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Audrey, my fourth doll!

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A pale-skinned adult woman doll. She has wavy red hair that falls partially over one eye, curved eyebrows, grey-green eyes and smokey eyeshadow. She has thin coral lips and small pearl earrings. She's wearing a sleeveless white top with a high scoop neck, patterned with swirls and flowers, and a long skirt that goes from light green to dark bluish-green and sparkles all over. It's gathered in front and fans out around the ankles, giving it a mermaid silhouette. There's a golden belt around the hips, accented with a orange gem ringed with pearls, and she wears a golden circlet decorated with golden beads, pearls and a small orange gem.Please welcome the long-awaited Audrey! I asked my mailing list and social media followers to vote in a poll to decide on her name, but both times there were problems with the poll. However, both times Audrey was way ahead, so I’ll be continuing the pattern of two-syllable names stressed on the first syllable. I’ve also done some work to streamline the doll-making process, as before this I was working from files that were confusing, saved in several different locations and so large they slowed my computer down considerably. So my hope is that the next doll won’t take so long to make!

As always, if you’re printing her out a lot of the outfits will need you to cut between her hair and her shoulders, so that the tabs can slip between them. She also has a version with underwear and a version with a pink dress; so far, the only outfit that doesn’t work with the pink dress is the mermaid tail.

Next week will be a princess dress like you’ve never seen before! In the meantime, you can download combined color and black and white PDFs of all of my dolls and outfits for free! (Even the 2015 ones – I’ve finally added them.) Also follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest for sneak previews, grousing about polls and gorgeous dresses. If you enjoy my work, I'd also appreciate your support through Patreon.

Green Princess Gown

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A gown with a sleeveless, boat-necked bodice and a very full, gathered skirt twirling out to the sides. The dress is green, darker at the top and turning lighter green towards the hem, and is covered with a dense scroll pattern in darker green. On the bodice is a golden scroll pattern from the neck to the waist.Princess dresses won the day on my poll — perhaps because the last one was so great? I’m not as fond of this one (as I meant to get ahead, and then got frustrated by the skirt and I’m not all that much far ahead now anyways) but it is green, and I do like green.

Next week, another princess gown! Don’t forget that you can now download combined color and black and white PDFs of all of my 2014 dolls and outfits for free! Also follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest for sneak previews, paperdoll thoughts and lovely jewelry. If you enjoy my work, I’d also appreciate your support through Patreon.

Ballgown with Tulle Skirt (A Not-Really-A-Tutorial Tutorial)

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A ballgown with a halter-style black bodice and a floor-length, bell shaped skirt. The bodice is patterned with a metallic gold brocade. The gown is divided into three layers. The first one is shades of layered orange, yellow and red tulle under a light layer of black tulle, which the warm colors show through. The second layer is light green, dark green and light blue under a layer of black tulle. The third layer is dark blue, purple and magenta under a layer of black tulle. One of my Pinterest boards is titled “Paperdoll Reference.” It may as well be titled my “Why Can’t I Draw Like That?” board. I’ll pin dresses with interesting coloring, particularly shiny dresses or dresses with great draping, with the intention of using them to study from. Not being the most diligent artist in the world, I’ve been piling up interesting examples and not doing all that much with them. Then the thought came to me, why not make the learning process into a paper doll outfit? (Everything’s better with paperdolls.) Sort of like a tutorial, except I, too, start out with no clue what I’m doing. Let’s learn together!

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Red and Green Medieval Gown with Oak, Rose and Violet Embroidery and Fur Trim

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A gown with a red overdress and green underskirts. The overdress has a scoop neck trimmed with brown fur, and it has sleeves that are fitted to the elbow, trimmed at the elbow with brown fur, then fan out in a wide bell shape, with the edge of the sleeve very long at the wrist. At the edge of the sleeve is a stripe of golden ribbon patterned with scrolls. The red fabric is a shiny brocade with a pattern of oak leaves, scrolls and roses. Down the front of the dress is a stripe of embroidery over an ivory base. The embroidery shows red roses, purple violets, green oak leaves and scrolls, and the flowers are trimmed with small pearls. The embroidery is bordered with stripes of golden ribbon patterned with scrolls. The front of the overdress is split and open at the waist, curving down and ending at the knees with the front of the underskirts entirely visible. The hem of the overdress is trimmed with brown fur. There is a wide golden belt in a pattern of large, overlapping loops that falls at the hips. Set in the front of the belt is a large, smooth purple gemstone. The underskirts, which fall to the floor, are in two layers. One layer is a bright grass green in a shiny brocade patterned with oak leaves, scrolls and roses. It is open at the front and split, showing the second underskirt underneath. It is bordered with stripes of gold ribbon patterned with scrolls. The underskirt is sea green and patterned with golden curling vines.One quick thing before I get into talking about the new dress: I’ve signed up with Patreon, a service that helps people become patrons of the art and media they like. If you would like to support me and my work, please take a look at it!

This gown is the result of my most recent contest, which consisted of two parts. I held it on Facebook, and in part 1, I asked my followers to choose between three categories: evening gowns, medieval dresses and mermaid tails. Medieval dresses won, so I spent some time collecting images of medieval dresses I liked on Pinterest and making some sketches, leading to this black and white sketch and contest part #2. (You’ll note there’s no necklace on the finished dress — I made one, then decided it was just gilding the lily.) In this stage of the contest, people just had to like the post to enter. Eleven people did, and the first winner, chosen by a random number generator, was Nikki Paulsen, but she never got back to me by the following Sunday, and so unfortunately I needed to pick someone else, too. (Nikki, if you read this, I’ll still recolor it for you any time! Just e-mail me or leave a comment here or on Facebook.) The second winner was Hannah Bristol, and here was her request:

The style of the dress makes it seem like a very foresty, homey type of gown. I think I’d like to see the overcoat in earthy tones of red with gold accents, maybe with a brownish-gray fur trim, and the underskirts in shades of green.

I’m not sure if I exactly hit “homey” and “foresty” notes with all of the embroidery, satin and gold trim, but the results are lovely, so maybe it’s something Maid Marian could wear when she needs to get dressed up. Hannah, I hope you like how it turned out! I really enjoy trying to fulfill someone else’s color scheme, because I feel like I always learn something I wouldn’t have when I color it by myself. I posted a series of pictures showing the steps in making this dress on my Tumblr, if anyone is interested in that.

My intention is to hold these contests once a month and spread them among my various social media venues, the blog and the mailing list. I haven’t decided where the next one will show up, but it will start on the 13th.

Next time there will be a special Valentine’s Day present for all of my beloved readers, so come back next Friday! Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook for updates and fun things, Twitter for my thoughts and sneak previews, or Pinterest for lovely dresses and jewelry. You can also sign up for my mailing list at the top of this page!