Peer-ate Pressure

Ok, so that was a bad pun... but people wanted the hair :)



So I put it out ^.^ You get it in black, and brunette, and it's just 125 for both colors in one, cause I'm not deluding myself. It IS my first hair, and it IS flawed, but it's also darn cute and perfect to go under big, enormous and fabulous hats :)

Piratey Proliferance

Wow... I've just been having so much fun with the Pirate goodies, I've decided to make more... and *coughtheysellreallydamnwellCOUGH* I just started making and making, things that were a variation on the pirate theme, and well, out came... the Cavalier

It all started with the boots...

They had to be made thigh high. Yes, I will shamelessly say that I cheated and used the same base for the foot. I thought of slipping these in discreetly with the normal Pirate Boots, and I realized people wouldn't know that they were part of it. They really do deserve some light shed on them. They come in the same size dealy, two sizes with the normal size fit to the average SL woman (long legs), and the larger size is to give that extra slouchy yummy leather boot look to women, or obviously, to fit men normally.

I also made... *gasp* GAUNTLETS. Yes, honest to god yummy chunky slouchy wrinkly leather gauntlets, but being who I am, couldn't do the clothing texture up to my standards. Now, I was patronized not too long ago by Raven Pennyfeather... does that name ring any bells? It certainly should!! She owns RFyre designs, which is an enormously popular and extensive line of gothic and fantasy clothing. We were brought together by our mutual love of masks, (like so many of my friends on SL <3 2d="" 3d="" a="" adore="" adores="" against="" amusing="" and="" be="" body="" borrowed="" br="" but="" by="" can="" clothing="" collaboration...="" coming="" couldn="" currently="" d="" decided="" do="" don="" exact="" exactly="" expect...="" fact="" gauntlets.="" hands="" happy="" have="" i="" if="" it="" know="" my="" not="" of="" one="" opposite="" out="" prim="" really="" she="" so="" start="" stuck="" t="" talents.="" texture="" that="" the="" to="" together="" used="" ve="" we="" well="" what="" will.="" will="" with.="">

Also, watching the newer Peter Pan movie made me realize there was a Piratey Chapeau that had never been brought to life (well) on SL. So I bring you a very flouncy and semi-Napoleonic Bicorner

Another thing I was working extensively on, was following a longing and a desire of mine to bring a truly Fabulous hat into this world. Now, when I say Fabulous, I mean larger than life... I mean eye-catching, I mean exquisitely tasteful and yet walking the line between excess and excellence. The true meaning of Fabulous being awe inspiring, and absolutely requiring a personality, otherwise the overwhelming energy of the Fabulous will overpower you and leave you looking completely ridiculous.


To those who know how to wear it, I humbly give you the Captain's Hat


Jason Isaacs would be proud. It has a veritable waterfall of wild white feathers, cascading down the back, and framed by a super wide brim. It's over a 190 prims, and I did my best to back the alphas with a couple of solid blank white textures in order to reduce alpha flicker. This hat is actually ridiculously easy to tint! You can't see the crown even if you try, even if you camera inside the feathers it isn't easy to find. So when tinting the feathers or retexturing it, you only have to worry about the main prim of the curve of the hat. Cool, huh?


If you're wondering about the hair, I actually have a small confession to make. I made it. And it's made out of scunchy cunchy sculpties! I haven't put it out yet, because at the moment I'm just not sure if I should. I would only offer it in black and brunette, and it would very clearly be defined as a Captain Hook wig, and I guess I'd just like to hear a few folks tell me to put it out. Maybe I'll include it in the Pirate Pack I'm putting together ^.^

Phew!

Wow, have I been a busy little Siyu! After my initial offering, I've started a whole bunch of projects that are currently underway, and then I don't have anything to show for it!

I'll just say that there is definitely more pirate stuff on the way, in a BIG way, as well as a Hedgehog Musketeer v2 for those of you who have been missing it :) I've also been ironing the kinks out of sculpie masks, but it's slow going.

Carnivale went down today, for no good reason at all, so I need to take a moment to rant. After waiting patiently for a good 45 minutes for it to come back online, I tried to do a help request and... oh, silly naive me, they got rid of it. Hmm, help, additional help, nothing, nada... filed a support ticket with the support site, still nothing... visited the Linden Office and Linden Village, not a Linden in sight. And then, in an act of desperation, I just started randomly im'ing Lindens hoping to find at least one that was online, with absolutely no luck. Happily the whole thing ended well, because the ever resourceful Vanessa kept calling Linden Labs until she found the cleaning lady or something. Well anyway, she kicks major ass.

The customer support at Linden Labs is simply inexcusable at the moment, and hopefully the more we harass them, the more they'll be motivated to fix it.


I'd also like to put out there, that apparently sculpies are very vulnerable to theft when set to mod. People can apparently take the shapes and use them themselves. I'm very proud of my sculpted work, and naturally I want to protect them. BUT... I have decided to keep my items mod, all of them, even the single sculpted prim items that are yet to come. But this means, that if you see someone with sculpted shapes that seem very similar to mine, PLEASE report it, as my work is protected under the intellectual property copyrights that all folk are protected by on Second Life. I'd much rather dishonest people get caught, than honest people be denied a right I quite enjoy granting.

More Piratey Goodness

I thought to myself... what's something I've always wanted to make, but didnt want to deal with rigid prims and fitting it exactly to the avatar mesh? What would be the polar opposite to what I normally do, and yet still works with prims?

Footwear.


I bring you piratey goodness for 175L. Are these awesome or what?? I feel like clomping around and waving a cutlass in people's faces! YAHAR, matey, ye be enjoyin me wares lately, aye?

Arrrr >);)=

Compromise <3

I've feared them, I've loved them, I hated them... and now I've made peace with them :)

Sculpies and I... well, we sat down in Zbrush, and we worked things out. and I've gotten the hang of them now. I've agreed not to demean it for being so low rez, and it's agreed to help me out with some very tricky shapes. We've decided to make some wonderful hats together ;)




The long awaited superior hats... at least by me. They both are dream come trues for me on SL, and have been a long time coming. I am so very proud to offer to you what surely must be the best, most piratastic headwear on SL at this time, and timed very well thanks to Pirates of the Carribean: AWE, which was awesome ;)

The old designs will be retired and stuck up on the cheapie board for some obscenely low price, and these beautiful new sculpie hats will only be marginally more expensive than the originals. It'll be 75 for the tricorner, and 125 for the Cavalier, well worth it I feel :)

The Cavalier will also have a choice of three materials, velvet (shown), satin (like the tricorner), and leather ^.^

Much pirate love, and much peace with the sculpties.

Dissapointment >.<

I seem to be up and down more than a teeter totter in a hurricane. I tried exporting my fabulous masks, I made four and they were all beautiful, and it turns out that they had more than 10 times the amount of "vertices" than Second Life can support. So... sculpy masks might not be a possibility, unless I find a way to cut a single mask into 10 pieces ^^; (and I'm working on that). Going from 8000-10,000 points to 1024 points was like going back to vhs tapes on a black and white TV after having a high-def LCD flatscreen.

Ok I have to stop with the whole simile thing. But yes, Siyu has suffered a rather steep dissapointment, and the phantom of the opera mask might not be the full sculpy sexy dream I fantasized about (and... made... *cries*). I'll be trying to use the dinky, nasty, rough and pixelated shapes that Second Life allows, but not I'm not wary of Sculpies anymore.. I've lost a lot of respect for them. They're a whole lot of effort that they're not really worth yet.

Yes, Siyu shall be using them in the future, and expect that fabulous tricorner that I know you guys have been itching for :) But no, they won't be the amazing be-all-end-all of building. Yes, I'll be using them for what they probably were intended for, as a sort of custom lego maker and not what you make the legos into.

I leave you with a pretty:

Forgiveness for Sculpies

3D rendering has been redeemed... it has a holy savior, a beautiful tool straight from the hands of heaven itself... Zbrush.

I was working on this all night. It was once just a humble sphere... no tricks, no sourcing, I just sat down and made it. After tweaking and tweaking it went from a fat big face with a sloppy nose, to crazy huge pouty lips, then looking like a kind of odd native american woman, and then tweak tweak tweak... a smooth, white, beautiful face.

Actually what surprises me now is that it kind of looks like me if my nose was nicer and my lips were different O.o Lol, I guess ya build whatcha know!

Ok, a moment to talk about the beauty of Zbrush... I've had it for a couple of days now, and put in maybe a good two hours of play time, making random things like goblin heads, tweaking their male model head into a female model head, and making the head of a wasp, too. I've been itching to see if I could make a female face ever since I first started in it, and last night I set my mind to it. The wonderful thing that makes it different from Modo, Maya and Blender is that I actually feel like I've got this perfect, flawless piece of clay with fingers that only do exactly what I want them to do. All of their advertising is geared towards getting the artist of the physical world the tools to create in the virtual world, instead of making it almost impossible to pick it up without extensive courseware on how to use the darn thing.

I'm no longer afraid of sculpies. I may be wary of them..... but NOW I'm excited <3

Boneflower

I've been to Temenos Island. I've even bought one of Zoe Llewlyn's endlessly popular spotted Neko skins. But I never really fell in love with her as a skin maker until now.

Her skin series that isn't neko is called Boneflower. It seemed pretty humdrum to me at first, some interesting eyeshadows, doot do do, nothing that jumped out and said "you HAVE to buy me", and then I saw a certain fashcon notice announcing the opening of a new Boneflower series, "Whispers of Night". Hmm, goth skins, I'll check out the picture... and got my butt over there as fast as I could teleport. I saw yummies.


The eye liner is what got me, the exotic cheetah look, or the hint of the eye of ra, or maybe because if I wore the makeup I did on Second Life I'd need another room in my apartment for kohl and eyeliner. She offered up a couple more "natural" goth looks (yeah, "huh?") that have just the tail of the eyeliner or just the dark shading around the eyes, but since I was the one payin' for 'em, I got me my favorites...These are the twilight and gloom shadows, and the yummy yummy lip colors. My favorite is the one on the right, which is the "Lost Stalker" style. It's fantasy without crossing the line over into inappropriate for everyday wear, which is the line I like to walk ^.^

I buy skins for the makeup, but if you're interested in the bits, I'm going to say that it has a very lovely kitty, which is trimmed and comes only in black, but it looks actually very soft O.o Don't believe me? Try a demo, lol. The perfect word for the body shading is subtle. The skin comes in white, and whiter, and this is the white version. As quite the connesieur of pale skins, I can say that this skin has a nice "believable" pale without being completely blinding, and the shading gives some nice definition without being overly athletic or low resolution. The feet are a little blurry, but only compared to skins that pay them a lot of attention. The nails on both the hands and feet are a nice, natural clear polish, and the breasts have subtle highlights, rather than looking like they've been cut and pasted from some porn star's skin. There is something a little odd though, that the nipples are very light... I don't know about your nipples, but certainly the ones I've seen are darker than that in comparison to the skin... But hey, if you're wearing a shear shirt, you probably won't need pasties!

The skins are what got me in there, but Zoe's new clothing line of Broken is what made me need to go back and withdraw some cash from the bank.

Despite my lack of love for the overly goth, (aka, crosses and spikes), the detail and love that went into the brocade on that corset, and the fact that Zoe obviously knows that "corset" doesn't automatically equal "rack" made me buckle (sorry about the pun ;). This is the "Cross Corset" in "Purgatory", which I assume means black. It also comes with very subtle shading in greens, reds, purples and gold, but the dominating color in all of them is the black background. The quality of her clothing actually surprised me! It's not the most ridonculously clear, but the resolution is definitely better than most gothic clothing out there and the way the silk shines completely gets me. It's only 90L for each color! I'm also wearing the "Lucifer" set, which includes this wonderful trench coat in a bunch of different versions, a vest with prim laces, big chunky clunky boots, the pants with a clothing layer belt (doesn't look clothing layer does it? O.o) gloves, and a white undershirt. I'm only wearing the coat, pants and gloves, but believe me, I wasn't expecting it to be so worth the 800L it is to buy the whole set but it is.

Oh! And while you're browsing, don't miss the beautiful and much needed sheer shirts, in a whole bunch of different patterns. They are tres AFI, with long sleeves and a high collar, and they look good on both men and women. But since I have a thing in both IRL and SL about clothing that touches the neck, I didn't buy any myself, but the price is certainly not what stopped me, the sheer shirts are 90L each.

SLurl: "Temenos Island"

Whispers Of Night Skins in "Deathly", Gloom and Twilight shadows 700L per skin
Broken clothing: Lucifer set 800L, cross corset 90L
Worn with Symon hair by Deviant Kitties in black and white

Sculpies Shmulpies

The news about sculpted prims was huge for me. As soon as I saw the words "new" and "building" secondlife.com was loading and I was definitely focused on finding out what this new fangled thingamajiggy was. Finding out about new, high-tec sculpt mappy things and one prim mushrooms blew my mind, "OMG! Pillows!?"

My first thought was "oh god", and then it was "oh no". Because I just happen to be rather adept at a build set that's been around for a while, is very comfortable to me, and that I feel I've explored the potentials of. Yet if I don't jump on to this new technology, there will be people all around me making far superior things and then I won't sell anything, and I'll lose business, and lose money and then lose my apartment! EEEP. Some parts of my head of course, were retaining rationality and saying "hmm, I guess I'll have to learn new things in order to stay on top", and patiently started looking for affordable (or accessible) 3d rendering programs. Because I'm not just gonna open up photoshop and be able to make one of those newfangled rgb doobobs. I found a few programs, only two of which work, and only one of which has any sort of understandable documentation...

And I realized I'm such a hardcore noob. UV mapping? Baking? What are you baking, muffins? My 3d rendering program experience boils down (ha, I can use the kitchen words too) to Terragen, an old open shareware program that was used to create land and water for rendering, and then Second Life. It's very, very scary and uncomforting when you're trying to find a tutorial for a beginner's guide to the program, and you STILL don't understand a word they're saying. "Ok, camera, perspective, view from the right... ok, now why is it that when I make my sphere, it's only a couple of stretched lines? oh, ok, there we go, I forgot the z axis.... ok now what? Morph? Apply mesh? Quoi?"

I've managed to make a folded ball, and a twirly vortex of doom. I forgot how obsessed I am with instant gratification. Must... be... expert... now!! I think I'd be able to be more patient if I could actually find the beginner's guide to beginning.

Pimp My Mask!...er...

I was working on marketing myself today, sent out fashion show packages, a couple of review packages, and spreading the word about the Illusions group on Flickr. Admittedly there are only 4 people in it as I write this, but there SHALL BE MORE! For I scoured the metaverse and tracked down a few folks that used my stoof in their piccies, and begged em to put them up in mah group :) So far I'm the only business that has a stream like this, but it's really nifty! I'm pretty sure it'll become a trend... So I totally ripped off Linden Lifestyles and tucked a fan-based photostream into my blog... that's right, it's now YOUR pictures. So yes, I was pimpin' mahself out.

All of this busy bodying made me realize that there are some business owners with lovely products who just have no clue how to put their stuff out into the world. I might add my own perspectives into the marketing advice that's out there, make a notecard thingie or some such :)

I've hired the talented Zeal Zenith who will be providing some animations for some top secret Siyu projects! Ok...maybe not soooo secret... Let's just say one of them is victorian, and Caledon lovers will just adore them, and the other is an alternative to the core of my store that's been a long time coming...

Lacy Things!

Normally a term indicative of naughty things and lingerie, I give you lacies! That are completely innocent and although very secksy, maybe not the same way.

I'm officially releasing Smokey, that veil I posted a little ways down, and for only 20L! I felt guilty making it anything more, I mean, it's three prims for godsakes.

But the other lacies are HATS. I visited a hat store lately (in that other life)that had to have over 120 hats for ladies and gentlemen and I tried on every single black one, white one, big one, small one, buckled one, leather one, felt one, zomg hats. I was in hat heaven. And I want to give people some of that happy hat-tastic feeling. So I recognized that my hat selection was more limited than it COULD be, so ladies, be hatted.

This is a lovely, British inspired sun hat called Miss Marilyn. I made it on Mother's Day, and I was thinking of my mother when I made it, whose name is Meryl. So I dedicate it to my mum, love ya, have a hat you can't wear! (oh I know you like it anyway)


I've made it in black, white, black and white and white and black, because that's what I do. These are of course, completely and deliciously tintable, and you are invited, nay, commanded! to tint them to the lovely outfits you're wearing. By no means need you buy all 4 of the "color" combinations, just buy one as a jumping off point. I've set it out on the new releases wall for 125l :)

Here is a yummy pillbox, which I couldn't quite get to play nice with hair that had alpha textures. Rather than scrap the idea, or let it waste away as a victim of perfectionism, I'm putting it out as a steal at 35L :)



To tell the truth, I haven't really named it yet. Everyone says Jackie O', but it seems far too dark, and besides, I wanted to do a really fun Jackie hat. So this is as of yet unnamed, in fact, I'm going to ask that people PLEASE IM me with ideas for names :) Should be fun!

On another note, I've been good and done my homework, and I've redone my permissions signs. I know it won't stop people from ignoring them, but at least now they'll have less excuse. I've also officially started using Miriel's beautiful vendors! On the far wall for the jewelry, I now have Gothica, Entranced and Cherished all available for sale as transfer or copy! Where is Graced you might ask? Well, I've always been embarassed by the chain I did for it, so now I'm going to take it aside for a little retooling. I've also lowered the prices on them, because hey, what the hell ^.^ Speaking of lower prices, I added a couple of other bargains to the bargain table, and made it a little harder to miss :)

Go forth and be hatted!

Name that Mane

There have been folks who sat in stores and said "Damn, I wonder what hair she's wearing in that picture? I wish they would say somewhere". Oh really? Alrighty then! I don't mind doing a little guide to hair! That is, the hair that I wear in my pictures :) Now, I know that it would be super duper tough to just list every single item and every single hair style I wore with it (not to mention needing constant updates)... so here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to list the designers where I've gotten my hair, because I use the same ones over and over again! Simple! Then anyone who wants to can either ask, or if they're shy (and hey, who isn't sometimes) peruse this entry.

If it's black or white, it's probably from Kin. It's my absolute favorite hair on SL, she is my hair crack dealer. Everyone has one, she's mine. Kin's hair has a very light, flowy and sometimes spiky feel with a Japanese influence. Great flexi, looks very feathery and at the same time smooth.
Styles I own: Everything
Style Shown on the Black Cygnus Mask: "Chu" in Black



Deviant Kitties : Most of the time I don't use her hair for mask pictures, since it tends to have very generous bangs, but if you haven't found the hair style you wanted from my photos, then this is the place to try :) Style wise she looks a lot like Kin. I love her long styles and her choppy ones, they're just too much fun!
Styles I own: Symon, all the mohawks, Cheyenne
Style Shown with Selos Dae's Neko Skin: "Symon" in Midnight




If it's a different color, something wild like purple or blue etc, it's from Here Comes Trouble. I bought their four cheapie packs (OMG 1l for 40+ colors!) and a couple of other bargains. HCT has a sometimes stiff, classic SL hair feel, lots of toruses, and can be very stylized and funky.
Styles I own: Mallory, Belinda, Tiya, Bonita,
Style Shown with Lady's Cabaret Top Hat: "Tiya" in Black



I've also given Elika Tiramisu a bit of my money, of ETD. She's admittedly got a great mix of the styles of Kin and the more traditional torii-fest SL hair (when I say this, I'm thinking Gurl6, HCT, Naughty etc). Plus, her textures are legendary. She's rather light on the bangs, which is great for masks.
Styles I own: Felitia, Airy
Style Shown with Naso: "Felitia" in Black



Panache provided me with the core of my hairstyles when I was juuuuust starting out. I got all of her freebies, and then stopped there. They also have a couple of nifty styles at the Gnubie store and at the Free Dove.
Styles I own: Pazzies Ponies and Buns, Candie Vonta, Faith Midnyte
Style Shown with Syldath's Gaze: "Faith Midnyte" in Ash



If it's that fabulous white feather hair? Yeah, I love that too, that's Egret from ::Bare Rose::, and I'm not sure if you'll be able to find it on your own, so ask one of the nice peoples that hang out at the entrance for just the purpose of helping you ^.^

There O.O My hair secrets revealed! Eek!


P.S: If this confuses you, or you're not savvy around the world of hair yet.... you can always just ask :)~

Customer Considerations

Lately I've been getting some input from you guys, because in my own little world of making pretty things, I sometimes quite forget what exactly you guys notice, read, don't read, see or pay attention to, or would like to know. What's obvious to me isn't always obvious to you, so I've been listening to what customers have to say about my store lately.... erm... with and without their knowledge >.> (hey, what is said in open chat is fair game! And if anyone wanted to camera around they'd find me with my ear against the wall)

So here are some improvements that I'm currently working on, and will be working on to make people a little happier :)

The biggest project so far is installing new jewelry vendors, ones that have been donated by the ever talented and beneficent Miriel Enfield, so soon you'll be able to choose if you'd like things copy or transfer! ZOMG!

Easier to read, and maybe even more obvious signs that state my permissions... my aesthetic sense winces at this one because I love the ones I have now with their pretty script and seamless blending into the environment... which are the problems.

Making my bargain table a little more obvious, sadly the first thing people see is normally my vendor set at the most impressive mask which is of course normally the most expensive. People see me as a money grubbing evil person and so I'd rather have the first thought be "oo! cheapies!"

Making my permissions more obvious, I know I mentioned that, but ye gods, it needs to be stated again!

Making my policy on free re-textures more known, most people looking for masks tend to be women wanting to match their dresses, so I want it to be known that I'll happily match them ^.^

Putting up an official policies thing up on here, so that people browsing out of world can check it out.

Putting up an official guide to HAIR used in my model pictures. On this site, naturally, but whoa, secrets revealed!

Speaking of hair, writing up a notecard guide that describes how to make your hair fit to your mask if it doesn't already.

Also going to give you a release update, 'cause I want to give you guys something to look forward too aside from all of those improvements :)


Osiris Silks - Fits are finished, just working on adapting all of the accessories to be man sized. Currently the foot thongs are giving me trouble and require being completely remade.

Brand new, long chained necklace called Honored, working on metal variations, it's going to come in EVERY semi-precious stone I have! (15 different stones, 3 different metals, it's going to be a grind but worth it). It's meant to be an absolutely essential, beautifully versatile necklace that will be to die for in its usefulness ^.^

I made a simple, elegant, beautifully mysterious mask in about 5 minutes for someone, and I'm wondering to myself why didn't I made it earlier? It's only 3 prims! I've called it Smokey and you can get it straight from me if you ask, for free. Consider it a thanks from me for actually reading all of this :)


I have some commissions to work on as well, one that you guys can reeeally look forward to is the next civilization I'm going to visit... I think I might pay a trip to Lothlorien...

A Midsummer Night's Dream Masquerade

It's about time I throw another party:


Yes! June 19th, I'll be holding a fabulous (albeit popular themed) party to stretch out my event hall, my DJ skills... and to celebrate Siyu's birthday :) Obviously you don't need to bring a present, it's not so much about that but I will be enjoying myself >.>

Dress will be formal attire, and you have to be fae themed! Cover yourselves with leaves, put some wings on, and don't forget your mask! I'll be working towards leafy things and yummy elven masks so you have more choices to wear! I'll be decorating the entire sim just for it, and I'll be launching a fabulous fireworks display. I'll also be announcing very special prizes for the winners of best costumes, so don't forget to save the date/time, I'll be sure to remind you all!

June 19th, 7-10PM SLT
Illusions Event Hall, Carnivale
Fae-Formal Dress Required

Feline Groovy

I've been a bit busy tending to things in the real world, as sometimes happens, and so since I don't have any new releases, I'd like to show my latest fun thing...

After Bast, I've been feline groovy. After a chance encounter shopping around Japanese sims, I met the delicious Selos Dae, who just happens to make the most unique skins I've seen in a while...

She happens to own the burgeoning little store that goes by the name of "TRAP" that's found on the Deviant Kitties sim. She has a rather small selection, currently just this Neko skin, its male counterpart, and the Elven series of male skins. They all come in fun, wild shades as well as more subtle versions, but the colors are anything but natural. The male skins are also surprisingly unisex, as Selos is one of the very few skin makers I've found who believes in quite a different ideal of male beauty. You'll find no overdone six packs and chiseled pecs here.


As you can see, these elven skins certainly come in a rainbow of color! And have some super sexy well defined collar bones, with dramatic and yummy man shading. Her skins, as I've said, are very unique, and she has a way of making the shading on the face super dark and then very light in some areas, which definitely makes certain features pop (the EYES!) and give a perfectly normal looking avi a subhuman twist.

I ALSO wanted to blog Hybrid's simply monumental sale. For people who haven't heard, Hybrid's creator Philo Sion set all of her inventory at half price on Monday, including a raffle for one lucky winner to get the entire contents of the store. The sale was to benefit her good friend's 27 year old boyfriend who had a stroke. The sale is over now, but some accessories are still discounted and there's still a collection box for those who want to help. Hybrid is THE Neko store, and the store for those who walk the line between human and furry. I can't say normally I'd shop there, but their ears are really cute, (as you can see from the first picture). The ears are even controlled by HUD, as is the tail! (see it twitching up there?) so that even if you aren't into the Neko culture, it's still a super fun toy. My absolute favorite find from there though, is something absolutely fabulous which I think will bring a smile to all but the coldest of hearts...



A PET PEEVE. That's right, this little guy is a pet peeve, because everyone has one. This little mosquito-like critter sits on your shoulder, and doesn't do squat except be the virtual material symbol for an ingrown and universal trait of humanity. And no, he doesn't suck your blood. He's meant to be your pet more than your peeve. He's only 75L at Hybrid, and believe me, he's a steal just for cuteness factor.

I can't sign off without saying something really quick about my HAIR! Yes, I bet you were looking at it and going "ooo that totally goes with Nekoness..." because it does. It comes from the funky and unique "Electro Kitty" store found in the Ikebukuro sim run by Elec Tone. She only carries two different hairstyles, but they're both absolutely delicious and you simply have to get both to encourage her to make more.

SLurl:"TRAP Skins"
SLurl:"**Hybrid** Street"
SLurl:"Elektro Kitty"

Tattoos by Bare Rose: "Chakra Bonji"
Corset Top by DE Designs: "Somber"
Pants by Curious Kitties: "Nayan" in Black and White
Hair by Elektro Kitty: "Darling" 100L per color
Skin by TRAP: "Neko Purple 2 Female" 700L per color
Shoulder Pet by Hybrid: "Pet Peeve" 75L
Ears and Tail by Hybrid: "Neko Starter Set" 550L
Eyes by Hybrid: "Cat Eyes" 95L for all colors!

Out with the old!

Or more precisely, out of the vendor with the old. I pulled them out so I can make room for the new... and then was faced with a choice. What to do with the old? Hmmm... I could just get rid of them.. make them dissapear... no one would ever know they existed...

Well I couldn't do that, I personally hate it when designers discontinue things no matter how old they were. So I did what I wanted them to do: make 'em CHEAP!

The following masks are now 45L or under:

Elegant Lady of Seville
Grand Peacock Mask
Imp Mask (which is 5L)
Lucky Pheonix Mask
Nefara's Mask (awww my first one ever!)
Angel Mask (which is 10L since it was 45 before...)

And a couple others, which, as I dig through my inventory will be added to the pile of oldies. There were a few that just were quietly removed and evaporated and never to be seen again (do you remember the faces of Yin and Yang?) that I'll be re-releasing for the same oh so low price of 45L and under.

Now if you weren't showering me in love in affection already, I also went back and reviewed some of my designs which I thought were the absolute shizzle when I made them, that now I can recognize as the "eh" pieces that they are... So MORE price cuts!! I cut down some bloated prices in the mask vendor, and I raided my hat vendor, slashed prices on everybody's favorites (the pirate tricorners and the cavalier) as well as the headdresses, because hey, what the hell! Most of them are now half off, if not more than half off, and the Sumptuous Veil got a price slash too. It's about time!

You may now shower me with love and affection, and flowers are nice too XD

Bast

I promised there'd be more! And who would I be to go back on a promise?

I proudly present to you Bast:



The Egyptian cat goddess Bast, known as the "perfumed protector", and if I wanted to be bad I'd say "purrfumed", oops! it slipped! She was considered a divine mother and a protectress, as cats were the guardians of Egyptian families. Wings, in Egyptian mythology symbolize protection and guardianship, and so the sun disk on Bast's diadem is framed in golden wings. She was also a sun goddess and a goddess of the sky, and so the carnelian sun disk stands for her position as "Lady of the Flame".

She is exactly 254 prims, the amount that is maximum to be linked, because I'm a nut and those little jewelry bits were irresistable. She is the second of my Egyptian Limited Editions (Anubis being the first), and she too will be 5000L each with only ten sold, available only through IM to me. Again, first come first serve ^.^ I'll also be including the Egyptian Emperor's Collar, a black marble display head, and everything comes in a statue of the cat goddess in her more domestic form. The Anubis sold out in less than a week, so don't put it off! You only get one chance to make her yours, and to become the Protector Goddess of Egypt.

Edit: Bast has now been sold out

I've also added a couple of new earrings to the Egyptian Collection, and both the Bast and Anubis masks will be on display in the pavilion :)

Smile, Darn ya!!

I think I might make a new feature, since I love putting together outfits, of a Friday Outfit mashup where no more than two items on me can be from the same place/designer.



This lovely, conservative yet fashionable outfit is compiled out of the following yummies:
The new "Priscilla Suit Jacket" by Last Call (Dazzle Haute Couture)
New Bathory Corset Top by Analise
"Beze Cranberry skirt" in black from Temptation
"Lady's Zig Zag Heels" in black from Shiny Things
"Airy" hair in Black by ETD
"White Orchid Pendant" by ~Muse


Really, I just wanted to show off my fuddy duddy outfit for Cinco De Mayo, since I'm a conservative whose idea of a crazy wild night is staying at home and making masks :) But I tell a little bit of a lie, I'm wearing a sombrero as you read this.


The title of this post comes from some folks around me, and through reading forum posts, I've been exposed to some negativity lately... None of it involving me personally, and I remain blessed to be surrounded by loving friends. But I keep seeing bitter feelings, angry folk, irrational dislikes and differences, spiteful people or people who are emotionally dependant on others, or people who don't take any time to try to feel empathy with the people around them... The sad thing is is that many people assume that sort of behavior is normal, or that all people are like that, or if they aren't showing that behavior they aren't "being real". Life isn't TV, the ratings don't go down and you don't lose your job if your life is happy and drama free. There are genuinely happy people out there and you can be one of them. So I'd like to give you this song:




Smile, darn ya, smile! You know this old world is a great world, after all!
Come on and smile, darn ya, smile! and right away, watch Lady Luck pay you a call!

Things are never as black as they are painted
Time for you and joy to get acquainted
Make all of your life worthwhile
Come on and smile, darn you, smile!
Life is really only what you make it
stand up and show them you can take it
Make life worthwhile..
come on and smile, darn ya, smile!

Sammy Davis Jr (The Rat Pack)

Sending out love and happy rays in the truly hippy fashion
-Siyu

A Time for Cleaning House

I realized that there wasn't a single design in my SLExchange and SLBoutique boxes that was younger than five months old. WELL that was just unacceptable! So I reviewed my masks, checked 'em out, and put out most of the ones I find are the best sellers in world. SLExchange is officially taken care of, with even a featured item listing for the black cygnus mask! Browse while you're at work or something. I definitely won't say, or try to say, that I'll be able to keep it up or that I'll include everything I sell on the online markets, but I am trying to do better.

I'm giving you guys a warning, that I'm really considering wiping clean the slate on masks made before my shop in Plio. Yeah, that means the old, OLD ones, back when I first started out on Limbo. But considering that the Illustrious Venetian Mask has become something of an icon for Illusions, I'm not sure if I should discount them, make them 1L freebies, make them public domain freebies, or discontinue them. What do you guys think? I'm definitely in the mood to clean up, and get the old ones out of the vendor 'cause they're takin' up space!

Also, doing a casting call on male shapes. I'm looking for relatively average transferable shapes for random fittings for the... *looks back and forth* Osiris Silks. So if you volunteer your shape, chances are there'll be something especially modded just for you for free :)

Anubis Update: Sold Out! That's right, all ten have been sold, and heavens bless those that did end up with it, because they just paid my heating and electricity bills. WOO! And to those that missed their chance... don't worry, I have more a'comin' ;)

Digging in the attic

I have to admit, this release is mostly about the Schador I just made, and am still wearing. This headwrap was made for my friend Mourna Biziou (whom I believe you've met if you've seen her modeling my silks) for the Linden Lifestyles Ball. It came out so beautifully, I decided to play with ways to make it more awesome. So it comes in three seperate pieces, a simple cowl that drapes around the neck and attaches to the chest, the actual Schador that covers the head and hair and bags a bit in a natural way in the back, and a headwrap, so you can cover your mouth and be a ninja. All three pieces can be worn seperately, but they really look wonderful all together.


But I also dug out a bunch of masks that I had made and hadn't released, dusted them off, and put them out. Amongst them, a Spring Nymph Mask and its mate, the Spring Green Man.


Also, for those elegant socialites out there who wish to go matchie matchie without LOOKING like they're matchie matchie, is the Ebony masks:




Personally, I like the female version better, but that's obvious, 'cause I AM female.

Also releasing a simple, cute whimsical Venetian mask, called the Naso, named so for its big nose. As Nasos go, this one is actually pretty tame ;)



Woooo picture spam!! All items are available in-world at the main store on the new releases wall

Schador - 6 Colors, 325L each or 650L for all ("Symon" Hair by Deviant Kitties, "Hyde" tattoo by Etch'd)
Spring Nymph and Green Man - 75L each ("Charity" Hair from Madame De Pompadour) ("Sawyer" hair by Tami McCoy, Hunter cape by B@R)
Ebony masks - 195 each ("Belinda" hair by HCT, Spring Satin Gloves by Nicky Ree) ("Dangerous" hair by Tami McCoy, "Woltt" shirt by DE Designs)
Naso - 200L ("Felicia" hair by ETD, Spring Satin Gloves by Nicky Ree)

Ohhhh Miriel...

Ginny Talamasca: Clothes, Robbie Dingo: Music, Munchflower Zaius: Skins, Miriel Enfield.... the fashionista brain goes "jewelry!" and of course you'd be correct. And yet, this multi-faceted jewel of a designer goes waaay beyond just jewelry. While I was enjoying the Linden Lifestyles ball, I saw a beautiful dress on a lovely young lady and thought "ooo, how did I miss that one?" and asked her politely where she got it. Her name seemed familiar, and yet when she said "Oh, I made it" I realized I had most certainly never known her for her work. And so, right after I changed out of my ball gown I headed over to Miriel Enfield's store in Nouveau to see how on earth I could have missed her.


First, being who I am and adoring prim work to the point of obsession, the first thing I saw were stained glass windows that made me want to IM her and demand she give them to me at blunderbuss point. PRIM STAINED GLASS, that's right, carefully aligned, perfectly rotated, gracefully used torii formed prim stained glass built to fit a texture for the colors. The store is modest, sweet and simple, with minimal decor and a vintage feel. Her vendors were a little confusing to get used to, but once I realized how they worked they were simple and easy to use. I was wondering where and how I put my money in, but touch menu's came to my rescue to ask me what metal or stone I wanted, and whether I wanted her jewelry to be copy or transfer. I bought myself some yummies, and then left because I knew if I stayed I'd be naughty and I was trying to save some cash.

But then Miriel headed me off, and pretty much trapped me in her store, because today, she made a daring (and very popular) move by pulling a Torrid, and announcing that ALL of her everyday casual jewelry styles and her retro dress were going to be FIFTY LINDENS or UNDER.

Now, someone had given me a Retro Dress a while back as a gift, and it was in Amber and well... if you know me, you know I don't like Amber. Even if you don't know me, you assume. So I have to say I didn't wear it... but the different colors of this dress... every single color has a personality, and while maybe the Amber and me didn't get along, pretty much every other one did. You want to be badass but cute? Try it in black. You want to be sweet and innocent and enjoying a spring breeze? Try the white. You want to be mysterious, feminine and chic? Try the purple...
Ok, so yeah those are my three favorite colors and constitute the whole of my wardrobe. But I was able to buy all SIXTEEN colors for.... drum roll please....

140 Lindens.

And truly, the keyword for this dress is versatile. as you can see by the picture, the dress is neutral enough that it is completely changed by the accessories, and you really only need one or two. An undershirt (since the dress is on a jacket layer) is a super easy way to add another color, and every woman knows that shoes change the mood of an outfit in seconds. Gosh, and I'm so busy gushing I forgot to mention what wonderful, subtle quality it is. Miriel is one of the only folks I've found to add little seams, darts, puckers, and wrinkles with incredible deftness, those little flaws that add such realism to the unreal. Yes, there are wonderful shaders out there and those that mind their seams (and I've definitely shown my appreciation in the monetary sense)... but have you ever seen a little pucker like this around your lovely digital breast?

If you need to, open the picture in a new tab so you can see properly. This is the incredibly beautiful and underplayed Harem Rose silks, that even though I can't say I like the skirt much, I am right now wearing as my underwear. The shading is subtle, the "cloth" looks like its cupping and holding my digibewbies without making it look as if it is about to tear apart at the seams or stretch like spandex.
There is a little bit of a down side to all this glory though, I feel obligated to say that the edges, right around the edge of the chest area to the retro dress, and when you zoom up close to the silver edging on the above, it runs a bit jagged where it stretches across the mesh of the avatar. From far away you don't see a thing, but for close ups, it did get noticeable. It's a small thing that I felt obligated to share, but really it didn't dampen my enjoyment of these outfits in the slightest. She only has four outfits out at the moment, the other two not shown are Flora, a simple sheath dress in 9 colors, and Echo, an incredibly beautiful empire waist gown (there should be more!) with a gradient, that comes in seventeen different colors, all of them beautiful, and it happens to be the gown that got me over to her store in the first place.


But I'm not done yet. Ohhhh no. Aside from picking up every single casual jewelry style she had, including hair pins, necklaces, and matching earrings and not paying more than 400L for all of it, I ended up finding a room... a room full of eyes.

And damn. I've found my eyes. Everybody searches for a while to find the eyes that are Theirs, just like they look for Their Skin that will define their shape in that perfect way, and the eyes aren't any different. The Eyes Have It, right?



Never a truer word. Miriel, again I say it, is such a multi-faceted creator on SL. While some content creators *coughMEcough* never stray far from their beloved medium, Miriel excels in prim work, textures, AND scripts, for the simple and elegant vending scripts turned out to be all her own sweat and blood. Is there anything this woman can't do? (apparently animation, but never say never). So anyway, back to the eyes. These are actually purposely made as smaller iris eyes, so that we who do not wish to walk the path of anime eyes or stylized eyes can look realistic, without it looking like our irises are taking up a third of our head. My being an Asian avi, and loving the delicate and exotic look of the low lids, made me instantly fall in love. Aside from being a nice and rarely seen size, they are clear, three dimensional, and have a beautiful shine. For the first time I can say that a virtual pair of eyes looks healthy, and she knows how to make them look real without making us all bloodshot (oh, god, the bane of glamour photography is "real" bloodshot eyes). So I have officially found my eyes, in any number of the vibrant and rich colors she offers.

SLurl: "Miriel: Jewelry, Clothing, Eyes"

Little Retro Dress - 50L for one color, 140L for 16 ("Symon" Hair by Deviant Kitties, L&E "Signature Sandals", Shiny Things "Old Lace Up Boots" "Madame Rose Shirt" by B@R, "Intent" boots by Prim Seduction)
Harem Rose - 300 for one color in gold and silver trim, 800 for collection of 9 colors (shown in "jet, silver")
Various Eyes - 50L, 125 for a pack of four. Sold by theme of color (naturals, pale naturals, bicolors, etc) From left to right: Indigo, Hummingbird, Blue Opal, Gray and Forest (shown with Schador Head Wrap, a new release I swear I'll get to)

*~*Illusions*~* Gets Lucky!

I've finally succumbed. It was after I found myself spending quite a lot of time waiting with baited breath for the hair chair at Deviant Kitties to change to Symon in Black and I was willing it, so hard, so hard! to turn to S.... And I realized it was a lot of fun, hanging out with the other dorks who were waiting with me to save themselves 175L. So what the hell, I bought myself my own lucky chair :)


So now, Illusions is officially the host of a lucky chair, which has been programmed to switch letters every 25 min, and has FIVE prizes unique to it, and since it's me, they're delicious. There are TWO skull items, a lovely lady's hat, some jewelry... yeah just come and check it out. And while you're there, feel free to lounge under a lovely tree and enjoy the company of other Illusions fans. Turn on the stream, kick back, and camera browse while you wait for it to be your turn to get lucky!


SLurl: Right outside the main entrance