Paper Doll Mixed Media Year Book – March Page

The March page of my mixed media book is a little late.. but here it is.

I am trying to use a different paper doll each month, so for this month I chose to use one of the primitive paper dolls from the “Dressing Up Dolly Divas Volume 4” CD by My Craft Studio.

First I covered the 2-page spread with some pretty purple paper from my stash. I added a little Picked Raspberry Distress Ink around the edge.

I used a stencil of an old postcard and a Distress Marker, again in Picked Raspberry, to add a bit of interest to the background. It looks a little bright here, but in real life it is more subtle.

Next I cut out the pieces of March ephemera from the Graphics 45 pad and laid them on the page to try some layout ideas. I printed out the Serif doll, it is one of the “ready to use” ones on the disk. She looks a bit flat compared to the vintage style of the rest of the page, so….

I stamped some small feathers on to her dress using the Picked Raspberry distress ink again. Then I used more Distress Markers to colour over the doll and add some basic details. I kept it very simple as I quite liked her primitive look.I found some pretty purple woven “stuff” in my stash and glued a little scrap to each corner of the layout with matte medium gel. It stuck fine, I used an acrylic stamping block to hold it flat whilst it dried, which only took a couple of minutes.

I laid the doll in place and drew a very light pencil line around her. Then I added a very light wash of gesso around this area to help her stand out from the background a little more. Then I glued her and the other ephemera in place with the matte medium, including the green, square buttons which I spotted in my button jar. As they are also a bright green they helped make her bright dress look more like it belongs on the layout.

The little piece of ivy dangling from the March title was cut with a Tattered Lace die. I had cut this ages ago, from bright green paper, so I daubed it all over with Peeled Paint Distress Ink to make it look less dramatic.

Next I used my “Purple Violet” Faber Castell Pitt brush marker to outline the various elements. Before the ink could dry I quickly smudged each line with my finger to make a shadow look. This is quite subtle but really improves the overall look of the page, in my opinion. I also used a Zig Micron black pen to enhance the outlines of some of the ephemera, where they cross over each other. I added a little more detail to the paper doll with it too. Finally I used a violet coloured pencil and shaded a little around the edges of the pages.