Playing With Paper Dolls

Happy Friday!

I thought I would ramble about paper dolls today.

I wasn't very fond of dolls growing up. I was the child who was convinced that each of my stuffed animals and dolls knew when they had been slighted, when they had been left alone, and generally thought they were real in a not-real way.

Plus, doll eyes and faces really, really creeped me out.

Barbies, no. Dolls, yes.

Yes, I know. It's great fodder for a therapist.

Paper dolls, however, did not have this hold on me.

I loved the smell of the paper and how uniform everything was. 

I loved the little perforated lines from the punch-out kind, I loved being able to cut out clothes and change up whatever they wore.

The hair, the hats. Oh, man. It was good.

Those little foldy-tabs that held everything to the doll weren't so hot. You had to hold the doll just right and not move it to keep everything on it. 

But it was worth it to be able to cut everything out.

The other day I was playing around in my journal and doing some lettering. I decided to look through some of my vintage children's primers to see what I could pair with the quotes.

I found this little cutie, but her legs weren't drawn out in the book.

What would happen if I kept looking and found another character in the book with legs? 

And a cute polka dot dress?

A few cuts later, I found out!

The perfect Mary Janes and blue socks and the little pinafore as an added bonus.

I scanned and printed out a little bird to add to the fun and then I started thinking about Colorforms.

Remember those????

The rubbery-plastic cut out shapes that you could lay on a background and they would stick? And you could layer and layer and it would all stick? 

I loved those. Taking them out of a brand new box, the smell, oh man. 

I looked them up and they are 60 years old, and still going strong.

Guess who might get some for her birthday this year????

O.K., what was I rambling about? 

I think the Colorforms came up when I glued together the little girl from the primer.

This time the sticky part came in the form of Mod Podge, and then Gel Medium.

 Then I started coloring the outfits.

Am I surprised?

Nope.

It just keeps getting better-I'm finding so many sweet children to put with these quotes.

I've added a water color wash, a kite, drew in the string.

The possibilities are endless!

I found a Dick and Jane book and cut out Sally. Don't you love this face?

I think in this page she was trying to see if she was as tall as Dick.

I put her in my art journal along with Mr. Crazy Bird and gave her some wings.

I'm looking into how I can make prints for all of these, so stay tuned!

Don't forget-

All Brenna-inspired Valentine love is available on my Etsy

Linking to Paint Party Friday