With it being Halloween, I thought it would be especially fun to create a few altered dolls with a more "Gothic" look to them. I fondly call them "Vampire Brides"; since they have that pale "tied" to a Vampire look. I've also included some additional "black" doll part accessories that work well with the "Goth Girl" look. I hope you Enjoy them! An assembled "Vampire Bride #1" using Multi-Jointed limbs sheet Above is a doll I put together using an altered Vampire Bride doll sheet and a multi-jointed parts sheet so she can be posed in a variety of ways. Here are two multi-jointed parts sheets I created. The first one on the left has a regular skin tone look that will work with most of the dolls I've already posted and the sheet on the right is for the Goth dolls in this Halloween post. I found 3 of the previously posted L&B Dolls had a look that translated well to the Goth-Vampire world and here they are. EKD - Vampire Bride #1 This first Vampire Bride is based on the original doll seen - HERE Vampire Bride #2 This Vampire Bride is based on an original L&B paper doll seen - HERE Vampire Bride #3 The last and final Vampire Bride is based on the doll from yesterday's post - HERE These brides are all in white but I know how important black accessories are in the Goth world so I've created some altered accessories for you to mix in with all the L&B dolls I've posted about. An Assortment of Black Doll Torsos I had a bit of fun creating a fishnet look on some of the stockings shown below and created matching torsos to go with them for some added dress-up fun. The limbs below should work with most of the L&B paper dolls I've already posted. The flesh part of the upper arms will not work with the "Gothic" dolls shown above. Black Stockings and Opera Gloves Gold Fishnet Stockings Silver Fishnet Stockings Black Fishnet Stockings Black Limbs with Straighter legs Here is a sheet where I straightened out the legs a bit and gave and extra pair of arms for variety. ******* Printing and Assembly of a Jointed Paper Doll * Start by downloading the largest available size of the dolls you want to craft with. Downloading Hint: Click on the image you want before saving the image. That way you get the larger downloadable size and not the smaller thumbnail size. * Print the doll on the best quality paper you have access to, with the correct printer settings for type of paper, weight and image quality adjusted to fine or something similar that will give you a high quality print or take to a print center to have them run you a few quality prints. (Setting your printer to the correct settings can make a big difference in how she looks) Most of the L&B doll parts should work well together at the current printed size; however depending on the parts or portions of parts you want to use some minor adjusting on your part may be necessary. My printed sheet - ready to mount and cut I printed mine out on heavy glossy brochure paper using an OKI laser printer. When I select Print I get a Print pop-up box with options: I went to "Properties" and clicked the "Setup Tab" then went to "Weight" and choose the Ultra Heavy 35-54 lb setting since I use a 44lb brochure paper. Next I click the "Job Options" Tab and select Fine and then I can print it. (depending on the printer you have your setting placement and options may be different). I get lovely printed images that are ready to back, cut, assemble and decorate. Add Adhesive to the back of the sheets so they can be bonded to a sheet of heavy cardstock before cutting Personally I find running my parts through a xyron adhesive machine to be the quickest way to get full coverage adhesive on the back of the sheets so they can then be bonded to a sheet of heavy weight cardstock. Spray adhesive can also be used or any other method you prefer to use. Just remember that if you are going to assemble your dolls with brads or eyelets they need the extra support from cardstock or light weight cardboard. This will give the doll greater stability and longevity after assembling; since the paper alone just can't handle the stress of moving joints and metal fasteners. Some of the supplies used to assemble my paper doll I cut all the parts out using a sharp pair of detail cutting scissors that had a fine tip on them. I also had ready some products to tough-up my doll parts as well as some tiny brads and a tiny 1/16th inch hole punch to use with them. View of doll head after she is cut out - showing some white edges that need touching up Even cutting close to the edge with sharp scissors you can still get raw looking white edges especially around dark areas of your image. It is also easy to accidentally gouge or scrape part of the printed ink layer away as the edge of your scissors works around corners and sharp turns. I find the best way to fix this when using glossy paper is by sponging on some ink and using sharpie pens for detail touch ups. The same doll head after touch up with ink - on glossy paper I sponged on the ink all around the perimeter of the image, on the thin side of the paper and on the top part of the paper very close to the edge in the dark areas like the hair where lots of white was showing. To hide additional marks that the sponge could not get, I used Sharpie markers in matching colors. Browns for the hair and a pale skin tone for the body and bodice. I did the same process for the other limbs so they did not have "raw" looking edges either. Assembled doll Once I finished touching up all the raw edges, I punched my holes, added my brads and posed my lady. She is now ready to be styled any way you want. I've created a fun outfit for her based on some vintage Victorian clothing; so check in tomorrow to see her Gothic Costume. Till Next Time... This post is in memory of my beloved cat Sherlock who had to be put to sleep today. I'll miss you my sweet baby boy!