Ravenna Cowl @ Engine Room

 After releasing the Ravenna Hennin, I've been wearing the cowl part of it on it's own quite a bit.  It looks fantastic under other creator's hats and headdresses, and sometimes I like to put together a low lag/low complexity look to visit crowded shopping sims and the cowl works perfectly to provide a less graphically intensive option to hair.  After talking to the folks on my Discord server, I decided to package up the cowl and sell it as its own item.

 

 It has all of the colors that it does with the hennin, with a simplified HUD.  I also put in a few variations for different amounts of coverage so you can wear it underneath other mesh clothing items.  The cowl includes the fits for masculine and feminine avatar bodies, and was tested on the Jake, Legacy M, Reborn, Legacy F and Lara X bodies.  It was fit for LeLutka heads but may work with other bodies and heads, just make sure to try a demo.   

 

Now available at Engine Room for $300L, which runs until April 20th 

Cigno Curia Mask @ Engine Room

 I wasn't sure about being able to do another event so soon after another,  but after I got a message saying that The Engine Room had a spot for me if I wanted it, I felt I had to grab the opportunity.  The Engine Room is a Steampunk themed event that also welcomes other historically inspired and fantasy themed items, and since coming back to SL has become one of my "must see" shopping stops whenever I hear a round is going on.  For the past couple of years, I had an aspiration to one day be a part of it, since so many of my items fit the theme.  I'm happy to say that today, I am!  

 

 The Cigno Curia mask is a return to my roots, an ornate masquerade mask inspired by traditional Venetian maschereri. I couldn't be too ambitious with the limited time I had, but I figured I'd make a new variation on my Curia series.  Cigno means "swan", and is characterized by an elegant sweeping wing or feather shape framing the face.  Its usually a riff or variation on another character or style of mask, like a Volto Cigno or a Columbina Cigno.  My version is somewhat based on my Civetta mask, and offers eighteen color variations for the mask itself as well as my usual set of six metal colors for the accents, all accessible via an easy-to-use HUD.

 

With the Steampunk theme, it made me think of an item that would be a perfect option to update next. 

 

Despite a corrupted file that nearly prevented me from being able to complete this, I can thank a stray temporary quick-save file on an old computer for the high detail version of this mask. Because of this serendipitous savior I am so pleased to share that I have updated it with a new, higher definition model, PBR materials and HUD.  I also included the limited edition RFL colors that I released at Fantasy Faire in 2021, and added a blue color and a red vinyl option.  I have to say, the vinyl material really does pop with PBR materials and a reflection probe.

 

These can be found at the Engine Room event, which starts today and runs until April 20th.  

Gauged Seelie Ears @ Skin Fair 2026

When I first started making my new line of elf ears, there was a flaw in them that I just assumed was part of making things in Second Life.  A visible edge could be seen along where my ear met the head, but only in some lighting.  After seeing various creators of other mesh body parts create perfectly blended edges on bodies and heads, I realized I must be missing something.  It started me on a quest to find a way to make my own elf ears seamless.

Many general modeling resources weren't helpful, because it's an extremely rare use case to not be able to alter or touch the mesh you're trying to blend with.  I asked other Second Life creators and got leads and clues but nothing satisfactory.  Finally, someone was able to give me the key I was looking for, and with enough persnickety tinkering I'm happy to say I've done it. 

One of the reasons it's been months since my last ear release is that I got it into my head that the gauged Seelie ears would be the first set with seamless edges.

 

Shown wearing a skin by Moccino, tattoo by Nuuna, Hair by No Match, Gauges by Faetal

It's taken me over a year, but I have now made an edge that blends into LeLutka's modern line of heads, (the ones that have the same edges as Camden/Rune and Camila/Vela).  They also have "Lite" versions to fit the heads that are available for free to all residents in the library.

 

 Shown wearing a skin by Ives, Hair by Stealthic, Earrings by A*S

   

Now that I have the new edges done, updates are going to be sent out for previously released styles as I go through them.  Anyone who currently has a set of ungauged Seelie ears should be sent an update automatically.  I will also be going back through my other ear styles and changing those edges as I get to them.  

 

The gauged Seelie ears will be available at Skin Fair, beginning March 7th.

 

Illusions @ Skin Fair 

 

 

Ravenna Hennin for Men @ Midnight Order

    When first I released the Ravenna Hennin, my intention was to offer an option for male avatars as well.  After getting the female version done just in time for the opening of Midnight Order, I started work on the male version thinking it might take me just a day or two.  I was very wrong.  

    I never imagined how much trouble it would be to rig it to move properly on male bodies.  Instead of using about five different weight painting bones like for my female version, I used nearly twenty.  The people who rig their items for both get extra kudos from me, now that I've seen what a pain it is!  However, I was committed, and men have few enough options in-world as it is.  After struggling for the past couple of weeks to get everything working together, I learned a lot about rigging.  After sinking so much time, work, and frustration into it, I didn't feel comfortable adding it to the female version of the hennin without increasing the price.  So, I decided to offer it as its own separate item.  

 

Shown with the "Loras" doublet by Sublime.  Skin by Gloom, "Camden" head by LeLutka 

Even though hennins are traditionally associated with women's costume, when it comes down to it, who cares?  In searching for images for inspiration I found some amazing men's masquerade costumes that incorporated hennins similar to this one.  My version includes three versions of the cowl, in different lengths, to accommodate wearing clothes with collars.  I also added alphas to wear just in case your neck or ears clip through, for Evo X as well as SLUV.  There are also two fits for the hennin itself, one that rests against the bare skin and another with a bit of space to wear over clothes.

I hope that at least few of you out there will see this and be excited to see what kind of magnificent outfits you can create with this.  I'm looking forward to seeing what you all do with it.

 

Out now at Midnight Order through to February 20th 

Curiata Remastered

    For thirteen years the Curiata mask has been one of my favorite designs.  It is one of my most distinctive masks, and it's become a symbol of my brand.  However, while I've grown in my skill and ability as a creator, the Curiata has aged, if not in its style then in its execution.  

I have been working on revisiting many of my most popular masks to update them to PBR and HUDs, but when I pulled this one out and took a good look at it, I realized it needed a little extra attention.  There was more to be done than just new materials.

Thanks to dutiful backups and my data hording habits, I was able to load up my original files and give this mask the update it deserves.

 

 

    The original mask was made to be extremely geometry efficient, but now after this many years I feel a bit better about using more vertices. It was also made for the original system avatar heads, so I made some subtle shape tweaks to fit modern mesh heads better.  Originally, I was limited to the twelve colors available in my touch script, but the HUD has no such limitations. I've added three new colors: the missing copper color that I had originally swapped out for Niobium, an orangey red gradient I've been calling "phoenix", and a green and red ombre that I just thought looked cool.

 A side by side comparison really lets you see the difference.

 

 This is the version of the Curiata that it always was in my head.  I don't think I ever imagined it being for sale for thirteen years but what better way to celebrate its anniversary than by finally bringing it to its full potential.  

 This update is available for free if you already own this mask.  An automatic update has been sent out, but if you did not get yours, feel free to visit the redelivery terminal at the store on the Twilight or reach out if you have any issues.  If you don't already own this mask, I've just put it out at Midnight Order for 25% off for half time through to the 20th.

 Midnight Order

The Twilight 

 

Ravenna Hennin @ Midnight Order

      Today is the start of Midnight Order, a dark and noir themed shopping event.  Since coming back to SL it's been one of my favorite events, full of luscious gothic elegance. As I've been catching myself up to modern workflows over the past three years, I daydreamed about being able to make something worthy of the theme. When a friend involved with the event tapped me on the shoulder and told me I should apply, I felt I was finally ready to make something deserving. 

 

 The Ravenna Hennin is inspired by the costume of European noblewomen during the late medieval period.  It's a tall structured hat, worn with layers of fabric to create drapes and veils with a wimple or cowl to hide the hair.  My version is also inspired by the magnificent garb worn by the attendees of the Venetian carnival, and my recent desire to give Evil Queen vibes.  It comes in two pieces, with a cowl to wear underneath, and an upper crown that can be worn rigged to the body with the drape, or unrigged and free to resize without it.  It comes in my usual selection of twelve colors, with four separate colorable areas for maximum customization.  You can wear just the crown with hair, but it will probably not play nice with most styles.  There are no specific body fits, but it was tested on Legacy, Lara, Lara X and Reborn and didn't seem to have any terrible conflicts.  Please forgive my newbish rigging if there are peeks of your neck now and them. 

This was a very ambitious project for me.  I have not tried making cloth since the Ladro mask, and have only made baby steps into rigging.  This was a chance to experiment with Zbrush's new (to me) cloth simulation system and to learn how to make something that actually moves with the body.  Not only that, but I wanted to make something built from the beginning with PBR in mind.  I still am not comfortable working with modern material programs (I am learning Instamat but haven't been happy with the results yet) but I am actually getting the hang of manually manipulating the image maps that make up PBR materials.  This allowed me to play with creating bump and shine on the brocade, and the way the threads in the floral pattern catch the light makes me so happy.

The rigging was an adventure in troubleshooting, and an education in how the bones of Second Life avatars work with sliders and with animations, as well as 3rd party body parts.  I uploaded dozens of test versions on the beta grid and made many many tweaks, and I only just barely managed to get most of it to behave without clipping.  I still don't know why the edge of the cowl clips through the back sometimes.  This, along with some nonsensical technical issues that decided to crop up during texturing, ate up my time and necessitated the support of my family this weekend while I neglected my usual responsibilities and pulled an all nighter to get this done on time.  Right now, it is only rigged for feminine avatars, but I will be starting work on getting a masculine version done after I crash.  I'm exhausted, but when I look at my avatar, it feels worth it.

 

The Ravenna Hennin is available exclusively at Midnight Order for 600L until February 20th, after which it will be available at my shop on the Twilight.

Ear Cozies Update and a Cozy Hat

 Last year I released a set of little knit ear warmers for all of those elves living in colder climates.  I didn't have much time, so I released them with only one default color, and with fits for the ear shapes I had available which was just the Sylph and Sprite ears at the time.

Since then, I've released three more ear shapes, and this year I decided I was going to go back and show them a little love for the holidays because, honestly, the pom poms still crack me up. 

 

I added fifteen new color options, so you now have a whole selection of fun color combinations.  The texture was updated to tile properly and now there are cozies for all of my current ear styles.  These do use PBR materials so if you are still on a viewer that can not see them, they will default to the white knit color.

After putting the cozies on, my ears were warm, but what about my head?

I won't lie, this hat exists purely because it matches the ear cozies.  I won't pretend it's anything special, but it has all of the same colors as the ear cozies and will change along with them as you select your colors.  It's unrigged to let you position it on your hair or head as you need to and of course can be stretched and modded as needed.

These are out now at my store on The Twilight, and they're deliberately priced at the "I guess why not" amount of 50L per ear cozy.  Happy holidays!

Verdan Mask @ the Autumnal Court Fae Faire Hunt

The Fae Faire: Autumnal Court starts today, and is my first "modern" hunt event.  I could shake a stick at the clouds and shout about how, in my day, hunt prizes were always free, but I have to say the themed areas and the quality of the prizes is a nice improvement.  The theme is autumn and fall fantasy, and while I still need to complete the gauged Seelie ears, I took a break from them to work on a blast from the past.

 Back in 2012, I hosted the Unseelie Ball, a night of dark fae themed revelry and dancing in my event hall on the Carnivale sim.  That was a long time ago, but after rummaging around in my old mesh files I found the mask I made as a party favor.  After some discussion with the folks in my Discord server they said they would be fine with old exclusives being available for normal sale.  I decided to set myself to fixing some of the oddities and issues with a mesh made I made back in 2012.  

 

After some remeshing, texture touch ups and a slew of new colors, I am pleased to reintroduce the Verdan mask as a release for normal sale.  It is now updated with PBR materials, with new colors in a range inspired by the colors of leaves and fall foliage as well as my metallic colors.

However, as this is a hunt event, you have the option to search for discounted versions with more limited HUD's for just 25L each

Come explore the beautiful fall themed sim and find prizes from myself and exclusive items from many other talented creators, like my friend Violaine who has a gorgeous set of fairy wings to find.

Fae Faire runs from today to November 24th on the Seas of Eden sim.

Illusions @ the Halloween Shop & Hop 2025

 It's been a busy few months for me in real life, but I'm happy to be back at this year's Halloween Shop & Hop! 

I've been quietly working on some modest projects with the time I have currently.  I am very pleased to share that I have now released my Batty Mask, a previous limited time freebie, with a new HUD and PBR materials just in time for Halloween.

 

I don't know if you would consider it a new release, but it's something!  I am going to try to go through my old mesh files for event exclusives and other items that were only available for a limited time, and update or otherwise finish them so that they might be released for normal sale.

Speaking of event exclusives, part of participating in the Shop & Hop is contributing a new item as a freebie.  This year I whipped together a variation of an old mask I once made in a new color. 

 

 

Inspired by my old Phoenix mask, the Raven Mask can be picked up for free from the black and purple giftbox on the stand in my stall.

Another bit of news is that my good friend Violaine Villota of Fancy Fairy has recently returned to Second Life.  Like me, she took a long break from creating things but has come back to bring her gorgeous art into the metaverse with all of the fun new tricks we have to play with.  Since she is still working on updating her work and building up an inventory, I let her have some space in my stall.  She makes incredible fairy wings in real life as well and I highly recommend checking out her website. 

You can find us both on the Chickory sim, where you can pick up the Raven mask as well as a gorgeous iridescent set of fairy wings by Violaine for FREE!  All items there are also 20% off!  There's no better time to grab a set of elf ears or a mask for an upcoming event.

Illusions & Fancy Fairy @ the Halloween Shop & Hop 2025

Barocco Earrings @ The Vault 2025

The Vault opens this month on the 8th, an event especially for accessories like jewelry, hats and masks.  As an accessory store, of course Illusions needed to be there, and I already knew what I wanted to make.  When I finished my Barocco necklace, and put on the mask and ear accessories with it, my immediate thought was "this needs earrings".

    They're unrigged to allow you to reposition them and scale them up or down, and using the Barocco Necklace HUD will also change the textures and colors of these.  After a lot of playing with my Barocco pieces, I had some versions that were too fine or too small and I had to make sure that all of the scaling was relatively consistent with the other pieces. I think I finally got a decent balance of fineness and size so that it's all cohesive.  I'm looking forward to taking pictures with the whole set once I have a moment.  

     I also found some time to work on something else that's been on my project list since Fantasy Faire in April.  More fits for the ear accessories!

 

    Despite seeming like a simple ambition to adapt the ear pieces to different ear shapes, perfectionism took over.  Just warping the pieces into place so they didn't clip through wasn't good enough, I had to make sure every element of every piece looked right on every ear.  I love all of my ears and wear each on a regular basis, so they all deserved ear accessories that were made just for them.  I didn't want to show any specific one special favor. 

What do you mean, there's only four? Oh, right, yeah... I'm still working on the Sylph ones.  They're hard to adapt for, okay?  Don't worry, I do love my Sylph ears too, they're just taking me a bit longer and I didn't see any reason to hold up the other shapes in the meantime.

I'm also going to be sending out an update to the Elfin versions, so that all of the HUD's will work with each other.  My goal is that you will be able to change all pieces of the set at once with one HUD. so you don't have to keep detaching and reattaching HUDs to change each piece.

The Vault opens on the 8th and runs through to the 18th.  The Barocco Earrings are a Vault exclusive, but the ear accessories can be found there as well as at my store.  Check them out!

Illusions @ The Vault 2025