Giveaway Winner!

Thanks all of you for entering the giveaway! Your suggestions were all great and I will do my best to incorporate them in the coming year.

Now, the reason you actually clicked on this post:

To make the giveaway fair for everyone, I put the names in the order of the Blogger timestamps and used a random number generator to determine the winner. And since the generator chose the number 2, the winner is Lulu! Congratulations! Please email me within 48 hours to claim your prize.

Thank you all for entering the giveaway, and for all your support. I'm getting ready for tutorials for next year, and can't wait to see you all on January 1 and share photos from the Doll of the Year release at the American Girl Place!

Anniversary/Thank You Giveaway!

At last, here's the promised giveaway. I wanted to make it a little more special since I'm tremendously grateful for not only your help with the Doll Wardrobe FDC, but for being such an incredible group of readers throughout two years of blogging, so rather than just illustrating the outfit I made for the FDC, I put together a sheet of eight Ever After High characters to send to one lucky winner. Apologies in advance for the photo quality; the weather has been terrible.

Clockwise from right: C. A. Cupid, Madeleine Hatter, Raven Queen, Apple White, Cedar Wood, Ashlynn Ella, Blondie Lockes, Briar Beauty

I'm debating whether or not to color these in or leave them as is. What do you think?

Drawing these took about twelve hours divided between two and a half days, but I'm pretty happy with how these came out and I hope you are too. Some of my favorite details:

Blondie Lockes's hair was a pain and a half but since Goldilocks is known for her hair it seemed worth the extra effort.

I've wanted to try making Cedar Wood for ages, and she was a lot of fun to draw. I was conflicted between making her socks accurate to the webisodes or the doll, so I tried to compromise, but if you have a specific preference please let me know.

By far my favorite part of making these dolls was creating the faces. Ashlynn Ella's turned out particularly well:

How to enter the giveaway:

1. Comment below with a suggestion for improvement for next year. How can I make Paper Doll World a better blog? What posts would you like to see? Is there anything I should stop or continue?

2. For one extra entry, share this giveaway on your own site or social media. Leave a comment with a link so I can count the entry.

3. Following Paper Doll World is optional, but if you're a follower your first entry counts double. 

If you win, please email me within 48 hours at the email address in the sidebar to claim your prize. The giveaway ends on Sunday, December 28, at 12:00 pm EST. 

Good luck, and thanks again for all your support!

2

This morning I realized that it's been two years since I started Paper Doll World. I'm not really good at marking anniversaries and I'm crazy busy since the semester ends next week (!!!), but it was the motivation I need to get back to blogging since I've maintained radio silence for the past month. Nostalgia and displays of emotion aren't really my thing either, but to me this is a milestone and I intend to mark it with a rare bit of sentiment.

This past year has been really hard physically and emotionally in my off-screen life, so blogging and paper doll creating have taken second priority. Yet the fact that you readers have stayed with me this whole time and put up with all my absence is something special for which I'm profoundly grateful. I remember the struggle to get five subscribers in January 2013, and now Paper Doll World has just hit 40. To say I'm floored, honored, and humbled is an understatement. Even beyond the numbers, the comments you've left have been so kind and supportive, and show me that I'm not just shouting into a void - that there are other people who find this simple art form as fun and captivating as I do. Thank you all so, so much. 

What better way to end this than by answering the Grateful Blog Award prompt? Thanks to Blaire and Cora for being so gracious and nominating me. I'm so behind on these things that I don't know who has and hasn't been nominated yet, so if you haven't and are interested, then consider yourself nominated. 

I'm thankful for:

1. My family, whom I adore beyond everything.

2. My father in particular, who has been my number one supporter from the beginning.

3. My friends, both in person and online, whose support and encouragement mean the world to me.

4. All of you wonderful readers, without whom Paper Doll World wouldn't exist.

5. My art teachers, whose instruction in drawing and craftsmanship has been indispensable.

6. Emily of Toy Box Philosopher for giving me the incredible opportunity to share my review of Ophelia. 

7. Bella and Lulu for all the opportunities they've given me to share tutorials for the Doll Mag.

8. Penny, Nora, and Maple, for Isla and all the subsequent joy and creativity she's brought me.  

9. Nethilia, whose sharp and hilarious posts have made me more conscientious and sensitive as a person, blogger, and paper doll designer. 

10. The ability to do what makes me happy - to share my love for drawing and find other people who share that love.

Thanks for seeing Paper Doll World through a second year! Here's to an even better and more productive third.