Paper Doll Collaboration 2018 - Favorite Decade

Every month I'm amazed at how quickly the month has gone by! And this is the last day as well as the last Friday.

Today's installment of the paper doll collaboration project is about our favorite decade.  That was a tough one to narrow down! I genuinely loved the '90s but that didn't feel quite right.  And right now, I'm been heavily influenced by the '50s but that wasn't it either. And I knew I wanted the 20th century.

So I went with the 1970s.  Makes total sense, really. Most of the music I listen to is from the 70s.  Much of the clothing I wore in high school was either inspired by or from the 70s. 

I went in two directions here.  First up is a Gunne Sax inspired dress with feathered, flipped up hair.  Next, a long collared shirt and wide leg pants with a helmet-like hairstyle - my mom had hair like that in '78!! In my mind, those pants are corduroy and probably orange.

For more in the series, check out Paper Thin Personas and Miss Missy!

August Paper Doll - Set 2

I'm back from vacation! It was a *true* vacation - I packed my computer but never opened it.  No drawing for me! Just fun times with the family.

Tell me that isn't beautiful?! We spent 9 days on vacation - my parents, one of my grandmothers, and the four of us.  Our boys had a blast! Tennessee was gorgeous and fun and I would visit the Smokey Mountains again.

And then school started two days later!

AND because I'm on a roll.... There's a teaser for my first book with Paper Studio Press!

I had two big projects that I was working on this summer & this was the bigger of the two! It's a mix-and-match retro inspired book featuring two dolls with 104 (!!) individual items.  It was a real labor of love! And working with Jenny Taliadoros was fantastic.  Normally, I work alone without much of an editorial process. Having a guiding force was a really nice change.  It's not out quite yet, but I'll be sure to post when it is.

So forgive me for falling behind on the blog a bit!!

Today I have the second sheet in the August set.  I know I won't be caught up by the end of the month but I'll get through it anyway. And there's a collaboration post going up on Friday.

This set ended up very blue! First up is "horizon" and I made a sort of abstracted mountain scene on a skirt.  "Pillow" is a pair of cozy pajama pants.  "Rain" might be a duplicate theme - this time I went with a retro raincoat and bright floral umbrella. "Worm" is a bookworm on a back-to-school inspired mini dress. "Mug" is a comfy top & travel mug.  Finally, "row" is a duplicate theme - in January I created a rowing uniform.  This time, I went with knit stripes or rows!

Come back Friday for more in the ongoing collaboration project!

August Paper Doll - Set 1

Finally started on August! We're heading out on vacation (woohoo!!) so I probably won't get another sheet up between now and then.  I'm torn about bringing my computer with me. Hopefully we'll be too busy for me to draw but then again, there IS rain in the forecast...!

For those of you following along, here's the theme set for August from @ellolovey ( Instagram and Facebook).  This post will cover 1-6 with more to come soon. You can find the doll here.

I wanted some bright colors this time around instead of the pastels from April.  First up is "camp", a tank top with a camper and some roll-up hiking pants in bright colors.  "Dragon" was tough - I wanted a Chinese inspired gown and I'm still not totally happy with it.  Next is "face" and that's a cat face on a t-shirt. "Rose" is a mix-and-match top and skirt.  "Peach" has an embroidered collar.  And finally "bag" is an oversized knit shoulder bag.

I've been printing off the January/May set - I might even get a chance to play with my paper dolls over vacation!  Once we're back, the boys start school again.  Enjoy the rest of your summer - we sure will!

July Paper Doll - Set 5

YAY! July is a WRAP! I'm going to try to get a couple of sets done this week (maybe) but we're heading out for a family vacation & I'm not sure if I'll get to it. 

I've said it before - some themes are harder than others! One thing I love about this whole project is that the ideas are already there for me.  Some of these are themes I never would have picked for myself & that's part of the fun.

First up is "boat" and I went with a nautical set.  "Signs" was a little trickier - not sure if it's obvious, but the long skirt is covered in zodiac signs.  "Float" is a cover up and pool float.  "Lion" is a blouse with a lion pattern.  "Friends" was tough so I added a title & a cat and dog sketch (not mine).  Finally, "sunset" really only works in the color version. 

I haven't looked at the August themes yet so that should be interesting. 

Anyone from Tennessee or been recently? That's where we're heading and it looks fun!!

July Paper Doll - Set 4

Woo hoo! I have ONE more July sheet to go! And then I can get cracking on August.  Not too bad...!

I won't delay  - here's the set:

This week's sheet wasn't as full as I wanted so I added in the sweater and leggings to round it out.  First up, "moon" is a short dress.  "Slice" was tough and I went with a box pleat skirt with color accents in corduroy.  "Shark" was fun - I went with a toothy graphic sweatshirt.  "Market" is a jean jacket and shopping bag. "Van" is another graphic tshirt.  And finally, "star" is a tunic top since I already made a star covered dress in March.

ONE more!! I'll get that up as soon as I can.  Have a fantastic weekend!

July Paper Doll - Set 3

I'm slowly working through the July drawing prompts.  It's been hot and humid here in New England so, aside from a few trips to the lake, we've been stuck inside. Might as well be winter!!

All of my back to school shopping is finished, thankfully.  We scheduled a family vacation (2 cars, 4 generations, a cabin in Tennessee, and LOTS of fun!!) and we will be back one day before school starts! I think we're all just about ready. My kids may be feral.

First up is "dachshund" so I made a poodle skirt with a puppy on it. And I think I spelled it wrong in my images.  Oops.  Then there's "ice cream" with a graphic tee and sprinkle covered skater skirt.  "Hug" is a repeat theme from January - I used the same heart/hug image with this month's colors.  "Grill" is a picnic inspired grilling apron.  For "movie" I didn't know what to do so I created a red carpet gown perfect for a Hollywood star.  And finally, "yard" was another tough one so I made a floral striped top with green pants, maybe for gardening. 

I have two sheets left to wrap up July and I'll be getting those up soon!

July Paper Doll - Set 2

Happy August! July was crazy busy but things have definitely slowed down some.  Should be able to get back to normal.  Hopefully!

My plan is to crank out the July paper doll sheets and then get into the August set.  We have a vacation coming up so that may impact my posting a bit. We shall see.

Enough of that! Let's get the paper doll up!

I tried to look at the themes before I chose the color scheme.  I knew I wanted red, white, and blue, but I also knew I'd need yellow specifically for this set.  First up is "flashback" which is a 1980s inspired dress.  "Lemonade" is a summery dress.  "Book cover" is a skirt with book spines and would be super cute with this lettering jacket here. "Beach" and "state" are meant to go together - they're very Cape Cod in my opinion! "Fairy tale" was a tough one for me so I went with a Red Riding Hood set. It's somewhat fashionable anyway, so feel free to mix and match it with other things!

I recently discovered that I can print these out and cut them on my Silhouette cutter.  Haven't actually done it with any of these monthly sheets yet, but I'd like to soon! I did do a test cut of a commission that way and it came out great!

So I'll post the next set ASAP.  Look for it!