Hi Natalie here. This is a project in two parts: the first is printmaking and a little mixed media to create mini fashion prints; secondly, putting them together in a frame or mount to finish the process. This month, the Rinea Design Team are collaborating with Crackerbox & Suzy stamps.

Products Used:
Dress form set stamp by Crackerbox & Suzy
Formal Variety pack by Rinea

Print Making.

Starting with the background layer, I saw a technique where you could use a laser print as a resist, and initially I was going to use this combined with typography to add a texture to the background. However, I was interested to see how that same resist would work in the shades of grey. Queue black and white photos and lots of experimentation.

The final photos I laser printed were high contrast, heavily towered prints of London, New York and Paris as I have selected fashion rubber stamps from Crackerbox & Suzy. I was also constrained size wise as I only have the small shaped Gelli plates; something I would love to add to my collection of so I can work on larger pieces.

Taking it a step further: adding fashion stamps by Crackerbox & Suzy

The printed backgrounds were only a starting point though and they were very much tied into my stamp selection. To complete the prints, I wanted to use bold colours to contrast against the black and white backgrounds.

Stamp the mannequin fashion stamp image onto yellow, red and blue card. I added to the mannequin stamped images with doodling to allow the colour to come through stronger; while also adding tints of colour with inks and blending brushes or markers. I really wanted to explore how far I could push these images rather than taking a typical crafting approach.

I also added a fashion related verse using WOW embossing powder for added texture without adding dimension. At this point, I was very much keeping my options open for the finished presentation.

The Frame

For starters, my approach was I wanted to present the prints in a cohesive manner - whether that be a mini-book, a frame or even a pocket page. I've never been one to be limited to a style or focus.

My decision was to put the pieces together into one frame, but I wanted the frame itself to be both handmade and able to standalone. To do this, I reinforced the Rinea foiled paper with a view to make the piece have longevity.