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    i'm back!! my travels were lovely

    I'm back !! ^^
    I had a lovely time on my trip! I visited Maine, New Hampshire and Michigan. The change in scenery was super inspiring. I loved to see rolling hills and saturated trees- it was a pretty sight everywhere we went.

    Some recommendations from my travels (In the Portland, ME & Rindge, NH & Detroit, MI area)
    - Portland museum of art was so fantastic. I visited on a Friday evening, which was perfect because entry is free from 4-8 pm! I got far more than I expected from my visit: 3 stories worth of captivating work from an array of mediums. They even have a little cafe downstairs  : )
    - I got an Ube dream from Matcha mood and it was heavenly. I wish I could've tried everything on the menu, i'm sure all of it would've been just my taste <3 Super cute storefront, great service and a fantastic drink. 
    - For dinner I ate at The Porthole and had a lobster roll and it was fantastic. Seating on the water and dinner was too good. would go again. 
    - I experienced sunshine and blue skies most of the trip until this destination. I got the full gloomy and windy experience at the Portland headlight. I went when pretty much everything was closed, but it was worth it for the views. I rolled down a grass hill. would go again.
    - I knew I'd be recommending this before even going, but the Cryptozoology museum was a such a good time.  Lots of lore and fun artifacts. I fell in love with big foot. 

    -For lunch during my brief visit to New Hampshire I stopped by Emma's 321 Pub and Kitchen and had the Beet salad and fried goat cheese balls - it was the best salad I've had in a while. Cozy atmosphere and was seated in a room overlooking the nearby wood and creek. Just outside is bridge leading over the water. would totally go back.

    - I had been to The Motown museum once before in probably 2012-14? It was a great experience before and it was this time too! Such a a beautiful setup all done in efforts for the preservation of the label's rich history and cultural importance. I truly can't believe how much of this chunk of history still exists. My group's tour guide was so great and it's clear that love and appreciation serves as a foundation to this exhibit and experience. 
    thιs wᥱᥱk's ρrojᥱᥴts: sewing projects / dolls
    ​I’m changing gear! I did some tidying when I first got back and realized just how many sewing projects I never got to finish. Lots of small dolls and plushies-  I think most of them should be pretty straight forward and I should be able to finish most, if not all during the week. Most of their elements are cut, and just require a simple stitch.
    ​
    With this week’s project plans I’m really thinking of how I went through a felt doll-making phase in middle school. I’m vaguely remembering one I did with a black dress, long black hair and button eyes. I wish I had taken more pictures from that era, I think they were pretty cute projects. During this time, I learned a lot from the book “Cute book” by Aranzi Aronzo. I checked it out often from my local library. Below are some examples of the style.
    They contain a lot of super cute tutorials and a lot of helpful techniques for hand-stitching projects. I think most of the basics i know i picked up from these. The characters featured are also super cute : )
    I’ve also been thinking more about learning to use a sewing machine lately. I have a few articles of clothing I plan to draw on and embellish, but I’d love to sew alterations for some too. I'm sure i mentioned this already. Maybe a sturdy, entry-level friendly, second-hand sewing machine is (or should be) in my future?

    thanks for stopping by and thanks for the welcome back hug
    xooooooxooooooxoooooooooooo
    ​
    - mac <3
  • Published on

    hey you 3 women! also update on the new painting

    happy monday y y y
    ​I made progress on the new painting. I’ve been spending most of my time on it- it’s a larger canvas and has a lot more visual elements I’m still trying to put together, so it’s required a lot of planning. I’m using washi tape as placeholders for the parts to come. It definitely makes the arranging pretty straight forward, especially if I end up moving things. 
    ​I don’t expect to commit fully to realism- I’ll most likely mingle elements of surrealism as well.
    Picture
    ​Of course, like clockwork, my attention feels split between my current hopeful project that barely exists, and a new one that doesn’t really exist at all. This nonexistent project doesn’t even really have a basis yet, I think I’m just feeling extra inspired by this and that. I won’t go into detail now, but I’ll work on some outlines while I’m out of town these next few days. Maybe the start of another new project ​¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    This week I also got the chance to finish up a personal tee shirt project. (ignore the cat hair) Letters were stamped, then painted with bleach. Enjoy and watch the video it’s based on if you hadn't already.
    Picture
    ​Also speaking of wearables, in case you’ were curious about the purse I was working on: it’s been finished and is in the right hands <3 Maybe this'll be my motivation to tackle my stack of blank purses once I'm back :)
    i'll see u week after next 

    ​Thanks for stopping by
    X o oxoxo ox
    kenz
  • Published on

    progress on new painting

    H a p p y   M o n d a y   : )
    ​I’ve been working on the big painting project I mentioned last week. I don’t have too much to share as far as my feelings or thoughts on the piece, so I’ll just drop a picture of the progress so far. I had to move some elements after the fact so I didn’t get as far as I wanted, but have a clearer idea of what I want.
    Picture
    ​It’s been a minute since I’ve gotten excited about a painting and for that, I totally blame my tendency to overwork pieces until I’m sick of them. I just want to have fun with this one.
    I had planned to finish my apparel projects from last week, but didn’t get the chance; there isn’t a whole lot to do so I’ll probably finish those in the coming days.
    This week: finish apparel & work on paintings
    Outside of the new painting project I do have a few larger canvases that need some big changes. I’ve been putting them off because the changes will definitely entail doing some erasing and starting over, but I think now’s the time since I have some motivation. I’ll share some progress pictures soon - for the canvases and the remainder of my wearable projects. 

    ​also completely unrelated, but did you guys hear Domo is making a comeback?? It was announced on the Domo HQ Instagram page. Idk what this means but I thought I’d share.
    I'll keep it short today <3 Til next time

    Thank you for stopping by <3
    Xxxxxooooo
    - Benzie 
  • Published on

    purse for a friend and drawing on my clothes

    Happy day after 4/20
    I focused on wearables this week! I finally picked up a purse project for a friend I’ve been meaning to work on. I think I had a lot of hesitation in starting it because of it’s polyester finish. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make the design stick, but I think I figured out a good combination. I sketched the initial layout with pencil, outlined with POSCA markers and colored in with angelus leather paint. To finish, I used a spray acrylic sealant. I’m still adding to it and testing durability as I go, but It’s nearly to my liking and I’ll probably finish it this week. The surface of the purse was a little unforgiving as far as mistakes go- even pencil didn’t come up right away with a magic eraser so sketch marks are gonna be visible, but I think overall I’m liking the turnout. I don’t do it as much as I should, but I love painting purses. I think it’s because the room for margin of error is smaller and that durability is kind of dependent on materials, that I don’t find myself following through on started projects. I’ll try to be less worried about making mistakes. I have a hanger in the closet full of blank bags I have yet to start on. 
    ​I also did some drawings on clothes from my closet. These don’t often have a deadline, so I just kind of work on them when I feel like it. I did get inspired by my many iterations of that old picture of myself so now I have a tee shirt of the line art. Feeling proud of most of these. Also finally doodled on my canvas tote bag
    next week: wearables & a painting
    gonna spend the first half of this upcoming week finishing more apparel projects and the second half working on a painting. It's a project that's been on my mind for a while and I don't think I can put it into words yet but i'll post when i've got more. 
    i'll keep it short and sweet <3

    thanks for stopping by
    ༝༚༝༚
    - benzie 
  • Published on

    odds & ends & fixed platform shoes

    Hello to another Monday
    I had a medley of things to get done this week. Two pairs of my platform shoes needed some repairing, and I decided to fill the rest of the week with odd projects- I picked up a project for a friend I let fall completely on the back burner. I needed to do some planning for that, but plan to start execution later today, and am hoping to be done by the end of the week! I don’t want to share too much yet, but I’ll probably end up posting it once it’s finished to my liking. It’s a medium I haven’t practiced in a bit, and I guess I just hope it turns out how I’d like it to.
    Alongside planning I did a little doodling in my sketchbook. I also made a small felt cat for a friend. I haven't made a felt toy this small but holding it in the palm of my hand made me want to make a little calico one for myself that looks like Pina. 
    ⋆｡°✩ Next week: personal wearables & a project for a friend ​⋆｡°✩
    Fixing my shoes this week made me consider adding more to them besides the repairs. One of them is my favorite pair of knee-high boots. The faux leather started peeling at the front and back seam – it’s been so hard to make them look put together again :( I know faux leather may not be the ideal contender for saving but I hate to think about just trashing them so I think I’m gonna try a few things. Angelus leather paint wasn’t giving the desired effect and neither has the leather finisher (to seal the peeling). They’re entirely black but I even considered re-painting? I don’t know, I ‘ll probably try to figure out the peeling before committing the time, but maybe it’s worth making them my own

    I also re-built a stack of clothes of personal clothes that I’d like altered/designed. It’s like I just finished the last stack yesterday ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Not that I mind more projects at all. I feel like even if I’m just adding a little text, I like to wear the apparel that much more knowing I added to it. I’m pretty much always adding stuff to the tops in my closet, but don’t often alter my pants/bottoms, so I’m also hoping to pick out a pair of mine to work on. I may plan out a design, but part of me really wants to just draw/stamp on them in my free time so I don’t overthink it. I guess we’ll see once I choose a pair
    ​
    I’d really like to learn more sewing techniques or sizing alterations. I’m only familiar with sewing by hand, but wouldn’t be against learning with a machine in the future. I don’t have one now, but know how helpful they can be alterations. I want to be able to alter whatever I put my mind to
    I think that’s all I’ve got planned, but if more comes from the week, you’ll hear about it <3
    Thank you, as always, for stopping by
    love yourself first
    ​
    X  o  oxo oxo ox o oxo oxoXoo oxo XoOOO oXxoO O oxo oxox
    - kemzie 
  • Published on

    nostalgic drawings

    Happy new week
    Okay so this past week I ended up working on a few different projects.
    I traced these lineart photos onto a4 paper. I like how the self-portrait came out, but I did kind of rush the high school picture of Megan and I. I'll probably make a second attempt at it. Also, ​in the name of recreating old pieces, re-drew an old picture I drew of a guy with a cupcake head from high school. I need to get my hands on some grid paper, it used to be my favorite paper for doodles. I also re-drew a picture I made a while go of a derpy Thomas the train. I don’t have the original so I took creative liberties.
    also included a few extra doodles and sketches <3 
    ​I think I’ll re-trace the second one while I decide what I want to do with it. I considered making another collage piece and adding a crowded layer of nostalgic glitter graphics. I also considered shading and coloring in with soft pastels to imitate the motion and blur in the original photo. I’m still unsure, maybe I’ll do something completely different. Maybe next week will tell
    This week: more traditional pieces?
    I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by choice for next week's projects (the reason I started structuring my creative schedule around one medium a week). I haven't spray painted in a while, nor have I sewn. However, I do want to make a second attempt at the drawing of Megan and I. I also think I could benefit from some drawing exercises and even doodling. Sometimes I forget to be spontaneous. Maybe i'll stop thinking about it so much. I guess we'll see.

    also, if you're interested , check out my stay a while page and check out the section I dedicated to Adam Elliot's work. I linked some of his short films that can be found for free on youtube (links lead directly to his own channel).

    thank you for stopping by
    xxoxoxoo
    - kenzie