A Tale of Two Cities

 

Paperdolls from Booklet, Background by Diana Vining, 

and paper doll scene construction by Melissa Turner

Do you like Paper Dolls? 

I do!  My father was a career Airman. Whenever we moved there was a lot of cleaning out and leaving behind, either donated or trashed of our toys especially.  I had been allotted a 3 cubic foot box to have as a toy box and if it fits, it shipped.  (Thank you post office advertising.) Military members have weight allowances and a lot doesn’t make it onto the truck.  My little twin bed, and my narrow 4 or 5 drawer chest, a box of clothes, a suitcase, and my “toy box” were all I had.  I might have had to divest of dolls and things, but with a nice shoebox, some paper separators, my paper dolls were good to go. 

Sadly, I do not have a single box of paper dolls now.  How is that possible?  Married a Marine.  More weight limits and well, toys didn’t make the cut.  Had my mother stayed in one house perhaps I would have had my things stored, but eventually, she moved as well, and so did dad, and anything left was gone.  It’s a life. 

Never-the-less; I love paper dolls and find that any I have collected now over the years are in small books that are stored and not cut out.  But oh, how I love a pair of scissors!  Snip, snip, cut, cut, turn, a knife to get just there, PERFECT! 

And that sound.  You know the one I mean; it is as wonderful as the sound of scissors sliding across the table to cut fabric.  Crunch. 

But I digress. 

I remember reading Rachel Hoffman, most recently of Virtual Doll Conventions and boy do we love them, writing in her blog that “we are enough!”  Who hasn’t felt marginalized at some point?  I have never been a great participator.  I don’t like belonging to clubs as I prefer to do my own thing.  Introverted, but not shy. I will speak up and I have done a couple club presentations.  I wanted to do something to participate from afar for the Winter Virtual Doll Convention.  Silly me, I asked, “What can I do to help?”

 She was so sweet, and not knowing what I do or when I do it, she said, “Make some paper dolls.”  Oh, for goodness sake!  Really?  I have never painted a paper doll in my life.  My mind was going this way and that.  How was I to tell her no?  So, I just warned her I would give it a try.  I asked her what she would like, and she said, “Queen Victoria!”  Yikes.    I emphasize I have never done this before.  I did not want to let her down.  I asked her to give me a call.  We talked on the phone and I know she was worried that I would renege on my offer, and I said, I wouldn’t, but really did not want to over-promise anything.  My deadline was December 1.  It took me months to do, months.  I drew and painted every day.  I used, and still do, a couple of friends, to critique my work.  They helped me a lot.  Thank you, Debbie and Gillian. They have different gifts and I felt many things were covered in their criticisms.  They helped me to provide a nice product in the end. 

So, the day came for the paper dolls to be introduced to everyone as a souvenir and there were technical issues.  The next day was Saturday, and Rachel was so kind in her explanations about the dolls.  I can now provide them to you all as well.  I am hoping you who like paper dolls will be able to download the PDF.  And I hope you enjoy having them as much as I worried about making them. 

Have Fun!

Kathi

If clicking the picture above does not take you to the link to download try this link:

https://www.minidolls.com/images/Eugenie%20and%20Victoria%20by%20Kathi%20Mendenhall.pdf