Wow... the coat has been having a very warm welcome over the past couple of days!! I've been feeling encouraged to make some modifications to it and maybe make some other, similar coats, especially for the season coming up... The largest clamoring for me has been to release the coat in the same colors as the wings (or at the very very least, white). There have also been consistent clamorings from at least one source (you know who you are -.^) for me to put out my elf ears with jewelry, but if I did that they'd only be in silver. Unless you were role playing elfin Mr T. I pidy da Orc!

I've been getting into the season now that it's officially shopping time for Christmas, and everyone's releasing santa hats was getting contagious... plus to add on to it Munchflower did it again. She HAD to ask me to make a hat for her holiday skins and suddenly... well I got carried away. I made a christmas hat and coat, and jewelry, but I'm going to tease you and not release it quite yet. I'm making matching jewelry and doing colors based on her skins, so I have to make sure everything's ready before I go and release anything not perfect. You can expect them within the next two days though. The reason I'm even mentioning it, is that I made myself a desktop image for myself, and wanted to share it with you guys. Not sure if you have a Second Life desktop image yet, and I know it's always more personal when it's your own avatar, but this one's awfully pretty! It looks best on a 1440X900 resolution, or at least the same ratio, worth a try anyway!


So here, take it if you'd like it, and greetin's of the season to ya!

Bravery

There are a limited amount of ways to be brave or adventurous in Second Life. You can't exactly go bungee jumping, skydiving is just a novelty, and it's simply impossible to die if you choose not to. In taking risks, the only stakes are your time and your reputation. I am proud to say that in this safe utopia, I have laid my time out in a gamble, and found a way to push past my comfort zone. I've just tread beyond into an area that has always terrified me, intimidated me, and frustrated me.

I've braved the template, imperfection, and hundreds of lindens in uploads in the process of actually making a piece of clothing. I had a dream, a vision, an inspiration that had to come to life, and it demanded that I pick up the tools I so dread, and brave the 5th circle of hell, which I've recently discovered is actually full of seam matching. So mayhap I'm a little overly proud to celebrate overcoming a personal obstacle with this:

I'm ridiculously proud of it. I've been obsessing over it ever since Caliah Lyon planted the idea into my head, which was sometime in mid-October! She suggested a feather trimmed cloak, but when she said that a beautiful, sumptuous image arrived in my head of a soft, silky and fashionable feather trimmed winter coat that was dramatic and fabulous. The coat comes in two lengths of coat tail, so you can have a long, full length dress coat, or a shorter more casual calf length, but the long a-line flare is what I had initially dreamed of. I wanted an enormous soft collar that you could bury your face in, and yet at the same time show off an elegant necklace. Then of course I needed big yummy cuffs to balance it out. The collar actually turned out being 210 prims, which I tried my darndest to show restraint on, yet when I did it just didn't look the same. Ah, well that is true luxury isn't it! To compromise, I've included a low prim version of the collar as well, that has fewer feathers but will be much more friendly to your computer. (I say low prim, but it's still 83 prims ^^;, so I guess I mean lower). All in all, the effect is very striking, and I haven't taken it off yet. It's exactly what my avatar needed to avoid getting cold in the upcoming virtual winter.

Sadly, since I'm offering so many options, for my own protection I'm making this coat copy only. You might say "but it's just the prim pieces that there are options on! no one's going to give away/sell just the prim pieces", but not so! I've gone above and beyond the call of duty on this one, and answered the prayers of a certain niche of my customers. My dear rainbois and flamboyant, secure men, I have included a unisex version of the coat top, without breast shading, so that you too can be utterly fabulous and amazing. Of course you already are, but the coat helps to make it more obvious.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Over here in America we like to celebrate a coming together of family and friends and the fall harvest, by gobbling down a gobbler and sleeping. American football is sometimes involved as well, but what it means to me is the arrival of the Christmas season, and a new computer for my fiance. So I no longer need to share mine, and I can get back to being on SL regularly! (If you were wondering, that is why I haven't been posting). I'm extremely grateful for so many things in my first life and my second, and in this case I can actually say thank you, to you folks reading this especially. By buying my items you're allowing me to keep doing what I love, stay in my apartment, eat, and continue making art for you. Without you, I wouldn't be here, and I'd probably be working at a local restaurant trying to make it on tips and wondering what I was doing with my life. So have a free pilgrim's hat :D (you can get it out of the notice from the 25th)


Someone brought up in group recently that the skull pieces still haven't been released. Obviously I know, and I've been thinking about how to handle them. Currently the big hold up is that I have done the sculpts, tweaked them, done most of the texture work, and then got completely and utterly hung up on one, stupid little seam. It's glaringly obvious to me, when I look at it, and it's been driving me utterly insane when I try to work on the skull that the texture just doesn't wrap properly at all. After spending hours on it, my drive got squelched by my desire to work on other things, and the skulls just got left behind. When I'm in the mood to be productive, I'm rarely in the mood to tackle that rat's nest of frustration.

What I have been working on is a fall inspired treat, that is unlike anything I've ever tried before. Based on my experience with it, it might herald more like it, but don't get your hopes too high up.

Ok so I feel a little silly, I thought Thanksgiving was next week, rather than this Thursday! So even some of us Americans aren't sure about when it is, haha. So unhappily for my apartment, it won't get that clean, but happily for you I'll still be hanging around SL.

Yesterday's pajama party was an absolute blast, and actually felt like an honest to goodness sleep-over. Even though I was having too much fun to do much organizing, I still did some and managed to swap away a lot of stuff and get some fun new things (bunny slippers ftw!).

We pulled out some games and played scrabble (and had chess as an option, but everyone was afraid to take on the champion).


We had a pillow fight and played "Truth or Truth" (since dares lose a lot of their potency in SL), and were ceremoniously mischievous with the first one to fall asleep:

(there's a person under there)

I made a kick ass blanket fort, which Candy professed she wanted to live in, and Selos demanded I make a bunch of tents. I think I'll leave it up for a bit because it actually makes you feel like a silly big kid, and even if it's not night like you're at a sleepover.


I just want to say thank you for everyone who came, you guys made it a total blast, and really made me want to have another one really soon XD I wasn't ready for it to end!

Windlight Fever

The big to-do over here on Second Life has been WINDLIGHT! A company acquired by Linden Labs that was devoted to working on a more beautiful environment and realistic lighting has now had its technology integrated into another client (the Second Life program). It really is beautiful, but rather buggy. I crash often, and the water keeps dissapearing, but it's worth it.

The Indigo Rose definitely looks its best with a blazing pirate sunrise. In this viewer, you can even create your own environment settings and play with any spectrum of color you want. And I, being who I am, made myself my own dream world with my own damn colors. Er, color.

I'm so predictable sometimes.

In other news, with some of the sadness that's been permeating the grid (and myself to a degree) at the loss of a crucial member of the most talented fashion house on the grid, my creative mojo took a plane out to Seattle or something and I've been hooked on playing mahjong and Oblivion until it comes back from vacation.

My fiance also has just suffered a loss of his own computer, the hard drive died or some other odd illness, so I will probably be on less as I share my system for about two weeks. It's a great excuse for me to get the apartment clean, as it's been falling into a sad dusty state while I've worked hard to get masks, ears, wings etc out. Things need to be organized and thrown out, and it'll be really nice to get the apartment ready for company. I'll be back after Thanksgiving full swing for Christmas stuff... whatever that ends up being.

Pajama Party!

My inventory is nearing the scary landmark amount of 40,000 items... and so the time has come to sit down for a good 8-10 hours and sort the sucker. But I'm not a glutton for punishment, and misery loves company... so heeeey pajama party inventory sort!


So throw on your most ridiculously comfy, inexcusably casual clothes, and shuffle in your bunny slippers over to the cherry orchard where I'm gonna be setting up a blanket fort and playing whatever music I feel like for however long it takes!

Make sure you bring some transferable items you don't wear anymore, who knows, you might find an awesome swap for it!

Today I did something I'd been putting off for ages. I've never had much motivation to do it, but today I had some connection issues and so...

I finally updated my Onrez.com listings.

Onrez.com => Slboutique.com => an out of world shopping tool folks can use when they're at work or on a grid down day. I have a very bad track record about keeping them updated, there are some designs that were still listed that have long since been stuck into my retired designs box. I sometimes make a project out of updating them (I did a while back on SLX), but slboutique/onrez has been neglected for a very long time.

I'm not done listing them, but I did delete every old mask, in fact everything from the old drop box, got a new one, and started over. So far there's not much in there, just the Seraphim, Civetta and Columbina and soon to be a couple others, but if you want to keep an eye on my onrez.com storefront here's the link :)

The old vendor is soon to be next... I have my finger on the delete button and it's giving me the eye -.^

Re-visions

The word revision doesn't just mean a do-over. Revising is going back and remembering what you really wanted to portray, and in art, can be literally seeing the vision of your piece again, and using what you've learned since that piece to give it a rebirth. The Phoenix mask was the first of the revisions that I plan for most of the ucky oldies.


The wings and feathers inspired the second:

Ring any bells? This is how I originally dreamed of the Arch Angel and Wedding masks. Maybe not blue, but I wanted to show off the beautiful range of colors that the mask is available in... that's right, I made them to match all of the different colors of the wings, with matching stones. The beautiful crest of ostrich feathers gives both an avian and divine feel. Perhaps not exactly the easiest mask to excuse while walking around and shopping (except in my case, I say, "who needs excuses?") it looks absolutely gorgeous with Nicky Ree's swan gowns, and will surely win you costume contests at any formal ball you grace with your elegant presence.

I have more planned... I feel like I'm waving a magic wand and turning wooden toys into real boys :P

Recreating the Seraphim look:
Mask: Illusions "Seraphim Mask" in blue
Skin: Nomine "Blue Glitter" in China White
Eyes: Miriel "Indigo Glow" (unreleased)
Hair: ETD "Roslin" in black (modified) (ETD's updo's are ideal for this tricky mask, they're very light in the bangs and easily modded to fit)
Wings: Illusions "Angel Wings" colored in blue
Tattoos: Chaospire "Spiretribe"
Jacket: Last Call "Jeane" Sapphire

Aaaaahh the pause that refreshes!

It's very nice to goof off for a little, and take my equivalent of a weekend. I've been talking with friends and sorting my inventory a little and taking a nice fun break with Oblivion (yay! only just discovering how awesome spell casters can be o.o!). It's been good for me to stop saying "I have to ____" in my head and say "I feel like ___" instead. I'm already feeling more recharged.

I updated my stall in Limbo (the Isle of Wyrms), and played around with redesigning an old mask. The new version is absolutely beautiful, and I'm going to have it in multiple colors this time. I'll probably release it either today or tomorrow.

Sometime soon I'm going to go back to Deviant Kitties and do some detail work, like putting in the toad or putting in some "discoverable areas". I just got Pan's Labyrinth on DVD so I'm pretty sure that will correspond with as soon as I watch it. It's just such a dark movie I'm not sure when that will be.

I also have been putting some thought into a Secret Project. This project is secret because I'd rather be sure that it's going to happen, or have it a bit closer to when it will happen, than get your hopes up now (about 4 months before it's likely to happen). Confused? That's ok, I'm just covering my butt for when people say "where are the releases?!"

I also want to say thank you for all the kind words and compliments you've sent my way after hearing the interview with Daphne and Tamara. I had a hell of a lot of fun doing it (I think you can tell), and I can't tell you how happy it makes me to hear that you heard it, enjoyed it, and are sending me the luffs. Luffs turn into Makeyjuice which runs the Siyumachine, so with every compliment a mask gets made!

Luffs to you too :D

Let me just say one thing about the month of October....


wow

I never realized when I started making masks and costume accessories that suddenly October would be such an awesome month for me. I've always loved Halloween, and I've always gotten excited for it as you can imagine. But SL Halloween snuck up on me, big time, and actually caught me at a bad time creating wise. Nevertheless, thanks to Second Style, Daphne and Tamara, suddenly Illusions became a Halloween mecca for all of the masquerade and costume parties springing up everywhere. Despite the fact that I never got the skull stuff out (sorry ^^;), and my last minute completion of large multi-month projects had absolutely nothing to do with Halloween specifically, you guys still chose my store and for that I really want to say thank you. I've been loving seeing the amazing pictures of your costumes on Flickr, and some costumes so distinctive that they've been springing up everywhere in people's streams. (*coughkhamudycough*)

Next year I'm definitely going to be more prepared, in fact, now I feel a bit like Halloweentown in Nightmare Before Christmas, because I'll be counting the days down 'till the next one! And drawing up charts with evil kitties on them and singing songs written by Danny Elfman. Wait, that's nothing new.

But yeah, next year I'll have an idea of what to expect, just so you guys know, I just experienced Christmas 2 months early!