Flora Paper Doll
My shop is in it's infancy still and many of my planned products are still at various stages of planning and prototyping. I don't mind as I'd never want to put creations out into the world unless they are the best they can be. One of those products was paper dolls as I've always loved Victorian ones & those beautiful paper theatres and tunnel books which seem so magical.
I've had great fun this year making some dolls from my illustrations and experimenting with them & animation. It is something I want to certainly experiment further with in my illustration work but seeing my children's reactions of delight from them made me ponder on what I could create for people to enjoy at home.
We have a lot of art materials in our home as my husband is very creative too and our children are fortunate to be able to have a go at a lot of crafts without waiting until we can purchase them for them especially. This was something that I became very aware of during lockdown when I saw people looking for ways to occupy their children at home and it was nice to see more of an interest in what you can create from a printable or what you have at home. Our children are living through a situation we have no previous experience of and as parents and carers we're making it up as we go along hoping we are helping them to feel safe and happy. Play is more important than ever and using their beautiful imaginations is like a wonderful protective forcefield guarding them.
So with this mind I created a downloadable pretty paper doll called Flora Fairy. She’s super simple to make and is free.The best thing about Flora is she looks pretty sitting on the Christmas tree now but would look beautiful hanging up after Christmas in a window or even a frame. And as she is a printable; you can make a whole family of Flora’s!
To get your free printable see the form at the bottom of the page (this does mean signing up to my newsletter so I can let you know what new things are happening here in the attic and send you more freebies😀) The printable comes in A4 and Letter size so make sure you choose the right one when opening the zip file) and just ask if you have any questions.
Like all crafts; don't worry if you haven't got the split pins or heavy enough paper. I recommend the most appropriate materials but have fun with what you have. I made sure the design was not too ink heavy as all our printers are being used so much recently and I hate waste. When I created my first paper doll earlier in the year I didn't have any split pins so I just threaded embroidery thread through the holes in the joints and made french knots on top. It was really effective but a bit tricky. Just have fun with Flora and if you want to share your creations with me on instagram just tag the image with @cassandrarileydesigns and I'll share her on my stories.
Finally, here is a little fun video I created of how easy Flora is to make (Music credited to Adam Vitovsky)
Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!
Cassandra xxx