Sporty Pixie named Adannaya

sporty-logoLike Jaunty Summer Styles and Minimalism, today’s printable paper doll was the direct result of me purchasing a bunch of fashion magazines in March. Adannaya is rocking the “sporty” look which is very popular. Sort of high fashion meets gym wear and if that seems like an odd match to you then you are not alone (it seems an odd match to me too). Her hair is based on this fantastic updo which I pinned to my hair board on Pinterest. Lurking around my Pinterest boards provides sneak peaks on what I am currently obsessed with. Feel free to follow me.

 

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Anyway, the name Adannaya is from West Africa, Igbo to be specific, and means “Her Father’s daughter” according to Behind the Name. I’m sure I’ve never used the name before. I liked that I could track it to a specific culture. I think calling a name “African” is just as absurd as calling a name “European”. There are about a hundred major African languages, so I wasn’t going to use a name if I couldn’t trace it back to the root language. For Adannaya the root language is is Igbo, mostly spoken in southeastern Nigeria. Someone who knows more than me about the region would know if it was a common name or not, I have no idea, but I liked how it sounded.

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Anyhow, I’m traveling today, so I’ve pre-scheduled this to rule in my absence. I’ve nearly worked my way through my backlog that I spent so much of February and March building. I suppose this means I’ll be drawing a fair bit over the next few weeks trying to get caught up again. What I really need is another snow closing… but I doubt that’s going to happen. 🙂

Jaunty Summer Styles in Cheerful Color

logo-jaunty-summer-styles-paper-dollSo, interesting fact for your day… Today in 1945, Tennessee William’s play the “Glass Menagerie” premiered in New York in 1945. Not that I suppose anyone really cares about that fact, but I have a certain soft spot for the “Glass Menagerie.”

Anyway, back to our paper doll, she would not fit in a 1945 theater opening, but she certainly could go to a show today. I am strictly of the view that one should dress up for theater, out of respect for the nature of live performance. A part of me winces, when I see people show up to Broadway shows wearing shorts and flip flops. Have some respect for the theater, people…

Wow, that’s quite the off topic subject… let’s get back to paper dolls, shall we?


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I’ve decided, after quite a bit of dithering, to settle on Monica as my chosen name. I decided I liked the sound of Marisole, Mia, Margot and Monica. It’s different enough to stand out, but not different enough to be obvious. Minerva I think I should save for a fantasy paper doll and Miranda was a little hard at the end, but thank you everyone for your lovely suggestions. I really enjoyed getting to read all those M names.

Jaunty Summer Styles

logo-jaunty-summer-styles-paper-doll-BWSo, spring has finally come to Alabama, it feels like. I enjoy the changing seasons of fall and spring. Also, I’ve been reading some 1920’s clothing catalogs and they use words like “jaunty” in their descriptions and I think we should bring it back as a fashion term.

Today’s paper doll set, which like my Mia paper dolls from earlier this month (here in black and white and here in color), comes out of the March fashion magazines which publish the new spring fashions of the year. I decided to do a little bit more “girly” for this paper doll set, focusing on the feminine styles that are popular right now.

My one regret is that I didn’t do more pieces with patterns on this paper doll set, but instead focused on the shapes. I sort of wish I’d done something in color blocking or even stripes to mix things up a bit. Still, I love the dresses and the purses which I think offer some interesting variety. I always carry the exact same purse nearly every day, but my paper dolls can afford to be a little more adventurous. Plus money is no object when the fashions are all made of paper.

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I’m not totally pleased how the ruffled shift dress came out (far left). I like it, but I have mixed feelings about the execution, on the other hand I really like how both the other dresses came out and the high low t-shirt. I think I’ll come around to the dress once it has been colored.

I decided to use Magnolia, one of my new Marisole Monday paper dolls who I’ve decided to rename since someone pointed out that the Magnolia name is already taken. Suggest an “M” name in the comments and I’ll consider it. Right now, I’m split between Monica, Maureen and Mira, though I do think Mira is too close to Mia.

Chic Chick from Buxom and Bodacious

chic-chick-logoSo, historically, I’ve been posting a black and white B&B paper doll and then a full color version the next day.

I’ve decided that this technique is not time saving in any real way, unlike my spacing of my Marisole Monday & Friends paper dolls a week apart which saves me so many headaches, so I am going to start posting both and black and white version of the Buxom and Bodacious printable paper doll and the full color version on the same day. I hope no one minds this change, but I don’t think anyone will.

Anyway, to say something intelligent about the paper doll… I actually haven’t got much intelligent to say about the paper doll. This is one of those paper dolls the languished on my computer hard drive for weeks. I thought about working on it, got distracted and then moved on and eventually realized (like on Sunday) that all I really needed to do was layout and file formatting. So, feeling a little foolish I finished her up and here she is.


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I confess to not being completely pleased with her color scheme. It feels a little sedate for my usual taste, but not every color scheme is a winner and that’s why the paper doll has a black and white option for coloring yourself.

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Lastly, I want to give a shout out to Lina’s Paper Dolls. I’ve had her on my Links Page for a while, but keep forgetting to give her a little spotlight here. As I always say, new paper doll blogs make me happy. Check her out and drop her a comment when you have a chance. Paper doll bloggers need all the encouragement we can get. 🙂

Poppets go Medieval… sorta… Printable Paper Dolls

poppets-dragons-logoWhen I first drew the Poppets paper dolls, I knew I wanted to do historical costumes. This isn’t historically accurate by the way, but it does have a 1300s flair, I think. One of the reasons I steer clear of certain periods of history is that I feel like I don’t know enough about them. I am familiar enough with Victorian and 18th century costume that I feel fairly comfortable simplifying it without losing it’s authenticity, but I know very little about clothing in Europe before 1400.

As a result, I tend to categorize my forays into the “medieval” look as fantasy, rather than history. It keeps me from feeling guilty about not really knowing what I’m doing. However, Gwendolyn asked for a paper doll of a 10th century Anglo-Saxon when she won my drawing last week, so I guess I better learn something about the 10th century.

In the meantime, here’s a Poppet Medieval outfit strictly in the realm of fantasy being modeled by Petunia. I like to think she might be a princess, but I haven’t given her a crown, so the jury is out.

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I’m also really pleased to say I’ve recently stumbled across a new paper doll blog called Paper is Suffcient. It’d a new blog, so go over there, check it out and drop Natalie a comment. We need all the paper doll blogs we can get. 🙂

Playing with Pattern on Ms. Mannequin Paper Doll Clothes

logo-ms-mannequin-6Today is Friday the 13th which is apparently bad luck, though I have no idea where that came from. Does anyone know? Anyway, I figured a good way to get rid of bad luck was to post some paper doll fashions. 🙂

As a lot of my longtime readers know, I am often playing around with patterns for my printable paper doll clothes. I think pattern, while a pain in the behind, is important for the diversity of paper doll outfits. Solid colors are all well and good, but most of us have some patterned things in our closets and there’s not real good reasons why paper dolls shouldn’t be the same.

When thinking about pattern, I tend to fall into the same styles repeatedly. I suppose I can only be so creative on any given paper doll set. Still, I am always looking for new pattern inspirations- even if they don’t make their way onto the blog. I really admire the pattern work of Julie of Paper Doll School. Her patterns rock.

(She can also use Illustrator. I’m so jealous. I have the program, but I think that like a wild dog it can smell my fear.)

Anyway… Miss. Mannequin and friends are getting pretty girly today with their full patterned skirts and rose printed strapless dress.

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Before I forget, I wanted to mention that I recently stumbled across a Peal Chang paper doll. Soft Film is a blog devoted to Chinese film, as far as I can tell, and the author commissioned a fantastic paper doll of Pearl Chang, who was an actress. I confess to not being at all familair with Pearl Chang, but I knew the name Kwei-Lin Lum from her incredible paper doll work. Check it out, it’s a pretty neat paper doll.

Of course, now I have to go on Netflix and see if I can find any of these movies. Does anyone know anything about her?

Some more paper doll clothes for the Mannequins…

logo-ms-mannequin-5So… personally, I would love to own that orange dress.

I would wear it around here and people would say, “Are you an Auburn football fan?”

And I would say, “Nope, but I have on a sassy orange dress.”

See? Everything is better when you’re wearing a sassy orange dress. (By the way, I’m neither an Auburn or an Alabama fan, but I’ve learned it’s best not to mention football at all around here unless you really want to be dragged into a conversation about it. Since I can’t stand football, I keep my mouth shut.)

I have no idea how the Ms. Mannequin paper dolls feel about football… I somehow seem them as being more polo types, but that’s perhaps an unfair sterotype of the rich. Not being rich, I really have no idea what absurdly wealthy people do for fun. (I always assume my paper dolls are absurdly wealthy, since they have such large wonderful designer clothes.)

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Marisole Monday & Friends: Mia as a Fairy in the Garden

logo-paper-doll-flower-fairy-mia-2013-bwFirst things first… I forgot to write on the wings that they’re meant to be pasted to the back of the doll. My bad… Sorry.

Secondly, Happy Veteran’s Day. One of these days, I will remember this holiday far enough in advance to do something thematic. Still, I think Veteran’s day is one of the more important US holidays, so I want to thank any of members or former members of our armed services today.

Meanwhile, I’ve had several requests for fairies over the years. I’ve never done one, except for a Halloween set where I did a fairy costume, but other than that I haven’t done many fairy paper dolls.

It’s a rather out of season. I seem to think of flowers and gardens in the summer when they bloom, but I live in Alabama now where the flowers cling on long after the normal times that flowers are supposed to bloom.

(Pansies in January are freakish. That’s all I have to say on that subject.)

Oh, there are some pixie paper dolls which fairy themes, now that I think of it. I did Fleur, Belladonna and Flora. Of course, I suppose having done 3.5 of them is not a bad statistic over the years.


A paper doll coloring page featuring a fairy and her extensive wardrobe. From paperthinpersonas.com

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Anyway, feel free to comment on the printable paper doll if you wish. I’m pretty pleased at how she came out.

Denise… Pixie and Puck Paper Doll in Floral’s and Pleats

logo-denise-pixieSo, this feels a little bit summery to be going up on this fall day, but I had so much fun with the color scheme that I shall not be denied. Even if it’s cool and crisp and the leaves have already begun to turn their beautiful yellow and red colors.

It’s apple pie and cinnamon weather these days, and I am utterly enjoying it.

But Denise is clearly living in a warmer world with her freckles and her florals. I’ve discovered an unexpected love of abstract florals which used on Denise. I think her pleated skirts look fun with the floral designs decorating them. The blouses are all meant to match with the different skirts.

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I tend to think of Denise as being friends with my old printable paper dolls Constance and Prudence, there is something similarly vintage about her style and sensibility.

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Here’s an amazing fact… today’s printable paper dolls is number fifty in all of my Pixie paper dolls. I feel like I should do something to celebrate, but I don’t know what. Ideas from the audience? Comment below.

Flowers and Jewels: Paper Doll Coloring Page

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I always have high hopes for October. I mean… it’s Halloween. Could there be a better holiday to celebrate with paper dolls? Any yet despite my idea that I’m really going to be festive, I hardly ever am.

I think I’ve done one Marisole Halloween set (which I didn’t feel like digging around the archives for). I remember fondly Liana’s wonderful Octobers with fantastic costumes and I always think I’m going to do something like that.

Clearly, once again, that didn’t happen.

But hey… here’s some pretty prom dresses/evening wear and it’ll be in color next week. I could say I planned on using halloween colors… but I don’t. I plan on using a lot of teal and maybe some purple.