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April Showers: A Printable Paper Doll for Kids or Adults

Logo image for Marisole Monday & Friend Series. Printable paper doll with glasses and a gardening theme. First of all, I want to wish a Happy Birthday to my sister without whom I would not have ever started collecting paper dolls. She is the one who bought me my Christopher Columbus Paper Doll Set when I was eight and suggested it was too nice to cut up. This started my uncut paper doll collection.

So, thanks Sis. I love you.

And, speaking of paper dolls… here is last week’s printable paper doll in cheerful full color. I am pretty pleased with everything about her, except my concerns about her mix and match limited wardrobe. I really like how the rainbow shirt came out and the rain-boots and the bright yellow rain slicker, but I’m still feeling that the mix and match options are a trifle limited.

On the other hand, I’ve done enough plain colored tops over the years that surely there’s something that would match in the paper doll archives. I don’t always think of my designs as being “kid-friendly”, but I think this really is a paper doll for kids. She’s got bright colors, a fun theme and I can imagine that on a rainy day, she’d be great to pull out for a quiet inside activity.

The playabilty (is that a word?) of a printable paper doll set is always a major concern of mine. One of the reasons I work in series is because I think it’s more fun to have lots of little ladies and lads who can share clothing, than to have a bunch of paper dolls who can’t. (Of course, I also do it because drawing people is the hardest part of this gig.) There are times I confess that I fantasize about transforming this blog into one where I just posted one outfit a day, everyday.

Someone told me they thought that would be more work than what I do now… honestly, I’m not sure. I think it would depend on how much I had to write about the outfit in question. Post writing is sometimes harder than drawing, to be honest.

April Showers is a color printable paper doll for kids or adults. She's got 14 clothing pieces, gardening tools and a bright red umbrella. Free from paperthinpersonas.com

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for More Marisole Monday & Friends Printable Paper Dolls}
Speaking of paper dolls for kids… Another little side project I’ve been working on is a magnetic paper doll for a three year old I recently met. Now, I need some help with this as I do not have children of my own…

How large would pieces need to be for a three year old to easily manipulate them? I want to be sure that she can play with her paper doll friend on her own without needing too much assistance from her mother. Thoughts from those with kids or experience with toddlers? Also, might she eat the pieces? I mean, I think at three most kids are past that stage, but I’m not sure… (Have I mentioned I have little experience with toddlers?)

Lastly, there will be a contest coming up, probably towards the end of the month. So, keep your eyes open for that.

Marisole Monday: April Showers in Black and White

logo-april-showers-bwI desperately wanted to get this paper doll up before the end of April, as she is, after all, called April Showers. I posted the base doodle I did for planning, so here you can see the actual paper doll that came out of that planning process.

One of these days, I keep meaning to do a “start to finish” sort of post, but since I take SO LONG to finish anything, I struggle to keep all the relevant pieces together and since so many doodles never make their way into paper doll status, it is a struggle to document the process for me.

I think she’s wonderfully cute with her her braids and her glasses. I try to do one of two paper dolls with glasses a year, as I know when I was a kid and had to wear them I never found paper dolls with glasses. I still draw braids the same way my mother taught me to draw them when I was fairly young. I sometimes think I should learn a new technique, but it seems to work.

marisole-monday-april-showers-bw {Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for More Marisole Monday & Friends Printable Paper Dolls}

Personally, I love her rain-boots and her floral skirt (those are supposed to be pansies, though I’m not sure anyone can tell that…). I am regretting not making some more neutral tops to go with her other pieces, because I think the mix and match options for her may turn out to be more limited that I like. Never the less, I am proud of her potted plant and her seed packet. I have been trying to draw more little accessories for my paper dolls and I’m pleased with how these ones turned out. Now… if I could only draw a decent looking horse, I would finish that cowgirl paper doll that people keep asking for.

Marisole Monday & Friends: Late Summer Flowers in Full Color

summer-flowers-margot-color{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

Full color version of last week’s paper doll. I wanted the colors to be a little unexpected and I really like how the patterned shorts came out.

I don’t do very many blond paper dolls, so here is one, though in hindsight, I think she’d be cuter as a brunette. I could change her, but we all know that won’t be happening, because I hate re-doing old work.

Speaking of redoing old work, there might be some black and white versions of old Marisole’s showing up on the blog in the next few weeks. It’s related to a project that’s in the works. If anyone has requests, drop me a comment. This might be the only time I ever do this.

I find I tend to work in spurts. I realized I hadn’t done a paper doll with glasses in a really long time and now I’ve done two in a row. Chances are that I won’t do another one for six months now. Funny how that works.

By the way, the summer heat of Alabama is pretty bad. I sort of wish I was living somewhere colder, like my home of Alaska, but I’m learning to survive the 90 degree weather.

Late Summer Flowers: Black & White Printable Paper Doll

summer-flowers-margot{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

A new Margot paper doll today in black and white for coloring. Also, she has glassess

It’s been a sort of surreal few days and I nearly didn’t get this done. I’ve been fighting a flea problem in my apartment, as I mentioned last week, and while I don’t see any fleas today, every time I feel a little itch, I get nervous. Needless to say, I’m not really keen on insects at the moment.

Meanwhile, the new school year starts in a few weeks which means things get busy at the library. I like it when the school year begins though, because I find campus feel empty when it is just staff and graduate students.

Kalisha: Paper Doll to Print in Color

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{Click Here for a PDF in Color} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG in Color} {Click Here for More Pixie & Puck Paper Dolls}

I try to be balanced in paper dolls. I want to have a variety of styles, a variety of skin tones, a variety of hair styles, a variety of genders (okay, maybe not the last one so much…), but I haven’t done a paper doll with glasses in a while.

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{Click Here for a PDF in Black and White} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG in Black and White} {Click Here for More Pixie & Puck Paper Dolls}

Recently, I have been watching a lot of Black Adder, particularly Black Adder Goes Forth, which I have never seen before. I’m really enjoying it, though I don’t know if that has anything to do with today’s paper doll creation, actually, I expect it doesn’t, but it has allowed me to draw some paper dolls.

Kalisha’s color scheme was inspired by flowers and sunsets- warm soft tones. I love pale grey trousers which perhaps explains why they show up so often in my paper dolls (also in my closet).

Magnetic Set for Grandma…

So, I made my Grandma a set of magnetic paper dolls. And she was very happy. And she sent me this very nice thank you note and she observed that her paper doll was lonely.

So, I made her additional dolls. Since she does not use the internet, I feel completely safe posting these here. The originals have been cut out and, along with more clothing from the other Marisole Magnetic sets, been sent off for her to enjoy. I am thinking of them as an early Mother’s day present for her. I’m working on something for my Mother as well, but since she actually reads this blog, I have to be tight lipped about the whole affair.

Please note that these girl’s can wear anything that the Magnetic Marisole’s can wear, so feel free to make them pirates or something.

You can get directions for making magnetic paper dolls, if you need them.

Vintage Styled Paper Doll
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Vintage Paper Doll Download Vintage Paper Doll’s Friends

Prudence and Constance: 2 Paper Dolls in Black and White

Happy Earth Day! There’s an Earth and we should be grateful or else we’d not exist. So, I’m glad for that. Beyond that, I try to avoid politics on this little corner of the web. There are other corners of the web for politics. Here is the corner of paper dolls.

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{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG to Print} {Click Here for The Rest of this Series}

Two of my favorite recent paper dolls are Constance and Prudence, who I’ve always thought of as best friends, and so today I present them both in black and white for coloring enjoyment. Each paper doll was meant to have a distinct casual and slightly indie style. Prudence is a little bit vintage and Constance is a little bit tomboy. The t-shirt styles for the Constance paper doll are based on mandala designs which are simplified for the small size.

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{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG to Print} {Click Here for The Rest of this Series}

So, today, I’d like to also call attention to a new blog with some delightful black and white paper dolls called Inflammation Of…, which is about both paper dolls and raising a child with chrons disease. I have had several thank yous sent to me over the years from parents with health issues in their families who like the paper dolls and I always feel very touched that my paper dolls can help in any small way for people in need. Plus there’s a whole set of clothes for her paper dolls inspired by Scoopy-Doo and who isn’t in favor of paper dolls inspired by Scooby-Doo? I loved Scooby-Doo when I was a kid.

(Actually, I still sorta love Scoopy-Doo, but I try to be more of an adult and not admit these things in public.)

Magnetic Paper Dolls for a Quilting Retreat

Click on the images to download the PDF file for printing the magnetic paper dolls.

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First off: I was not abducted by aliens or eaten by a polar bear or killed by some strange monster which lives in the depths of the library stacks.

Rather, I was busy working on class things, working on work things and working on thesis writing things. The truth is that for the next semester, the blog is going to be neglected and I am going to feel guilty about it, but I am really really crazy busy.historicalquilter

My mother attends a quilting retreat each January with some friends and there is a tradition of bringing a little gift for the other quilters. Since I gave her a set of magnetic Marisole paper dolls this year for the holidays, she decided she wanted a set for her quilting friends. Everything about these paper dolls was produced with her consultation.quilterhikingandfishing

The magnetic paper doll (who can can clothing with magnetic Marisole) has gray hair, red glasses. She comes with her sewing machine, a rather lopsided quilt and several different important quilting accessories (scissors and things).

After she approved the paper doll design, we went through all of the Marisole paper dolls I have drawn and selected a collection of clothing to go with the doll. Each attending person got one main doll and then one page of extra clothing.queenquilter

It was fairly entertaining to sit down with Mom and have her select what she liked. Sometimes, I guessed right on what she would pick, but often I was surprised. My mom and I have similar taste in clothing and jewelry and fabric, so I suspected we’d have similar taste in paper dolls.

I knew she’d like the pirates and the commercial fishing paper doll. I was fairly certain she would go for something fantasy and I thought the art deco stuff was a shoe in. I knew Tones and Shades would be important since she shares my love of beautiful textiles that are used in Kimono. I was a little surprised by the fantasy set she liked, since it’s one I’m not totally pleased with.

I have come up with some quick fixes which I think should at least feed the blog while I’m so very busy. There will be some sketchbook posts, probably some black and white posts (mostly of things which have already appeared once in color since that is the easiest sort for me to do) and possibly something else as I figure out what I can find time for. I don’t want to give up PTP, but I do have a thesis to write.

One last note on these magnetic paper dolls, they are sized as an 8 by 10.5 inch image, rather then my usual 8 by 10 inch, since I knew which printer I would be printing them on. Double check the PDF settings before you print them to make sure they will fit. On some printers, they might print slightly smaller than the other magnetic Marisole paper dolls, which is why I’m not putting them in the same category. Enjoy them.

Shadow & Light 10: Black and White Printable Paper Doll

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{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG to Print} {Click Here for The Rest of this Series}

Today, I had my last finals and my paper due. Classes for the last semester are officially over and I am extremely happy. If you haven’t spent time on Teri’s Paper Doll Scans, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s a wonderful collection of paper dolls.

Prudence: Paper Doll with an Afro

I really am quite pleased with my paper doll Prudence. Her skin tone, like Kadeem’s and Gabriel’s skin tones, was based on my recent searching around for skin tones on the web.

After a few weeks of looking and collecting, I have over 50 different swatches, but I am working on narrowing that down to a manageable number- probably 10 to 15. The truth is that a lot of them are so close in color, I don’t think there would be a visible difference once they were printed anyway.

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{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG to Print} {Click Here for The Rest of this Series}

It’s rare I produce a paper doll that I can’t find anything wrong with, but Prudence is pretty close. I lover her glasses and her vintage wardrobe and the color scheme turned out better then I imagined it would. Her hair didn’t come out quite as I had planned it (afro’s are hard to draw), but I’m still pleased with how it looks.

Personally, I would pop her into her cream dress and put her on a date with Kadeem or Gabriel for a night on the town. Or maybe slip her into something more fancy and have her strut down the red carpet (I’m sure Roxanne or Yasmine would be happy to share). In fact, if you don’t like any of those options, there’s a black and white version of Roxanne and you can color any color dress for Prudence that you think she needs.

Roxanne and Irene 2 Paper Dolls in Black and White

I’ve never done a black and white Pixie paper doll before, that I recall and I must confess I’m only doing one now because I’m busy and I needed something to post. I felt a little guilty just posting paper dolls I had already posted in black and white, so I did two of them to make myself feel a little less guilty about recycling material. Besides, sometimes the choice is between something or nothing and I’d rather post something.

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{Click Here for a PDF of Irene to Print} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG to of Irene Print} {Click Here for The Rest of this Series}

I’ve been terribly busy this weekend prepping for classes that start next week and preparing to travel to Pennsylvania for a wedding. I’ll be out of town for a few days. The blog should post on it’s own without me (assuming I get done what I need to get done to make that happen), but there might be a slight hiatus while I travel.

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{Click Here for a PDF of Roxanne to Print} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG of Roxanne to Print} {Click Here for The Rest of this Series}

I enjoy weddings, though I was never one of those people who dreamed about my own wedding day. I never caught the “wedding fever” so common to young girls. I did have a wedding Barbie doll, as I recall, but I think she spent most of her time either fighting monsters or going to balls in her pretty white dress.

Pixie & Puck: Roxanne

The purple paper doll dress was based on Natalie Portman’s Oscar gown, though truth be told I don’t think I did a very good job on it. I was drawing it without reference images which always means I’m a little less accurate then I would like. Liana did a wonderful version during the night of the Oscars. I recommend it highly. It’s looks much better then mine.

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{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG to Print} {Click Here for The Rest of this Series}

I’ve mentioned in the past that I can always tell when I’m drawing on auto-pilot and this is a set I drew when I wasn’t really prepped for. I didn’t have any reference images, or thumbnails, I was just kinda winging it. Personally, I think it’s weaker for the lack of prep work. I always draw better when I have something (thumbnail doodle or photo reference) to work from.

On a semi-unrelated note, I love paper dolls with fronts and backs like these ones from 1935. I wish I had the paper engineering skills to draw some of them on my own.

Also, I have a poll in the sidebar. The future of Curves 2.0 is in your hands.