Pulp Fashion

When I was a kid, there was nothing more thrilling than when my mom would let me pick out a new book of paper dolls at the local Woolworth. Oh! the hours I would spend with my tongue firmly planted on my upper lip as I painstakingly cut out the outfits-- being ever-so-careful not to cut off those crucial tabs which held the cashmere sweater & pencil skirt set (complete with jewelry and accessories) on Peggy Lennon or the psychedelic floral mini-dress & white Go-Go boots on Twiggy.

Even though I’m a grown up now (some might even say “mature”----ugh…makes me sound like a wheel of cheese) I still like to get out my scissors and snip away. Gone are the books though (even if you could find them anymore---heck, you can’t even find a Woolworth anymore!). Now I just gather up some heavy watercolor paper, inks, markers, rubber stamps & a few brads and see what my imagination can cook up. I’ve even started to carve my own rubber stamps to create my own paper doll “components”.

For the past year, I’ve been doing private “paper doll” trades with my online friend, “Peggy”. She is very creative and I love getting mail with her surprises inside. We came up with some monthly “themes” and created a paper doll with that in mind. The paper doll up in the far right side of my header (see left) was one I created for September’s “Indian Summer” theme. I don't remember what the theme was, but "Pippi" (right) was another whimsical one I made for Peggy.

Now, we’re beginning to move on to other themes and challenges like altered Formica tiles, altered dominos, using Shrink Plastic, etc. I've never tried any of that so I'm really looking forward to "playing". Peggy is so generous, she even sent me a package that contained tiles, dominos, shrink plastic & other stuff for me to try---it was like Christmas! She's such a gem. It’s so much fun to challenge ourselves and try new techniques and, best of all, trade our creations. And getting fun stuff in the mail is pretty neat too!