Paper Doll Collaboration 2017 - Fashion from the Year You Graduated

Today is the ninth (!!) installment of the paper doll collaboration project.  I'm so glad we've been able to pull this off! It's been a lot of fun and I look forward to it every month.

This month, we're working on fashion from the year we graduated.  I chose to illustrate the year I graduated high school.  Now, I just want to make this clear: this isn't how I dressed in high school! The way I dress now is not all that different than how I dressed 20 years ago....not really sure what that says about me! I like jeans, tees, cardigans -- pretty simple stuff.  And I was never trendy!

Download the Paper Doll Collaboration - Outfit 9 pdf here

Here's how I interpreted 1998 -- I went straight to a Delia's catalogue! Remember those?! I was never really cool enough to buy stuff from Delia's.  And it was too trendy.  There's one specific type of tank top that was popular and I included that.  My sister (who lives to be trendy, even now) had this tank in about a zillion colors, most of them striped.  Long skirts with chunky platform sandals were popular, too, and those stupid bandana tops.  Finally, I've got cargo pants and some crudely draw Doc Martens. To top it all off, I've attempted to draw the Rachel haircut, because we all knew at least one girl who had it!

For more blasts from the past, visit Paper Thin Personas, Pop Culture and Paper Dolls, and Miss Missy!

Sarah's Simple Wardrobe - Set 1 Color

One of the things I'm excited about with this new series is the limited color palette.  Somehow simplifying my choices makes things more interesting! And it'll make mix & match more fun as the series progresses.

Right-click to download and print

Since it somehow feels hotter in New England in September than it did in July, I decided to start with some summery mix and match outfits.

Next up is another collaboration set for Friday!

Sarah's Simple Wardrobe - Set 1 Black and White

Planning is not always my strength.  I'm not the kind of person who produces posts well in advance, though I admit, I want to be.  As a result, sometimes I can't keep up with my own blog! Really need to work on that....

This week, my Surface pen stopped working.  Not really a surprise.  It's my second one and I am hard on those!! Anyway, it had me down for a couple of days and away from my computer.  My mother jokingly asked me if I've forgotten how to draw on paper.  The truth is, I feel like I have!

Right-click to download and print

Today I have the first black and white sheet of Sarah's wardrobe.  I'll admit, I owe a bit of a debt to Irma at Pabernukublogi stylistically. Her layouts are always beautiful and I'm trying to think about layout a bit here.

I am going to try to post the color version of this Thursday with the next installment of the collaboration project on Friday.  I'll be in northern Vermont this weekend and away from my computer, but feel free to send me some love and I'll see it on Monday!

Sarah's Simple Wardrobe - Doll in Color

I have to admit, Sarah in black and white is not my favorite.  I know a lot of people enjoy coloring, so I want to have a set of coloring sheets and full-color sets.

Today, I have a full-color image of Sarah.  I like her much better this way!

Right-click to download and print

In my design asset stash, I found a set of seamless patterns that I really liked and those are the inspiration for the color scheme.  I'm going with another series of limited palette options for this set for maximum mixing & matching.

Monday, I'll have a black and white wardrobe page ready to go.  And then on Friday, I'll have the color version!

Sarah's Simple Wardrobe - Doll

I've wanted to start a new paper doll series for a while now.  And I wanted to try doing a shorter run, dress-a-day type of thing.  This is not everything I wanted it to be, but it's interesting and worth sharing.

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This is Sarah.  She's based on simple, soft-bodied dolls. I have a whole wardrobe ready to go.  My plan is to post both a black and white and color set each week.  So far, the doll is ready.  Check back in later this week for a color version and new outfits.  I'm not sure how long I'll work on this set so I guess we'll see where it goes!

Summer Fun - Coloring Sheet 4

My baby left for kindergarten this week. And I was a bit emotional!

My handsome kiddos! 

It's been an adjustment this week.  Not a bad one, by any stretch! I always thought that this would be the year I'd go back to work and have a "real" job.  The truth is, that isn't happening. Instead, my grandmother (who has been widowed for a year & a half, has had a stroke, and is losing her sight) is moving in with us.  She's been managing well but she lives in northern Vermont and my father & I agreed (as did she) that she needed to be a bit closer to the rest of us. She and are are close anyway, and this is a great choice for all of us.

Having said that, now that I have a more or less empty house and time on my hands, I'll get back to actual drawing next week! This week I spent catching up on things that needed to be done.  Next week, it's all about making art again! 

Today is the last of the summer fun coloring sheets.  I have some fun ideas coming up, too! 

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Summer Fun - Coloring Sheet 3

My oldest started school this week...for two and a half days.  It feels like a bit of a waste, but once the snow days start piling up, I guess I'll feel better about it.  Weather forecasters have been calling for a superb New England fall (which is really why we all live here, afterall!!) followed by a brutal winter.  I'm less confident about that last part but I guess we'll see.

So I'm still not quite in the full swing of creating yet.  My youngest starts Kindergarten on Tuesday and this past week has been meet & greets with his teacher, evaluations, etc.  We've had an open house where my oldest & I were the representatives for our Cub Scout group.  It's been busy.

Right-click to download and print

I have managed to get a few paper doll related things done recently.  First, I finally published a Josephine book. I'm trying something different here. The book is available on Lulu and coming to Amazon soon, but I also have it listed as an ebook to download on Etsy.

I also changed the format of the At the Beach set from saddle stitch to perfect bound.  That means almost nothing to most of you.  For me, it means a slightly higher quality print and the ability to sell on Amazon, etc, and not just on Lulu.

These are the books side by side.  The one on the left is the perfect bound one, and the one on the right is the saddle stitch one.  The color is slightly different, with the left one more true to my illustrations.

You can see it a bit more in this close-up.  It's not to say the printing was bad - it was fine.  I just think the perfect bound is a bit superior.

Because I had two versions of the book, I decided to actually cut out the paper doll!! This set comes with coloring sheets, so I tested those out.  I'm not a big fan of coloring and I think it shows! I tested crayons, colored pencils, markers, and gel pens.  The markers and gel pens worked best.  I think if bought this set, I'd probably use my color copier and copy these on to cardstock, then color them.

I included a stand with this doll and it worked really well! I folded the stand, creased it, and used double stick tape to attach it. The doll in that image is standing independently.

The fit is pretty great, too.  I find wigs a bit challenging but they do fit!

I haven't had a chance to cut the whole book out yet, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  For reference, I cut out the saddle stitch book, so the colors are a little darker here.

You can grab a copy here and it'll be on Amazon soon.  Still coloring the Summer Fun book.

For those of you in the US, have a happy Labor Day!