My Dress-a-Doll from this year's party.

This was my entry this year. I was not prepared like I was last year and so it's not nearly as good. Our theme was "Musical Moments in Paper Dolls". All I could think of was "The Wizard of OZ," so that's what I chose. I didn't have any images to base it on, so I was forced to draw it from memory. I completely forgot about her blue socks. I also forgot to bring a pencil sharpener which is why the bodice and sleeves are drawn much better than the skirt. I got frustrated, lost some of my focus and started settling. Also I've never been really good with plaids, so I almost never attempt them.

I'm not thrilled with this, because I gave up once I realized I couldn't sharpen my pencils. However I owe you a post and I fixed my printer/scanner/copier.

I'm finally catching up with the housework which means I'll feel less guilt when I draw instead of clean. So hopefully that means I'll be more active here. Also my son is turning 5 this summer so he'll be off to Kindergarten in the fall. This means way more uninterrupted art time for me.

Edit: Forgot to mention that the doll featured belongs to Magazine Cover Girls Paper Doll Book, Merrill, 1944 and her name is Patricia. I've included an image of the set's cover in case you were interested in seeing it.

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.

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.