Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom.  If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.  Charlie Parker’s quote really resonated with me as I held Nathalie Kalbach’s Stand Up Bass stencil from StencilGirl Products.

I don’t play a musical instrument anymore. With good reason. I am nearly tone deaf according to every music teacher and I had a bit of a challenge staying focused in band like when I got my finger stuck up my flute the day of try outs.  You can’t play a flute with one hand…anyway, you get the idea.

But I do play with color.  My music is my art.  It is full of my experiences, my thoughts, and everything that makes me, well, me.  It has taken me a lot of years to believe in my music.  Do you believe in your music yet?

So on with the art journal page!

I had a piece of blotter paper from way back that I loved.  Very proud that I am not hoarding but using!  I used acrylic paint to stencil the bass over and over.

If I have the supplies out why not make extras I can use in future projects!

As I flipped through an art journal looking for a page to start on this one jumped out at me.  It is from when I randomly cleaned off my brayer while Gelli printing.

This rubber stamped Gelli printed paper shouted to be used so I just “had” to use it!

I rarely leave white space so I filled in some of the white with paint getting it ready for my Gelli print.

Glued the ripped Gelli print in place.

I cut up pieces of sheet music and spray inked them green.

A bit of scribble journaling on spray inked notebook paper becomes the mat for the stand up bass.

In my stash of leftovers, I had believe but that just wasn’t enough for me.  I wanted more words so I turned to my favorite work making tool, the Block Talk Alphabet Die. This has become a favorite tool because I never run out of letters!  I just cut more!

Can you tell I’ve run out of letters in sets of alphabet stickers?  I made the exact letters I wanted to wrap around the Stand Up Bass to match how I was feeling as I made this page.

Thanks Nat for inviting me to play!  Be sure to stop by and check out all the other wonderful music created by these talented people!  And every blog in the hop you comment on gives you another chance to win Nat’s Stand Up Bass stencil!!!  That gives you 6 chances to win!  She’s randomly choosing a winner on August 27th at midnight EST.

Nathalie Kalbach

Louise Nelson

Carmen Sanchez

Michelle Hernandez

Maria McGuire

 Linking up to Paint Party Friday, Art Journal Every Day, and Creative Every Day.

There are amazing things and people all around me. I don’t always notice them but they are there. When I take a moment to give them a chance their amazing-ness is revealed.  My muse reminded me today to slow down, take a breath, and let the world be amazing.

The art journal page I started with was filled by using up leftover paints, blotting off of stencils, and I painted a few die cut letters orange for another project.

Nothing spectacular but a very practical way to build up layers.

I thought it was just ordinary but when I gave it chance it showed me how amazing it was.

This Loose Woman by Sue Pelletier for StencilGirl Products called to me…here she is stenciled and colored in and full of the most wonderful attitude!  She was definitely owning her amazing-ness.  Shouldn’t we all!

As amazing as she is at this stage, she wasn’t finished yet.  She needed something around the edges.

So I reached for my Stitch at Greek Medallion stencil by Maria McGuire for StencilGirl Products. 

This is an amazing stencil because it is so versatile.  There are so many different patterns and ways to use those patterns in this one stencil.

Some of the leaves at the top.

One part of the center medallion repeated and my circle stencil has given me a line! And it looked a bit like hearts and I like the idea of her being supported by all those hearts!        

A few dots from the circle made a great line!  If you look back at the photo of the stencil you can probably find the exact spots I used on the stencil (since they are in red and dark purple).

Here she is with all the finishes touches reminding me to let the world be amazing!

Have an amazing day! An amazing week!  An amazing any and everything!

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Preparing a blog post takes quite a bit of time and energy.  If you enjoyed this post, I’d appreciate your support!  How? By sharing this post however you are comfortable.  Your support makes my muse happy and a happy muse keeps me coming back to the studio again and again!

Linking up with Make It Monday, Mandarin Orange Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Create Daily, Creative Every Day, and Inspire.