Friday, October 28, 2016

Kawaii Kids - Monster and Devil

In college, I studied a lot of things.  I'd probably STILL be in college, taking every class, if I could! My major was art history and I worked on a minor in English. I came up one class short of finishing it....not the end of the world, but it still bugs me.

As part of my studies, I took an entire class devoted to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.  I love that book! I love what I learned during that class! I HATE when people call the monster "Frankenstein".  Just a thing that annoys me.  We all have them, after all.

Right-click to download and print

Today is the last of the Kawaii Kids Halloween posts.  I want to close it out with another classic, cute set of costumes.  I went with Frankenstein's monster and a devil.  It was fun to go back & work with these paper dolls again.  Hopefully you enjoyed it, too.  Have a happy, fun, safe Halloween.  I know my two monsters & I will!

Friday, October 21, 2016

Kawaii Kids - Vampires

Today I have the third Halloween Kawaii Kids costume set! I wasn't sure exactly what to do today.  My kids get a lot of the commercial costumes of their favorite characters, movies, etc, but I didn't want to do that with these paper dolls.  I wanted more classic, universal ideas.

So today we have vampires!

Right-click to download and print

I like cute Halloween costumes.  There's this push for kids to have costumes that are way too adult, in my opinion.  It's nice to let kids be kids for a while.  I was shooting for cute vampires with this set & I'm pretty happy with it.

There's one more Kawaii Kids Halloween set next week.

And if you haven't seen the preview for my December paper doll, check it out.  I'm taking requests for angel costumes so feel free to share yours!

Monday, October 17, 2016

December Paper Doll Preview

It's October.  I know this.  But in order to get myself organized for a chaotic holiday season, I decided to start working on my December paper doll early.  This has its advantages: first, I'm not super stressed out in November trying to complete a 30 page doll; second, it allows me a little time to actually research what I want to make; and third, it allows for a bit of input from my dear readers.

Last year, I created Santa and Mrs Claus paper dolls that I just loved. (You can grab an extended paper doll book here -- these printed beautifully and I highly recommend it!)  The style felt really natural and the project came together fairly easily.  I've been kicking around some ideas for this year's doll and I settled on something I hope everyone likes.

Feel free to right-click and download this paper doll and make your own outfits for her! (Personal use only, etc, etc...)

Now, I don't like to do things that are overtly religious.  I don't belong to any organized religion myself and one of my goals for this blog is to be inclusive.  Diversity in everything including something as niche as paper dolls can only be a good thing, I think.  Angels occur in many religions and cultures, so I feel fairly safe using them as a somewhat neutral theme.

The other thing I try to avoid is being overly political, both here and in my personal social media.  Again, I respect everyone's opinions and hope that others respect mine.  This year, though, there's a tiny bit of politics in this project.  I'm heartbroken about the events occurring in my country.  The violence, hatred, and xenophobia are a bit hard to swallow at the moment.  I want to highlight the goodness we still have and that's the inspiration for this angel.

I'm still trying to decide on a face for the paper doll.  I'm leaning towards the downcast, closed eyes.  Anyone else have an opinion?  And yes, she's a brown skinned angel.  I felt that was important in light of what I said above.  I already know that I want some African inspired outfits for her.

And this is where things become more challenging.

Can I create an inclusive angel paper dolls without being accused of cultural appropriate?  I hope so.  There's so much beauty in the world and I want to see all of it. I understand the significance of color in kente clothe about as much as I understand the clan associations of Scottish tartans (which is not at all).  I want to learn and creating is how I learn.

So let me know what you think of this draft.  I have some kinks to work out and I'm undecided about the face.  And please, I'd love suggestions for outfits! I'm no where near the 30 I need for the month! Also, call me out on this.  Is it a good idea? A bad idea?  I love the collaborative input of sharing my projects on a blog.  Hopefully I can post more process images along the way!  



Friday, October 14, 2016

Kawaii Kids - Kitten and Werewolf

Today is the next installment of the Kawaii Kids Halloween black & white paper dolls. I'm going to admit something -- I kinda phoned this one in.

You see, we went to a small, local theme park over the weekend with my parents.  My sons (they're 6 and 4) still have a terrible habit of putting their hands in their mouths/noses/eyes.  We had a great time but my kids came home with the plague because of that aforementioned affinity for hands in mouths.  My oldest had a stomach bug on Monday.  My youngest got it Tuesday.  And I got it Wednesday.  And when Mom is sick, the world comes to a halt.  Granted, my husband has always been a very equal partner in parenting, but having one adult down is no fun for anyone.

Right-click to download and print the Kawaii Kids - Kitten and Werewolf paper doll

So I ended up modifying/re-purposing a couple of paper dolls to create this one.  Next week, I'll try a little harder :)  And if you're looking for more of my Halloween paper dolls, use the search bar on the side -- there are TONS of them!

Friday, October 7, 2016

Kawaii Kids - Happy Halloween! Witch and Wizard

I mentioned it a couple of times and here it is! There will be some Kawaii Kids for the month of October.  I didn't realize the Kawaii Kids were as old as they are -- I feel like I made them yesterday! (Time has been messing with me lately....)

Right-click to save and print the Kawaii Kids - Witch and Wizard paper doll

For those of you who are new to the Kawaii Kids, there are a ton of them and they are all interchangeable. I had a request through DeviantArt (which I rarely look at) for more Kawaii Kids and that was the inspiration for a Halloween series.  It's fun to play with something old and make something new with it! 

There isn't a pdf this week.  If anyone wants a pdf, I'll put one together at the end of the series.