December Paper Doll - Outfit 15 in Red

I hope your 2014 has been a fun one.  This project has been such a nice way to end my year.  I feel like I learned a little bit more about Photoshop and learning is always the goal!
 

My life is so much more than paper dolls and this has been a really good year. I've been lucky enough to see my kids continue to grow, change, and thrive.  They amaze me every day.  I've also had a great year creatively.  I've had more people visit my little paper doll blog than ever before.  I've also sold more paper dolls than any other year (thanks to everyone for that!!) and, more importantly, I've produced more than ever before.

It'll be a tough year to top.  But I'll try!

And, as promised, here's the pdf.  It's 16 full-color pages.  Enjoy! 

December Paper Doll - Outfit 15 in Green

It's the last day of the year.  Time to party, time to reflect, and time to plan for the next year.  I'm not sure what's next for this blog.  I have some ideas for things I'd like to work on, of course.  How much will get accomplished.... I dunno.

This dress seemed like a nice way to end the series.  It's vaguely Victorian inspired.  I think "Victorian" is often associated with Christmas. That nostalgic, warm & fuzzy kind of feeling.  It's sort of wholesome and beautiful and popular.

The outlines for this outfit, like so many in this set, felt really uninspired.  What really makes this set great, in my opinion, are the textures and colors.  The skirt was a public domain image from Wikimedia Commons and it was just about exactly what I envisioned.

The last outfit in the series posts tomorrow!

December Paper Doll - Outfit 14 in Red

Here's the red version of the super sparkly dress. Well, sort of red.  I mean really, what's the difference between "light red" and "pink"? Pretty much nothing.

Still, pink is sort of red and I'm ok with that.

Part of the reason why I wanted to have colored dolls this December instead of black & white is because I need to brush up on Photoshop.  I have this fancy new computer designed for digital drawing and painting.  What better way to learn than to practice?  This has been such a fun way to learn!

One more set of outfits and the pdf.  Looks like the last outfit and pdf will be my first posts of the new year!

December Paper Doll - Outfit 14 in Green

The end of the year is party season, right? So why not a bright, fun party dress!

When I drew this outfit, I had no idea where to go with it.  While searching for a different texture, I came across the sparkly texture I used for the body of the skirt.  I honestly just wanted an excuse to use it!  And the other sparkly bits are from a texture I created in ArtRage.  Seriously, get that program.  It's really inexpensive and really amazing!

One more outfit set! These December projects always end up way bigger than I anticipate! Totally worth it.

December Paper Doll - Outfit 13 in Red

It's the last Saturday of the year! If your family is anything like our family, the holidays are still in full swing. My husband and I have family in different parts of the Northeast and there's generally a lot of traveling involved. His family is primarily on Long Island.  Most of my family is concentrated within an hour's drive of here, so we see quite a bit of them.  My more extended family (grandparents & cousins) are still in our ancestral home of Caledonia County, Vermont.

"Ancestral" seems like such a pretentious term, but it's the accurate one.  I'm an avid amateur genealogist and I've traced my family roots back quite a bit.  I even had the DNA testing done.  Very interesting stuff.  And not at all related to paper dolls!

Anyway, here's the latest outfit in red.  I like the red & white combination here. Often, I overlook shoes.  I don't think much about shoes outside of their practical applications.  I've never really been a shoe enthusiast, but I thought this dress needed something a bit more interesting than plain shoes.  So both the green & red version got brightly colored leather shoes!

We're in the home stretch now.  I haven't had a chance to cut these out myself, but I hope some of you have! Green outfit tomorrow!

December Paper Doll - Outfit 13 in Green

So many of these paper doll outfits have been Nordic inspired.  I'm not sure if that's due to the popularity of Frozen or the prevalence of Nordic patterns in winter clothing.  Probably, it's both.

This dress is a simple design and I wanted a bold pattern to contrast with that.  I also find that working with a limited palette (in this case, mainly red and green) presents interesting challenges.  I like the dark tones with the bright green and it's a combination that's popped up several times over the course of this project.

Tomorrow is the red version of this.  Two more outfit sets to go!

December Paper Doll - Outfit 12 in Red

Merry Christmas! I know not all of my readers out there celebrate Christmas, and that's just fine. I haven't had any sort of religious affiliation in years, honestly, but this time of year has always been important to me.  I believe in giving, sharing, and being kind to one another.  And really, ideas like that shouldn't need a specific religious backing to resonate. Not should they need a "season".  But if there is a season for it, this one is just fine.  The darkness and the cold can be a bit much in my part of the world at this time of year, and I'll take any cheerfulness I can get!

And this outfit is all about cheery brightness! I've really had a "thing" for patterned tights & leggings in this paper doll set.  Today is yet another one!  Apparently these are quite trendy at the moment.  So yay for being trendy!

Have a happy, safe, fun holiday.  I have to say, my sons have made this day a blast!!

A green outfit tomorrow and we're winding down on the series, so the pdf is coming really soon...