Paper Doll Hearts

 Welcome!

All kaleidoscopes by inkspired and KaleidaCam

Can you believe it? Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! What happened to January? What happened to 2025 for that matter! No matter if I am ready or not, time marches on. I better get with it, and share some Valentines with y’all.

These are the outside and inside of a card I made recently. The Cupid has been made with an Iris Folding technique. Just type that into the search engine and you should find many examples and directions on that technique in past blogs.

The bow/arrow was cut with my Cricut (pronounce it just like the little critter). The inside was cut using metal dies with my Spellbinders Platinum.

Today however I want to share some heart-felt paper dolls with you. I have chosen ones that can be printed on one page and sent/given to the Valentine of your choice. Many of them are vintage.

Children’s PLAY MATE magazine; 1929-1935

Unknown, most likely magazine

 There was a time when sending paper doll valentines was very popular. Electronic games and hand held devises had not been invented yet. Cutting out paper dolls, making props from things around the house and writing little scripts for puppet plays was a common pastime for both girls and boys.

Vintage Valentines

These paper doll valentines are very collectible now, especially if they are uncut. A brief look on eBay found uncut paper dolls Valentines for sale anywhere from $17 for one 1940’s pre-owned, to 2 uncut ones for $45.50. A 1978 Joan Walsh Anglund one page Valentine was listed for $20.

1993

Joan Walsh Anglund, 1987

I do admit, however, the ones from the 1940’s or so are my favorites!

Here are a couple more modern Valentine-themed paper doll pages:

While animal paper dolls remain a steady favorite, there doesn’t seem to be as many Valentine animal paper dolls as there are little girls. I did find this cute little bear however:

If you are wanting to draw your own paper dolls for a fun Valentine’s Day card, why not try a simple cat, dog or bear shape? The clothes would be much more forgiving to draw and color. Here’s a Dolly Dingle style dog, Fido, for inspiration-

Artist Grace Drayton

And a cute piggy-

Both of these sets have simple shapes with no hands you have to draw, or funny feet. Don’t forget to always add tabs to hold the costume in place.

The next 2 pages are by Lydia Fraser, a well-known Canadian illustrator and artist from the 1930’s. I believe these paper dolls were from Canadian Home Journal.

By Lydia Fraser

This next page is from the artist Hilda Miloche. This popular paper doll artist had the Cherub Valentine published in 1948 in 

The Story Parade Magazine for Boys and Girls.

The next paper doll is by popular artist and illustrator Mary Engelbreit.

Here is a Valentine you can print out and color yourself, or let your recipient color it. It is drawn by Melissa Pepe.

Missmissypaperdolls.com

Can’t have a paper doll blog without including the iconic Betsy McCall-

1957

Here are 2 more vintage paper doll cards-

The next black and white paperdoll is by Laura R. Brock. She drew for a Los Angeles newspaper and this one is from a series from 1933-1934.

Laura R. Brock, 1933-1934

About ready to go find your paper scissors, fire up the printer, and grab some white cardstock?

No cardstock? Then just print on regular copy paper. Glue the sheet onto the back of a box, like a cereal box. Now is the time to color, if it needs it. Draw in the clothing tabs and a paper doll stand if needed. Now cut out, and let your imagination fly!

Let’s close with another vintage paper doll Valentine, from around the 1940’s perhaps-

‘Til next time,

inkspired

A few sites I checked out while writing this blog:

Papergoodies.com

eBay 

Pinterest

worthpoint.com

 

Mermaid paper dolls

 Hello!

Original Paper Collage Painting by inkspired

All paper collages are hand cut from recycled junk mail - catalogs, flyers, magazines, etc.

Let’s have some fun with mermaid paper dolls!

Unless noted, these are all free for you to download and print for your personal enjoyment. Let’s play nice and not try to sell them or mass produce any.

Unfortunately most I have found on Pinterest with no identifying info on who drew them or where you could find them.

As always, I try to give credit where it is due. If you know information about any of these please let me know so I can give credit.

Some of the paper doll clothes do not have tabs, so be sure to add those when you are cutting them out.

Artist: Milka Tertsunen; ArtStation

Cory Jensen is a favorite paper doll artist of mine for two reasons. He is incredibly talented, and most of his paper dolls he offers for free! Here are a few of his:

Paper dolls by Cory Jensen

By Cory Jensen

Here are a few more versions of The Little Mermaid; many are styled after Disney’s Ariel.

By Cory Jensen

Unknown

By Cory Jensen

‘Irina’ Collage Art Doll by inkspired

Paperthinpersonas.com

If you like these paper dolls the artist offers free ones when you sign up for her e-mails.

Artist: Audrey Kaiser

Print out your mermaid twice. The first one glue to thin cardboard, like a cereal box. Or you can print onto a heavier weight cardstock. Then cut out. Draw a stand on first if you want, and cut as one.

The second print is printed on paper. Cut the costumes out, remembering to add tabs if there aren’t any. If it needs to be colored, do this before you cut out.

Paper dolls by Cory Jensen

I thought we needed some mer-men to compliment our mermaids.

Here is a jointed merman by a different artist-

Artist: Shawne Johnson

Here is another jointed PaperDoll, a mermaid, you can put together with brads, eyelets, or string.

PheeMcFaddell.com

Here is one by the same artist that you can color yourself-

This next one is just the mermaid. I thought it was such a great, simple design that you might like to draw some outfits for her. 

Print her out. Go over the major lines with a black Sharpie. Place on a window, with a plain sheet of paper on top. Trace the main lines. Now you have the basic shape and you can start creating outfits to fit!

Make a few copies of the basic shape. Draw your clothes slightly larger, and don’t forget to add tabs. Since she is a mermaid, draw a stand so she can stand alone for playtime. You could draw a piece of coral or seaweed for her to ‘sit’ on.

Have fun!

www.finfriends.com/printable-mermaid-easter-paper-dolls/

Posted on Pinterest by Crafty Annabelle

Now it’s time to go take a break and drink some water and eat goldfish crackers!

The next 2 mermaid paper dolls are by the same artist, but very different styles-

Artist: Julie Allen Matthews

Artist: Julie Allen Matthews 

Next I have 2 more by Cory Jensen-

Paper dolls by Cory Jensen

The next 2 paper dolls are Lucia and Rina, drawn in manga style-

Artist unknown

 I’ve covered many different styles of mermaids for you. Now the hard part - which one to pick to print and play with first?

‘Til next time,

inkspired

You can find me on Pinterest as

Karen Kloberdans