Well, in one search look around, I discovered Elizabeth Ocean Designs. Elizabeth Ocean Temporary I.D. Paper Dolls is what I found. Elizabeth hand paints in water colors, various sets of paper dolls. And I couldn't resist asking her if she wanted to be featured on Derby Luv. I asked her to send me the SubCulture Sampler, which included the base doll along with my favorite outfits, the Redheaded Alert Roller Derby outfit, the Petticoat Heartbreak Rockabilly dress and the Goth Lolita, Sugarplum Disaster. Instead, she sent me the Subculture Sampler along with the "Bike Messenger" Sampler with a bike messenger-themed outfit for each season, AND "The Steampunk Sampler" which is Lady Dirigible in various situational garb with a 18th-century wear vibe.

I also asked Elizabeth about herself and what her deisgns were all about, and found her to be very creative, willing to promote things us rollergirls and guys adore, and I had a great time playing with my new paper dolls! The Rollerderby: Redheaded Alert outfit on the Basedoll "Blushing Bluebelle" now lives on my desk next to my VooDoo Baby Darkie and my Tim Burton toys.

Derby Luv (DL): I read you are a licensed attorney. What inspired you to make paper dolls?

Elizabeth Ocean (EO): I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm an attorney because I'm not "that" kind of lawyer. Moreover, I've been an artist my whole life and trained as a costume designer before making the switch to do-gooder law. After my stint in idealistic do-gooding law I needed a break and felt the deep need to create something beautiful and fun. I found myself thinking about the toys that made me happy as a kid, and decided to update the paper doll for modern sensibilities by combining my love for watercolor and costume design.

DL: What other artwork/crafts do you create and sell?

EO: I have a line of jewelry (Candied Ginger Jewelry) crafted from beads that I make by hand from polymer clay. In addition to paper dolls, I also paint watercolors of everything from tiny leaves to giant squids. In whatever spare time I manage to find, I can be found knitting, felting, documenting my days in comic book form, and creating plush toys for friends and family.

DL: I received three sample packages, The Subculture Sampler, The Bike Messenger Sampler, and The Steampunk Sampler. What inspired you to create these three packages?

EO: We live in what I think is a golden age of personal expression through clothing and adornment. These samplers are my interpretation of some of the best examples of such expressive fashion. I want to celebrate everyone who dresses to be noticed.

The Subculture Sampler was the first set that I created and it sprang from that desire to celebrate expressive fashion. I put all of these divergent threads into one set because I found that, despite their differences, they are strangely compatible. Actually, the roller derby Redheaded Alert was one of the first outfits I designed for the set.

The Bike Messenger Sampler was inspired by my time living in five different cities and seeing how vital bike messengers are to the heart of any urban ecosystem, regardless of season. I want to add that none of my cycling ladies are wearing helmets because I consider them to be off-duty (since they aren't painted with their bikes). Redheaded Alert, however, is sporting her skates and is therefore in full safety gear.

The Steampunk Sampler is my homage to the steampunk movement; I created it in watercolor as my welding skills leave something to be desired (for now....).

DL: The Roller derby-themed outfit of Redheaded Alert is in the Subculture Sampler, along with Rockabilly: Petticoat Heartbreaker and the tattooed Bike Messenger: CarbonFiber Careener. Are you a rollergirl, roller derby fan, or bike messenger now or in a past life.

EO: I sadly lack the skating skills to be a rollergirl myself, but I am a huge derby fan. I have nothing but awe-filled admiration for the dames who have the skills (and chops) to be rollergirls. Despite the fact that I've had many, many random jobs, I've never been fortunate enough to have one of them be a bike messenger gig. I rely on my bike for all my local travel needs though, and love getting dirty riding trails (despite my weakness for handlebar streamers).

DL: What toys are scattered around your desk?
EO: I actually keep my desk clean since that's my painting surface, but around my studio there's a She-Ra Princess of Power action figure that I've had since I was 8 years old, an inordinate number of ducks (of the plush and rubber variety), a miniature disco ball that I bought in London while studying costume design there, and a plush crow of great sentimental value.

DL: What other collections do you have, and what are the inspirations behind them?

EO: I also have a collection called "The Alternative Bride Sampler" that was inspired by going to many, many weddings in the past couple of years. There are also several new sets in the works that are coming soon!

DL: What's up next for Elizabeth Ocean designs? What lickable jewelry or posable paper is coming next?

EO: I love the phrase lickable jewelry and may have to steal it. Jewelry-wise I'm working on a series of pendants that are a combination of clay, paper, and text. In paper doll land I'm hard at work on a tattoo-centered sampler and a roller derby sampler since Redheaded Alert obviously deserves her own set.

I'm also creating more diverse paper doll sets as my non-white friends keep asking when I'll make something that looks like them. There are some kid-friendly sets coming too, that provide the same alternative couture but with simplified silhouettes for easier cutting lines (for anyone who lacks confidence in their fine motor skills).

DL: Do you actually design or make costumes/clothing?

EO: Yes! I am always looking for an excuse for a costume party so I can construct something wondrous (like a Medusa outfit complete with iridescent snakes) and I make dresses for special occasions. I actually made the dress that I wore to my law school graduation in a strange intersection of my talents (it's made of a Japanese fabric with little leaping bunnies and finished with pink satin ribbon). I also turned my wedding dress into an abstract wall quilt since there was no way I was going to stuff it into some creepy box with a little window.

DL: CarbonFiber Careener, in Bike Messenger Sampler, SPRING, is carrying a coffee in her right hand, but what is it in her left? And that isn't Starbucks coffee is it?

EO: CarbonFiber Careener Spring is carrying a bag of granola (vegan) in her left hand. And that is most definitely NOT Starbucks coffee! Although I do have to say that my brother, who is a puppeteer and graphic novelist, worked for Starbucks for a little while, and they gave him amazing health insurance and employed a ton of other artists he knew. That said, give me a local coffee shop anyday, even though I'm mainly a green tea kind of girl.

DL: How can people get their hands on some paper dolls to play with, admire and decorate their lame office desks? (Come on, my day job is in an office, and even if I like my job, it's still LAME!)

EO: Decorating office desks is vitally important to maintaining sanity. In my former life as a criminal prosecutor, I'm pretty sure I was the only person in the county who had a plastic frame shaped like a rabbit and a collection of Pixar-themed toys on my desk. But I digress... You can find my paper dolls online through my Etsy shop: http://elizabethocean.etsy.com/. If you're in NYC you can buy my dolls in person at the American Folk Art Museum's store (an amazing musuem devoted to outsider art): http://www.folkartmuseum.org/. More stores are in the works so hopefully I'll be infiltrating a city near you soon.

DL: Would you make customized dolls for people, if they wanted a collection for their own derby team or just one of themselves?

EO: Absolutely! I would LOVE to work with derby teams or individuals to create personalized dolls and outfits. I think that a customized set of paper dolls makes an amazing and unique gift for that gal who has everything. People should feel free to contact me about custom orders (or about anything really) through Etsy or through my website: http://www.elizabethocean.com/. Thank you Derby Luv for this awesome interview!

Thank you, Elizabeth, for the new toys to play with when I am procrastinating on posting on Derby Luv, or when it's too snowy this winter to go skate. I've only made it in the Subculture Sampler so far, and hopefully my scissor-work and craft knife will continue strongly. Thank you for allowing me to play with these. The artwork has a very awesome feel to it, the paper is easy to cut and is sturdy enough for a rough rollergirl to get setup without it getting mangled, and I think if I had a daughter, I would totally be able to play dressup with her with these and give her a sense of beauty in women that are not just paper barbies.

We hope to see more of you, Elizabeth, and I am seriously interested in a Corseted outfit or an interesting Black and Blue Ball outfit for RollerCon 2009 or 2010 when I finally get there. Let's chat about that another time!