What Has Been

"What has been exists no more; and exists just as little as that which has never been. But everything that exists has been in the next moment. Hence something belonging to the present, however unimportant it may be, is superior to something important belonging to the past; this is because the former is a reality and related to the latter as something is to nothing."
Schopenhauer

Something happened on the way to the party.


Will I ever be the same?  


It's no longer important now.  I shall only look forward and embrace this gift.

Credits: 
Skin - Tuli - Hope (goth) 01
Hair - Fashionably Dead - Sparks - Nothingness
Dress - Has Been - Bitter Black
Shoes - ByKay - Mayaka
Jewelry - Garage - Silk Bead - Black
Bite Marks - Dreamin'g Alice - Vampire bite tattoo - 02breast (free)

Look Mrs. Mittens! Scissors!

Crystals, and scissors, and mittens on kittens....  I don't think the song goes like that, but it could.  How exciting it was to receive this group gift hair from Clawtooth.  It gave me another chance to give Mrs. Mittens a ride through SL.  I was exploring a cool sim that I found via the Showcase - Enter........The Show. It's an art installation by Sabrinaa Nightfire and the artists of Caerleon.  I have no idea what the scissors mean, but it does remind me that I need a haircut in RL.


I'm wearing new stuff.  Sn@tch released these cute high waisted poofy skirts last week, and I'm sure you've heard by now that Violet Voltaire is having a sale - everything in her store is 30L.  There are new elven skins at Plastik that come in very generous fatpacks.  Trubble just released their dirty pearl necklace - I really like the twist at the bottom.  And, the poses below are part of 60L Weekend from Doll Poses.  You get a dozen poses for only 60L - quite a good deal.




Credits:
Skin - Plastik - LionHeart Elven - Porcelain-Shade
Eyes - Plastik - JadedCollection-Fairytale-Green
Hair - Clawtooth - Group Gift Mrs.Mittens 2 - Valentine
Kitty - Clawtooth - Mrs. Mittens Kitten (Stormy)
Tank - Callie Cline - fashion mode tank
Skirt - Sn@tch - Hiya Sailor
Socks - Soxie - Sheer Knee Socks - White
Pearls - Trubble - Long Dirty Pearls
Necklace/Earrings/Bracelets - Violet Voltaire - Love Like Blood - Blood Set
Shoes - Shiny Things - Flare Oxfords - Black

Poses by Doll Poses and Everglow


Time is NOT on my side

How is your SL going?  I've been struggling with finding the time.  I think the superpower I would want the most would be to manipulate time.  But, then, it would probably end up bad for me, like the Twilight Zone episode with the stopwatch that could stop time.  Or I'd meet myself, like that episode of Land of the Lost, and then I'd scare myself silly and run screaming.  Or I'd go back in time and end up being squished by a dinosour.  Or, I'd run into Keano Reeves.  Well, that might be good, so it wouldn't happen.  Maybe that's why all I can do is have time on this wanted t-shirt from Nominee.


This outfit is something I would wear in RL.  I absolutely love these jeans from RezIpsa - especially the way they come with sock extensions to make then real skinny leg jeans.  It speaks for itself - Brilliant!

This group gift skin from I CE COCO is tremendously cute.  I've been looking at skins with unusual noses.  It seems to me that there are way too many little skinny pinched supermodel noses in SL.  I have kind of a thing for larger noses, and I love how this nose is just a little wide.  A larger nose can really add character to a face.    I also love the slight dark circles under the eyes.  More time!  If I had more time, I'd get more sleep!


Credits:
Skin - I CE COCO - Scarlett Freckles (group gift)
Hair - Shop Seu - Kurukuru hair long [brown:pattun]
Eyes - Rfyre/Pulse - Le Mystere Eyes - Sapphire
Top - Nominee - Wanted - time
Jeans - RezIpsa Loc - Black Flower Jeans
Hand Tape - SiniStyle - SiniStyle Taped Fist
Boots - Adjunct - Loner Boot - Brown

Weird Designs

This photo has been sitting on my desktop for about a week.  I think it's about time I post it.  .  :-)

Weird Designs has some great stuff.  This outfit is one of their new ensembles, and the skin is a hunt gift.  I've seen this outfit blogged a few times, probably because it's so cute.  Weird Designs has a lucky chair and group gifts.  Go check it out.


Hair - Little Heaven - LH_hair52_holly_lilac
Skin - Weird Designs - Twisted - Valentine (Dark Katz Hunt item)
Outfit - Weird Designs - Memoire Purple
Shoes - Magnifico Exclusive – [m] Le Plateau Heel Black
Bracelets - Ticky Tacky -  Worship the Black Pearl Bracelets (old hunt item)

80s

I think some of the best things in life came out of the 80s.  Flashdance, Joan Jett hair, leg warmers, and of course, the music.  I will always be loyal to my 80s bands.  I still love you Robert Smith, Ian Astbury, and Andrew Eldritch.  Steve Perry, you can always sing me your power ballads.




Credits:
Skin:  Imabee - Pale - Vivian - Vivian Meets the White Queen
Hair:  Truth - Sylvia Streaked - Crow
Shirt and Leggings:  Veschi - Flash Trash for Themeory (Tinted Red)
Jeans - Zaara - Jeans Classic indigo
Shoes - 2Real Footwear - Pro Spec
Eyes - Rosie's Thingies - Antonia Wine Medium
Necklace - Lolapop! - Trapped Heart Necklace
Eyelashes - Cake - Cleo II Lashes

Location - Art Box - CBGB Set

Poses by Everglow and PDA

Just a Little Party Dress


Credits:
Hair - W&Y Model hair 12 Pack A
Skin - Lara Skin - Jesse 
Eyes - Rosie's Thingies - Antonia Mint Large
Lashes - Sn@tch - Lush Glam Lashes (Black)
Dress - Has Been - Lola 
Shoes - Juicy Victorian Ankle Boots - Marshemallow
Jewelry - SpiritWeaver Jewelers - BloodRose Necklace Set

First Brain Circuit, so now Fashionably Dead

I just discovered a cute little shop called Brain Circuit, Inc.   This little outfit, called Hypnotic Undead Dolly, was on their MM board.  It is no longer free, but is very reasonably priced in the shop.


Credits:
Hair - Fashionably Dead - Sparks - Nothingness
Skin - Fashionably Dead - Bird Skin - Slasher 4
Outfit - Brain Circuit, Inc - Hypnotic Undead Dolly Dress
Boots - Animas Design - Lady Biker Boots

Pose by PDA

I found some cool stuffs

Why am I so addicted to long curly hair in SL?  That and little cute bobs?  It's my problem in RL, too.  I can't decide between the two, and I can't have both at the same time.  I really wish I could just change hair in RL like I do in SL.  This new hair from Analog Dog is great for pictures because it comes with a shoulder attachment so the hair flows in front and in back.


The boots are new from A-bomb.  The texturing is lovely, and the buckles and straps are sculpted.  I'm addicted to boots, too.  I like them so much better than the stilettos I see all over the grid.  I know avatar feet can't hurt, but psychologically, I still feel the pain of heels.  Strange, that is.


I got these cute little wrist cuffs from Ezura.  They can make any outfit fancy.  And this little dress is another one from Vesna.


Other finds of the day - this gorgeous black widow spider necklace from Moon Dance Designs - their 60L Sunday special.  Psssst...bit secret...you can find some wonderful deals on 60L Sunday.  It's not as well known, but I've found some real gems, and they put everything on Picasa so it makes shopping easier.


Finally, check out these eyes!  They're from Rosie's Thingies.  I love the red.  They go so well with my Sn@tch skin.  They make me feel all evil inside.  And, combined with that black widow spider, I know exactly what I need to do.  

Credits:
Hair - Analog Dog - Dive Jet
Skin - Sn@tch - Plush Skin (Tone 1-Bruise 2)
Eyes - Rosies Thingies - Antonia Blood Large
Dress - Vesna - Kate Dress black
Wrist Cuffs - Ezura - Crown Lolita Cuffs *Black Set
Stockings - Blowpop - Seamed Fishnet Tights-Black-Rip
Shoes - A-Bomb - Addison unisex boots
Necklace - Moon Dance Designs - Jeweled Spider Necklace
Eyelashes - Glow Studio - Innocent.eyelashes - soft

Poses - PDA (no longer available) and Everglow

The road to RUIN is always in good repair

I've long been a fan of House of Ruin, and now, Ruina Kessel is releasing some absolutely wonderful new eye sets and horns.  Her eyes are not ordinary by any stretch of the imagination.  They are not for the faint of heart.  They are not for soccer moms.  Her horns are almost sweet and subtle while maintaining that ever so perfect hint of evil.


What better to pair Ruina's eyes and horns, than with the new ::Vesna:: Kristina top and high waisted skirt and these killer heels from ByKay.  The textures on the Vesna outfit are gorgeous.  


I had to pull out some of my favoite demonic accessories to compliment the horns and eyes.  The claws are a Twisted Hunt gift from last fall from The Stringer Mausoleum. The skin is by the wonderfully amazing Fricka Morgath, and I pulled out my own necklace.


Below are some of my favorite new items from House of Ruin.  Please click the picture to see a larger and more detailed image of the eyes and horns.  The eyes come in sets of 5 for only L$100 and the horns come in sets of 7 for only L$280.  They are copy/mod.

The Archivist Horns and Tonic XXX Eyes;


The Chirurgeon Horns and Tonic Eyes




Credits:
Hair - I Love Olive - Starr Silver
Skin - Frick - Nemesis - Goth
Eyelashes - Glow Studio - Innocent eyelashes - soft
Claws - TSM - Twisted Nightmare Demon-Clawed Nails
Necklace - A Netherworld - I've Got a Backbone Necklace
Top - Vesna - Kristina Top black
Skirt - Vesna - Kristina Skirt black
Shoes - ByKay - Mayaka

Thank you, Lola

Lola79 Heinricks, of Lolapop! set out this gorgeous limited edition necklace yesterday for only 10L.  She must have known about my obsession!  I just wanted to give her an extra special super duper thanks because the necklace is so gorgeous.


Credits:
Necklace - Lolapop! - Goddess Necklace
Skin - Imabee - Pale - Lucy - Lucy Cried All Night/Freckles
Eyes - Rfyre/Pulse - Le Mystere Eyes - Sapphire
Face Tattoo (eyeliner) - Moonshadows at A Netherworld - Eyeliner
Lashes - Sn@tch - Lush Glam Lashes (black)
Hair - Exile - Mercy/twilight

My Three Obsessions

I'm a little obsessed with the Utopia03 sim, so this is my 2nd blog post from there.  I wanted to highlight a couple of wonderful items I found recently.  The first are the beautiful Le Mystere Eyes in emerald from Pulse/Rfyre - the deep green is so pretty, and all the eyes in the series feature the deep jewel tones that I love so much.   The second item is the BloodRose Necklace from SpiritWeaver Jewelers.  It's part of the 60L weekend series, comes with matching earrings, and I thought it was the perfect thing for Mother's Day.  It features the triple moon goddess symbol, which I have always been drawn to.  So, here are my three obsessions, Utopia, jewel tone eyes, and the goddess.


Credits:
Hair - Analog Dog - Delora Jet
Skin - Sn@tch - Plush Skin (Tone 1-Bruse 2)
Eyes - Pulse/Rfyre - Le Mystere - Emerald
Piercing - Lolapop! - Triple Goddess Facial Piercing (I modified it a bit)
Necklace - SpiritWeaver Jewelers - BloodRose Necklace
Eyelashes - Cake - Cleo II Lashes
Top - Sn@tch - Cord Jacket (Red)

50L Friday Goodies

I know there's been a lot of bitterness and hurt feelings this week in the blogosphere because of a series of rather scathing and sometimes crass reviews of 50L Friday and Humpday Happiness items.  We all know that not all items will appeal to everyone and that designers would love to have constructive criticism.  It is possible to review things in a positive way while remaining completely honest.  So, I thought I would attempt to demonstrate how to do such a review, and prove it can be done without being mean or condescending.  This is my very first 50L Friday blog post (I rarely do 50L Friday for reasons you will see below).

Let me first note that I am very closed  minded about fashion.  I have narrow tastes and rarely branch out into other looks.  I'm probably more goth than anything else and am sort of stuck in my ways, but I have to be true to me.

Below are the items available for this week's 50L Friday,

I started at Schadenfreude, one of my favorite shops:

Allegory is offering a harlequin vest and a bra and undies set this week.  Yes, she's offering a vest again.  I like her vests but haven't bought any of them because I just felt like I had nothing to wear with them.  I bought this one, though.  I've been sort of obsessed with the black/white thing ever since I saw this picture on flickr.  I didn't buy the undies, and here's why.  Allegory gave me a nightmare about skunks.  It's all her fault! Really.  I hadn't thought about skunks for ages, and then she made that cute little skunk dress for the Alt Fair.  The next night, I dreamt that a my dog wanted to play with a skunk and I fell on my ass and got sprayed trying to get away.  So, I won't buy your skunk stuff, Allegory!  :-P 

Next stop was the Turquoise Unicorn Studios.  I hadn't heard of this shop.  It's very small and the designer seems to specialize in unusual eyes.  I thought she had some beautiful eyes in her shop, but I'm not a neko, so I didn't buy this item.  She had other colors laid out besides her 50L offering, and some of them are stunning, I mean, really eye-catching.  I think if you're a neko, this would be a great place to get some eyes.

Lamb was the next shop.  I wear Lamb hair a lot because it is quality stuff.  But, I almost always wear either black, white, or funky colored hair, so the blonde and brown colors didn't perk my interest.  Remember, I'm narrow minded  (LOL).  I have the style on the left already in black, and I know there are a lot of people who will love these, especially the cute little blonde hairdo.  I like the dark roots.

Next up was Callie Cline's shop.  Wow!  She had a lot of stuff out.  I was, honestly, overwhelmed by it all.  I didn't buy anything when I was there, but I do reserve the right to return, after I see someone  more creative than I am put together a cool looking outfit.  I don't have enough imagination for all these choices.  It's like standing in the cereal aisle at the grocery store trying to decide which one to buy.

The official item, the little glitter dress, is very cute, but it's white.  *sniff* *sniff*  That's just a few shades away from pink.




Glow studio was next.  I was hoping for some more eyelashes, but instead found this rose necklace/collar.  I think if you paired it with Callie's white dress, it would be really cute.  But, since I'm a little goth, I don't do white so much.  If it were black, it would be mine!  I love the picture in the ad.  It's very chic and classy.  I really like this item, but it's just not me.


Luck is offering this pink skull tank top.  I came really close to getting this item, but *ugh* if only it weren't pink.  I wear pink sometimes, but in my own, very personal and warped opinion, I don't think pink should be mixed with skulls.  It sets it into the emo category for me.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love my emo friends, but I'm sure there's some kind of rule somewhere that prohibits me from wearing this, even though it's cute.  It would look nice with Lamb's blonde hair - cute little blonde emo girl!  *hugs*




On a side note, while I was in Luck, I saw this not-fully-rezzed outfit.  I HAD to wait until it rezzed to see what in the world it could be.


Wow! It was leaves!  I should have inspected it to see who the designer was.  If anyone knows, please leave the info as a comment!  I bet whomever made it has some really interesting things in his/her shop.  Let's have something like that on 50L Friday!


Scribble was up next.  Scribble offered a paper airplane and a hat.  I wish there had been more information about the paper airplane, like the size, and what you can do with it.  Can you throw it? It is big enough to ride on?

The hat is very cute, and I almost bought it, too, but fitting a hat to hair in SL is such a pain in the bottom that I just decided to pass on this.  I think Scribble often has some unique and very creative items for sale on 50L Friday.  The lack of info on the airplane is unusual.

5th and Oxford set out this lovely slip, but *grrrr* it's pink!  Ahhhhh!  I know that everyone else in the known universe loves pink, except for me, but this is so cute!  Why?  Why can I not have this in violet, or emerald green, or deep red for 50L?  I love the wrinkling on the fabric and the drawn on garter belts.  It's very smexy.  And if you thought redheads couldn't wear pink, they just proved you wrong - lovely model.

Oh, you know what the top would look cute with?  One of Callie Cline's skirts!

Deco set out a pair of glasses and a necklace.  OMG! I love that necklace - it is a broken mannequin leg.  How cool is that?  And I think very man on the grid should have those glasses.  They are swoon-worthy.  Definitely a win!

Hoot offered a pair of lace patterned panties.  I'm just not a big buyer of underwear in SL, so I passed on this.  The vendor ad is really cute and the model is pretty.  I like her smile and the poses in the ad.

I just don't know what people wear underwear for in SL.  I guess if someone forgot to include glitch pants with an outfit?  Maybe?  Maybe it's good for sexy times, of which I know nothing about?

Arcade set out this really cute bench with a telephone.  I think this is amazing.  Just look at the textures.  Wow!  But, I have one problem.  I don't actually have a house in SL.  I was living in Elderglen, but gave it up.  It's not that I'm homeless, I just live in a big moon skybox with a photo studio and space to build stuff.  There's not actually any furniture in there.  This would go perfect in one of the Elderglen homes.  I have to say that I love Arcade, and when I do get a home, I'm getting the Arcade fireplace!





Miel has a necklace out for 50L Friday.  I know it's black, but I didn't buy it.  It's just not me.  If there were skulls on it....

Again, lovely vendor ad and the back of the necklace looks really nice.  The textures are beautiful.  I think it's a bit too high fashion for me.  It's fancy, fancy, and I have no place to wear fancy, fancy things.


Pig set out a cute romper and shorts.  But, you guessed it, PINKI!  AAAHHHHH!  It's a pretty item and looks very well drawn.  The shorts are cute, too, and I know these items will appeal to a lot of people.

I can't wait to see what some of the bloggers do with mixing and matching these items.

Artilleri is offering this cute little bar.  OMG, Antie, how do you do that?  Look at these textures?  If you can look at the drinks and not get thirsty, you're weird.  They look so realistic!

Now, I'm going to have to go have a strawberry daiquiri today because of this.

I love everything Artilleri does, without a doubt.  But, since I have no place to put a bar, sadly, I didn't get it.  It would just sit in my inventory, and something like this deserves to be placed out and admired by everyone that stops by.
Well, that was the end of my 50L Friday shopping experience.  What did I get?  The Schadenfreude vest and the Deco necklace.  I spent a total of 100L.  I'll probably later regret not buying some of these items, and I may go back later and pick up some more things.  If someone were to break me out of my goth clothing rut, it would be good and bad - good because I'll have many more options in terms of style, and bad because I'll be a lot poorer.  But, I do want to thank the organizers and designers of 50L Friday for giving me something to look forward to each week.  All in all, these are great shops, talented designers, and wonderful selections.

Here is my 50L Friday look.  I love my new vest and necklace!





Credits:
Top - Sn@tch - Short Sweater Top (Black) (McLovin)
Vest - Schadenfreude - Harlequin Deep V Vest
Skirt - Sn@tch - Plaid Ruffle Skirt (McLovin)
Stockings - Blowpop - Seamed Fishnet Tights - Black
Necklace - Deco - Mannequin Necklace
Skin - Sn@tch Plush Skin (Tone 1 - Bruise 2/FR)
Hair - DeadKitties - Cruella
Boots - HOC - Knee Boots Female - Plain Colors

My New Adopted Pet

I always thought that people who walked around with snakes wrapped around them were creepy, and I wanted to be just like them!  Meet Fluffy, my new Zooby snake.  Fluffy can chat, hiss, and love you to death!  I ♥ you, Fluffy!


Credits:
Hair - Clawtooth - Roaring 20s (Silent Movie Star Pack)
Skin - Mother Goose - Alice Skin 04
Top - Ducknipple - boot red clean
Jeans - Emery - Denim High Waisted Misery
Shoes - Shiny Things - Flare Oxfords - black
Snake - Zooby - White Snake Female

Alt Fair ends TODAY! Get Thee to Alt Fair!

Today is your last chance to go to the Alt Fair and help out the Nothing But Nets charity!  It is your last chance to grab some exclusive items from your favorite alternative shop in SL!


This amazing location was featured on Villemo Inglewood's blog, Explore...Dream...Discover. The sim is called Utopia03.  Type "vendor" in local chat to see the shopping carts.


I'm wearing charity items from Grim Bros and Sn@tch as well as current and former gifts from Lolapop! and Weather! or Not?

Credits:
Outfit - Grim Bros - Pandabunneh (Charity item)
Skin - Sn@tch - Plush Skin (Tone 1-Bruise 2) (Charity item)
Hair - Exile - Scene/Twilight
Eyes - Sindecade - (O.o) Wish Shady
Shoes - Shiny Things - Flare Oxfords black
Stockings - Grim Bros - lpg grim bros stockings anatomy
Umbrella - Weather! of Not? - Rain of Darknessbrella
Necklace - Lolapop! - Die like an Egyptian Necklace (Alt fair freebie)

The Process of Blogging


All it takes is an inspiration to post a blog.  I'm not inspired every day, but usually at least once, maybe twice, a week.  Today, I was inspired by House of Rfyre's new Germaine set, especially the plum color, and so, the process began.  The outfit was easy, but choosing the right skin and hair can be tough.  What look am I going for?  After trying on about 20 skins and 10 different hairstyles, I settled on a couple of my favorites, Clawtooth hair and Tuli skin.

Then, I had to decide where to take the picture.  Do I take it in my skybox and photoshop in a background or on location.  I started with the skybox option, but just couldn't find a background that complemented the outfit.  So, off to find a location.  I tried out Mayday Island because Helena Stringer blogged it, but it just wasn't the right atmosphere for the dress.  I had to try something, so, on a whim, I checked "Search" and look what I found:


Lunamaruna!  And it is purple!  I had to go there, it looked so cute!  You have to take the shuttle up when you land on the sim.  And, when you arrive, you will be surrounded by whimsy.  There are flying fish, floating islands, and city streets.  Once there, I flew around searching for scenery and trying to find poses that highlighted my inspirational outfit and didn't put my hands into my butt.  That took at least 45 minutes to an hour just to take the pictures.


It takes multiple pictures, poses, checks, and double checks to get it right.  Maybe I'm just not good at this, but it's not easy work for me.  So, I took my pictures - one full outfit, one mid shot, and one close up.

Isn't this build cute!  I love the hand drawn textures and the crooked buildings.  

Another thing I always try to work with are windlight settings.  You can do amazing things with sky color and lighting.  Because the sky was part of the build, I only had to worry about lighting.  The pre-made windlight settings that come with the Emerald viewer are invaluable.  I used .Ana-Lu. studio6 for these pictures.  It's one of my favorite because it softens shadows without being too bright.


After I've taken the pictures, I snap a picture of the worn tab in my inventory so I remember all the items for my credits.  It helps if I don't manage to finish the blog right away, make the mistake of logging in using SL2.0 and find myself wearing something completely different in between taking photos and blogging.


Once I have my pictures taken, I go into Photoshop or Gimp, depending on what needs to be done.  I'm much faster with Gimp and still haven't figured out alpha layers in Photoshop.  Photoshop, though, has liquify, which I think works better than iwarp, and Gimp is much slower with handling brushes.  I didn't feel like I needed to do much to edit these pictures. I erased a small alpha overlap with my boot and the water in the 1st picture, and that is all I did.  I probably could have smoothed and rounded the edges in the close-up...hmmm...now that I look at it more, I think I need to...brb.

Here's the before - click to see a larger view if you want to compare the before and after.  I took away the square edges of the boobs and shoulders, softened the edges, and erased some distorted buttons.  The top actually has drawn on buttons that go all the way to the bottom, but the avatar mesh, of course, terribly warps things in certain poses.  
Next, I uploaded the pictures to Flickr.  I always edit my photos using Picnik and often just play around with them.  I like to see how they look with a vignette and with the lomoish, ortonish, and cross-process tools.  Then, I check out boost and vibrance.  I'll play around with those settings until I find a combination I like.  For these photos, I actually did nothing.  I thought about increasing the vibrance, but when comparing the before and after, I liked the original colors better.  So, I just created a 5 pixel border around the pictures and added a drop shadow.

The final step, of course, is to write it all up.  I just write what's on my mind.  Sometimes, I'm too tired to think and just post the pictures.  In either case, I hope you enjoy reading my blog or at least looking at the pictures.  What is your process for creating a blog post?  Do you have any tips or tricks you'd like to share?  I'd love to hear about them!
Credits:
Outift:  House of RFyre - Germaine Women's Plum (R)
Hair: Clawtooth: Velvet Moon - Softest Black
Skin - Tuli - Hope (goth) 06
Eyes - Curio - Rita Eyes - Purple (Medium)
Shoes - Nightshade - Victorian Heels
Poses - Everglow and Ks2cool
Blogger's Chair & Laptop from What Next