Thanksgiving Fashion Paper Doll - Mira

Happy Thanksgiving! Our day is busy with family and yours probably is, too.  If it's Thanksgiving where you are, I hope you enjoy it.  If it isn't...well, you get an awesome paper doll to download anyway!!

Download Toddler Fashion Paper Doll - Mira pdf here

This is the final paper doll in the Thanksgiving mini series.  These have been a lot of fun to make & the response to them has been very positive! I've really enjoyed this set.

The next paper doll set is the December angel paper doll.  I gotta say, it might be my favorite paper doll ever.  So it's a big deal!

And this is pretty much the last call on angel paper doll suggestions, so if you've got one, let me know! I have several vintage inspired ones, several history inspired ones, and some really random ones.  I can't wait to share them all!! Til then, have a great Thanksgiving!

Toddler Fashion Friday - Emma

Last week's toddler graduation paper doll was so much fun, I made a companion paper doll! Here's Emma with a graduation cap & gown and school theme patterned wardrobe.

Download Toddler Fashion Friday - Emma pdf here

For an extended, 3 page version of this paper doll, visit my *new* Etsy shop!

There's some news I need to share! First, the good news: I re-opened my Etsy shop.  There's a mini shop in the sidebar of this blog if you'd like to take a look at it.  I'm focusing on instant downloads.  Right now, I'm creating extended sets of previous dolls, but I plan on making some Etsy-only sets as well as maybe revisiting the Jane doll templates.  I may also have the occasional one-off paper doll.

Secondly, I've had a death in the family.  My grandfather lived a long, happy life and although he'll be missed, he had a hereditary & crippling condition and is at peace now.  As we as a family move forward, I'm going to need some time to deal with his passing and the changes associated with it.  I'm going to try to continue blogging without any gaps but that just might not happen.

I hope everyone has a happy start to their summer/graduation season! We're so proud of our kindergarten student!

Toddler Fashion Friday - Noah

I have entered into a phase that I've heard of, but never experienced before: end of school year chaos.  My oldest is finishing up kindergarten next week and somehow I have no time any more.  It'll be nice to have him home all summer.  I've missed having him home -- even though he LOVES school!   I just need to get myself a little better organized so that I can 1) entertain two active boys 2) work on first grade and preschool schools with those boys and 3) find time for my own stuff.

There might be a few missed weeks here & there, but I swear I'm not abandoning this blog!

To celebrate my son's kindergarten graduation, I made a paper doll!

Download Toddler Fashion Friday - Noah pdf here

I went with a blue graduation gown because his school colors are blue & white.  His school mascot is a tiger, so that's where the orange comes from. And I wanted a school themed pattern, so I whipped up the image on the t-shirt & turned it into a pattern.  The cap & gown will fit any of the toddler paper dolls so feel free to use it for any & all of them! 

Toddler Fashion Friday - Virginia

Today ushers in the unofficial start to summer here in the US.  It's Memorial Day, so it's a long weekend.  And it's hot.  Well, here in New England it's hot.

And I hate hot.  SO much! But everyone else is pretty happy about it so I'll manage I suppose....!

I wanted to create a red, white, and blue themed paper doll without it being stars or something vaguely patriotic like that.  I live in the heart of colonial Massachusetts and holidays like Memorial Day are a big deal. (I actually went and photographed a colonial cemetery last weekend as part of my on-going family history project.  There were flags on the veteran graves in this 300+ year old place.  I'm not an overly patriotic person, but I felt it that day....) So I started tinkering with Illustrator and came up with an adorable flower, which I turned into a pattern.

Download Toddler Fashion Friday - Virginia pdf here

This is such a cute & summery set! I'm glad I went with red, white, and blue.  It just feels like summer!  The flower sort of accidentally happened.  I was tinkering with a circle and the Effects menu.  And then I took that circle and moved it around, layered it, and then used the Patherfinder menu to create separate lines.  Really came out great!

If you're looking for more dolls to get you through this weekend, I have an Independence Day paper doll from 2012 and an Independence Day family set from 2015.

Toddler Fashion Friday - Maybelle

It was my birthday this week.  I'm an adult (well, marginally....I mean I still play with dolls!!) so the day was rather uneventful. My sister took me out for coffee & my family took me out for dinner.  Rather a nice way to spend a day, honestly.

I try to make a birthday edition paper doll.  Last year, I featured a commission. In 2014, I created a Deanna Troi paper doll and in 2013, I made a series of Star Trek uniform paper dolls.  And in 2012...well, I started this blog in June of that year so no birthday doll then.  Despite all of these projects, I've never actually made a birthday themed paper doll!

Download Toddler Fashion Friday - Maybelle pdf here

I've been creating patterns in Illustrator like crazy lately. (You can see an overview of one way that I make patterns here.) So for this doll, I created a balloon pattern.  I was a bit stumped about colors until I searched ColourLovers.  This palette popped up & it's amazing!!  I named her Maybelle because I wanted to incorporate the word May but not just call her May.  It seemed like a cute little name, so I went with it.

When I get a minute, I might make a boy birthday doll.  I've been loving the toddler dolls lately and that'll probably continue for a while...

Toddler Fashion Friday - Daniel

Last week was awful in New England.  It was rainy or grey for DAYS! I lost track and had a serious case of the blahs.  So I forgot to post.  And honestly, I'd rather skip a post than put one up that's less than awesome.

This week, however, is awesome.

Download Toddler Paper Doll pdf -- Daniel here

With the break in the weather this week, I was inspired to create a toddler boy with a nautical theme.  I think it's partly the guilt of not working on my nautical children paper doll set, too.  I just haven't been feeling it on that project & I'm hoping that'll turn around.

Lately, I've had lots of stuff going on.  Aside from taking care of the kids (in no particular order), I have been: attending genealogy lectures and working on my family history book, creating digital scrapbooks of my kiddos, starting my first new oil painting in 7 years, and developing a summer curriculum for my soon-to-be first grader and my 4 year old.  It's been busy and fun and I'm kinda loving it.  There are still more things I want to add to the list.  I need to do more than create paper dolls & the additional projects are helping me stay motivated.

One of the things I'm puttering with is pattern making and I just love the sailboat/anchor pattern on this set.  Because I did this in Illustrator, I had the flexibility to grab the anchor & sailboat from the nautical Santa set and repurpose them here.

Anyway, I hope you're all as excited about this new set as I am.  Let me know if you are :)

Toddler Fashion Friday - Mona

Today, we're going on an adventure! I have a membership to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and today I'm taking my nieces.  My boys LOVE the museum! Since my nieces are on school vacation this week, I thought it would be a fun thing to do with them.  So my younger son & I are going with my sister and the girls.

To celebrate their first trip to an art museum, I made this little paper doll set.

Download Toddler Fashion Friday - Mona pdf here

If you're looking to expand your mix & match options, Amy's wardrobe would work well.  Most of the colors are the same. 

Enjoy your Friday! I know we will :)

Toddler Fashion Friday - Riley

We're on vacation this week and we've been busy! Not only have the boys & I visited family but we've had time to do other fun stuff, too.  One thing we do as often as we can is visit the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.  And the boys love it!  If you're anywhere near Boston, go check it out.  We really have a blast there.

Since it's vacation, I haven't had much time to do paper doll related stuff.  This doll is a bit of a quickie.  And more plaid!

Download Toddler Fashion Friday - Riley pdf here

This set is based on Ruby. Aside from that & the fact that it's lots of plaid (again) I don't have much to say.  I like the colors, I like the plaid, but I'll see if I can change it up a bit next week! 

Toddler Fashion Friday - Cecily

Five days later, I'm still having book hangover! It's very much an adult read, but seriously, the Outlander books are a lot of fun to read.  If I owned the set, I would sit down and read them all straight through.  And get nothing else done! Thankfully, I'm waiting for book 4 from the library so I have some time for creative pursuits.

Download Toddler Fashion Friday - Cecily pdf here

Today's toddler is based on Cecilia. The plaid jacket is supposed to be a raincoat. I probably should have added a sheen or something to it.  I love that plaid so much that I can't hide it under a shiny gradient! Aside from that, there isn't a whole lot to say about this one.

I'm still slowly picking away at the beach set.  It's been a bit hectic around here lately! For those of you having spring vacation next week (like our school is), have fun!

Toddler Fashion Friday - Sofie

Today's toddler gets us back on track with revisiting previous dolls.  This set is based on Sonia, from 2013.  I'll post toddlers on Fridays until I have my preteen doll ready.  That might be a while...!

As for the Monday posts, I'm hoping to resume that on Monday.  I had to redraw one of the dolls and it's had an impact on my progress.  Frustration is just part of the creative process, right?!

Download Toddler Fashion Friday - Sofie pdf here

I don't have a lot to say about this set.  I like the colors and tried to unify the set with rounded necklines.  I need to find some more toddler fashion inspiration!

Toddler Fashion Friday - Amy

Happy April! I thought I'd start the month off with something fun.  My boys are starting to tell jokes & try to pull minor pranks.  They are super excited that today is April Fool's Day.  In honor of this, I made a clown paper doll.

Download Toddler Fashion Friday - Amy pdf here

I'm pretty ambivalent about clowns.  Some people love them. Some are terrified.  I really just don't have an opinion.  With this set, I wanted a super cute clown.  I created some patterns specifically for this and I also wanted bright, rainbow colors.  And the hair had to big and bright!  At the last minute, I also added the white face & bright cheeks. Ultimately, I think that was a good choice.

I happen to love this.  I might make a boy version of this -- my sons have taken an interest in paper dolls but they really prefer the boy ones.  I think I can manage that!

Hopefully I'll have another installment of "Making of Mondays" this week.  That series is really keeping me on task with a paper doll set that I'm not overly enthusiastic about.  I think I'll get excited about it again.... Til then, enjoy this little clown paper doll!

Toddler Fashion Friday - Ben

While I was working on Clara last week, I decided I wanted a boy version of the sports doll as well.  So this week, I have Ben.

Download Toddler Fashion Friday - Ben pdf here

Ben is virtually identical to Clara except for the shirt & dress pants.  They can play together or against each other!

The big news this week is the Santa and Mrs Claus paper doll book!

I got my proof copy this week and it's beautiful.  My photos really do not convey how awesome it came out.

There are 20 themed sets in the book -- the 15 themes from the December paper doll download and 5 exclusive sets (Scottish, German, pajamas, skiing, and a baking/workshop set).

Along with the 5 additional theme sets, there are 5 pages of coloring sheets.  The paper these are printed on would work really well with markers!

I modified the dolls so that you could easily add a stand and I included the stands.  Also, Santa and Mrs Claus need an elf helper, so I included one of those, too!

You can grab your copy here and it'll be available on Amazon soon!

Toddler Fashion Friday - Clara

Last week, I visited with my nieces during their school vacation week.  They talked about how much they both love paper dolls.  My oldest niece wants to learn how to create them herself and I'm thinking about creating a starter package for her.  Anyway, they both love sports.  They wanted their paper dolls to play sports, too.

Download Toddler Fashion Friday - Clara

Here we have Clara, a sports loving little lady! Initially, I thought about during a series of sports dolls, one for each sport.  I still might.  However, I thought have a multi-sport mix & match paper doll would be more fun.  She has a basketball uniform, a baseball uniform, a soccer uniform, and a hoodie & pant warm-up set as well as a sports patterned dress and matching sweater.

The toddler dolls are designed to be completely interchangeable, so if you want to print out a previous boy or girl toddler set, it'll work with these dolls.  I'll work on other colors and a coloring sheet for these, too.

Toddler Fashion Friday - Charity

Happy Valentine's Day!  My oldest son is having his first school Valentine's Day party and he's really excited about it.  In his computer class they made little illustrations with a message.  His said, "My mom is special to me because we play legos."  How sweet is that?!

I wasn't sure if I'd do a Valentine's paper doll.  I really had planned on making a zookeeper -- probably for next week.  I have a few projects I'm trying to wrap up and then I'll focus on the blog a little bit more. There are a couple of things I'd like to do with this once I find a little time to devote to it.....

Download Toddler Fashion Friday - Charity pdf here

Today's toddler is based on Cara. The heart pattern was one of my first forays into creating patterns.  It's taken a while to master, but creating patterns is one of my favorite parts of working in Illustrator.  Anyway, Charity and Cara can have a little mommy-daughter or big sister-little sister Valentine's Day date!

Toddler Fashion Friday - Black and White Round 4

Happy Friday!  I'll admit that I totally forgot it was Friday.  And so the holiday blur begins....

As promised, I have the final installment of the black & white toddler paper dolls.  My nieces and I colored & cut these at Thanksgiving and it was great!  And my mom made some suggestions that I need to think about.  There may be some minor modifications in the future.

I also promised a preview of the December paper doll.

Here it is! These are some of the sketches for Santa and Mrs Claus.  I have the dolls & first week or so of out fits ready to go.  That might be a new record for me!  It's coming along beautifully and I think this will be the best December doll yet.

Here are the two toddlers -- right-click to download & print.  I noticed while printing and cutting these yesterday that there are some discrepancies among these dolls that I want to fix.  It's pretty much just color differences and it's making me crazy.  I'll fix those before I share a pdf. 

Anyway, I'll start posting the December dolls on the 1st.  Mark your calendar :)

Toddler Fashion Friday - Black and White Round 3

We're at the halfway point of these black and white toddler paper dolls!  Having these prepared in advance has allowed me a little extra time to create the December paper doll series.  It's a good one and I'm really excited to share it!! It's Santa and Mrs. Claus and the sketches came out great!

For today, here are the dolls.

I'll admit, between the Santa paper doll, client work, and family stuff, I've been pretty busy.  If I haven't gotten to comments/emails, etc, I will soon.

Next week I'll have the last black & white toddlers and a preview of the Santa paper doll.  Til then, have a great week!

Toddler Fashion Friday - Black and White Round 2

This month is going by way too fast for me.  We already have our first party of the season -- it's an early Thanksgiving party with some extended family.

And so it begins....

I haven't actually started my December doll yet. I have some sketches started & should be able to get started on it next week.  I'm trying to get a jump on the holidays, but my best intentions don't always work out.  We have Thanksgiving, two birthdays, and 4 Christmas celebrations every year and ANY jump I can get on the chaos is a help!

Today's dolls are black & white toddlers.  I mentioned last week that I'll have a pdf round up after these are all posted.

I assume that people print & color these, but that may not be the case.  If you decide to color these digitally, here's what I recommend.  Set the doll on its own layer and set it to Multiply.  Color on the layer underneath.  Just about every digital art program, whether Photoshop or something else, will have this option.  I have grey shadows that blend nicely when set to multiply.

Anyway, enjoy the dolls.  There are two more sets coming up this month!

Toddler Fashion Friday - Black and White Round 1

For the month of November, I'll be posting black & white toddler paper dolls to color.  Part of this is because I know coloring dolls are popular and part of it is to buy myself some time to work on the December paper doll.  The December doll takes a lot of time & effort and I have a love/hate relationship with it! I keep coming back to it, so clearly the "love" part wins out!

Each Friday in November, I'll post a girl and boy to color.  At the end of the month, I'll have a pdf of the complete set.  You can right-click and save each image to print & color until then.

When I design paper dolls in Illustrator, I create them in full color so going back & making them black and white takes some time. I leave the grey shading and I probably shouldn't.  I just can't have plain old lines for some reason....

You can grab other black and white sets here and here!

So next week, more of the same.  Have fun coloring!

Halloween Toddler Fashion Friday - Kefira

I LOVE it when I can end a project with a bang -- and this is it!  I love this doll.  Seriously.  I try not to play favorites (like with my kiddos!!) but this is one of my all-time favorites.  I kind of want to use that cat pattern on everything. (Shameless self-promotion: sometimes I do take the patterns I make for my paper dolls and release them as fabric on Spoonflower.com)

Download Halloween Toddler Fashion Friday - Kefira pdf here

I asked for suggestions last week, and one reader suggested animal costumes.  I love that idea and I think it would make a nice little mini series.  Today, I settled on a cat costume.  The only way I could really get the mask to work was to make it specific to this doll.  As much as I like flexibility, sometimes I just need to use the simplest solution to a problem.

Do you like her purple hair?  It was a last-minute decision.  I wanted it to look like purple spray on hair color.  I kinda like it! And her name -- Kefira -- is apparently Hebrew for lion cub.  It was an unusual name that seemed appropriate!

That's the end of the toddler costumes.  I'm going to have some simpler dolls for November so that I can focus on my annual December paper doll.  I have a rough idea I'm toying with, but suggestions are always welcome (and encouraged!)

Have a nice Halloween.  I might even have a treat up that day... ;)

Halloween Toddler Fashion Friday - Lucas

First, old business:  If you're interested in participating in the Halloween round-robin, the deadline is fast approaching! Grab the paper doll and see the details here. Submissions are due Saturday, October 24th by midnight Eastern Standard Time.  We've had some great submissions so far -- make sure you send us yours!!

Now, this week's toddler paper doll, Lucas.

Download Halloween Toddler Fashion Friday - Lucas pdf here

Lucas is a ghost for Halloween! This ghost costume should fit any of the boy toddlers and might fit most of the girl ones, too.  I'm really happy with this one!  My boys love hoodies right now, so I included one of those.  And I really like the colors.  Halloween doesn't have to be just blacks & greys!

Next week is the last Halloween toddler.  I'm not sure what I'll make yet, so if you want to share an idea, go for it!  I do know it'll be a girl, but that's it.  Til then, sharpen your pencils (or Photoshop, Illustrator, etc...) and send in your masquerade paper doll outfits!