Grunge Layout with Flat Magicals by Nuneka

Hi gang!
Nuneka here with a special project for myself today. Every year for my Bday I gift myself tickets for a concert of my favorite bands. It seems that’s not going to happen this year… but anyway today is my birthday and I got inspired by the music of my number-one rock group U2. I wanted to do something cool, grunge and a little dark, so let me show you how I created this piece using Flam Magicals to get that look.

I started protecting the paper with clear gesso and glueing some pieces of paper, burlap and cotton ribbon in the areas where I knew I wanted to place the clusters. Of course I covered all that with clear gesso too, so all the surface would work well when using Lindy’s Magicals. I added texture paste through a stencil around those areas. I also prepared some chipboard gears and clocks, together with resin mould pieces and covered them with rust effect pastes, getting them ready for a final touch with Magcials.

I glued all the chipboards and started working in the colors of my project. My focal point would be a digital image of the band members, really cool in red, orange and yellow colors… so I chose the same shades for my background (Flat Magicals Mango Mania and Tears on my Pillow Tangerine), and a couple of dark colors to create dramatic shadows (Flat Magicals Sandra Dee Sepia and Blazing Black). I worked slowly in this step, the area I wanted to cover was pretty big (almost the entire page) and I needed to make sure the colors don’t blend too much turning into a messy brownish mass… so I took my smaller mini mister and sprayed a little water on a small portion, then I sprinkled some oranges and sprayed more water to activate the colors, only then I could see where I needed to add shadows, and where I wanted the orange shades to to their magic and look like fire light.

To make it interesting and dramatic, I use black and brown in the cogs area, creating depth feeling. I also kept in mind how the colors were present in the focal point, darker in the half left side, more luminous and orange in the right half side, and I tried to do the same with the color in the background.  The key in this part is to take your time and not rush, enjoy the delightful process of playing with Magicals and see how they create amazing effects. When the coloring was done, I added some little stamping here and there.

I also wanted a more rust look on the resin pieces, so I used the same Flat Magicals to enhance the colors. On the clock chipboard I used Blazing Black to darken it and, once dry, I used Sidewalk Chalk to get a dusty effect there and in the gears. The technique is very easy: I just mixed a little water with magical on my non tick mat and used a paintbrush to add little touches here and there, which I blended with my finger.

My layout just needed the final details, such us some light in the bulbs which I added with metallic wax, and some few splatters made with black gesso to bring everything together. Then I stuck the lyrics of a couple of songs of the band and my Bday gift was ready to rock! What about you? Which is your favorite rock group? I dare you to create a layout inspired by your most-liked band and share it with us on Lindy’s Facebook Group. Don’t forget to use some Lindy’s products, of course!!

You can watch the whole video tutorial on Lindy’s YouTube channel:

Lindy’s Products

Flat Magical Mango Mania, from the set Caribbean Cruise

Flat Magical Tears on my Pillow Tangerine, from the set Go Greased Lightnin’

Flat Magical Sandra Dee Sepia, from the set Go Greased Lightnin’

Flat Magical Blazing Black, from the set Neon Graffiti

Flat magical Sidewalk Chalk, from the set Neon Graffiti

Other products: clear gesso, texture paste, stencil, black ink, stamps, chipboards, resin mould pieces, rust effect pastes, tacky glue, metallic wax

See you soon, guys!