I was an imaginative kid. I played with dolls, of course, as a little girl growing up in the 80s. I loved my Cabbage Patch Kids and my Strawberry Shortcake. But honestly, I could have a thoroughly good time playing with anything.  I would gather up flowers & give them each a name and sit in the grass for hours playing 'house'. As I got older, I spent more time drawing to illustrate these imaginary stories I thought up. Then came the paper doll making. I loved fashion, but I was always an overweight kid/teen & back then there was nothing fashionable about those clothes. So I drew what I wished I could wear and I made beautiful modelesque paper dolls out of what I had available. Ruled notebooks. I would cut out my dolls from the sturdy backs of the notebooks and draw clothing on the rules pages  I'd pose them and draw friends, boyfriends, settings. My homework and notes might have ended up on crumpled paper, but hey!

As i got older, I still kept my love for play and dolls, but more as a play-time assistant to my younger siblings, nieces and nephews. I never stopped drawing though, but I did stop making dolls. 

 So, last year- I went back. My illustrated characters have so much personality and individuality on the page. Making paper doll versions of these characters was a way for me to bring them to life, and revisit that time in my life when I was an imaginative kid, full of ideas and fully devoted to play.  

My dolls are not tall, thin model types, exclusively. My dolls represent and accept all body types. My dolls represent characters who are happy, beautiful, confident and unapologetic about it!  My dolls give representation to girls and women who may have been told they are not worthy because of their uniqueness. My dolls are beautiful BECAUSE of their uniqueness. So yeah, I make paper dolls.

Check out the dolls and earrings in my etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/KeghazIllus

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-Kierston