Remember the good old days when you could pickup a paper dolls book on the magazine stand in your grocery or drug store? I was always SO excited to get to punch them all out and try on the different outfits. I had a few Barbies but the outfits were very expensive back then so I only had a few fashion options for them to wear but paper dolls had dozens and dozens with hats and purses. There are a few of the punch out type of dolls sold but most of them sold today are a ton of fussy cutting and if you don’t like that, it takes too long to get to the fun part. And then I discovered a new grown up option that I could make myself.
A few years ago, I dove hard into mixed media art. The best supportive artist community I’ve found is on Instagram and one of the first people I started following was @WillaWanders aka Wendy Solganik. She had an art Podcast called Show up or Shut Up. A couple of the first interviews were with Megan Quinlan and Leaca Young.
Make Your Own DIY Paper Dolls Using Stencils
Leuca Young Paper Doll Stencils
Leuca (pronounced like Lisa) has some incredibly beautiful stencils in her art store.
Leuca’s lesson for Fodder School this year using these mini paper doll stencils and I just can’t wait!
You can take the figures, faces and clothes and paint or collage or use your 1000 pieces of scrapbook papers to cut out your outfits for you cute diy paper dolls. You can then use them as they are, glue to a piece of layered cardstock for a bookmark or an ATC or a kindness card. The options are unlimited
There’s also this adorable expansion pack for her paper dolls here.
Megan Quinlan’s Etsy Store
These stencils from one of my favorite mixed-media artists Megan Quinlan allow you to create your own paper dolls using all those fun papers you probably still have in your art stash. She’s got several different sets to use for art journaling, fussy cutting for cards or ATCs, or just for fun. I like the Moonlight Serenade where I can create my own body and outfits and just use the heads plus that crow and moon are super cool too.
Megan always has a YouTube video showing how to use her new stencil sets. Using them in your art journal with your favorite quote is fun too.
Dina Wakley has dozens of faces and figures both masks and stencils that you can get super creative with.
This lesson with doll dresses by Roxanne Padgett in Fodder School one was one of my very favorite lessons of all time. I made dozens of my own stencils, both dresses, overalls, fish, flowers, I couldn’t stop making papers and these cards. Roxanne is extremely generous on her Instagram account so check her out for inspiration.
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