Safari Chic at Collabor88

There are lots of winners at this month's safari themed Collabor88. I'm in love with the separates from Fashionably Dead, especially the tweed jacket which fits perfectly over the shorts and tank top. My Pure Poison sandals for medium Slink feet are perfect with my ensemble. Flowey has binoculars that work with our animation overriders to help us study the wildlife. Of course perving on the neighbors is fun, too. ;-)

Credits:

Fashionably Dead Safari Shorts - Olive (at Collabor88)
Fashionably Dead Tucked Racer Tank - Rust (at Collabor88)
Fashionably Dead Tweed Blazer - Light Brown (at Collabor88)
Pure Poison - Hellen Sandals - V1 (at Collabor88)
ARGRACE KAORU - Cinnamon

Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands
Slink Female Feet (AvEnhance) - Mid
The Skinnery Maya 13 (honey) BB CL1

Binoculars and pose from Flowey (at Collabor88)

Wet Head

Just in time for bikini weather comes this fabulous wet hair from Argrace. I adore the special and imaginative styles at that store! My Baiastice bikini is at Collabor88 for a few more days, and my freckled skin is the PXL Creations applier for my SLink Physique.

Credits:

ARGRACE HIKARI - Cinnamon (New Release)
Mon Cheri "Falsies" Eyelash - Upper+Lower
Baiastice Luli Bikini - corals (at Collabor88)
Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands
Slink Physique Mesh Figure V1
PXL Creations MIA Jazz NAT ~ Makeup 03 REB C2 (at Rhapsody)
IKON Spectral Eyes - Amber

Pose by oOo Studios

We Love Role-Play Opening June 4th

The We <3 Role-Play shopping event, beginning June 4th at 3 P.M. SLT, has great items for roleplayers and fantasy fashionistas. My thrilling Ninja outfit from Pucca Firecaster's Creations comes in both female and male versions, right down to the shoes!

Of course roleplay is about more than Ninjas. Bite and Claw invites us to search out a Renaissance sim to strut in the nicely textured Anne gown. Distorted Dreams makes the look dreamily romantic with a circlet of blossoms added to my hair. All of these items are available exclusively at We <3 Role-Play!

Credits:

(top pic)

Pucca Firecaster's Creations ~ Ninja (Female) - boots
Pucca Firecaster's Creations ~ Ninja (Female) - bracers
Pucca Firecaster's Creations ~ Ninja (Female) - half mask
Pucca Firecaster's Creations ~ Ninja (Female) - jacket
Pucca Firecaster's Creations ~ Ninja (Female) - pants

Argrace Hair  HARUKA - Rosewood

Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands
Izzie's - Neva Skin rosy GB
Izzie's - Neva Eyeliner black
Izzie's - Freckles (face only)

(bottom pic)

Spellbound Hair Hecate // Reds

Distorted Dreams Hair Wreath - Kyna Peach
Bite &Claw Anne Gown - Snow
Bite &Claw Anne Sleeves - Snow
Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands
Izzie's - Neva Skin rosy GB

Izzie's - Lipstick strawberry
Izzie's - Neva Eyeliner black
Izzie's - Freckles (face only)

Just Me and Mesh

After looking so scary in the last post I thought I'd better try a more normal look today for a couple of reasons. Reason number one is that my friend Clay was a little disturbed that my zombie av could have such sexy hair, so I thought I'd wear the hair for him while looking more normal. That's also who the wink is for! Reason number two is so I could remind myself how good mesh can look. Zombie Girl aside, most of the new female avis in our library are just ugly. Poor noobs.

I'm in the mood for casual, and have chosen a few of my recent casual items to wear today. The Pure Poison wedge sandals with the cherries on them are adorable, and work so well with my cherry necklace from Yummy Accessories. Of the several pairs of jeans I've bought recently, Mon Tissu's rolled up cuffed ones are my favorites. The latest coldLogic release has the cutest summer tops!

Digs has a lot of beautiful new home furnishing releases that can be used indoors or out. The Genoa lanterns (currently found at The Liaison Collaborative) are definitely going on my patio. I used an animation from the Digs Jensen Footstool for this picture because I thought it showed off the shoes and my casual attitude today.

Credits:

Yummy Fruit Necklace - Cherry (at Collabor88)
coldLogic shirt - bates.snow (New Release)
Mon Tissu Harlow's Cuffed Jeans ~ Medium Wash
Pure Poison - Cherry Wedges (New Release)
Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands
Slink Female Feet (AvEnhance) - Mid
Slink Visage Mesh Head - Becky

Adam N Eve Taliya Genesis Tone B Basic Applier for Slink Visage Head
Adam N Eve Skin Taliya Tone B Bare
Argrace Hair HARUKA - Russet
IKON Spectral Eyes - Amber

 

The New Mesh Starter Avatars Are Here

I must admit, I was underwhelmed by the new mesh starter avatars released yesterday for Second Life. That is, until I got to the Zombie Girl. She may be scary - but at least she's supposed to be! Actually she's awesome, as is the male zombie.

The facial expressions of all of the mesh avatars are fixed, and there is no way to wear any clothes that require an alpha with the new mesh bodies. Some of the clothes are nice, but don't necessarily fit other mesh bodies, which should leave newbies scratching their heads.

Speaking of heads, I kept my Argrace hair on while I tried all the female avatars and a few of the males. They all came with mesh hair, but not as nice as they could be. Check your library to find all the new mesh avis and try them for yourself. You will love the zombies, I promise.

How Do I Look?

Here's another Pose Fair find, this time from Savoir Faire - The Dressing Room Prop. I dressed it up a bit with the Apple Fall coat and palm tree, and the Standby Inc birdcage. The prop has ten darling built in poses. This pose is just calling out, "How do I look?"

Credits:

Tee*fy Vanishing Clouds Skirt Sky
Tee*fy Vanishing Clouds Top Sky
Glam Affair - Vera - America 02 F
Argrace Hair - HARUKA - Cinnamon

Leverocci - Satin Wrap Heels Lavender
Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands
Slink Female Feet (AvEnhance) - Mid
Mon Cheri "Falsies" Eyelash - Upper+Lower
IKON Spectral Eyes - Amber

The Attitude Is In the Pose

 Hooray for poses! If you like taking pictures in Second Life you collect static poses. I have so many poses in my animations folder and they never get deleted. They don't age. A pose from 2008 can be just as fresh looking as a pose from 2014. Still I buy more. With Pose Fair in full swing until May 3rd, Strawberry Singh's weekly meme is about our favorite pose makers. Maybe I can make up for the times I forget to credit pose makers.

Meme Instructions: Share a picture of your favorite pose or a list of your favorite posemakers on the grid! Don’t forget to leave a link to your post in the comments and share your picture in the blog memes flickr group.

1. In the top photo I'm smoking away in oOo Studio's Rita pose (number 4). Olaenka Chesnokov makes natural poses that fit me well. I look for poses that have energy in them, as if I am capturing someone mid-movement. The energy and attitude are easy to find when I use an oOo pose.
2. Another posemaker I return to over and over again is Diesel Works. Rogan Diesel makes sexy poses suitable for fashion shoots that I can't resist. I have his pose stands scattered all over my platform and usually get dressed and accessorize for a fashion photo while standing on one.
3. I'm in awe of Del May's work. Talk about attitude! Her couple and group poses are beautiful and unique. The single poses capture a carelessly perfect hipster vibe that I've never seen anywhere else.
4. I'm a big fan of pose props. Sometimes I need a pose prop for inspiration. I snap up Chandni Khondji's Hopscotch pose props because they're cute and well thought out whether I'm riding a magic carpet, viking ship, or police call box!
5. I hate to think that they aren't making new poses still, but I loved Olive Juice and Adorkable poses. My friend Aprilmae Devin has made some lovely poses when I bullied her into it and has them available at her store Alterior Motions.

 When I go to Pose Fair my mission is generally to find a new pose store or two to add to my ever-growing collection of poses and props. I really liked Infiniti's Walk the Line pose prop. It gave me something fresh and fun to photograph, and there are a good assortment of poses built in.

Credits:

Argrace Hair Victoria - Ginger (top photo)

Argrace Hair HARUKA - Copper (second photo)

Mon Cheri "Falsies" Eyelash - Upper+Lower
IKON Spectral Eyes - Amber
Maitreya * Hemlock * Half Tucked Shirt (New Release)
Maitreya Boyfriend Jeans - Sky (New Release)
BoHo HoBo Scarf Ladie's Small (candystripes)

Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands
Slink Female Feet (AvEnhance) - Mid

Glam Affair - Vera - America 02 F
 

Flat Ebbe and Me

I've been waiting for Strawberry Singh to do this meme ever since she plurked about stalking meeting Linden Lab's new CEO a week or so ago. I had such fun with Flat Rodvik and I figured Flat Ebbe Linden would be a fun date. However, Berry thinks we should just lecture poor Ebbe about how to be a good CEO. Sorry, Ebbe, our date will have to wait.

Meme instructions: Pick up a copy of Flat Ebbe Linden from Berry's marketplace store for free and take him to one of your favorite places on the grid. Also, share at least three things that you’d like to tell Ebbe. Please remember to leave a link to your post in Berry's comments and share your Flat Ebbe picture in the Blog memes flickr group.

So Ebbe, as we pose for a pretty picture standing in the courtyard of Cory Edo's beautiful creation newly released at Collabor88, the Cortona Villas, here are my thoughts:

1. I really like what you have said about Second Life so far. You have inherited a passionate and creative user base who created everything interesting to see and do in SL, so we don't really see ourselves as customers of a product. We are creators and supporters of a surreal visionary world. We built it, we feel connected to it. I think you get that and I really appreciate that you do.
2. You're in a honeymoon phase, but eventually you will tick off one group or another in SL. While this ire will probably be a by-product of some benefit you want to introduce, it will happen and you will be tempted to withdraw from your current accessibility so you don't have to listen to a lot of - well - let's call it counterproductive trash talk. As a communications professional in another life, I can tell you that once you have opened the conversation with your customers as you have done, closing that conversation when things get challenging is a mistake that leads to bad feelings and loss of trust for the entire community - not just the ones who were ticked off in the first place. Have a communications strategy to deal with these issues as they arise. Appoint other Lindens to speak on the issues and keep the messages consistent and honest.
3. Advice for retaining new users - here's one little thing that seems to have been overlooked for years - the waddle-walk of a newbie. I'm not suggesting you need to fix the dorky stands (you're using one of them in the picture), but couldn't that waddle-walk be turned into something more graceful? A script in the shoe with a nice smooth female or male walk? Anything? The new starter avatars with mesh outfits and hair are a good beginning, but give a poor newbie a decent walk.

Credits:

Argrace Hair HARUKA - Cinnamon (Unrigged / resize)
Mutresse Guzla Shorts (at FaMeshed)
Tee*fy Sophie Cut-Out Ruffle Top Bloom (at Collabor88)
Ingenue Pandora Flats (Slink Feet Add-On) Sepia (Gacha item)
Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands
Slink Female Feet (AvEnhance) - Flat

Glam Affair - Vera - America 02 F
IKON Spectral Eyes - Amber

Bicycle and pose from What Next

 Trompe Loeil - Cortona Villas (at Collabor88)

Potted plants from Apple Fall and XED Designs

Spring Season Challenge and Fitted Mesh

March, they say, comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb. Strawberry Singh has challenged us to think Spring for this Monday challenge, and Spring is windy here. It's just as well, because I found this gorgeous wind blown hair at Argrace this morning!

Meme Instructions: Share a spring-themed picture and/or answer the following questions about the season. Don’t forget to leave a link to your post in the comments and share your picture in the Blog Memes Flickr Group.

1. What is the spring season like where you live? – Spring in my area is a lovely rebirth, and the flowers begin to bloom a week or two earlier than just an hour's drive north or south for some reason. Maybe it's because of the river valley, but I don't really know why for sure. Maybe we're magic.
2. What’s the first thing that pops into your head when you think of spring? – Yellow flowers like daffodils and forsythia. They're the first flowers that bloom in my garden. Today I noticed my daffodils have poked through the soil, though there are no blooms yet.
3. Which spring-themed sim in Second Life is your favorite at the moment? – It All Starts With a Smile is lovely right now in all its spring glory.

It All Starts With a Smile

Another thing Berry talked about was fitted mesh that adjusts to our shapes instead of us adjusting to standard sizes. Cracked Mirror has two new fitted mesh releases for FaMeshed including the jumpsuit I'm wearing in the top photo. Standard sizes are also included. Alpha layers still need to be worn, but I did notice a sleeker fit when I compared it to my usual size small. Thank you Cracked!

Credits:

Cracked Mirror Roxanne Jumpsuit (mauve) (at FaMeshed)

Argrace Hair HARUKA - Cinnamon (New Release)
Cae Timeless Earring
Erratic Clarice - mesh sandals / gold
Maxi Gossamer - Bangles - Sparkly Pearl Cuff
Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands
Slink Female Feet (AvEnhance) - Mid
Slink Visage Mesh Head - Becky

DeeTaleZ for Slink Visage "Face Viola" MU MIXEDTYPE
IKON Spectral Eyes - Amber

 

Let It Fall

Can you tell that I feel sexy in my oh-so-tall SLink Pricilla stilettos? Siddean Munro added some new colors to three new releases and sent a gift to those of us who participated in a questionnaire about which colors we wanted to see. All of the new shoes designed for the brand new high feet are now available at the SLink mainstore.

I've been lately seeing some poses with great prop hair on Flickr and blogs I follow, so I had to check it out for myself. What do i mean by the term "prop hair?" Well, I wouldn't wear these just walking around but for certain poses a regular hair just doesn't look quite right. There are two gorgeous prop hairs at Argrace, a store that has been around for a long time but is new to me. I love how my tresses fall behind me in this pose. The hair comes with five great poses, but for this picture I used the Diesel Works Bella Chair prop to show off shoes and hair together.

The skin I'm showing so much of is a preview of PXL Creation's Mia. This is a three makeup, three skintone pre-release for the Black Label Fashion event. I'll be showing you more of this lovely new skin tomorrow. Uh - by that I mean a close up of the face. I know what you were thinking! ;-P

Credits:

ARGRACE Saki - Ginger with Hairbase
One Bad Pixel Glimmer Bikini Black
Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands
Slink AvEnhance Feet High
Slink Mesh eyelids (alpha) (photo prop)
Slink Priscilla Plateau Heels Ivory

PXL MIA ~BlackLabel~ NAT PEACH MEB