Each work, be it a piece of music, a play or a life story has its climax -- the moment where the dynamic reaches it crescendo, the highest point, the apex. In a fashion show it is the last garment shown before the final bows are taken. Traditionally a wedding dress; now, simply something memorable. At the Baiastice fashion show of the 20th, it was the Bisnya dress.


The dress includes a sculpted, high waisted skirt in two versions, one with a built in AO. Optional leggings are included and indeed the dress looks great with them. Being a pants gal I was attracted by the jumpsuit possibilities. Layering is always fun and with so many wearing options in this set it was difficult to decide what to show you. So in a rare Photoshop moment, I give you Chic as twins. The slight of hand of the graphic magic wand and three  inworld photos combine to feature two distinct looks. One could easily leave off the prim puff sleeves and wear the jumpsuit under a jacket. I am guessing it would look wonderful with my new LeLutka Matusalen jacket.

Find this impressively versatile dress at Baiastice. It hangs calmly on an interior wall, beautifully serene in its watercolor grayness.




Style Notes: 

Hair: MIEL TUE HAIR - brown
Skin: []::Tuli::[] Jade (tone 4/bl) :: 10a
Clothing: Baiastice_Bisnya dress; WEiRD.DESiGNS Trashy Victorian Doll Socks
Shoes: Lya - Valentina *plain*Calf (silver) and Bax Coen : LE.LOOK! la femme - Boots
Accessories: Maitreya  Leather Belt - Dirty White

Poses by: aDORKable

Just out from BLUEBLOOD a set called Lisbeth (my RL mother's name interestingly enough). The set comes in all the colors you would expect including a white based version. While red was my first color of choice today, I knew that I wanted to take photos at Drill Factory which is primarily in the blue hue family so I opted to show you the teal version of the new release.


Also featured in this post are additional poses from the new Diesel Works Kalli set. The theme is a mixture of femininity and attitude and that works well for me.



The Drill Factory is an interesting place for photos. Lots of glow mixes with  a galactic core theme. There is a colorful puzzle piece installation that I hope to feature soon. I just need the right attire.

The Lizbeth set includes a skirt and you can also wear it without shrug and prim shoulder pads. So it is actually several outfits in one pack.








Update: I was going through my Objects  folder and found a box with these boots. I had clicked on a Midnight Mania board the other day and  didn't notice them coming in. They are not only gorgeous, I mean really, they go perfectly with the new Lizbeth set. Other colors are available at the store. You can slap that board and get this color free at Malfean Visions. They come with both invisiprims and alpha 2 layer. They really make this outfit pop so get over there!


Style Notes: 

Hair: A&A Cookie Hair Black Onyx (new)
Skin: []::Tuli::[] Jade (tone 4/bl) :: 10a
Clothing: +++BB+++ Lisbeth TEAL (new)
Shoes: BAX Prestige Boots Black Leather and :{Strapped In}: Left Periwinkle from Malfean Visions (free)
:

Poses by:Diesel Works (new)

No, my new belt from WoE isn't really 117 prims. This is actually a post on low prim furniture. I am a sneaky gal though and I have a least one feed that thinks I only do fashion. So we are starting this lengthy post with just that -- new duds and hair.

My top is one of the new Nomi Jean dresses from WoE. I used the undies to tuck into my Miseria jeans (I so love that sock extension) and left off the prim skirt. The dresses come in a variety of mixed colors. The pattern is somewhere between distressed and watercolor. I am wearing the prim edging that includes a bust prim piece -- the first I have seen or tried. It gives the effect of fabric stretching across your breasts and it works great for me of tiny boobs. I am not sure how well it would work for the DD gals, but there is a prim part sans the stretch panel so everyone should be safely covered. The detailing on the belt is simply gorgeous.

Happily I included my new gloves from Paradisis and some cute new hair from Alli&Ali in the outfit of the eve. A blond version of this hair is the voting present and a ruby version is a dollarbie on the marketplace. This concludes the fashion portion of our post.


The house and garden news is this low prim furniture from --- LOW PRIM FURNITURE. OK, one more time -- it is really Low in Prims for Furniture and you can buy it at PrimSavers! Texture change, fully mod, nice animations and -- drumroll please -- one and two prims per piece. That is not a typo, even the couch is only two prims. The couch, loveseat and chair are each two prims. The darling tables with drop sections in the middle and very fancy legs are one prim. The tall lamp in the back is also one prim.


The sculpt work is pretty amazing. The designer, Floyd Mistwalker, bills this FARAH Livingroom Set as the "Best low prim livingroom in SL bar none" (yep that is the name on the folder). I am admittedly a tough judge as well as a simple blogger, not an expert on all things furniture; still, he may have a fair claim. I am impressed. There are twelve different textures to choose from; the couch and loveseat will hold multiple avatars.


The set includes an extra matching chair (not shown) as well as this bookcase.


Other newness in this decor styling includes the wall decal in the book area, the vintage Playboy magazine and the small triple photos (hunt item), all from [croire].



The striking abstract painting is from [.:F&D:.] Furniture & Design. I won it on a lucky board, but you can also buy it at an extremely reasonable price.The rug is a new release from Prime and is both texture change and shape changing. LOTS of variations. Books and plants are from Garden of Dreams. Other accessories from The Loft, Fancy That and  stores no longer in business.

Like my new poses? They are from the Kalli set just out from Diesel Works. So many of them fit me, I am in heaven.

I have thirty more posts to reach 1800 and about as many days. My goal it to hit 1800 on my rez day which is also the last day of 2010. So posts may be longer and I may take an extra day off from time to time. Well see how my timing works out.




Style Notes: 

Hair: A&A Beliza Hair 3
Skin: []::Tuli::[] The Dressing Room :: Gina 04
Clothing: :. WoE .: Nomi Jean Dress Mud; [Miseria] Delirium Jeans - Coal 2; PARADISIS Nanasa : Gloves brown
Shoes: Bang Bang - Stingray leather gaiter booties brown
Accessories: *Ticky Tacky* My Girl Likes to Grapple Earrings - Silver

Poses by: Diesel Works

I attended the Baiastice fashion show last weekend. This top was one of the featured items. Not perhaps the fanciest or the most memorable but definitely the most "me". The fashion show stylist or Sissy Pessoa had paired it with some copper pants and it was striking. But it is PLUM week after all and happily I like purple, so I chose these pants to accompany the look.


The Soda shirt is a mix of several fully saturated hues along with lots of neutrals. A lovely print it could go with many accessories. I found three versions of this shirt when I visited the Baiastice main store, but this was still my fav. Now the pants are really too dark to be called plum -- at least if we go by Luna's color swatch, but they are in the same family and relationships do count.  Putting the outfit together was fun and it enabled me to wear a few items that I love but that seldom make it out of inventory. My G Field shoes never looked so good. I should let you know that the pants have some extremely realistic creases that don't show up in my foggy California morn Windlight settings. The sculpty cuffs also are extremely sleek and work well with most any shoes.



The top dips daringly, not in an X rated way and on some days I will probably wear it sans undershirt, but including an underlayer was good for my modestly the other day when I shot these photos, AND it let me add some more plum to the mix.  I tinted this old and favorite tank as well as the band on my hair. My earrings actually have some plum in them too, but they mostly act as a counterpoint to pick up the teal in the top. All in all I love this look. A little Boho, a little Trust Fund Baby and very much Retro Hollywood.

This is my color challenge post of the week of Plum. I have decided to make a static page that links all these posts in order. It will be fun to see them easily over time. I hope to continue to the end. We will see.




Style Notes: 

Hair: [LeLutka]-RUSH hair - AuburnHaze
Skin: []::Tuli::[] The Dressing Room :: Gina 04
Clothing: Baiastice_Soda shirt-mod 1; Baiastice_Brinka trousers-purple
Shoes: *GF* Knot Wedge Sanal
Accessories: ::.Flugeln Brise.::Mah_jade

Poses by: Everglow, Diesel Works, LAP

I  must be feeling a little feisty tonight as too many thing are rubbing me the wrong way.

*At least one hunt is specifying that bloggers MUST blog all items sent to them as well as additional items sent from retailers in the hunt. They didn't get many takers.

*At least one hunt is asking that vendors "pay" the bloggers for blogging their hunt items with additional gift cards or other recompense.



Hopefully bloggers are doing their thing because it IS their thing. They enjoy taking pictures and seeing themselves in different outfits. Some enjoy hunting. Some enjoy shopping. We don't need COMMITMENTS and we don't need PAY. If we aren't doing what we love doing, we simply shouldn't be doing it and we don't need rules other than those we make ourselves.

I'm not sure how the new "there are only so many copies" theme is going aside from tons of folks trying to get in to see what the prices ACTUALLY are, but it seems to be producing a fair amount of disgruntled customers. In a time a bad economy there is desperation and new marketing schemes are needed. But the large majority of folks (here's hoping) are not sheep. They are smart enough to realize that paying four or five times the normal "non sale" price (and there aren't that many of those these days) is absurd. That's the word amongst the masses. I am staying out of the fray. I haven't bought designer for a long time in real life so I am definitely not  in the "I must have one of these" crowd. :D.

Here is my plan.

Feature things that are high quality, creative, original and worthwhile.
Do the best job you can and enjoy every minute of the process.
Leave the drama and the "gottas" behind.
Smile.

Speed. Most of us want it. Whether it is moving though life or being able to navigate the virtual version. I ordered a new graphics card today and I am a happy gal. Assuming all goes well I should have CLARITY and possibly shadows in a week or so.. I am on Imprudence which uses Open JPG. There are some issues inherent with that, but I am making do as there are so many things I like about the viewer. Imprudence does do shadows, apparently one of the few Open Jpg viewers that manages. So we'll see. Only through experience do we learn.

So to celebrate the upcoming improvements to my virtual life, I convinced Benicia to take me for a ride. She has the fast bike; mine is simply pretty.  It was good to see Benicia. It was good to visit the Mother Road and it will be good to install my GeForce GT 240 1 GB DDR5, the fastest card my computer can handle.  This is me with my virtual fingers crossed that all goes well. It was fun to have an legitimate reason to use windy zoom blur *wink*.

Style Notes: 

Benicia is wearing a dress by Poison as a top over jeans along with some Lazy Places boots. My outfit will be revealed in all its glory tomorrow.

A bit of late breaking news here. If you have been reading this blog for a long while, you may remember that I used a futuristic skybox from Gentlemen Bastards as my studio for many months. One of the "gentlemen" contacted me oh so briefly this morn to let me know that there is a super special 24 hour deal on his brand new release, an Autumn skybox.

It comes with plenty of furniture and some dynamite (art is personal I know) paintings. This is Piedra, who I didn't know but who dropped in while I was photographing. I thought she was interested in the skybox and had hopped inside. Indeed she was interested -- especially when I told her about the deal -- but in fact she was just coming to the sandbox; it was an unplanned visit. Since she was dressed in coordinating colors, I asked if I could take her photo and she agreed.  You are not supposed to see "me" as I am dressed in my PLUM outfit (photos already processed) which is under wraps until tomorrow.



From the notecard:

The Autumn Skybox is the perfect way to chase away the winter blues. With cosy couches and chairs, a bed to snooze on, a warm fire and lights, a clock that keeps SL time, beautiful artwork and decor, and warm texturing all-round, it's the ideal home to snuggle up in over the next few chilly months.






The skybox has a footprint of 20m x 30m and three rooms separated by dividers. Among other things, it features warm local lighting in the lamps and the fireplace, several couches and chairs featuring multiple poses, curtains that open and close with a click, and is fully-modifiable. Total prim count is 219.


For a limited 24-hour period, running from 12 noon SLT on Saturday November 27th to 12 noon SLT Sunday November 28th, it will be available to buy for 90% off (and it is VERY inexpensive). Head to the rezzed build  (sorry it moved - fixed now) and find the buy box inside, or buy it from SL Marketplace (the link is in my profile: search inworld for Skell Dagger and check the Web tab).







This is a roomy spot and could easily, sans furniture, be a nice shop somewhere in the SL atmosphere. The curtains do close for privacy and the wall textures are yummy. There is a coordinating bed in one room.

That's the late-breaking news.  Special thanks to Piedra for being part of this post.

The holiday season has officially started, for me anyway.  Thanksgiving is my personal marker. Time to break out the tinsel and decorations whether real or virtual. CLICK has a holiday photo prop out that makes these times especially cheery. Indeed, it is pretty difficult to feel like Scrooge when surrounded by presents and shining ornaments.


Taking solo, couple or group photos is a breeze and ohsomuch fun. The details are fantastic. You really need to click on these photos to see things up close and personal. Go on - you know you want to!


The Christmas Living Prop set come in two versions -- with and without the holiday decorations. Additional hand props are included, even some transfer ones for your friends in the photos.






It looks like a real home, complete with windows and hall. There is even mistletoe in the doorway. But ---


it actually has transparent sides.

You can walk around and take your photos from many angles. One way transparent walls let you see in from afar and take photos unavailable in close spaces. To be fair, this will work best for those with great camming skills, but if you are seriously looking at this professional prop, you most likely have those :D.





The prop comes with a rezzer and a hud. You can add other prop sets to the hud and have them all together if you wish. Just drop the rezzer where you want the 15 meterish building and use either the hud or the rezzed equivalent. The CLEAR button derezzes the structure and pose boxes.

The two boxes on the ground at the right contain the poses, both solo and couple. Children's poses are included also and the pose names are designated M and F or child with the area of the house they pertain to. This makes picking a pose much easier (yeah). Use the menu to try on  poses and /1a to adjust. 

The full Christmas version is 388 prims, so plopping down on a 512 isn't in the cards of course. I rezzed in a friendly private sandbox with scripts and that worked just fine. The low prim (think New Years Day football as there is a bigscreen in that version) is 184. Both regular and lite models come in a coalesced version with no rezzer should you be old school. The details are quite remarkable and many of the items are separate (or could be unlinked if you have a few building skills) and could be used in your home for the holidays as well. Dual duty is always a good thing. 

The poses worked well and having the props modify makes it simple to adjust for odd shaped avatars. For instance the ground sit pose worked fine for me but the present was too large (that extra long arm thing) so I simply stretched the present smaller and repositioned a bit and all was well. You are of course not limited to the poses provided. That step stool was calling me and so I sat and then found a pose in my inventory that had no offset. Perfect.


After a fun time taking these photos I ventured over to the shop to see what else might be available. There are other nice props including an outdoor cafe that I seem to remember seeing on the feeds awhile back. There are also some impressive looking prefabs. Best of all for both you and me, there is a present under the tree by the TP spot. The greeter message said to be sure and pick up your free elevator. Well of course I did. It turned out to be this great Deco lobby prop. You can walk into the elevator and there may be poses in the loveseat; I didn't try sitting. So zip on over, you great photographers and pick this up. There is a demo area for the new Christmas prop as you come in the door.

For those of you in the USA who plan to eat your turkey or Tofukey, catch up with family and be thankful -- have a wonderful holiday.



Style Notes: 

Hair: >TRUTH< Melinda - carrot
Skin: []::Tuli::[] The Dressing Room :: Gina 04
Clothing: *Solange!* Mademoiselle in Green


Poses by:the turkey platter by Concrete Flowers (2009)

Light, shadow and story -- combined they offer questions -- asking us to pause and reflect on where reality begins.


I ventured over to the latest installation by Bryn Oh, Standby. The third and final chapter in the Rabbicorn story, I wanted to be sure and see it soon.  I have no faith in longevity these days. I am pretty sure the IBM hosted exhibit will be around awhile, but I am crossing favorite places off my list daily. They are simply no more.


I didn't get too far into the exhibit before I found this shadowbox. Actual lighting makes this both a dramatic and challenging place for photos. I am not sure that I actually "get" the message here, but the shapes, colors and shallow water are enticing -- and the perfectly colored backdrop for my newly released outfit from Paradisis.  The Nanasa outfit comes with the tiniest of bra tops and some brief skully panties (imagine them hiding under my skirt). The stars of the set -- in my mind at least -- are the gloves and socks. Short zippers and the most intricate rips I have seen, they are amazing to behold. Both socks and gloves are finely ribbed. A variety of colors are available.

Add a little skirt or some booty shorts and you are set. REALLY wild girls will of course scoff at my modesty. And that's OK.




Style Notes: 

Hair: *SHOP SEU* GIFT --kurukuru hair Long [brown:pattun]--
Skin: []::Tuli::[] The Dressing Room :: Gina 04; CyberStar BodyArt  CSBA full body MEHNDI 3 - upper - faded 2
Clothing: PARADISIS Nanasa :  brown (new); *Solange!* Missy skirt brown
Shoes: [Sassy Kitty Designs] Catch Me Outfit Shoes


Poses by: Everglow, estetica and Nigotine

I have some philosophy for the morn, but first -- THE FASHION!

E! Eclectic has some new releases out and it only took about three seconds to know this was my favorite. Of course I will be wearing this new Daringly Sweater (that's its official moniker) with pants, but today I am feeling the good little blogger and so you get to see the dress as it was designed.


All layers are included for easy mix and matching. Two sizes of collars and skirt prims make fitting fairly easy. I am on record as not being a fan of skirt prims but this one is a bit special with the wide band continuing into the prim. You might want to add leggings or stockings to keep your legs warm, but this is definitely a release about style, not warmth *wink*.  With  many colors to choose from, you will likely find your favorite available.

And that segues nicely into a reflection of my morning thought process.  This is the PLUM version of the Daringly Sweater. No, I am not jumping the gun on next week's color challenge, although I have to admit I opened this color primarily because I was on the lookout for all things "plum". Now my vision of the color plum is fairly close to this shade, maybe a little lighter. That is the color that I think of when the word "plum" is used.

Most folks doing Luna's color exercise know that our next color is in the purple family. A sharper look at the announcement shows that Luna's idea of plum is very pale. I suspect this may be an official designer designation or perhaps Pantone's scale. Whatever, that is the color I am aiming for. I may fall a bit short, but I'm a gonna try.

Interestingly enough I read a color theory book long ago that told the tale of a study on our perceptions of color. The findings of that study were interesting. Participants were told to think of "RED" and then pick out the color that they perceived as being their personal  red. With so many thousands of choices, virtually everyone picked a different color.

Whether you call this dress plum or purple or dark violet; whether you see it as grape, wine or amethyst, it is still a very lovely wearable.





Style Notes: 

Hair: A&A Cookie Hair Nuts (new)
Skin: []::Tuli::[] The Dressing Room :: Gina 04
Clothing: e! Daringly Sweater -  Plum (new)
Shoes: #OC# Melanie- Black Leather
Accessories: Acid & Mala .:A&M:. Messed Memory Wire

Poses by:estetica and Amacci

I have to admit that I haven't spent much time on my pottery lately. The Cheeky Pea wheel has become part of the backdrop of the mesa -- pretty, but unused. Today with two upper body items to share with you, it seemed time to get back to creating.


First up -- hair!  This is Cookie from Alli&Ali. This Ruby color is the in store group gift, a brown version is the voting present ( find it by the voting wall) and there are even more colors in the Midnight boards.  Now, I am not normally a fan of big hair *wink*, but this one works for me. Lots of curls, they blow gently in the wind. If you are in the "it must look real" camp, it may not be for you. Cookie uses the hand drawn texture set, hence a bit of fantasy takes over.


My second bit of newness is the set of rings from MOOD (formerly ala Mood and in a close by but different location). I went over to peruse and saw the Diamond Is Mine hunt sign. It took me awhile to find the glowing diamond, but I was rewarded with these unisex rings. I don't wear rings that often, but these go so well with my biker garb, I made them part of the outfit. One must of course take off their rings before throwing pots, but I get extra points for this shot. It wasn't easy :D.

There seems to be a lot of new guy jewelry at the shop. Since it resizes down nicely, I plan to return and check that out. Hunting took over last eve and I got sidetracked. It happens.

As an aside, I decided on a new graphics card rather than a new machine. My oldie has been the most stable system I have had and I hate all the setup and moving over a new machine takes. I am not sure I will be able to do shadows, but the upgrade should make photos even more fun to take and hopefully sharper for you to look at. We'll see.



Style Notes: 

Still in my biker gear. See earlier post for link.

Poses by:the potter's wheel.

Baubles will be closing for good after the Peace On Earth hunt. Until that time, all items are marked down to 25% or LESS of their original price. No item is marked over $25. Some items will be on the Marketplace after closing.


That's the lead. Here is the backstory:

Notice that I am color coordinated with my closing sign *wink*. The color counterpoint wasn't with forethought, it is simply habit. And that is part of the story. Anyone who reads this blog knows that my first love is taking photos. I admit I have been lusting after a new computer. I see some of the great photos on the feeds and it is obvious what a premium graphics card can do in the right hands :D.


So there is that. Then there is the general business climate of SL (fairly dismal for most folks) mixed with a week of really tough and really great events. Wrap them all up and I am ready to bid the retail life ado.


Not a bad thing. In fact I had a great time setting up this photo and redecorating the shop. I used the new textures from yesterday's Hotshots contest courtesy of Insight Designs to give the place a whole new look. I have a long To Do list of fun things including some shopping for next week. After I close the stores, I will be retrieving my prims for personal use. If I have learned one thing from the contest,  it is that you can do amazing things with 200 prims!

There is more to the story of course, but the details don't really matter much except to me.

So stop by sometime if you are in the mood for some good deals on jewelry. It was a great experience. I had a good time and I made a few bucks. And that works.



Style Notes: 

See this post for clothing notes.

Suitcase and paintbrush from duboo

Poses by:duboo

The latest Make Him Over Hunt has started. A quick post this eve highlights the very nice skin from Be Real. This is for my friend EE who called in real time to commiserate with me over my fairly horrible showing at Hotshots :D. So I owed him one and promised I would check out this skin that I saw on the MHOH blog. It seemed to be perfect for him, and indeed it may be. So "LOG ON sometime this month and go find the orange male symbol". It can't be all that difficult! The body is one of the nicest I've seen.  The eyes are a little scary so I wore shades. That works.

The jeans shown are from Poison in the same hunt.




Style Notes: 

Hair: Amacci
Accessories [Gos] Custom Eyeware v3.3 - INTUITION


Poses by:Diesel Works