Google PD Group

I think most of my followers already belong to this group, but I highly recommend it. It's full of warm and friendly people who love to share paper dolls. You can visit the group online or have posts sent to your inbox, which is really convenient if you don't want to miss out on anything. However... Some days you can get a lot of sends, so I'd recommend setting up a free email account just for paper dolls. You don't have to, but for me it helps keep my main inbox just for regular stuff. If you feel like joining, please do, I'd love to see you in group.

Sorry no new art yet. I've had some unexpected personal stuff come up these past few months. We're all healthy, but haven't had much time to draw. I promise to have something up in the next week. I think I may have to designate a day for posting, because left on my own it seems I don't get around to it much. Love you all, thanks for reading & understanding.

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Paper Dolls 22

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round robin

Trying to come up with an idea for a Round Robin I'm in.... So far I think they're above my skill level.

redrawing susan

Still working on her, but thought you'd be interested.


This is what she used to look like.

So I'm posting this because it's super cool.

So the reason I am posting this is because if you look at the BOTTOM LEFT image you'll see something you've seen here before. The difference is that this is in DOLL COLLECTOR MAGAZINE! People all over the country will see something I DREW!!! (I apologise for the caps and explanation marks, but I am crazy excited about this.) I don't know what to do about it other than post it everywhere and then dance around in circles all over my living room while making happy noises. This is amazing. I'm gonna have to make some sets now, because it's starting to feeling like it might be time.

Pixie doll.

Follow my blog with bloglovin If you feel like it.



Marlendy over at http://marlendy.wordpress.com/ requested a picture of the pixie the outfit in my last post belongs to so here she is. She doesn't have a name, because it changes depending on what day she is being played with.

On the right hand side of my blog if you scroll down is a little box that says something like "Picasa Photostream" If you follow that it will take you to my albums there where inside the folder "Fantasy PDs" (or maybe it actually says paper dolls *shrugs*) There are some higher quality scans of her there. Her clothes should fit fine if you feel like printing them out, but as of today she has only the one outfit. There's other drawings up there but I can only be sure some of them will actually be the right size when printing. A few folders I'm pretty sure are all higgly piggly. The ones with the blue backgrounds are right, that much I do know. When I first started scanning I just wanted to show them to a few people and didn't think about printing sizes. (This is code for I talk too much.)

So Adios to you, because now I must go look at your blogs.

A long overdue outfit for Leah's pixie.

Done last night. I started thinking of Violets, when I made the top part. Then I realized that purple & blue construction paper is very similar in pigment and the contrast wouldn't satisfy me. (I'm using construction paper for all her costumes because she herself if made from construction paper and I haven't used it for paper dolls before. Or at least not in a long time.) So I though "She's a pixie, she can pick any flower petals she wants to wear. Then I thought of Tiger Lilies. Top is blue construction paper with markers & blue glitter, bottom is yellow construction paper with several different markers. The blue is all one piece, but the petals on the skirt were all individually cut & arranged. (The most time consuming part of the whole outfit.) I think the whole thing took me 20-30 minutes and didn't turn out that bad. Actually the glue drying time probably took the longest, but I slept during that so it didn't bother me much.

It should fit. Well the scan that is in my Picasa album should fit the scan of the pixie also in the album. I don't know if it will fit directly from this blog, but it most likely will. Print here at your own risk.

I have been feeling pretty bad about leaving you all hanging these past few weeks. Hope this makes up for it a little.

Oh, I got my absentee packet (for the 2010 convention) in the mail a few days ago and I love it. While I really like them all, I think my favorites are the one by Darlene Jones & Eileen Rudisill Miller, my mind keeps floating back to them. I don't know if I can share them here. Probably not, maybe at the lowest resolution or something. I will try to find out.

Yours always.


Edit: Had to resize the image that was showing up. It was too small for me, then it was too big.

Clothes for Classy

TA-DA! Not fancy, simple and lovely though.

The red one is inspired by a black and white jacket from the 50s. The blue was was originally going to be orange, but Leah begged me to make it blue. The gray is loosely based on the outfits the housekeeping ladies wear at work. (Loosely because after I started sketching I realized I never paid any attention to what they actually look like.) Notice her 5 year pin. I imagine Classy (the doll) wants to be a big movie star, but until she gets the job she has to get a regular job. The other two are for after she makes it big.

Also I finally got around to trying my expensive art pencils I bought way back when Hungates closed. I put it off because I was sure once I used them I'd never want to go back. My fears were right, they're so smooth and gorgeous I can't help but like them better. The red and blue are done with them and the black pants of the uniform. Blue shoes are glitter pen.

Also want to quickly thank Liana of (http://www.joechip.net/liana/) for talking about how she uses the colorless blender. You have changed the way I draw and I am grateful from the bottom of my heart to you. You are a paper doll angel, thanks for inspiring me.


Edit. Figured out the link issue. You need to type something, highlight it and then insert link. I am on a roll today.

Queen Holden

These dolls are drawn by Queen Holden. They are part of a set called "Dolls of All Sizes" from 1945. Yeah, so that means they're 65 years old, the oldest dolls I own. I purchased them at the paper doll party in March, but haven't gotten around to posting them. They should be printable and should fit a standard sized sheet of paper no problem. Queen Holden was a wonderful artist who really enjoyed painting little children. Her daughter is also a paper doll artist, but I'm drawing a blank as to her name right now. My favorite is 3. I don't know if she has a name but it says 3 on the back of her body and on the tabs of her clothing. I love, love that three of the outfits for the girls involve paper dolls. There are two dresses where the girls are holding a book of paper dolls and one where the little girl has been cutting out a doll with scissors.

Hope you like them.

For Classy

Obviously they're unfinished, but here's what I have so far.
The unfinished one will be a long ball gown. I'm not sure what color it will be yet.

The uniform is largely inspired by the uniforms the cleaning ladies wear at my work, but snazzier. I figure Classy had a regular job before she became a famous leading lady. (That's the story I envision for her). Maybe more than one.. Who knows?

Plans, too many plans.

I am thinking about drawing something for Hispanic History Month. I love the use of colors in the various traditional fashions and a lot of modern fashions I like are inspired by those clothes. The trick will be if I can put the face I have in my head to paper. I think her name will be Anna or maybe Anna Maria.

No telling if she'll be finished before the month is up. ;)

Judy's Classy

Judy Johnson, paper doll artist & publisher, is having a Dress-a-doll event. I guess it would be called an event. Everyone is welcome to make a outfit (or several) for her doll Classy before June 26th. Here's a link to her post with lots more info.
http://www.papergoodies.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idProduct=1191

Here is another link to the Facebook Event page. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?invites&eid=120717437940529

Designs can either be submitted to Facebook or sent to an email: judyspapergoods@charter.net if you don't have facebook.

I have no idea what I'm going to do, but there's plenty of time to come up one.




Edit: I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but when I tried to link to the sites they didn't show up in the post. So I just copy/pasted the URLs into the message. You might have to copy/paste them yourselves, but at least they're visible now.

Something long over due.

So it's been a month since the PD Party and I still hadn't posted my dress-a-doll scan. This is now fixed. So there's the owl outfit and a red costume. A blue dress that was inspired by my daughter & a frozen fountain. The blue dress I drew in the car on the way to the party, which is why it looks I dunno... Unfinished. The mask I did at the hotel. The doll as you can see (and I've mentioned before) is not drawn by me, she is from a very old and very beautiful set the host owned.

So I plan to draw her more costumes as I get the chance, but for now this is what she has.

Found a paper doll card

So I was out grocery shopping with my kids. We had been there long enough that the begging for junk food was starting, so I headed to the register through what I thought would be a "Safe Isle". I saw paper doll out of the corner of my eye and I just had to get it. Here she is for the rest of you to enjoy.

Marges8, A PD blog worth following.

This is a really great paper doll blog. She posts nearly every day, but she also posts cards & occasionally bookmarks. If you haven't seen it before definitely check it out.


I thought this was really cute.


Link here: http://marlendy.wordpress.com/2010/03/18/for-a-terrific-granddaughter-easter-card/


She also has a Katy Keene as Isadora Duncan drawn by Barbara Rausch. There's another page of well drawn costumes on her page.

New folders in my Picasa

These are paper dolls I made from when I was 11 to probably 14. I've included a folder with the contents of the fashion kit, a folder using the dolls I made from the kit with photo copied heads and a folder of dolls with hand drawn faces too. So three folders in all. Enjoy. You should be able to just click the pictures here as a link of sorts.

Crayola Fashion Designer Kit

Dolls made using the Crayola Fashion Kit.

Dolls drawn & inspired by the Crayola Fashion Kit

A few pics from the PD Party.

These pictures were taken by Tracy, who has her own blog (http://mightyfineart.blogspot.com/). I was not able to find my memory card (which my son thoughtfully removed from my camera several days in advance) to take my own pictures.

The first three pictures are from the show & tell portion of the event. That is Brenda in the green holding up a "art paper doll" but I can't remember who she said made it. Yes, that is me with a mask on my head looking at that Victorian pop-up book. The next picture is Nancy (I am fairly sure, but not 100% about it) with her show & tell item, which was a book by American Girl specifically about Kit.

After that we have Nancy's submission to the Dress-a-Doll (correct me if I'm wrong anyone who knows). It was very beautiful, in real life it looked 3d. The next picture is several PDs that go with the theme. I now have a few things to look up now.

The next picture is Brenda again with JaNelle, two of the nicest ladies you could hope to meet. Then comes Martha Davis (her dolls are amazing) & Jean our host. They are also really wonderful ladies.

The last two pictures are pictures of happy shopping. Ruth is wearing the dark sweater over a white shirt, Margaret is standing next to her in white. The name of the lady in purple is escaping me right now, I'm sure it will come to me after I post this. I don't know the names of the woman in green or the woman in the blue in the last picture (I'm sorry!).




I'll post my submission soon and some scans of my purchases.

Going to SC tomorrow!

The paper doll party is this weekend! I am so excited. It'll be nice to get away and the paper dolls will be great too. So today & tomorrow before I will be cleaning and laundering like crazy, that way our dog sitter won't see a mess. Well that and it's always nice to come home to a clean house. I'm so excited, oops I already said that. I plan to take some pictures while I'm there.

Also, you aren't seeing things, my layout is different. It was driving me crazy that my blog name wasn't displaying correctly. Now "2BeAPaperDoll" is all on one line.

Places to buy paper dolls.

Monica asked about how to get the paper doll catalog I mentioned in my last post. I figured I'd make it a new post instead of a really long comment. It's just gonna be about Dover Publications & Paper Doll Review today, because it's really late. Maybe more another time.

You can sign up for a free Dover catalog at this site: http://www.doverpublications.com/family/catalog.html
However I don't see a box to check for paper dolls only... I know the Children's Book version has paper dolls, probably more than any other ones they put out.

You can also sign up for a free sampler that they send you every week. It doesn't always have paper dolls, but most of the time it does. That's at this link: http://www.doverpublications.com/sampler3/

I also highly recommend Paper Doll Review to buy both reproductions of older sets and new sets by current artists. Here's the link for that: http://www.paperdollreview.com/catalog/index.php
They have impressive quality standards. I bought some sets from a recent "Scratch-and-Dent" sale and I had to look really hard to find any damage. I wouldn't have even known if they hadn't told me. The prices were great though. I've bought from them several times. In my experience they're very professional, have good prices and ship out very quickly. Only once did I have a problem, a set I had ordered was not longer in print and they found out the same day I placed my order. I got an email the next morning explaining the situation and they offered me a similar book for the same cost. This wasn't their fault but they were fantastic about it.

I've bought from Dover directly before with mixed results. Half of the time they've been great, but once I got a badly printed set where the dolls were blurred and it was a pain to get it exchanged. Once years back I placed an order that they claimed the postal worker couldn't find my house, so they promised me credit instead of a refund. I never got that credit, I never got my money back. I was very disappointed, but I feel that the website hadn't been up long so maybe I was just unlucky.

Plus you can get most (possibly all, but I'm not 100% on that) Dover sets from Paper Doll Review anyway. I think for the same price too.

Dover

I got a paper dolls only catalog in the mail yesterday. I can't help but think "Finally!" I don't know if it's a new feature or if I've only recently been flagged in their system as a paperdoller, but it's still cool. I've already gone through with a marker and circled like crazy. Hooray for Dover for finally figuring out a catalog catering to us paper doll people is a good idea. 'Bout time.

MandyCat

Well I had a lot of fun drawing this. It's my first animal PD. I've drawn animals before, but they were more of accessories. MandyCat has her own wardrobe. She was drawn with pens and markers. Regular ink pens & some gel pens as well. Like the pink details on her mittens & hat are gel pen. The red outline on the superhero costume & the lines on the boots to make them have a little more definition. She's pretty simple, but she's still cool. I love her bright colors.

Maybe I'll do more animals again someday, but I consider MandyCat a finished work. I doubt think I'll be adding more to her anytime.


Edit. Forgot to make sure all images would display the same size. Oopsie.

Finished another outfit last night

So the subject continues here: for the PD party next month. Can't show you the whole thing yet but here's a picture of the mask it was inspired by.. Oops, it turns out they no longer have it on the website I got it from. Well it's red, checkered and has (?) flame-y edges. I will however post a picture of the boots.

I spent the most time on the mask, which has long brown hair attached to it (doll has short blond hair). I tried something new though. I usually avoid hats or wigs because they never want to stay put, the tabs never work really great. I noticed a PD artist for Paper Doll Studio (The Folk Costume issue) made these little half moon shapes to glue to the back of the hat forming a pocket the doll head slides into. It works fantastically. I'm half tempted to go and make them for every PD I own. I think I will modify the owl mask this way too now.

I was up and down the whole time. The mask was perfect, the hair looked great, then I put it on her. I hadn't traced her head as well as I though and there were gaps of empty space! Really unhappy. This was fixed the the back of the pocket, I colored it brown and added longer unglued pieces to cover up the gaps. That worked out pretty good. Then I started the dress. I drew the outline and was really pleased with the shape, I picked my coloring and got to it. It was aweful, all I could think was "Ugh, I have completely messed this up. It's ruined & I'll have to start over now." I am stubborn though and tried to change it a little in hopes I could at least make it less hate-able. It worked, I'm satisfied with it now, I don't know that I like more than the owl. That will be hard to beat, but the more I look at the red dress, the more I like it. I can't wait to post it for you.

My paper doll for last year's party

So last year the theme was "The Way We Were." I wanted to draw a doll, but couldn't find the time. We arrived at the hotel Friday, just in time for the meet & greet. When I said I wasn't able to make something, the ladies there encouraged me to try to make something anyway. So I ran to Walmart (practically across the street, talk about convenient) and bought all kinds of supplies. It took me maybe 3 hours or so. The doll took three drawings; initial, modified & perfected. Now I didn't have the picture with me and was forced to draw from memory.

The photo is the little me that I was trying to create. I think there may be another very similar photo, posed slightly different somewhere. I thought I was 5 in the photo I was remembering, but looking at it now I may have been even younger. That's my Aunt Mary Ellen in the photo.

I didn't win any prizes, but that's ok. Participating was cool on it's own. Plus when we were all walking around looking at the dolls submitted, one woman pointed to my doll and said "She drew herself at 5, how cute." I had to tell her that it was my doll, but that was probably the highlight of the day for me. There was good stuff, but I was really proud that someone liked my doll. Especially when I hadn't thought I would be able to submit anything at all.

Organizing my collection.

I'm trying to catalog all my sets. So much writing. I worked on it between 4 & 5 hours last night after the kiddles we to bed and I'm still not done. I think I got maybe 3/4 of the way through. I'm sorting them by artist whenever I can and by type when I cannot. What has been surprising is how many doubles I didn't know I had. I buy a lot of my sets from ebay and usually in multiple book deals, so I don't spend as much. However, I now see I still managed to spend quite a bit. I suppose I'll try to do more tonight most likely.

I have postponed my autumn dress for the pd party, I really want to used pictures of foliage from upstate NY as a guide or implemented into the design. So I need to find pictures before I can do that. I did start a rough sketch of a blue snowflake/ice princess costume. I'm not really sure about it so far though, I don't really have a clear picture in my mind yet I guess. I'm sure I just need to get to it and it's figure itself out.

I've been thinking about my Suede doll and I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to make her some flesh toned undies before I make her my official blog doll. I have no issues about colored pencil nudity, but some do. I want them to be able to enjoy my dolls as well. I find that for the most part I prefer no undergarments because sometimes they can show through a pale colored outfit. Also it limits what you can do neckline wise. I think though that if I make her underclothes flesh toned they will cover up the doll and not show through any outfits. *crosses fingers* So that will be coming up sometime this week (publicly committing myself to a deadline makes it more likely I'll get it done).

Found a website (due to a paper doll group member) that is devoted to one of my favorites The Ginghams. http://home.xnet.com/~countzi/ginghams.htm She have pictures of many different (super adorable) sets. She also has a few links to her other websites which you might like.

Will be holding off on masquerade outfits.

I emailed the lady in charge of the Masquerade PD party and asked her if it would be alright to post the doll and here's what she sent back.

"Thank you, too, for your thoughtfulness in asking about our pretty doll from "Costume Party" (Gabriel set). I would be much obliged if you would hold her and her outfits to show later on your blog, after the party. That should make very interesting content to see all your designs!"

So I will maybe post photos of unfinished outfits until then, but will hold off on any completely designs until the party is over. The party is scheduled for March 13th, so sometime after that I will put everything up.

So I guess that means I will have to start work on another project so I will still have something to post in the meantime. So what to do next.....

I'm feeling like doing a costume fall related. I woke up thinking about how pretty the trees are in fall and how I might be able to incorporate that into a dress. Maybe leaves for a skirt, I'm even thinking that maybe I might look up foliage pictures from where I grew up.

A daughter drawing.

My daughter drew this the day before yesterday. Both Eric & I were impressed at how the proportions are pretty spot on. She's 6 and I think maybe the girl's got some talent.


Edit: Forgot to mention her dolls name is Lace.

Finished!!

So here's the whole costume. Ta da! I am very proud of it. The mask came out pretty good too. I can't wait to figure out what I'll draw for her next. I hopefully will be able to post the doll as well (don't see why I wouldn't be able to), but I will double check before I do.

The second picture is the picture I found online (website was mentioned I think two posts ago) that I used as my inspiration.

I'm really thrilled. If I can get the time, I will try to draw something else tomorrow. I feel a little giddy every time I look at it, I keep dancing around and singing "I drew it and it didn't stink." Enough silliness, I have to start thinking about dinner now. :)

Working on a project today

So yesterday I decided to draw something today, either for the PD Party or for Suede. Actually I'll probably do both. So far I'm only partly done with one of the costumes I'm going to bring to the PD Party. This one's a Gray Owl, so far I am super pleased with it. I was a little worried when I first started, I am not longer worried about the dress. The mask might end up being a challenge, but today I am caffeinated & up for the challenge. (As you can see I snapped a pic instead of scanning it.)

If you are interested in a Paper Doll Party here's a link, http://opdag.com/convention.html. Right now there's three advertised (?), but I'm pretty sure there'll be more later in the year if there isn't one in your round-about area up yet. Please check it out.

A recommendation

If perchance you don't already know about it, highly recommend the Google paper doll group ( http://groups.google.com/group/paper-dolls?hl=en ). The people are wonderful and there are so many dolls it's mind boggling. Try searching the archives, just about every set you can think of is there and if it's not just put in a request and chances are someone has it. We've got members from all over the world, there's artists and people who only collect. It's a really wonderful group.

March PD Party

So while I have not RSVP'd yet, I will be going to the PD Party hosted by Jean Sullivan in SC. The theme is Masquerade and I am really liking it. I googled the word Masquerade image search and found this site that make these really cool masks ( http://www.karnevalmasque.com/home.html ). I feel really inspired, I can't wait to get started on it. The doll is actually an older doll who's almost flapper-esq, but she's cute and I think she'll probably end up with some wigs too since she has short blond hair. I printed out shots of the masks I like (there's a ton of them to be honest) so I can use them for ideas. Like paper muses. I will probably, possibly upload them here. I don't really see why I wouldn't. However they will def. be posted to my Picasa. I have ideas swirling around in my head.

On another, yet still similar, note the Paper Doll Studio Dress-a-Doll is also giving me inklings of ideas. I really want to draw for it mainly because the dolls are drawn by Tom Tierney. He's the one person I think I'd actually be star struck over. I don't think it'll be possible for me not to feel like a babbling idiot when I meet him one day. I might even cry. However, the theme for that is western and that's not really my specialty. I don't know if I can post the dolls here, but I can post the outfits I suppose.

It's all up in the air and it's a new year full of art possibilities.

So I'm thinking...

I've been trying to think about what doll to use here. Should I create an all new one or use one I've already drawn. I'm pretty sure I'm going to use an already drawn one named Suede. I really like her, but don't really have a feel for who she is. So she might be perfect for a PD blog. I'll probably draw one for it eventually too, to spice things up and such. Here's a picture of her face.