Julie Nutting Paper Doll Babies

Hello friends
I've been taken with Julie Nutting's paper doll stamps since they first appeared in the marketplace.  I've written about the dolls I've made a few times here . . .

Baby dolls arrived on the scene within the last year and since many of my friends are becoming grandparents (not me), I decided they would be a good thing to have. They arrived in the brown truck and I fiddled with them a bit, and that was it.

When the shower for the expectant Mrs. L was announced, I started making these little ones and as the time approached, decided to fashion them into a banner. I made one long banner, stringing it so it could be divided if necessary. And divided it was . . . one section was draped on the mantel . . .

And the remaining length was hung over the mirror in the foyer . . .

So, how did I do it? The dolls were stamped on white paper and cut into an oval shape.  Clothing was stamped onto patterned paper, cut out with fine point scissors and glued to the dolls. The shoes, hats, and accessories were added and the ovals were adhered to black "chalkboard" pennant shapes. Pale green seam binding was used to string the triangles together and a little "It's a girl" charm was knotted in between. The garland added a whimsical touch to the traditional decor of the party venue.

So I could remember how I dressed these babies, I took pictures of each of them before they traveled off to Virginia.

Here are the babies all dressed up . . . they all have hats because those bald heads didn't do it for me.  I played around with the hats, tilting them one way or another so they wouldn't all be identical.  Shoes and socks were all cut separately while sitting at the mezzanine watching/listening to my favorite TV programs.

And the babies ready to play . . .  I chose the areas of the patterned paper to stamp the clothes on so they would coordinate yet be different.

I think they are pretty cute . . . But wait . . . there were 19 of these little gals . . . so I apparently forgot someone! Good thing I'm done parenting!

Cheers til next time!

S.

Paper Doll of the Day: Aidan, one of the boys

Following the release of the many gal stamps designed by Julie Nutting for Prima Marketing,  a boy stamp finally appeared in Release 5 of the product line in 2014.  Aidan is dressed in a casual tee shirt and cargo pants outfit.  I didn't adopt him right away, thinking there would be more boys to follow. Four more fellows appeared in Release 7, but I went with Aidan. He has the least weird hair of them all (seriously, take a look) . . . and I like his clothing. Having grown up surrounded by boys and living as a parent with only sons, I am somewhat particular about boy hair and clothing.  In any event, here is Aidan.

Aidan is stamped on some script paper in Julie Nutting style.  I looked through my scrapbooking paper stash for male appropriate patterns and Aidan acquired several personas.  

Creating Mr. Aidan was the same process used with the gals - stamp the figure on sturdy paper, color hair, skin and whatever else needs coloring, stamp the clothes on selected papers, cut out everything, ink the edges, and piece it all together. Voila.

The fashionably trendy guy

The boy next door

The scholar - Sheldon Cooper style

The athlete with cropped hair and baseball shirt

The gang of guys

I am wanting more Prima fellows to join Aidan for a bit of diversity, but none of the other guys is calling to me just yet.  Give it time. :-)

A friend has asked what I'm going to do with these guys and gals I've created . . . they will grace some tags . . . inspiration will strike!

Stay tuned.  Cheers!

Paper Doll of the Day: Riley, Part 3

Ready for the Easter parade are the Riley gals from the last post . . . take a look . . .

The hat is one of four choices in a Prima Julie Nutting stamp set. The green hat on gal #3 is the stamp as it comes, while the white hat on gal #1 was stamped on the reverse of the paper so the scarf would look more realistic. The headband came from another doll stamp and sports a punched flower.

The "Bolero Doll" is counting on having a fabulous Easter - she was stamped on a page from a vintage mathematics book.  :-) Her hat was traced from one found online (sorry I don't have the page information) and embellished with a punched flower . . . it is large enough to be appropriate for the Kentucky Derby!

The twins stamped with the Ruffle Doll stamp are all dolled up and ready for Easter festivities.  Here's a sneak peek . . . they were the first gals I made after discovering the Julie Nutting stamps last spring . . . more about them next time.

Cheers!

Paper Doll of the Day - Riley (Part 2)

We have returned from our Florida vacation . . . it was wonderful to bask in the sunshine, spend time with the golfer son and his gal, visit with friends and play some golf.  Walking on green grass rather than white (or brown) snow was a remembered experience.

Sign on the deck at our hotel . . . Okaaay

In a previous post I showed a Riley paper doll makeover - using the jacket from the Prima "Business Casual" stamp set and modifying it a bit to replace a not-so-favorite dress I had colored with Ranger Distress Markers. But . . . . I didn't include a picture of Riley dressed in a "happy" dress.  So here she is  . . . in three versions of her dress.

This first version of Riley is stamped on a darker script paper in black ink.  The skin tone was softened with a peach Prismacolor pencil and pink cheeks were added. Then just the dress was inked and stamped on green patterned paper, cut out and glued to her body. Black shoes were edged in black ink to cover the white core of the paper.

The second version of  the Miss Riley doll is stamped on a lighter script paper. Her skin color is warmed with peach coloring and blushing cheeks are added.  Her dress was stamped in black on a lively floral paper. I trimmed off the black cross-hatch ruffle at the hemline and replaced it with an identical ruffle but stamped in red ink on red swirl paper. The belt and shoes were stamped on the same swirl paper, cut out and glued in the appropriate places. I love the red shoes, although tiny to cut out, they are just the right accessory for the dress.

For third look, Riley's dress combines a green dotted print with the lively floral. The top from a floral dress was pieced to the skirt of a green dress, minus the cross-hatched hemline ruffle. (Can you tell it's not a favorite of mine?) The ruffle from one of the other Julie Nutting dolls was added to the hemline for a different look. The belt was stamped on pink paper, cut and glued to the pieced dress. The original black stamped shoes complete the outfit - for now.  This one is a work in progress.

I probably should add a bow or flower to her hair . . . hmmmm . . . tomorrow.

Cheers!

Paper Dolls of the Day - Lorrena & Adam & Julie Nutting at CHA

Introducing Lorrena, the first gal with a floor-length dress who appeared in the second group of Prima's Julie Nutting doll stamps. She is quite a fancy gal and could be dressed as a prom queen, a princess or a bride. If you browse Pinterest, you will find she has many lives. (FYI, the first six dolls did not have names . . . all dolls since do have names.  I believe Lorrena is named for Julie's daughter.)

Lorrena's prom-style dress was stamped upside down on patterned paper so the flowers would cascade down from the waist. The bottom ruffle was stamped on the edge of a coordinating paper for a watercolor-ish effect, cut out and placed over the original hemline.  Her script paper skin and dark hair were colored with Prismacolor pencils. I gave her dark hair for dramatic contrast. As a finishing touch, a headband was stamped (inking only the head of the doll stamp), cut out and added to Lorrena's up-do.

All dressed up . . . so where does Lorrena go? To the prom, of course. Meet Adam, Lorrena's date for this special occasion.  Notice she has put on some jewels - earrings and a long glitzy necklace - recently released self-stick bling accents from Prima.

The first adult-looking male doll, Adam is part of the most recent Prima doll stamp group that was unveiled at the Craft & Hobby Association merchandise show in January.  He arrives in his underwear - his jacket and trousers are a set and a separate purchase. However, the "business casual" suit is his only wardrobe choice - guess he's a suit kind of guy.   :-)  FYI Adam has a coordinating gal, Marisol, who arrives in a slip - her wardrobe stamps are also a separate purchase. Marisol has not moved into my house as yet . . . but give her time . . .

Back to Adam  . . . he was stamped on ledger paper - his skin and hair were colored with Prismacolor pencils.  His jacket and pants were stamped on smooth 65# black cardstock using VersaMagic Cloud White chalk ink. The black stamped shirt and tie were snipped away from the jacket and replaced with the same neckline stamped on white cardstock with black ink.  Prismacolor crimson red was used to color his tie. Nice looking pair, n'est-ce pas?

Speaking of the CHA show  . . . I would love to go there someday . . . but unfortunately I am not a "brand" and I don't own a craft store . . . I grabbed a few pictures from the many that were posted online  . . .

Here is Julie Nutting relaxing in the Prima Marketing booth at CHA

Fabulous wedding party display showcasing Julie Nutting doll stamps

Bride and Groom - Marisol and Adam

Imagine being paid to create these samples? It would be a dream job! (I'm sure there is a downside - there always is . . .)

Next time you'll meet Miss Riley  . . . and she'll be wearing an interesting outfit . . . 

Cheers!

Chiara: Paper Doll of the Day

There have been eight groups of Julie Nutting Mixed Media doll stamps released  . . . I haven't bought many since release two . . . but in a visit to Papercraft Clubhouse in Westbrook last weekend, this gal was calling to me.  I tried to ignore her but was pulled back to that endcap. Sigh, must be fate. Her name is Chiara and I love her hair, stylish waist wrap and flippy skirt.

She had been stamped and dressed (twice!) before I went to bed that night. 

Chiara in the stripe dress is the original stamp image - I had this paper with a chevron design so took advantage of it. Chiara with the plaid leggings (love them) has trimmed hair and wears a slimmer skirt (snipped off the flip) which is more in keeping with a legging look.  The waist wrap is great . . . I made one to add as a neckline accent on one of the jointed gals . . . dresses up the pink tunic, I think.

I plan to draw up some trousers and bermuda shorts for Chiara - I think she would make a great golfer. :-) Most of the Julie Nutting doll stamps are in dresses or skirts and are "striking a pose" in the fashion sense. Their legs aren't trouser ready, so to speak, but Chiara is one who is.  

I'm beyond excited to be going to an all day "Painted Paper Collage" workshop on Sunday at Papercraft Clubhouse  with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer (whose blog I've been following forever). INFO  I have done very little with paints so this will be a true learning experience for me. 

 An art journaling workshop is Julie's Saturday offering but that didn't call to me.  Journaling daily is way too much pressure in my life. Do a set task every day?  I'm not even good at taking vitamins!  The man of the house says I never do anything the same way twice. Lol. And I forgot to put my FitBit on today after my shower. Sigh.

Still to come - making a jointed paper doll (as soon as I take the right photos).

Cheers!