Shimmers in the Snow

For the first time in a year, I have no real challenges; no real prompts for what I'm going to look like or try to emulate. So much of last year was task driven - trying to meet the Disneybound or Twisted Color Challenges - that it's been novel trying for inspiration from other sources. In this case, I started with the dress from Sn@tch and simply fell in love with the black and silvery gray combo, though like all Sn@tch clothing it's available in a ton of colors. The quarter sleeves are unusual in mesh, and I really like the collar line as well - it's almost horizontal which gives it a classy edge. It cut in a little on the shoulder depending on how I moved. The skirt was very ruffly and sits well out from the body; it moves very well and hangs naturally for a whole lot of different poses; I added some bloomers underneath, though, because whenever I sat down it was up at my chin! I love rigged mesh and fluffy skirts, but we still don't have real gravity in Second Life. That got me going distinctly monochoromatic, and this recent release from Adore & Abhor gave it a slightly Lolita vibe while keeping the classy shine of silver. The bow is actually white, but the texturing makes it look distinctly satiny, and I really love it. I tried a few different hairs and ended up trying on this Mina hair with a loose, flyaway style which I really like. The bits of hair flying over the front makes it look like I'm constantly moving.

I went for a simple, sunny pink cosmetic look which ended up being surprisingly complicated - the cheeks with little white stars in it also come from Adore & Abhor, and I paired it with a simple lip gloss from Mock and a black and gray liner from R.ichielli. I was trying for a slightly orangey pink, which is challenging in a world of icy and purpley pinks. I'm also trying something new in terms of layout - trying to highlight accessories a bit more than is possible with my usual three image layout. I'm not sure what I think about it - and I'd love to hear feedback in the comments if anyone has any. That being said, I really did want to show off this awesome ring from Little Boy Blue, which is light reflective and gorgeous. I ended up fitting the band for my finger, and I think it looks really awesome. It was made before SLink was a dream in the eyes of fashionistas everywhere, but it withstands the test of time. My other jewelry, bracelet and earrings, are from Eclectica, and are a gorgeous set of floating pearls. And finally the shoes - these shoes; I can't say enough wonderful things about these shoes. A recent release from Sax Shepherd Designs, I simply adore the jeweled straps which criss-cross the foot beautifully. I picked up the leather fatpack, and it has an astonishing number of options - fifteen jewel or pearl colors, two metals, and seven shades of leather. I went for a fairly simple diamond and onyx combination on black leather, but these are so versatile and add such oomph to an outfit that I can't wait to play with them some more.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Hair: Mina, Nikky
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeliner: R.icielli, The Eyeliner collection I
Blush: Adore & Abhor, Star Blush
Lipstick: Mock, Fruitilicious Gloss
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe Wings
Hands and Feet: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands and Feet
Jewelry: Eclectica, Spring Pearls
Ring: Little Boy Blue, Endurance
Nails: Adore & Abhor, Sheer
Stole: Adore & Abhor, Fur Stole
Dress: Sn@tch, Simone Retro Dress
Panties: Sn@tch, Bloomers
Shoes: Sax Shepherd Designs, Mata Hari

Poses: Grafica

Location: Trace
Light Settings: Phototools, Dream Book 4
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Twisted Color Challenge: Week 14 - Sangria’s Shadow

It has been a long, long, long time since I made an almost-entirely-freebie outfit, and somehow it's even cooler that it fits for Sangria's Shadow, but the Hollywood Event, with the nearly universal freebies, inspired me to give it a try. It's a bit of a pain to navigate, having several structures instead of a single path, but oh man is it worth it. Almost everything I'm wearing above - except for the shoes and the silver and black jewelry set, and my usual skin and such - are freebies. I ended up wearing things I might not have otherwise, but I think in the end I mimic a jetsetter really well, and classed my butt up over at Bladerunner City for some awesome, modern pictures of the 3030 Faerie on the go. Starting from the top is this awesome tattoo-plus-braids hairstyle from EMO-tions, which actually came with a whole outfit. I liked the hair best, though; I love the braid coils, though halfway through the silver went kind of blond, but it still looks awesome so I can't exactly complain. Both of my jewelry sets - two sets of earrings, two necklaces, and a set of bracelets - are also from EMO-tions, and I ended up really liking the combination, layered effect. The red jewelry comes with bling, but it's a simple open chat command to turn it off, and it appears to stay off once turned of. Yay!

The awesome sunglasses - free, mind you - are from a new-to-me store called ZED, and I really love the texturing on them to bits. They don't match the city, but I simply don't care; they look completely awesome. These are totally not my usual style, but they will now firmly remain ensconced in my inventory waiting for a similarly over the top look in the future. I layered my lipstick again, with glorious result I think. Adore & Abhor makes fantastic brightly colored and thick lipstick which is a perfect base for Mock's more glossy, polished style on top. These are two of my favorite cosmetics companies, and I think you can see why at a glance. I really wanted a saturated, but glossy red, and I think I managed that beautifully.

The dress is another freebie - I know, isn't it gorgeous? Allure gave away this gorgeous halter top dress which is short enough to make people blush, but cleverly with a filled in underskirt with black shadows so I didn't once have to worry about flashing my panties to the world. This manages to combine my desire for jaw-droppingly sexy and yet not explicit all at once, and made me extremely happy. Check out that sideboob, y'all!I also liked how thick the dress was, which means at no angle did I have to worry about the dreaded transparent inside ruining a shot; Allure is for keeps! The bag - also free - is from another new-to-me store called Svart, and is beautifully designed and textured. My one complaint is that it included a static post which totally didn't fit my shape (my arms are way too long) and I couldn't figure out how to remove it, so I can't see wearing this outside of static poses where I'm sure the animation will be over-ridden. That's a real shame, though, because the purse is gorgeous - and I don't normally like purses. It is a full-perm mesh purse, though, so it might be findable at some other stores with different texturing and animation.

My gorgeous ring is not a Hollywood purchase, but it does come from Little Boy Blue, which specializes in Diva Rings; it's a new release and very slick and simple, while still being gorgeous. Finally, one of the other things I splurged on were these amazing shoes from Redgrave. I bought the fatpack because I loved the style. The feet are included up to the ankle, though, and blending it was a real challenge. I found myself missing rigged mesh, which becomes a lot more seamless, but I don't think I did too badly in the end. I have to be careful with the angles on a close up shot, but otherwise I don't think you can tell the feet aren't part of my legs. I discovered I could turn off the seamed end of the ankles after this shoot too, so ...yeah. Opps. The shoe and heel are separately tintable, though, and so are the toes, so I anticipate these coming back through rotation a lot of times.

I am enormously happy with the Hollywood Event, and encourage all of you to go and check it out before it closes on April 14th.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusions, Seelie
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Sunglasses: ZED, Mesh Sunglasses (Hollywood freebie)
Lipstick 1: Adore & Abhor, Shreveport Red
Lipstick 2: Mock, Mizu Venetian Red
Hair: EMO-tions, Hollywood Gift (Hollywood freebie)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry 1: EMO-tions, Vari Jewelry (Hollywood purchase)
Jewelry 2: EMO-tions, Paparazzi III (Hollywood freebie)
Dress: Allure, Marilyn Mini Dress (Hollywood freebie)
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Bag: Svart, Jennifer Bag - Red Leather (Hollywood freebie)
Ring: Little Boy Blue, Addison ring - moonstone
Heels: Redgrave, Donna (Hollywood purchase)

Poses: Grafica (Pose Faire)

Location: Bladerunner City
Light Settings: Phototools - Jessica Light
Water Settings: Mirror Glass

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 4 - Iron

Iron week led to me wearing very little called iron, but rather shades of gray which remind me of iron. Here's another set of silks from Sublime Shroud Kreations, which shares a store with De La Soul (the maker of my skin and eyes), and I think it's my favorite of the ones Aydryan has made - I love the shine on the jewels and the light feathering on the side, as well as the three tiered skirt with dual colors. This is the Black Royal color, with a dusky blue highlighting. There's some gorgeous texturing on the bottom - and texturing is where Sublime Shroud Kreations really shines. The silks also come with a collar, but I substituted two other necklaces I'll highlight below. This also comes with a male top, which you can see at the store, and the whole silks set (all of Sublime Shroud Kreations's silks) is unisex. I paired in a set of Amaris' laced cuffs, which match the iron gray of the silks perfectly. For future silks, it might be fun to see more arm accessories - in dancing, the arms are often an attention getter, and I can imagine the shine of jewels on them really having a powerful effect.

One addition to this outfit which - if I did my work right - should seem seamless are the feet. These are the third version of SLink's Jolie feet, an in addition to being easy to fit and shade to match, they add true verisimilitude to my avatar, and finish out the silks seamlessly. They're shaded gorgeously; I particularly like the touch that the bottoms are shaded with the rim around the bottom of the feet being darker and slightly red - which makes it look like where you keep most of your weight; gorgeous detailed touch. With an additional HUD you get complete control over the colors of the toenails, but in my case I found a dark gray and stuck with it.

The hair is a mesh from Alice Project that I got as a group gift; her group gifts give you one of each shade of blond, red, brown, and black - this is the blond, a grayer shade than I usually chose (I'm a golden blonde girl), but perfect for this look. I paired  it with dark ends, which make it look like my hair has been dipped in iron. The necklace on top is from Violet Voltaire, and the only thing labelled "iron" in my entire outfit. The second necklace is an old favorite from Little Boy Blue, a gorgeous mottled stone of iron gray and black, with a dark curve around the neck which echoes the other curves in my silks. I finished the look with a pale blue glitter from Croire on the lip - picking up the color in the jewels - and a hairflower from Wildo. The former is part of a gatcha prize, though you can buy the fatpack; the latter was inexpensive due to Wildo's closing sale - and I highly recommend you swing by if you like flowers in your hair.

I ended up at Tableau for the picture taking - focusing on the gray and dusty aspects rather than the more bright and colorful aspects of the town. The entire sim is surrounded by a mountainous wall which forms the perfect backdrop for pictures; slightly blue, the way landscapes in the distance tint blue, but tone in line with the rest of the sim so it's difficult to tell where sim ends and edge begins. A lot of times, single islands edge themselves with ocean, but in the case of Tableau this would make no sense - part of the point is that it's remote and inaccessible. And radioactive.

One thing which struck me, thinking about the dystopic future of Tableau, was how familiar and frightening some of the images seemed - focused on Nuclear War, which was the bugaboo of my childhood, and yet, despite North Korea, seems so distant now. The fears of my adulthood are closer to fears of police states and being watched and tracked; of being trapped into one identity - fears which reflect the world I see growing around me, but which are far less easy to capture in images. I am Deoridhe in a deep, profound, and long-lasting way; this identity has served me well for fifteen years, and I see a world in which increasingly people will want to claim that because I used Deoridhe instead of a name on a formal document somewhere, that I deserve less credit or right to exist on the internet. My reasons for having a separate online identity are complex, but though some have faded over time the majority of them are still in place. This blog being on Google property underlies my inherent vulnerability as an individual - Google is gradually pulling the rug out from under pseudonymous people like myself, and it's only a matter of time before I have to find a new place to lay my head.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Damned, Rainbow 1
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, Prim Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Lipgloss: Croire, Glittery Gloss - blueberry (gatcha prize)
Hair: Alice Project, Amiya (group gift)
Hairflowers: Wildo, Juliet - black (closing sale)
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Necklace 1: Violet Voltaire, Eternity Necklace - Iron / Onyx
Necklace 2: Little Boy Blue, Kota Necklace
Silks: Sublime Shroud Kreations, Zorra Silks - Black Royal (promotional item)
Bracelets: Amaris, Laced Cuffs - Grey
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Talisman
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Feet: SLink, Jolie Pied Barefoot (promotional item)

Poses: Adorkable Poses

Location: Tableau
Light Settings: TOR, EUPHORIA Natural High

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Newbie Challenge II - A and I

I have something shameful to admit - I have an alt for every letter of the alphabet.

I know, I know, get over your giggles. I plead being addicted to lucky chairs; there is something very powerful about sitting at a board and systematically clicking through it until a question mark or a D finally show up! It's saved me a lot of time on all but the group-only boards where the groups cost money; otherwise I'm set; it's also saved a gathering of people groaning out about the fifth U in a row!

One of the fun side-effects of this has been trying to set up a variety of avatars with very little money - so the lot of them are perfect for Gogo's Newbie Challenge II (and you'll get to see one "look" from each over the course of however long it takes me to get through the alphabet!).  I'm starting at the beginning - with A (in purple) - who was actually a roleplaying alt and not a lucky chair alt. Doesn't she look amazing?

Deoridhe is rather an Aryan's wet dream, so I often try to go into completely different directions with alts - also it's more fun! A, by contrast, is meant to be Igbo (or at least Ghanese) and is in my head as my 'classy/stylish' alt. I try to dress her in semi-formal dress and modern casual, styles that Deoridhe tends to not wear and which don't look as good on her as on A's lanky frame. In my head she has a slight Caribbean accent from moving there later in life. She does bring up, for me, the question of how appropriate it is to go cross-cultural, especially when one is offline rather an Aryan's wet dream. Deoridhe is based off of my appearance - blond, blue, and pale; and while I try to not approach A with a stereotypical attitude, it's difficult to know how many stereotypes I've accumulated without noticing and then played out through her - thus disrespecting a whole lot of people who don't deserve that disrespect.

One of the things I decided when I made her, though, is that her hair would be as accurate as I could get in Second Life - so when I discovered this Discord Designs hair I was utterly in love. it's a complicated bit of braiding, and would require use of wire, but the end result is striking. Prior to this I had her in long braids, having been unable to find a shorter style I really liked and yet didn't look Asian or European in texture.Hair and African Americans seem to have a tumultuous history, so while I'm not sure the issues are applicable to a Ghanese woman, I'm aware of the dangers of sticking European-style hair in black on the head of a Ghanese woman and calling it a day.

A's skin is a new player gift from Tea Lane - an excellent shade of chocolatey brown; I very specifically wanted a dark shade, not one of the lighter ones, because you see many fewer avatars on Second Life with truly dark skin. I have my eye on some other brands, but this one fits under the 550$L limit! The eyes are courtesy of Little Boy Blue and are made to seem as if the entirety of the night sky are within your eyelids.There's even a prim addition which moves, as if the sky were slowly turning within your gaze. The dress is from Pixel Dolls and is one of the lower price choices that I really love. The texturing on it is divine, and while it's one of the older offerings, it still stands up against newer clothing. The shoes are cheapies from Glad Rags. I didn't add any cosmetics, but the skin came with a bit of shine to it which I think really suits the entire effect.

The entire look came to a grand total of 510$L, but I think it looks like a million bucks!

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Deoridhe (totally over 550$L):

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyeliner: Boom, Midas Touch Liner
Lipgloss: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears - Fairy
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes: Flugeln Brise, Eyelashes 5A
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Ryoko Hair - Golden
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Dress: katat0nik, Sweetness Dress - yellow
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: G Field, Square-toe Shoes "Sophie" - yellow

A (510$L Total):

Skin: TL, Chocolate Skin (0$L - new player gift)
Eyes: Little Boy Blue, Eshu eyes (75$L)
Hair: Discord Designs, Gaijin (180$L)
Dress: PixelDolls, Porcelain (250$L)
Shoes: Glad Rags, Folden Boots Black (5$L)

Poses: Glitterati and Long Awkward Pose

Location: Point of Derivation
Light Settings: Purple
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Science of Light

There's definitely a theme with watery, flowery places. Most of them have at least once church,, at least one carousal, and probably a piano and/or cello. .XIV is a gorgeous place, though, with a high flying style and a delicate use of light to make everything seem to glow. I especially like the butterflies all over the place, especially those I could position myself strategically near and snap a picture. I have a soft-spot for butterflies.

The dress is a gorgeous group gift from The White Armory, which was released oh.... a while ago. This is why I mostly fail as a purely fashion blogger; things go into my inventory, come out later and get photographed, but trying to stick close to dates is always a bit of a trial to me! I much prefer something more spontaneous and fluid, something which responds to the moment and my mood rather than being brought in purely from the outside. I'm part of the group for The White Armory, and so I try to pick up the weekly group gift. I'm a very different shape from the standard - much shorter and much rounder - so a good chunk of what I pick up doesn't fit me. I'm always thrilled when I find one of her dresses I can wear, since they're gorgeous, and this one is particularly strikingly gorgeous. The sleeve caps are a perfect finish to an exquisite design, and I was able to fit it very easily since they were modify-ok. Go Go Modify-Ok!

The necklace is from Little Boy Blue, and it's one I've worn for loads of outfits because it had a perfect curve around the neck. It comes in short (worn above), long, and double strand - the last of which is what I usually wear the most. I love the shape of the beads combined with the spacers - it's completely unique.

There's something amazingly ephemeral which has been a guiding force in Second Life, but sometimes I wonder if it's not just that quality of ephemera which can make Second Life - and the internet in general - such a draw away from offline pursuits. It's so much more fun to dress up and pose myself in gorgeous areas than to do my dishes - and that's a real danger. Dishes need to be done, rooms need to be cleaned, clothing needs to be laundered - and having a world where none of that matters, where no dust ever accumulates, is alluring.The lure of places where there are prizes for everything - of positive feedback immediately upon every small action - is also alluring; sometimes it seems like all kinds of accomplishments pass unnoticed even by me, and I struggle to drive myself forward into action when I mostly just want to hide in a world of dreams.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, Roomee - Rainbow
Eyelashes: Flugeln Brise, Eyelash 5A
Eyeliner: Adam n Eve, Hepsut
Eyeshadow: cheLLe, Tropical (Blue / Teal)
Lipstick:
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy
Hair: Exile, Lady Versailles - Goldrush
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Necklace: Little Boy Blue, Luxo Necklace - small
Dress: The White Armory, Moonlight Dance
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: G Field, Ribbon Slingback Shoes - navy

Poses: Glitterati

Location: .XIV Evanesce
Light Settings: TOR, MIDDAY Rebranded Skies
Water Settings: TOR, Crosshatched Plans

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Color Challenge: Week Fourty-nine - Wenge

Wenge honestly makes me think of the word whinge - best defined as the word used by upper class Brits to make their whining sound somehow categorically different from the whining of everyone else. In honor of this thoroughly fascinating word, permit me a moment to whinge - despite my neither being upper class nor British.

The gorgeous headpiece I'm wearing almost wasn't. I remembered seeing it, or something like it, on one of the fashion feeds as a deal, but I hadn't picked it up for several reasons, including that I don't often wear skulls. When I was putting together this outfit, I felt the desperate need for a small skull with some kind of black thing behind it; I remembered the skull as vaguely bird-like. I went to the first place for searching for things in Second Life - the marketplace - and was frustrated by the fact you can't search within subcategories.

After six 96-item pages of accessories and about five searches with additional keywords to try to narrow the field, I started asking in groups - one fashion-oriented and the other goth-oriented. No dice. I went back through about two months worth of discount reviews. No dice. Finally, I did a broad search through a search engine, found a mention of this on one of the blogs along with it being a 1$L deal at some event. It even included the store name - Ripe. Yahtzee! Plugged Ripe into inner-SL search (I prefer to purchase in sim if I can, so the Linden-tax isn't applied). Three places popped up - teleported to each.... no ...dice? Went back to the blog post - the person had included the creator name! Yahtzee! Opened up the profile, looked in picks... no dice. Looked in classifieds. No dice. Checked webpage.... and it led me back to the marketplace.

WTF, Second Life?

On a more pleasant note, I'm decked out in clothing from one of my favorite people, jewelry from the second, and a skin from the third, which makes me a very happy Deoridhe. The dress is from Falln Angel Creations and it was one of my dresses in my "photograph before sorting" folder - that lives in my inventory and accumulates clothes. I've been trying to go there first when I'm looking for things to wear because, well, it would be nice if things in there got sorted! The jewelry is from Little Boy Blue, and was part of a massive Linden-drop into his random vendors last Halloween. If we're lucky (unlucky?) he'll put them out again and I'll be even poorer this year! As it is, I managed to accumulate most of the Sugar Skull set, and I adore it so much! It reminded me of these awesome set of horns from Rue, that were from a Sugar Skull Hunt a couple years back - I'm delighted to have a chance to wear them again. The skin is my usual lovely one from De La Soul, and this time I tinted my Illusions ears to match a bit more closely.

The eyeliner is my usual Adam n Eve Hepsut, and I've paired it with one of Elymode's hunt specials - autumn eyeshadow. I'm really enjoying her fades of color for eyeshadow, especially since I can often match them up to my outfit or mood. The lipstick from L.Fauna is another new favorite. I was drawn to it when I saw it at the 50 Linden Friday special, but I'm definitely planning to go back for some more lipstick. The colors are sublime, and the match to my lip line is perfect, even though it's a completely different maker. Finally, I have to take a moment for a word about the new hair from Calico Ingmann Creations. I love the curves and style of it (there's also a version with longer hair) and I had a ball playing with the streak colors - I made the streak white then manually recolored the hair to match my Sugar Skull Accessories.

I ended up back on Immersiva, which has to be one of my favorite regular haunts. Ms. Oh brought the skeletons and dandilions she had at Anna's Many Murders and festoon them across a mountainous scene with some bones thrown in to make things interesting. The black box with it's changing, glowing interior has also reprised here from another show, and the tower from Daughter of Gears is still in place to climb up. My only wish might be for some ways to sit on top of the different dandelions - but then I always like to insinuate myself into the drama created by other people.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, Roomee - Rainbow
Eye Shadow: Elymode, Autumn Leaf Mix
Eyeliner: Adam n Eve, Hepsut
Lipstick: L.Fauna, Red 3
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy
Horns: Ruin, Horned S.E. Sugar Skull Shaman - Ivory
Hair: Calico Ingmann Creations, Genevieve 1
Hair Skull: Ripe, Elegant Raven Skull Hat - black
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Necklace 2: Little Boy Blue, Sugar Skull Set
Dress: Falln Angel Creations, Fellice Dress - brown
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: Lassitude & Ennui, Skully Pumps - black

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Immersiva
Light Settings: London 2026
Water Settings: TOR, Eyeballin'

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Watermelon Dreams and Candy Frosting

When I saw the new dresses from katat0nik - another designer to jump on the mesh bandwagon - I simply couldn't resist. It moves extremely well with my poses, and comes in four different sizes (I am wearing curvy, which is the second to biggest size). I had a ball using some of the more complex and curvy of my Long Awkward Poses to watch the mesh of the dress curve with it; it really added to the possibilities in my picture taking. The Primalot jewelry I'm wearing was a free gift, and I'll confess I would have never purchased it but I was very grateful for it being in my inventory as I tossed my way through it looking for options. I also added sakura hairflowers from Little Boy Blue - one of his newest releases - and shoes from Lassitude & Ennui.

Something about color really cheers me up! After putting on bright and shiny clothing, and pestering some friends to pay attention to me, I feel much more cheered up! I think Torley's amazing and shiny sim helped, too. Check out the cake in some of the more pictures!! He makes me wish I could afford a sim of my very own.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, Roomee Eyes - Rainbow
Cosmetics: De La Soul, Faerie Pastel
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear
Hair: House of Munster, Lola - pinks
Hair Flower: Little Boy Blue, Sakura Hair Flower
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Dress: katat0nik, Hard Candy babydoll (mesh)
Jewelry: Primalot, Hortensia 2.0
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Shoes: Lassitude & Ennui, Skully Pumps

Poses: Long Awkward Pose

Location: Torley Island
Light Settings: TOR, FOGGY Rose Tinted

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Color Challenge: Week Forty-seven - Khaki

Khaki Week was a challenge - largely because the only khaki I had was closer to a shade of light yellowish-green, so I cheated. Milk Tea is kind of the color of khaki, right? After dressing up in so many G Field ruffles, I felt like I needed an antique set of jewelry, and Little Boy Blue came through with Shilo's cameo; smokey blue always goes so well with brown, don't you think?

I live in a world of distractions, of different calls for my attention, of complications and pointless goals. Within the maze of the world I seek beauty, I seek meaning, I seek connection, I seek peace. I think in the seeking, though, I often loose track of that which I want most. It's times like that I have those sort of pathetic wishes, to have people pamper me and give me pretty things and tell me I'm wonderful. Silly things like that. So I dress up pretty, and put on jewelry that friends lovingly made, and take pretty pictures, and obsessively check my blog and flickr stats!

And do some dishes, pick up the floor, take out the trash, and go to bed to hope for better humours on the morrow.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De la Soul, Kei - Cream
Eyes: De La Soul, Roomee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeliner: Adam n Eve, Hepsut
Lashes: Flugeln Brise, Eyelash 5
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear
Hair: Illusory Hair, Kimmi - golden
Necklace: Little Boy Blue, Shilo Necklace
Dress: G Field, Classic Dress "Julia" - milk tea
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Boots: Wireflys, Tan Laceboot

Poses: Glitterati

Location: The Black Road
Light Settings: TOR, EUPHORIA smokey blue sky
Water: TOR, Linear Puddles

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Color Challenge: Week Thirty-four - Mauve

I've been dangling behind on making posts, and even taking pictures, so I've been considering the occasional single-photo post. I couldn't do that for Mauve Week, though!


The skirt is the central color-inspiration, being one of the only things I own which is mauve! A very old purchase from LeeZu, I was thrilled to be able to use it again for mauve week. I paired it with a crop top from G Field, for what is likely one of my most skin-baring looks to date.

The hair was amazingly easy to pick! It was a lovely gift from the creator of Tribal Soul Designs; I got one of the blond fatpacks, chosing this gorgeous dirty blond shade as my own. I think I might end up sneaking back there for the brightly colored hairpack for Bubblegum Weekends, which I'm only irregularly taking part in. I love the quasi-Japanese style of the top knot, combined with fluffy layers and a wonderful lack of alpha issues. It's a two-parter - with a head piece and a neckpiece so that turning your head looks more natural, and as you can see from these pictures it flows wonderfully well.


I added in some lovely piercings from Little Boy Blue - a lovely matching set of belly and labret piercings; they are tintable, botht he metal and the gem, both by touch in birthstone colors and by edit. I ended up tinting them a pale peach to match the general color scheme. I also added a bindi (also tintable in loads of colors, but not editable this time) but you can't see it clearly in most of my pictures. The bracelet and ring set in with the rest are from Eclectica.


Time, and how we spend it, is on my mind a lot these days. It's easy, and common, to spread oneself so thin that each thing only gets the bare modicum of attention. It's tempting to want to do lots of things, to take part in a lot of things, to help people out when they ask. There are also responsibilities - things which have to happen, things which should happen, things which it would be more pleasant if they happened.

It's hard to balance everything out.


( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Skin: De La Soul, Charlie - Sparkle
Ears: Illusion, Mystic Ear
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Iridescent
Hair: Tribal Soul Designs, Kage - Dirty Blond
Bindi: Little Boy Blue, Komala Bindi
Piercings: Little Boy Blue, Birthstone Labret and Birthstone Navel Piercing (tinted peach)
Jewelry: Eclectica, Victoriana Coral Bracelet and Ring
Top: G Field, Floral Halter Top - Peach
Skirt: LeeZu, Nell Skirt - mauve
Shoes: G Field, Ribbon Slingback Shoes - salmon

Poses: Long Awkward Pose

Location: Greenburg
Light Settings: TOR, Sailor's Delight
Water Settings: Murky

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Project Fur

Project Fur is one of the many Japanese relief efforts being set out in Second Life, one taking up the majority of a sim and built to go on for quite some time. My one complaint is how hard it is to find things, which is why I've included links to where each of the displays were below. Everything with links was gotten at Project Fur, everything without is something I had already.

I recommend a walk through - either vaguely, if you like retracing your steps, or systematically. The outside edges are largely empty, but it seems like more stores are being added all the time. In the center is quite a nice garden, as well, and some Japan-Relief only animals.


We'll start with some close-ups.

The necklace around my neck is for this event only, and is an adorable little cat within a heart. It was made by Little Boy Blue, and comes with the heart in white and the cat in black - the version I got - or with the heart in black and the cat in white. It's Tomoyuki's usual amazing work, pristine in design and completely charming. I love how it looks like the sort of thing someone might wear just about, to memorialize or honor a beloved cat.

The jacket is from Malt,and comes with a belt (not shown) and some capri pants (shown below). I adore the ruffling detail on this, and the curve of the fabric. It is gorgeously detailed, with an amazingly delicate clasp across the front - I love the dangling beads detail; somehow they just bring the whole thing alive!


The cat that is standing in as my hat comes from Falln Angel Creations and also comes in black and white varieties. He has the cutest fish in a bag in his mouth - and I adore his huge eyes, peering off watchfully from his perch on my head. I have no idea what I want to name him yet, but I know he needs a name.

The hair is from Magika, and is also just for this event - a coontail version of Sophie. It comes in blond, red, brown, and black; I initially picked up the red version, intending something closer to my last Japan relief outfit which ended up coordinating with red in a lovely way, but after putting together this outfit from Project Fur, I realized I needed a paler shade, and so picked up one of the blonds as well.I love the stripes along the side of the face - not a normal look for me, but very striking.



The dress is from 1-800Bettie, and is a gorgeous confection of cream and black. You can't see the bodice well, but trust me it's charming. I love the swoop of the skirt and the curve around the waist. The gauzy lace along the edges is simply gorgeous, edging under the bodice and above with a beautiful simplicity. There's an included system skirt, but honestly I'd be inclined to go with the prim skirt and bounce about all over the place.

The shoes are from Baby Monkey, and they are Ultimate Savannah shoes in white - not cream - but they fit the rest of the outfit very well. They were a last minute purchase, when I was putting the final touches on my entire outfit and I was still missing shoes. The toes are actually prim toes, easy to recolor and including a listing of some of the tones of more common skins. Perhaps in the future this will become a common occurrence - skins coming with the tones for matching toes and fingers.

The capris underneath are the ones I mentioned earlier, from Malt, though they're called lace tights and not capris. Honestly, they're toned dark enough for pants, though, and to wear alone with the jacket and belt.


The wings are Spyralle, and were the hardest to match in the whole outfit, but I simply couldn't resist them. I ended up setting the windlight so the sky matched them, in absence of anything else which could be matching to the poor things! I love the angular nature of the wings, how they seem both artistic and somehow abstracted. Not quite of this world.

That's in sharp contrast with this sim, AM Radio's The Far Away, which is a very naturalistic field scene from the midwest. I have actually seen plains like this in the Dakotas - long seas of grass and grain which seemed to go on forever and a horizon which could be hundreds of miles away. Driving across Kansas once, I had a sudden image of the stories I read as a child - Laura Ingles Wilder describing how she and her family would travel for days in the same bowl under the same sky, everything seeming to be the same for weeks at a time. I was in a car, though, so Kansas only took a day and a half.

We only have six months to enjoy AM Radio's beautiful work!

( All of the pictures can be seen here. )

Credits:

Eyes: Tacky Soul, Pride
Skin: Adam n Eve, Astrelle Fae (light brows)
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears Fairy
Hair: Magika, Sophie - Coontail Edition
Wings: Spyralle, Fractal Wings
Kitty: Falln Angel Creations, Japan Cat - black
Necklace: Little Boy Blue, Kuroneko Necklace
Jacket: Malt, Frilled Vest
Dress: 1-800Bettie, Shimmer Swirls Dress - Cream
Leggings: Malt, Capri Lace Tights - Noir
Shoes: Baby Monkey, Ultimate Savannah - white

Poses: Tutti Frutti

Project FUR Japan - main area
Location: The Far Away
Light Settings: [TOR] MIDDAY - Coral Reef

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only