Hello all. So, I will be on a break until December 11th when my semester ends. AsS some of you might remember, along with being a full time librarian, I am also getting an additional Master’s Degree in Education.
It’s final project crunch time at my school and so I am focusing on school work right now.
(Plus, Wednesday’s paper doll was literally the LAST thing I had finished and ready to go.)
I shall return on the 11th, full of vim, vigor and paper dolls I hope.
Until then, I hope everyone has a great first week of December.
Best,
– Rachel
