Paper Doll Collaboration - Cosplay/Fandom

Here we are, another month over! I can't even handle how quickly this year is going.  It's nuts!! For April, I have another installment of the 2019 Collaboration paper doll.  The theme is cosplay or fandom.  I'm not a cosplay kind of person.  In fact, I'm trying to dress like it's the 1940s at the Morgantown paper doll party this coming weekend and I fell...overwhelmed. So I bought pants and a blouse.  I'm really a jeans & t-shirt kind of person. We'll see how it goes....

Anyway, cosplay is outside my comfort zone. 

I decided to create a set of costumes based on Adventure Time.  It's such a fabulous cartoon an my kids LOVE it.  I still don't think I've seen every episode.  The kids probably have, though.  What I love about Adventure Time is it's very complex for a "simple" kid's cartoon.  There are lots of strong women and most (if not all) characters manage to shatter or subvert stereotypes.  It's pretty great.

For my fandom paper doll, I went with Princess Bubblegum.  She rules over her own kingdom, is a genius scientist, and also manages to be a good friend/mentor to the main characters Finn and Jake.  LOVE her!!! Also, she has a huge variety of outfits over the course of the series, which I also love!

The outfit on the left is her "typical" everyday outfit - a dress and crown.  The middle outfit is one of her many lab coat outfits.  And the last one is a dress/hoodie/leggings/boots combo that shows up in "What Was Missing", one of my favorite episodes.

For more fandom inspired outfits, check out Paper Thin Personas, Miss Missy, and Pop Culture and Paper Dolls!

100 Days of Paper Dolls - Set 4

Day 25 of the #100daysofpaperdolls project! I'm a quarter of the way through!! There are some great artists drawing some fun stuff so I suggest you check it out in Instagram if you can.

I'm trying to keep the neo-Victorian vibe going.  No pants this time but that's alright.  I want that jacket - the whole outfit on the right is based on this pin I found on Pinterest.  The more I draw of this, the more I want to color it! It's such a huge project.....

Also, I'll be in Morgantown (you can find the details here) the first weekend of May! This will be the largest gathering of paper doll enthusiasts that I've attended so far & it sounds like a great time! Hopefully I can snap some pics and share them on the ol' blog.

I'll post more 100 Day pages as I complete them or you can follow along on Instagram! 

100 Days of Paper Dolls - Set 3

I'm continuing to work on the #100daysofpaperdolls project and today I have another full sheet to share.  This one is full of ruffles!!!!

This set covers days 11 through 15.  Lots of ruffles and some ringlets, too.  I like having a neo-Victorian and yet modern vibe to these sets.  I'll keep it up as long as I can! Feel free to follow along on Instagram (@julieamatthews) or wait for the full sheets here.

100 Days of Paper Dolls - Set 2

If you follow me on Instagram (@julieamatthews), you'll be up to date with the whole project.  I'm posting complete sheets here on the blog when I complete them (and remember!!!!).

This sheet covers days 6 through 10.  I'm trying to keep with the neo-Victorian vibe.  And I'm already thinking about how to color these! I don't think I put out any books last year aside from Kitchen Kitsch (which you can get here and here. It's really beautiful!! Highly recommend. Shameless self-promotion!)  I've been kicking around the idea of putting together a sketchbook type of book, too, but haven't quite gotten around to it.  There simply are not enough hours in the day!

Anyway, watch for sporadically posted pages from the project here. Or follow along on Instgram.  There's a few of us there doing this and it's all great!

100 Days of Paper Dolls - Set 1

We're cranking along at the #100daysofpaperdolls over on Instagram! So far, all is going well.  The black & white set has been fairly easy to keep up with and that's been great. 

I sort of accidentally developed a neo-Victorian aesthetic with this set.  If you follow me on Instagram (@julieamatthews), you can see these every day but I'm only going to post full sheets on the ol' blog.  I'm trying to keep it in the Victorian vibe but this is going to end up being about 20 pages at the end.  That's a lot of Victorian influence!!! We'll see how it goes.

Anyway.... check it out on Instagram.  Our tag is #100daysofpaperdolls and its all really great work!

100 Days of Paper Dolls

I've had a hard time settling into a project this year.  Don't get me wrong - I'm incredibly lucky! I've been working on paper doll projects every day but they aren't anything I can really share here at the moment.

That changes today!

Starting today, I'm doing The 100 Day Project! We're posting on Instagram every day.  It's me, Rachel of Paper Thin Personas (@paperthinpersonas), and Elizabeth Joy McDonald (@elizabethjoymcdonald).  I'm probably not going to post every day on the blog. My plan is to post each completed sheet here.  With the exception of today!

For this project, I took out a random sketch I had started with no real goal in mind. I had seen a model in an elaborate corset on Pinterest and I loved the pose. So I sketched it one day and waited for inspiration to strike.

Here's the final drawing.  I'm estimating 5 to 8 pieces per page so there will be about 20 pages total (give or take).  Feel free to follow along (or jump in!!) on Instagram every day with #100daysofpaperdolls