Sparkly, Twirly Rainbow Dress

A silvery white spaghetti strap top with sequins all over it over a ankle-length full skirt. The skirt is swirling around, making the hem rise several inches above the ground. The skirt is done in bright rainbow colors and has a swirl and leaf pattern as well as a slight sparkle. This dress just makes me smile, and I hope it does the same for you! I wanted to experiment with the way of doing sparkles that I came up with for last week’s dress. My intention was to put the sparkles on the skirt, but then I came up with the idea of making that part rainbow and doing a lot of sparkles on top of that seemed a bit much. So I only put a few sparkles on top of it, because when it comes to paperdolls that’s my idea of moderation.

Next week… well, I don’t know! I’ve promised doll #4 three weeks in a row now, I may as well make it a fourth. For now, you can 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, funny Photoshop error screenshots and fashion plates. If you enjoy my work, I'd also appreciate your support through Patreon.


Shimmery Blue Princess Gown

An off-the shoulder gown with a tight bodice and a trumpet-shaped skirt. There are pearly white ruffles over the shoulders, while the bodice is light blue with a small swirl pattern and a silver pattern at the neckline. The ruffled overskirt is in three layers, which start near the hip and get increasingly longer until they touch the ground on the other side of the dress. The top one is light blue, the middle one is a deeper blue and the bottom one is a darker purple-blue. They all have a silver swirl pattern on the edges. They're over a pearly white full skirt with a subtle swirl pattern in white on it.Happy 2015! Coming a little late to the party, am I? Well, I’ve still got a large portion of the year to make up for it. And I think this is going to be a good year for paperdolls and, hopefully, for some stories to go with them.

This dress is a princess gown I designed when I was doing my other princess gown series, but just never got around to it. I wanted to give it the time it deserved, and I think it turned out pretty well!

Next week, I hope to have a new paperdoll, but they always take a little longer than I expect, so it may just be a dress. Until then, you can 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 gorgeous African print skirts, grousing about working in 200 DPI and sneak previews. If you enjoy my work, I'd also appreciate your support through Patreon.


Silver Princess Gown with Blue and Rhinestone Underskirt

A silvery white gown with a delicate, small scroll pattern all over. The dress is off the shoulder and has large puffed sleeves over the upper arms. The bodice is tight and the skirt is bell-shaped. It's open in the front to show a dark blue underskirt covered with a pattern of rhinestones.Another princess dress! I’m still not ahead, but it’s not really a surprise. I haven’t had a lot of spare time this week and I’m just happy I finished this one! The design on the blue part is inspired by dresses I’ve seen on Pinterest like this blue gown. It’s the first time I tried this particular technique, I will probably use it often but refine it. I’m already wanting to change it on this dress, but… it’s time to post!

Next week, another princess gown! (But I will have something fun lined up for October, as Halloween is traditionally the most important paper doll holiday in my little world…) 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.


Aqua and Peach Elf Gown with Silver Beading

An aqua-colored gown with three-quarter sleeves and a low boat neckline. It has princess seams and is covered all over with a delicate scroll pattern. At the base of the skirt, the color changes to light peach, and there's a silver beaded vine pattern along the hem. There's an peach underdress that shows at the neckline, extending a few inches above the top of the gown. The light peach scroll pattern on it shimmers subtly, and there's a row of beading along the neckline. There's silver lacing along the collar of the aqua gown, and the dress is open over the bust, showing the underdress. The lacing crosses three times over the opening and is fastened under the bust with a brooch of silver and a coral-colored gem, then the laces hang down nearly to the bottom of the gown. The sleeves have long, delicate lengths of semi-transparent scroll-patterned peach fabric that hang down nearly to the base of the dress at each cuff.This gown is the product of my last contest, in which my readers first chose for me to draw an elf dress, then the contest winner Lorie Harding wrote:

Here is how I would like the dress colored. I picture the sleeves sheer and the dress done in soft pastel colors. My favorites would be peach and aqua. A delicate pattern of your choice would run through the dress. Thanks!

I like doing these contests just for their own sake, but also because I think that it’s easy for me to stick to what I’m good at, and other people’s suggestions help me improve. For example, I don’t think I really do a lot of dresses with this kind of light coloring, and I struggled to get the shading looking right. I still think I could have done better, but Friday is already upon me, and anyways I am pretty happy with this one overall!

Let’s get started with the next reader’s choice contest…

Next week will be a princess gown and some thoughts on princess culture. 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 pretty illustrations. If you enjoy my work, I’d also appreciate your support through Patreon.