Thursday, June 27, 2013

CHALLENGE: Tell Someone You Appreciate Them!



I was sorting my vast, endless inventory when I came across some Balaclava stuff. Now, I love me some Balaclava, and have for years. It made me smile to see it all. So much of what Balaclava's creator Uriah makes is just pure fun. It's not something created just to make a buck. It is obvious there is a lot of thought that goes into the items and how to make them all amazing.

Take the ukuleles out now at Summerfest, for example. It's not just a ukulele you hold or hang on the wall. You can play it alone... and *with other people*. There's a HUD. It plays multiple songs. Uriah even provided a cute gift box for those who want to give it as a present. And it's not expensive at all.

His marching instruments for Arcade last round were so much fun - alone and with a group, and his trickster boxes at the current Arcade are just as amazing. I have an old outfit he made for an event - Mr. Crow for Designer's United, all the way back in 2009 - that was so gorgeous.. and still is. I would **kill** to have that outfit on Wilmur, but sadly it was before his time. There was another outfit Balaclava made back in 2010 for the Narcissus event, the Narcissus on High Street short suit, that remains one of my favorite outfits ever. It is so well made, it still beats a lot of mesh things put out now. Remember the 1011 event? He made the coolest jackets for that event, and while almost every other designer there had exorbitant prices, his were reasonable.


Let's also not forget his lovely old superhero underwear. Wilmur has melted many hearts with those for years. He almost never takes them off.

BAM indeed!

As I'm going through all this in my inventory, I realize how much fun Uriah has given me in my SL, and he has no idea. So I start thinking about all the other people who have made my SL fun - Donna Flora, who has always been so gracious in helping me dress Edith’s unique shape; to Nylon and Poly, who have always been wonderful and supportive of Edith/Wilmur beyond just the brilliance of those avatars’ skins, shapes, and clothing. To Katharine McGinnis of Intrigue, Allegory Malaprop of Schadenfreude, and dazai voom of d-lab whose minds are just one big glob of whimsy. To Corksoaker Gloom, Neva Crystal, and Amelie Knelstrom, who make some of the prettiest pictures on Flickr. To Carthalis Rossini, Attero Diavolo, and Alles Klarr/Kynne Llewellyn who remind me that blogs don't have to be just static models with vapid expressions - that they can be works of art themselves. Scottius Polke, Gracie Kendal, Ziki Questi, Rowan Derryth, and PJ Trenton... and countless other artists and creators. They have no idea how much they have made my SL better... but they are about to.


So, that's where this comes from. It's just something I ask you to consider doing. My own challenge, I guess. Blog it, notecard it, whatever. You won't be able to get everyone - I sure won't be able to. But I will send some now, and try to get in the habit of doing it more often: letting people know that what they do isn't just ending up lost in the interwebs, but that they are actually touching someone... that they and what they do matter.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

MemeMeeeemememe meeeme me

I never do memes. I might hear of them and have a good idea, but then I never get around to it. It's not that I'm lazy, darlings, I'm just... so very busy with all the brunches with socialites, teas with royalty, pedicures with starlets... you get the idea.

The movie poster meme, though, popped its little head up and I immediately chortled with glee. I had about 5 or 6 ideas, and of course, got only one done. Ah well, at least I got something accomplished! I hope it makes you giggle!



Thursday, June 6, 2013

The Dream

With an important deadline looming, I worked all day at my typewriter. Sadly, despite all the hours of brainstorming, all I'd managed was the first word. Still, I was so pooped I dozed off right where I was!


Suddenly, there he was. Those eyes! That smile! That chest hair!  Right before me, a vision to behold: my dream date!


He had prepared a lovely picnic lunch for us to enjoy, but everyone knows: swim first - eat later!


Just as we were about to dig into the fruit, bread, and cheese, a hideous monster jumped out! "Gimmee that Brie!" it snarled. I was so frightened! My brave dream man whipped out his big gun and took care of that Brie brigand!


"My hero!" I gasped and he turned. He puckered up and leaned towards me. He raised his hand and offered me a friendship bracelet. I reached to take it when....


My blasted alarm clock shattered the illusion and I found myself back in my bed with nothing but the deadline to greet me. I sighed and got up, the memory of my dream man fading slowly from my mind. If only it could be real!


That's when I saw it! There, on my wrist. No.... could it be??? Was it really all a dream?!


~~~~~
Thanks to Andel Rhiadra for being such a patient, lovely model! 

Featuring items from The Arcade gacha event!

Bedroom 1:
ADD Andel - Bowling league - Bowling Balls
Apple Fall - Breakfast at Tiffanies - books
Aria - Oolong Teacup Planters - flowers
Art Dummy - wake me. - bed
DIGS - Skyline Relief Blocks - London
Floorplan - antique typewriter - floral
Pilot - Landmarks - Eifel Tower
Scarlet Creative - Getaway - poetry books boxed
Shakeup! - Fabric Flower Ring - Tie Dye (on wall)
Standby - World Tour - amps, ukulele, keytar
Trompe Loeil - Billiards Dresser
Vespertine - Fabric Birds - Birdcage, owl


Date Picnic:
Elate - A Posh Picnic set
Miamai - Critters Society - floaty
Second Spaces - Game Night - Backgammon
Sway - Swim Ring - Love

Bedroom 2:
Art Dummy - wake me. - white clock
Aso - Alphabet Marine Bag
Commoner - Rocking Horse
Gizza - Summer Basket - Aquarium
Handverk - Mermaid's Purses - narwhal
PixelMode - Bean Bag Chair
Remarkable Oblivion - Snapbacks - Royalty
Second Spaces - Game Night - Block Stack
Silent Sparrow - Corgi
Zigana - Super Bot - lamp – Gizmo

On Andel:
BOOM - Friendship Bracelet - lilac
Paper Doll - Ruffly Kini
Pink Fuel - Harley
Teefy - Boho - dress
Wasabi Pills - Lory

On Wilmur:
Adorkable - Lilac Bloom
LWL - Cuffs and Collars - Black Tie
MishMish - Squirt Guns - Orca

Brie Brigand:
RachelBreaker - Sweet Soft Fursona

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Pixies in a Fix




"Why did you follow me?
My brain is a pea!"

"This is not the picnic I planned - 
to end up lost in a strange land!"


"I'm hungry! I thirst!
My feet hurt the worst!"
"Quit whining, my dear!
Who knows what will hear!"

"Look, there! Don't you see?
Behind that big tree!"
"Go ahead, take a sip.
Just a little, just a nip!"


"Oh horror! Oh wow!
We're in for it now!"
"Run, run, run like the wind!
Did you see the teeth in that huge, gnarly grin?"



No one knows how the pixies got away.
They'll have their picnic another day.



~~~~~

Featured:  

Balaclava@Arcade - Tricksters and Their Magical Treasures - #9- Briar Carly and #10- March Freckle. These very tiny mesh avatars come complete with an AO!

Intrigue Co.@Arcade - Prehistoric Plushie Pals - Pizza the Pleiosaurus, Ernie the Eohippos, Moe the Mammoth, Petunia the Pterodactyl, Sammy the Sabertooth, Sara the Triceratops, Thunder the T-Rex, and the Props! These are also holdable attachments. 

Both of these great collections are exclusive to this month's Arcade - so make sure to collect them all before the end of the month!

Assorted foliage for my jungle - Ferns from Botanical and planter foliage from Trompe Loeil!

Oasis




The d-lab stuff at Arcade this go around is simply divine. So is this wearable pool from flowey, also at Arcade.

~~~~~

Aparatus - d-lab - cyborg parts@Arcade
Pool - flowey - aloha summer@Arcade

Non-Arcade: 
Skin/Glasses/Socks/Sassiness - Wrigglesworth, shirt - Intrigue, shoes - Deco, undies - Balaclava (no, you can't see them, but they are awesome, take my word for it!

Location: Tableau

The Cat's Out of the Bag!

As icon Clairee Belcher said so graciously, "The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize."

One important accessory that is often forgotten is no further than the tip of your nose: glasses! Functional as well as fashionable, glasses allow us to look our best, as well as help us... well... look!

I love glasses. I have so many that it is hard to pick through them to find the pair I need. I might find the perfect color frames, but the lenses are all wrong! Sometimes it takes me longer to find the right glasses as it does to find what jewelry to use, and you can just imagine how much jewelry I have. Not anymore, darlings! I think I might have finally found the holy grail of glasses!



These are the Cat Glasses offered by Conspiracy Theory for The Arcade gacha event. They come in all sorts of wonderful colors and patterns. They are very well made and are quite detailed, and at only 25L a try they are one of the greatest bargains of the entire event. The rare surprise in Conspiracy Theory's gacha is a marvelous HUD that lets you customize the Cat Glasses! I am wearing the White Cat Glasses, so with the HUD, I can customize all the finer details, while the color of the frames stay intact.

The HUD comes in three parts: One to customize the studs decorating the points of the glasses, one to customize the color and darkness of the lens, and one to customize the color of the side arms. 

Here is a demonstration of the first and third parts of the HUD together. The left picture shows the stud colors available, and the right side shows the colors available for the arms of the glasses.

  

As you can see, there are quite a few colors you can choose from to make your glasses look exactly the way you want. Below, I have shown first the default, then changed the studs and sides to red, and then again changed them to a nice soft blue!




The middle part of the HUD controls both the color and the darkness of the lenses. The rainbow gradient allows you to make your lenses any color you want - from delicate pink to bright red, from forest green to sky blue!




At the top of the rainbow gradient is a black strip. This is where you can customize how dark you want your shades. All the way to the left and they are clear. All the way to the right, and they are dark for sunny days, or for special spy missions when discretion is key!



As I finish my ensemble, I have decided to customize my Cat Glasses for a nice, soft blue lens, with blue studs and blue sides. The rare HUD from Conspiracy Theory@The Arcade will help me match my glasses perfectly, every time I go out! 

Good luck getting your Cat Glasses, and the rare Cat Glasses HUD. They are worth every linden!




~~~~~

Glasses - Conspiracy Theory@Arcade (customized with rare HUD prize)
Vanity Table and makeup items - Tres Blah@Arcade
Dress Form - Schadenfreude@The Arcade
Chair - Apple Fall@The Arcade
Lilac Bouquet - Adorkable@The Arcade

Ensemble: Hair - Bliss Couture, Dress - Icing, Rings - Paper Couture, Earrings/Necklace/Stole - Donna Flora, Dress - Icing, Hair Pin - Dark Mouse