Fantasy Faire: Magnificat

I have such good news! Such good news I can barely contain myself!! The Fantasy Faire has been extended - again - this time into Tuesday! Isn't that amazing? It's always such a rush to try to get around everything, see everything, photograph everything, wring every little drop of beauty out of the faire and leave it panting and exhausted, and now we have another day. With this extra time, you absolutely have to come by Magnificat, the glorious, dreamy, watery stone city over a canal with ever-present ships going out to an eternal sunset.This was a year of many favorite sims, and Magnificat is near the top - reminding me so strongly of my attraction to Venice that I find myself dreaming without even meaning to.Another note - there is a story contest for what happens in the different sims after the stores go home and their usual inhabitants return, to be printed in the August Prim Perfect Magazine (details here). I have already written one story, and I have a few more thoughts that may find themselves shared in other venues since they're shorter than the thousand word minimum, but I really encourage everyone to take part and keep the fair lands alive.

I went for something a little more muted and sweet for this look, augmented by a few splashes of brilliant azure. The first bit of sky comes in the form of these daisies, one or the head and a second for the mouth, from the Panda Express. The flowers and butterflies are color changable through a variety of styles, from clean white to this rather vibrant shade of blue. Covering the growth spot of my headflower is a lovely hair from Secrets with gentle waves and a soft shade; this isn't a Fantasy Faire release like the rest, but it's still fantastic rigged mesh. On my shoulder is a chameleon dragon from the Dragonspire sim, one of the prizes from the Fantasy Faire Hunt by MadPea; most of the prizes are world items, but this one actually hatches out of a HUD egg you wear for an hour - so fun. The creator also owns Star Fire Point, and I feel quite inspired to go there hunting for more eggs, or other amazing attachments. I'm wearing Eclectica's newest release again, this time the turquoise instead of the ivory - isn't that color sublime? My dress is from Fatewear, which I understand usually does mens clothing, and I am so glad he branched out to give we ladies some love, because htis dress is gorgeous and well rigged. The bits of ruffle and two-tone design is simply fantastic; my only wish could be for brighter colors - the ones available at the Fantasy Faire are all muted shades that are very different from my usual style. Yes, Mr. Creatorman - dance to my whims! Make me everything I could ever dre--*falls over dead, an arrow through her throat* Finally, the boots decorating my beautiful corpse are from Lassitude & Ennui, and are as fantastic in gray and gold as they were in black and silver. Now, I have to go find a priest to resurrect me... so see you later!

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Candace (promotional item)
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow (promotional item)
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Hair: Secrets, Lippy (promotional item)
Flowers: Panda Express, Mouth Daisy and Head Sprout
Dragon: Dragonspire, SPECIAL Chameleon (Fantasy Faire Hunt Prize)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Dress: Fatewear, Rochon - Emerald (Fantasy Faire Donation Item, promotional)
Necklace: Eclectica, Solaria - Turquoise (promotional item)
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Nails: A:S:S, Luster Ombre
Boots: Lassitude & Ennui, Edenion boots (Fantasy Faire Donation Item, promotional)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Magnificat
Light Settings: Sim Default
Water Settings: Sim Default

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Twisted Color Challenge: Week 10 - Wooley Cinnamon

This weeks color combination, Wooley Cinnamon, went in a very not wooley, not cinnamon sort of direction. I started with the basic idea that I wanted to show off something from The White Armory. She gives out a new group gift every week, so I've been collecting for a while, but my inventory backlog is such that I haven't pulled any of them out in ages. I was beginning to feel backlog guilt, so I opened up a ton of boxes and, well... things went a little sideways around the time I found this gorgeous tan dancing dress. I'm not wearing the included empire skirt or wings; instead I dressed it up with corset accessories from Rosal - specifically her Unmei set, with a little visit by her gloves (please release more gloves!). All of her sets come with an amazing tinting HUD which allows you to target each part of the included items and tint them into literally any color you want, which meant it was a cakewalk to set up the orange colorcheme to match up with the tan and accomplish Wooley Cinnamon in a very futuristic weird manner. Like I said... not very wooley, not very cinnamon. An over the top outfit requires an over the top hairstyle, which is how I ended up pulling out this style from Secrets Hair. I also wanted to pass on that the store is having a Fatpack Sale on the Marketplace until March 10th, so go check it out! Lots of styles, lots of colors, only 600$L each.

Further accentuating the over-the-top look I stumbled into, I ended up pulling out some of the stark, stylish, unique cosmetics from Nuuna. The combination of bright colors, stark lines, and both cutouts really makes her cosmetics unique, and I thought they suited the look. An old set of lipsticks from Skinthesis were the perfect balance - I don't think these are for sale anymore, but I still really love them. Finally, after playing with a few different hair accessories, I settled on an old Halloween release from Kouse's Sanctum as both matching the colors and matching the theme; I'm a sort of weird space princess... person... something! Finding a location was thankfully easy. I caught sight of Francesca's monochromatic style and headed off to tint it weirdly orange using windlight. The layering of trees, the isolated spots with little decorations, and the gorgeous castle which resolved into a lonely music hall up front all seemed to fit with this stylized, almost Visual Kei effect. This is not a style I often even approach, so I'm finding my headlong plunge into stark, stylized, over-dramatic effects rather bemusing!

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 04-A
Eyeshadow 1: Nuuna, Neuro Orange
Eyeshadow 2: Nuuna, Tiia orange
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Skinthesis, Liquid Heat Pipes
Hair: Secrets, Jupiter - Blonde (Promotional Item)
Crown: Kouse's Sanctum, Ambrosia Tiara - Halloween
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Collar: Rosal, Unmei Neck Corset
Gloves: Rosal, Viron-M
Dress: The White Armory, Blythe Dancing Gown (Group Gift)
Corset: Rosal, Unmei Corset
Boots: Rosal, Unmei Boots

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Francesca
Light Settings: Places Abracadabra
Water Settings: Phototools Ship Light

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

25L Fall Fete: Fall Day at the Beach

Tomorrow is when the 25$L Fall Fete is ending, and I have it on good authority that in addition to a lot of 25$L items, there might be some freebies lurking around as thanks for another wonderful year. I escaped the damp rain of the fall to go to the beach, though! A little chilly, this time of year, but my beach cover from uNA was perfect for the purpose, and high enough that I only got it wet when I went wading deep in the waves! It's rigged mesh in several sizes, with charming drawstrings along the hips, and the texturing is very colorful and fun.I was very sparing with the accessories this time, leaving the main focus on the kaftan and my gorgeous, rigged mesh hands and feet from SLink. My one wish, and it is a very minor one, is that SLink might come out with a variety of skin textures to lay over the skin colors, allowing for a more pure match to my rather textured skin. In dimmer light it's not visible, but in the bright light of the beach, faint seams can be seen. I love them all the same, though; they finish off the limbs of my avatar in such a gorgeous manner that I keep pausing to stare!

I picked a loose, flowing style of hair from Secrets as the perfect accompaniment. It's a thick style with a loosely coiled texture to it, with those adorable curls at the end - like my hair is drying all frizzed and full of salt! I wanted something which looked rough and sun-warmed, and this fit the bill perfectly. To add some color to my pale skin, I layered on a reddening tattoo from Fallen Gods; it was meant for winter, but I found the effect worked well for the beginnings of a sunburn! Really, next time I should put on more sunscreen. I brightened my lips with a lovely gloss from Mock, just a faint amount of pink as if slightly chapped and wind-blown. As you can see, below I'm grinning and that comes with narrowed eyes - a challenge for those of us vain enough to wear eyelashes. I actually keep an extra set of my usual lashes which have been narrowed for the purpose, but sometimes you just have to edit for an angle and hope no one looks to closely! Since my eyes are larger than the norm, fitting lashes can be a bit of a trial, but I don't think I did to badly with the combination of Flugeln Brise and SLink below.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyelashes 1: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyelashes 2: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss - Blush
Skin Color: Fallen Gods, Winter Flush
Hair: Secrets Hair, Sunshine - Nordic (promotional item)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Hands: SLink, Mesh Hands
Outfit: uNA, Beach Kaftan
Bikini: Umi Usagi, Garbera Bikini
Feet: SLink, Mesh Feet

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Arcachon Atlantique
Light Settings: TOR, MIDDAY Rebranded Skies
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 42 - Cosmic

I am so late on Cosmic! I blame my short attention span. I kept meaning to put together and outfit, and remembering halfway through another photoshoot, and then I spent most of Saturday taking shots at Fallen Gods' Fifth Anniversary Party and went to sleep late. So this is a day late! Bad me! I'm hoping to get it in before the Flickr week restarts, though! Sometimes having only three pictures a week can be such a trial. Speaking of the pictures, you may notice that they seem a little contained this week - and that's because I literally took everyone one inside and around a store, using the small decorative touches around Rebel Hope Designs. Tiny fountains, planters, and vases of flowers all became my backdrop, because when one is a petite they are actually rather huge in comparison! That is one of the things I really love about being a petite - how it affects how I view the world and what becomes a beautiful background to some tiny pictures. Full sized it is more difficult to use a store as a playground, but when one comes up to everyone's knees, one really can make a playground out of anywhere!

I also bought this outfit for this color, less because I couldn't find it in larger and more because I really wanted to be a petite again for a while, which necessarily means wearing petite clothing! I had remembered a color similar to Cosmic among the selection at Evie's Closet and went hunting, and found she's converted many of her more fae outfits for petites in all of their colors. The hair, from Secrets, is part of their new petite line and has some wonderful details - like the braiding and ribbons of hair on the ponytail. I love those kinds of details, the small touches which make something unique. The jewelry is off-color, but I liked the blue as a break in the Cosmic monotony, and Elemental also has converted many of her jewelry from full sized to petite, which means a wider variety to draw from when getting gussied up.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Body: Fallen Gods, Pale (promotional item)
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Rainbow (promotional item)
Hair: Secrets, Kristeen (promotional item)
Outfit: Evie's Closet, Damselfly
Jewelry: Elemental, Butterfly Kisses

Poses: Long Awkward Pose

Location: Rebel Hope Designs
Light Settings: CB's Rouge 1
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

Experimentation: Lounging in Second Life

There is an amazing display at LEA20 which is meant to be used by photographers and machinimists in order to create things in Second Life, and it's really, really well done! There's a HUD you get at the entrance which gives teleport links to all of the areas. Several of them are fully contained displays, like the New Orleans Apartment I used for today's photoshoot, while others are missing the fourth wall and are set up for scenes and filming. All of them are incredibly detailed and gorgeously put together! A few places, items might not be quite flat on other things, but it's such a minor issue that can often be fixed with angles. In addition - wonders of wonders - they allow you to rez objects (with a very short life, maybe a half hour?). This makes it glorious to pose shots - several of these shots would not have been possible without my being able to rez a photography object.The styles of the different areas are widely variable, and I have no doubt I'll be back to make use of them! I am a huge fan of cohesive, gorgeous sims, but I have to admit this style of having different "scenes" is really growing on me.

The hair is a gorgeous style (regular and flexi prim) from Secrets Hair, which has moved! If you keep landmarks, make sure to update them! The hues are from a "fun" set, and I love the stripes of pink and white; when I saw them against my awesome dress from AlaFolie, I couldn't resist. AlaFolie has really stepped up on redefining the silhouette using rigged mesh, and this dress is a wonderful example of that - the ruched sides caught up with roses move smoothly in almost every animation I tried. The pearls dangling from one side are flexible prims, though I wish they moved a little more slowly; I wanted to catch them in midair, but they fell too fast! I matched the variety of pinks with a dark magenta eyeshadow from Virtual Insanity and a light pink gloss from Mock; I initially wasn't sure about the eyes, but I think they really called up the darker strands in my hair, and those few dark pink roses on the skirt. The shoes are from Felicity and were a special release for Sales Blitz. This week, this style of shoes in gray and a bunch of animal print stilettos are waiting for you at the store! Hurry to Felicity's store to check them out.

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Hair: Secrets Hair, Nara - Soda Pop (Promotional Item)
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Eyelashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Virtual Insanity, Fairy Fluff
Lipstick: Mock, Bella Vetro Gloss - Cabaret
Jewelry: bewildebeest, Madiera
Dress: AlaFolie, Marilyn Plume
Bouquet: G Field, Rose2 Mini Bouquet
Hands: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands (New Release)
Shoes: Felicity, Gianna Stilettos (Sales Blitz)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Machinima Open Studio Project: New Orleans Set
Light Settings: TOR, SPECIAL Heaven
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

ICHP De La Soul Petites

I have been sitting on this for a while, but one of my favorite stores of all time, as well as a dear friend, finally got accepted to create Petite Avatars. Charlie, of De La Soul, offered these fantastic UnSeelie Petites, Lumi for the women and Lumio for the men, as his opening salvo, but do believe me when I say this is just the beginning; I know he already has plans for a line of Seelie, and hopefully I can persuade him to release some of his standard skins in petite as well. You can find them for sale here in the Petite Kingdom, which is also ground zero for a glorious petite hunt. He's also promised he'll be releasing his petite skins full sized, so we really have a lot to look forward to. I honestly had a hard time deciding which to show, but Midnight Blue is one of my favorite shades of all time and I love how the luminescence - which this skin is named for - looks over this dark, rich tone. I took the overview of all of Lumi's possibilities in Undertow, a color I actually named~! I named it for a scent from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs, which I highly recommend for offline scented options. The skins come in eight color options: Aqua, Ember, Flame & Flora and Midnight, Morte, Nightshade & Undertow.

Lumi comes packed with options, all of which are HUD driven for a low-script avatar wherever you go. In addition to the standard Petite face animations (eyes open, eyes closed, a smile, and blinking), new for petite versions 2.0 and up, Charlie included a variety of lashes with different styles and tinting, and a custom tinting and glow system for the petite itself. Three foot and hand options are also included, and the head comes with faerie and human ears. Each Lumi or Lumio petite comes with matching eyes (one with white schlera and the other tinted dark) and clothing for only 1499$L. The clothing has multiple color and design options which are also HUD driven.I took pictures of all of the HUDs, so if you want to see how they work then click on "more pictures" and you'll see each one. He also has a set of eyes out as her Hunt prize in the Crystals hunt on the gorgeous new Petite Islands, where I took these pictures. It's a challenging place to take pictures - I kept falling through the floor - but it's absolutely mindblowingly gorgeous with tons of tiny, hidden spots to enchant and delight the eyes and ears. The hair I ended up using is this awesome hair from Secrets that is sized and designed for petites; they've become one of many stores offering petite options. The outfit is from Solange, and while I picked it up at the Fantasy Faire it took me forever to share it with you - isn't it gorgeous? Solange also has a crystal hidden for the Hunt.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Body: De La Soul, Lumi - Midnight (promotional item) and Undertow
Eyes: De La Soul, Lumi Doll Cosmos (hunt prize)
Hair: Secrets, Naive (promotional item)
Outfit: Solange, Petite Fiesta Dress - Aqua

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Petite Avatar Kingdom
Light Settings: Places Bentham
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

2012 Color Challenge: Week 39 - Hunter Green

The Gatcha Event at Arcade is all over the feeds and blogs, so I'm sure you've seen things from it, but I was completely blown away by the landscaping around the event. Set on a pier, with beautifully sculpted gatcha machines for all of the prizes, the texturing is completely gorgeous. A lot of it is mesh, but I found despite the crowds which were always there I had surprisingly little lag. Once I headed outside of the main building (visible on the left side), I was barely lagging at all. One positive effect of the mesh is these gorgeous fences with all of the detailing and sculpting on them which is incredibly crisp and clean. I know mesh has had a rocky start in Second Life, but I have to admit I appreciate it more and more as increasingly skills individuals begin to raise the bar even higher. Really, what can be accomplished in Second Life now is simply unbelievable - the equal of any other game on the market even on lower level computers like mine is. I was reminded of a recent post from The Digital Pasture, about how Second Life defaults are unattractive. She theorizes that a major part of this is that Linden Labs doesn't employ designers and artists, nor does it take advantage of the very talented artists in Second Life (with a few exceptions, like the new picture ads). I wonder sometimes if it might be different if more of the builders in Second Life were part of the community, but it's difficult to say that would make a difference given how involved lindens once were and how even then people perceived them as being distant.

Recently, I seem to have been channeling the color challenges; this week I dressed up in Hunter Green without quite realizing I had until after the pictures were taken. It was harder to work the windlight this time because the sky was textured, so setting up something which looked good but still lit the environment sufficiently was a real challenge; I ended up not doing anything too flashy. The dress from Wishbox and the watch from katat0nik were the twin inspirations, and then I ended up with the green wrap from Schadenfreude and it seemed completely perfect. The dress is a longtime favorite, and I took advantage of Wishbox's recent sale to pick up all of the rest of the colors; the colors on it are so rich, and I adore the shiny texturing on the bodice, and the ribbon around the neck. katat0nik's watches are part of the the gatcha event, though this one was a gift from a dear friend to lure me there. I have further plans for these - part of a conversation she and I had - but you'll have to wait to see what it is! As for Schadenfreude, their style doesn't always fit me - difficult to say why, but it's true - but I really love this fox stole with the button eyes; it's rigged mesh, so it stays with your torso as you move.

The mouse ears are actually tinted to be a darker green, but they are also a prize from the gatcha event but from Auxiliary, and I'm still tempted to thrown more linden their way looking for those rainbow rares! That's the problem with gatcha events; they suck me dry and tempt me to keep going until I have everything!  The hair is a new release from Secrets Hair, and I really love it. It didn't fit right out of the box, but Secrets Hair is wisely mixing rigged mesh with prims and so I was able to shift a bit of bangs to cover my bits of skull. The bit of lipstick to give just a hint of color is a gorgeous offering from Mock; I went with simple cosmetics to highlight the Lolita styling of my dress; Lolitas tend to have very simple or innocent looking appearances. I'm not sure I ever manage innocent, but I think simple exists here! The boots are an amazing offering from Kcreations; like every time I've worn some of her boots I've been pleased, and the fact they are color changing and tintable means that they are infinitely matchable, even for difficult to find colors.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De la Soul, RooMee Rainbow
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Lipstick: Mock, Lucir Lipcolor - Vin Rouge
Hair: Secrets Hair, Cristina - Caramel (promotional item)
Mouse Ears: Auxiliary, Gatcha Mouse Ears (Bow) Black
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Watch: katat0nik, Nada Watch - Candy Green (Arcade Gatcha Event)
Dress: Wishbox, Charm - jade (Arcade Gatcha Event)
Stole: Schadenfreude, Green Foxy Stole (Arcade Gatcha Event)
Pet: D Lab, Skunk Arm Black (Arcade Gatcha Event)
Boots: Kcreations, Feline Boots - Leather

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Arcade Gatcha Event
Light Settings: TOR, NIGHT Brighter
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

ICHP: Fall into Spring

This gorgeous dress is one of the recent releases from Sublime Shroud Kreations, a store run by a dear friend of mine (which means freebies~!). I adore this dress, though, from the layered front which cascades into three layers, to the delicately detailed bodice with lacing up the back, to the adorable bows on the hips holding on the front tucks and the back mini-bustle. It's cut low and square in front, as befits a French Confection, and all of the prim parts are fully modifyable. This came in handy when I needed to make the skirt shorter - yes, ladies and gentlemen, you know how much I love this dress because I resized the skirt manually to be shorter and thus fit me better. As you can see, it was time well invested though. The only flaw I saw, and this is a teeny one, is some slight imperfections under the arms along the seams, but my understanding is that the area is a very difficult one for shading.

The jewelry is an adorable wire and gem set from Eclectica, which comes with a medium hanging necklace, earrings, a bracelet, and a ring. I love the delicate patterning of the wire around the stone on this one (best visible on the bottom picture) mimicking the petals of a rose. It's the kind of necklace I'd actually love to find offline, but that I think would be prohibitively expensive! At least in Second Life I can afford it.

The hair is another new release, from Secrets Hair, and it's another of their amazing combinations of rigged mesh and flexible prim. it's long and full, with the movement that flexi gives it too look natural while still hugging the torso so that you don't end up with hair clipping into your body. One interesting effect with this hair is that under certain lights the rigged part behaves very differently from the flexi - I considered trying for some shots to show it off, and I may revisit that with an outfit that suits it. It's a very neat effect.

Finally, these gorgeous shoes are a recent release from Felicity; if you want to try them out, the hot pink version of them are hidden as part of the Finding FabFree Hunt.You're actually looking for a five, so it's not that difficult in most places (though some of the stops are evil!). Felicity's skin-tinting hud is one of my favorites; you edit it and use the built-in texture changer to tint it, then set the color on the skin. She has a similar toenail tinting system, which means the effects can match virtually anything - in this case I pulled dark green form the dress to tint my toes. It also comes with a built in AO and the clickity-clack sounds of the heels if that's to your taste! I fly in Second Life a lot, so I tend to turn that off.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De la Soul, RooMee Rainbow
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Virtual Insanity, Spring - Margarita
Blush: Honey Kitty, cheeks01
Lipstick: Acid & Mala, Nude Lips - Pale 20
Hair: Secret Hair, Cornelia (promotional item)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: Eclectica, Nouveau Rose - blush
Dress: Sublime Shroud Kreations, The Parisian - Spring (promotional item)
Shoes: Felicity, Irina Stilettos (promotional item)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Bonne Chance
Light Settings: CalWL
Water Settings: TOR, Coral reef

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

In Spirit

I had already done a photoshoot at claudia222 Jewell's Art Screamer show - spirit - but I'm glad I came back for another look, this time working with a darker pallet. I'm so very glad I came back, because I found several layers I had missed the last time. I'm kind of wishing I had the time and attention to do a third set with a different windlight, but it's closing today and I try to not overwhelm myself with too much pressure; I feel like the push to take photographs actually can weaken the photographs taken. At ground level is the usual psychadelicly muted figures set out in glorious fractal style which characterize Jewell's art, but in this case the lower level gives birth to growing platforms higher and higher in the air, including the birthplace of bees and what looks like a floating layer of jellyfish. At once both organic and fantastic, the problem with photographing one of Jewell's art pieces is less finding something worth a picture and more finding angles which imply the greater whole experienced in 3D. I hope I have managed, in some small way, to capture even a fragment of my gasps of delight as I explored spirit in the dark.

Bare Rose does the best hunts in the known universe, and this is an example of their hunt prizes - almost the whole outfit (plus a horse to ride which I didn't wear) was a single, relatively easy hunt prize, with a really awesome story to go along with it. I try very hard to do all of the hunts through her and keep all of the stories since they're so awesome; you've missed this one, but future ones await us all. The hair is an awesome one from Secrets Hair which I honestly didn't think I would ever find an outfit for, until I tried it with this outfit. The goggles are part of the Bare Rose outfit, but the kerchief is part of the Secrets Hair - confusing, I know! But doesn't it look awesome? The little dangles in front of the ears cut a little into my faerie ears, but not enough that it really disrupts even in pictures. It's also a mix of rigged mesh and flexi hair, which makes it very versatile but still good looking when you move; the pony tail sticks to the back no matter how you move, while the flexi swirls around giving the illusion of free floating hair. .

( More pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De la Soul, RooMee Rainbow
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Hair: Secret Hair, Ahoy - Platinum (promotional item)
Outfit (including wings): Bare Rose, Over the Moonbow (Hunt Prize)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Art Screamer: spirit by claudia222 Jewell
Light Settings: NB, Sepia 0000
Water Settings: TOR, Coral reef

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

ICHP: Spray Tan and Sunshine in the Country

As you can see, this is a complete departure from my usual style - but I was so intrigued by the bib-miniskirt and tub top from SLC Couture that I simply had to give it a try. The sizing is a bit off, but it looks kind of loose and fun to me, so I rolled with it. I ended up shrinking a few places so I could wear it without invisilayers, since I was enough off of the base shape that you could see through me in a few places. One thing I really like about mesh is the ability to seem much smaller than your clothing, though; no longer the skin-tight of system layers, fabric can drape over a body and form new shapes which make it much more realistic and fun to take pictures of. In this case, I put the medium bustier top under the large overalls, and it looks like I pieced together an outfit from my dad's clothes and maybe some window curtains! A perfect Country look that needed a country place. The lovely ladies in the Mock Cosmetics Group pointed me to T-Town, which proved to be a fantastic place to match the style of my outfit. I love the rows of lavender and the old town, somewhat broken down buildings; it really got me in the mood of being a country girl with her pet owl (50$L Friday Release by Silent Sparrow - it hoots when you click it!).

The jewelry is from my ongoing favorite, Elemental; I figured it looked like the kind of thing a girl would pull together from brightly colored river rocks, bouncing around the farm with her jewels clinking. The hair is a perfect updo, too, from Secrets Hair. I love the braid across the forehead, and I was able to resize it and work the dangly tufts in front of the ears; it's really a lovely, breezy style. As suits a farmgirl, I went brunette and matched it with a darker-than-usual skin from Dulce Secrets and pale as ice eyes from Mayfly (the area was no script, so I couldn't pose my eyes for best look, but these are an amazing design in brilliant shades). The makeup you see is included with the skin; the shadows are darker than I'm used to, but I think it works well with a tannish-red skin. I liked the texturing of the face, too; much less sweet and innocent than my usual skin - which I thought elevated my farmgirl from naif wild child to a woman flirting with elegance. That same elegance is echoed in the nails (a first for me! I'm still not sure what I think of them overall, but the ones from Moondance were lovely) and these gorgeous heels from Felicity. Clearly, she's on her way to town, since there's no way anyone could do farmwork in stilettos!

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Dulce Secrets, Lyric Amaretto (promotional item)
Eyes: Mayfly, Deep Sky Mesh - Monet Dawn (promotional item)
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Hair: Secrets, Naive - Mocha (promotional item)
Head-owl: Silent Sparrow, Owl-ee! (50$L Linden Friday)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings
Jewelry: Elemental, Tropical Earth (promotional item)
Nails: Moondance, Square Extra Short Gothic Lolita (promotional item)
Outfit: SLC Designs, Mesh Bib & Brace Mini Skirt and Bustier Top (promotional item)
Shoes: Felicity, Harlow Shoe (promotional item)

Location: T-Town
Light Settings: TOR, MIDDAY Azure
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

How NOT to Make Friends in Second Life

In a world where demands for cybersex from random newbies happens all too often, it's easy to begin to think that only men are inclined to be rude to complete strangers in public. Heading over to a sale location that opened today, I was startled by the scroll of text of a group of four people nearby, primarily one of them who seemed to both be unable to read nametags, and also seemed unable to stop the flow of excrement from her mouth. This is an excerpt of the maybe ten minutes I was displeased enough to be in the same space as her.

[I’m An Asshole]: WAIT U FUCKING BITCH
[I’m An Asshole]: LOL 
[I’m An Asshole]: oo a fairy
[I’m An Asshole]: lick my clit
[I’m An Asshole]: LOL
[I’m An Asshole]: Why you leaving me

I moved closer heading into the store to look, and ignoring her since 1) I don't answer to "fairy" and 2) she seemed like a waste of time. This was quickly verified without me doing anything but looking at clothing nearby.

[I’m An Asshole]: Becauser that fairy bitch made me crash
[I’m An Asshole]: lol joke 
[Friend of an Asshole]: oh the one floatin outside
[I’m An Asshole]: i dont mean it i love her really
[Friend of an Asshole]: jks
[Friend of an Asshole]: LOL
[I’m An Asshole]: no i was joking she was cute
[Friend of an Asshole]: oh god
[Friend of an Asshole]: too much
[Friend of an Asshole]: LOL
[I’m An Asshole]: omg she is there
[I’m An Asshole]: lol
[I’m An Asshole]: Sorry fairy
[I’m An Asshole]: i didnt mean it

And then she walked into me, over and over again, until she and her little friends went away, because when you apologize to someone, apparently it shows how regretful you are by bumping into someone who is ignoring you.

Sometimes silence IS the answer.

A couple quick notes on my ensemble - the outfit is from a sale going on at Silent Sparrow right now of some of her older releases, which as far as I'm concerned stand up over time. The jewelry is a gorgeous set from Elemental, who has some up for 60$L every weekend (though not these this week, her jewelry is always worth a look!). The hair is a recent release from Secrets Hair and is a combination prim-and-mesh hair, which means that while the shoulder pieces are attached, and thus move with you, the updo and extra hairpieces are modifiable. I was able to fit them around my ears with the greatest of ease using "edit linked" and it really saved a gorgeous hairstyle for me!

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose (promotional item)
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow MESH (promotional item)
Ears: Illusion, Seelie Ears
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: Kosh, Lost Souls Eyeshadow
Lipstick: Croire, Glittery Gloss
Hair: Secrets, Sultry - Platinum
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings
Jewelry: Elemental, Butterfly Kisses
Dress: Silent Sparrow, Dominion Suite - azure
Shoes: G Field, Square-toe Shoes "Sophie"

Pose: Glitterati

Location: The Mystic Dream
Light Settings: TOR, BIG SUN Impires
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only

I Can Haz Promoshunz: Blue Moon

I have a lot of fun things on today, many of them promotional items, and I had such fun taking pictures with my new low-lag system that I could squeal with glee. The eyes are an unusual green for me, but are a lovely mesh set from Mayfly. I really like how clear and bright they are, with shine on the top and a pale glow on the bottom. I surrounded them with a multicolor liner from Eyelure - a new to me store. with a really fun and bright style. It's all over a new skin from Skintimate, which came with a variety of lipsticks. This is the porcelain tone, and I really like the shadowing on it - especially since the tone is so light. The brows are on the skin itself but fine enough to go along with a variety of hairs, or covered up by a colored brow. The facial features are delicate and sweet, the lips a touch too wide for my usual taste but I like the effect here, and based on my time spent in second life most people prefer the large lips. The base lipcolor for the skin was a dark pink, but the layers on top cover it entirely and in a lovely way. The jewelry is another from Elemental, which I really adore. It comes with earrings to match, the same mix of colors with a large, silver star to crown them. The design is very unique, and I thought the bright colors were a nice contrast for an otherwise monochromatic look.

I crowned my look with an actual crown from Eclectica - the gems are color changing via menu, which makes it very versatile. This one is base silver, but there is base gold and base steel; between the metals and the stones, you can have a crown for every occasion. I'm also wearing a claddagh ring from Eclectica, but I neglected to get a good shot of it - it's also color changing, which I thought was really wonderful. It would make a great gift between friends, as well. The hair is a fun, piled updo from Secrets Hair. Like all Secrets Hair, it's edit-ok, which means I was able to move a few pieces of hair out of my shoulder without any difficulty. It's short enough to photograph well without being rigged mesh, and a very unique silhouette for hair - very Georgia Peach afterparty. The dress is another gorgeous one from SLC Couture - again a fun silhouette with the upturned ruffles - and the fabric of the skirt is delicate (best seen up close below). The one problem is the usual alpha occlusion errors that come along with transparent textures - I mostly settled it with a second skirt tinted a darker shade, as if each ruffle had a lining; you can see I didn't get the tint quite right for the lighting; I should have tinted again once I found my windlight, but I didn't notice the error until I was posting things up; sorry! The boots are from Dilly Dolls, from the current Ice Cream Motif event, and are also color change. The edges of the boots look like the edges of cakes with sprinkles on top; even the bows have an air of icing to them, and effect that really appeals to me.

One of the things I love about doing Promotional posts is the encouragement to put together new looks and look at things in different ways. I had fully intended to take this look to it's monochromatic conclusions until I saw the newest gift from Elemental and that changed the direction of the look entirely (even the boots, which went from plain blue to the multicolored variant you see above). It's easy to fall into a rut of a certain style of dress, a certain style of look, if you don't have things in place to challenge you to think more creatively. I wonder sometimes if creators have a similar issue, which might explain the growing trend toward thematic gatherings of things, like Flux and Motif. Just as I find themes based around colors or a need to combine items from different stores stimulating, I'm hoping creators get the same push of creativity from working with a theme and seeing the amazing work of others within that same theme.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Skintimate, Angelina Special Edition (light pink lips)  (promotional gift)
Eyes: Mayfly, Deep Sky Mesh Eyes - Paris Green (promotional gift)
Eyelashes 1: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Cosmetics: Eyelure, WILDS - red orange green blue (promotional gift)
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Hair: Tribal Soul, Rehab - Platinum  (promotional gift)
Tiara: Eclectica, Regency Tiara - noon (promotional gift)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Jewelry: Elemental, Kaleidoscope Set  (promotional gift)
Dress: SLC Couture, Alise tuerkis (promotional gift)
Ring: Eclectica, Claddagh Ring  (promotional gift)
Boots: Dilly Dolls, Cassiel Ice Cream Boots  (promotional gift)

Poses: Morgane Bastista Poses

Location: Ninth Rua
Light Settings: TOR, NIGHT Brighter
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Lost in a Jungle of Magic

The 25L Tuesday Fall Fete, celebrating a two years of 25 Linden goodness on every Tuesday, is opening on - wait for it - TUESDAY! The store owners have come out in force to offer up inexpensive treasures and a healthy example of their full price store items. I'll have some more things to show you (I went shopping!) but first I wanted to show off my fantastic new duds from De La Soul - including a special version of her Aestali and Aestalian skins called Marked Copper! For the fae inclined, they come with matching ears with a new 'tipped' style which I really like. I've never done dual colored ears before, but I may be converted.

De La Soul's new tunics are out, too, including this one in aqua. I love the patterning at the cuffs, and these are unisex - included are prim parts sized for the guys, and everything is modify ok anyway, so fitting is a breeze. I ended up shrinking my tunic quite a bit, as it was more 'dress' than 'tunic', and it only took me a few minutes. I'm also showing off her new backpacks - in this case the scribe backpack though there are bunches of others - decorated with all the tools of my trade. Next to this one, I think the cook one is my favorite, which a frying pan hanging off of one side!

The hair is an awesome new-ish one from Secrets Hair, and I really love it - from the flower details along the top, to a fantastic set of beading in the bun at the back (look below). It fit like a dream, and I am particularly fond of the cute little curls on either side of my face, right in front of my ears.

These leather and buckly leg warmers are also for De La Soul, and like the rest are up for 25$L for 25$L Tuesday in grand style! I wore them over a set of digi-legs from De La Soul's daemon style, but they can be worn with regular shoes as well.

The sim I'm on is showing a temporary display from Soror Nishi. I had wanted to catch one of her in-world shows for a long time (she's mostly moved to another grid), so when I read on her blog that she was going to be showing not one but TWO sets of her amazing, other-wordly plants I made solid plans to get there as soon as possible. And take pictures. She totally did not disappoint, but I'm being quite honest when I say my pictures do not do it justice. Most of her plants are semi-transparent or outright transparent, which gives everything an imprecise and vague feeling that I love. The textures she uses are unique, and amazing, and witht he transparency they can layer over each other creating new colors where they cross. Some of the plants let loose with spoors of colors making fuzzy straight lines that cross over each other as well, making layers of boxes with open ends. The effect is amazing, and mesmerizing, and making windlight changes will just improve it for you! Go go go now!

I've been thinking a lot today about experiences, and how our knowledge in one area can make us dismissive of people with different areas of knowledge - sometimes rightly, but other times wrongly, and always with the risk of being rude. My brother told me the story once of a girl he met at college doing her laundry for the first time, as she'd never needed to at home. He was drawn to the laundry room by the smell of grinding gears and her dismay; she had packed the laundry machine so tightly with laundry that it literally couldn't move, much less let any water in to wash things. This experience, he said as he told us of it, gave him a new appreciation for our mom insisting we took part in doing chores.

I had a friend, also, who once cooked us a dinner but who didn't know a lot about cooking. He wanted to do a beef fry up, and purchased stew meat, since it was already cut small; for those who don't know, stew meat is the cheapest, stringiest cuts and is meant to be boiled for a minimum of three or four hours. Luckily, he asked me before he cooked with garlic, as he had assumed a clove was the bulb, and not the individual, smaller piece. And I have gratitude toward my mom for teaching me to cook, and some of the basics in the kitchen, even though I still have a lot to learn.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: De la Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose Marked Copper (promotional item)
Eyes: De La Soul, Roomee Eyes - Rainbow
Ears: De la Soul, Wooby - Tipped Ear (promotional item)
Hair: Secrets Hair, Spring - Dirty Blond (promotional item)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Dress: De La Soul, Celtic Tunic - Aqua (promotional item)
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, Nestling Finger
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring - Bouquet
Panties: katat0nik, Holiday panties
Stockings: Kyri Style, No 2 Chocolate
Leg Warmers: De La Soul, DigiLegwarmers Belted (promotional item)
Hooves: De La Soul, Deamon Digi Legs (promotional item)

Poses: Glitterati

Location: Imparafacile Island
Light Settings: Surreal Brazil

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only