So the other day I was reading a post at New World Notes, that was about a recurring annoyance with Linden Lab and their website images. It was an add on to an article earlier written by Iris Ophelia about the same topic, and some pointers on how they may have gone about it differently. This got me to thinking, and I contacted Iris to ask if she thought it would be ok to tag onto this article, which she said yes to.

It is not that many if not all Second Life residents don’t balk at the Second Life websites mainpage, we do. I remember when it used to be all about Your Life Your Imagination, and it was great, showing pictures of people flying, and people just doing things that they could in SL. Then there were the links to movies  of things such as Robbie Dingo building the guitar that Suzanne Vega would be using in a Second Life appearance as an avatar. I remember watching that video after already being a resident, and being so proud of Second Life and all it can be, and how it did showcase such incredible talents such as Robbies. His store is where I actually bought a Didgeridoo, which I still have, and went to his store because of the video, in September of 06.

It was things like that that inspired people to be part of something magical. Showing creations made by residents that joined Second Life because of the possibilities, not because things were already laid out for them like a theme park. So back to the topic at hand…again thinking this over, I thought about the other viewers, and remembered that it is often the third party ones that have their own images they use on their log in screens. One viewer used to actually share the info of the location, so that you could visit it, this of course encouraged people to explore Second Life further, a bit like the destination guide in search, but for some reason those thumbnail pics just don’t seem to inspire as much or as often.

Then I remembered my Flickr Group. Second Life Stock Images, and I thought about Flickr and its hundreds if not thousands of Second Life themed groups. In the Second Life Stock Images group, the people that submit images for others to use, are encouraged to submit freely, and in doing so are giving others the rights to use them for art work, vendor pics and other background uses – they cannot sell them as images though. If you go through the group, you will come across people adding in comments that they have used the group, and sometimes even include the image that they created with. Example 1, Example 2, Example 3 . I love using the images to enhance my own pics, and often go to the group to use them for Pile Ups, as it can mean everything is from Second Life that way.

So why doesn’t Linden Lab make a Flickr Group too, I know there are Second Life groups, not sure how official they are, but what if one was made and a rule was that images submitted were given with the express permission of the creator/submitter to be used with full authority on the Second Life website. Then anyone that wants to share pics of their avatars in theme, single or group shots, location or created images, can do so. Then next time the Lindens are in need of some inspiring work, they just need to go to the flickr group and pick out something appropriate. This would also be an entertaining glimpse at the mindset of other residents, and what they think would make a great home page attraction.

There are moderation settings, as well as an area to be very explicit about the rules of submitting an image into any group, so the Lindens could really make sure that all their i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed.

I hope they consider doing something like this soon, I woke up today to an offline that suggests to me they are thinking forwards now, so maybe just maybe, things will be more inviting on the homepage soon, and I for one would love to be proud again of the website and what Second Life still has to offer everyone.

Sasy xoxo

Just a quicky so that you don’t miss out on a great deal that is only on offer today for another 15 hours or so.

Ploom has released two new makeup skins with all tones in blonde and dark brows for only 150L each. The skins come in 5 beautiful tones, and the smoke shown at the top is available only on Marketplace – the demos are there as well as in the Mainstore – and the Violetta is at the Mainstore and The Deck location. So if you happen to be at The Deck grabbing the New aDORKable poses – you can see them HERE – you can grab the skin at the same time…handy that lol. Do not hesitate because these skins are GORGEOUS!

Click HERE to SLURL’s Page.

Poses by : PLOOM

Equipment Used:

VR Studio 3.0 and HUD and Library for location shoots – VR Foundry Mainstore , VR Foundry @ The Deck

Eyes:

Ellis - LeLutka

Lashes:

Natural Curl Sculpted Lashes – LeLutka

Skin Worn:

Smoke & Violetta PROMO SKINS Today Only – PLOOM  - Mainstore   & The Deck  locations

Hair:

Torti & Kenni – PLOOM

Clothes:

Fur Neck Cardigan – Fishy Strawberry

Amor Fati Dress – Tres Blah 

Ashia Tomsen is a dork, that is going to be the theme of today’s post. It is truly romantical though, she has met a Man, and she is making us giggle on Skype as she gets all girly and silly, and does things like dyes her face blue in preparation of her first date…yes you heard correctly BLUE!, and they aren’t even seeing Avatar *snickers*. With all this crazy the girl definitely needs to RELAX, and that brings us back to the fashion for today.

The Relax boots are the new creation in MESH from SLink, released today, and truly marvelous in style and the colour palette is all sorts of fabulous. The boots are MESH but not rigged, as they sit on the leg just under the knee, so don’t need to bend with the body, this means that yes they are resizable with the handy HUD that comes with. The zipper backs and leather work is really well orchestrated, you will have to check them out, as DEMOS are available as usual, and definitely worth adding these beauties to your boot collection.

The clothing items are all from La Viere, I am really late on posting these, but now I am thinking it was just me waiting for the boots to go with, as the colours of the items were so well matched to the colours made in the boots. The prints are really nice, with tribal influence, and yes you can see I actually CHOSE to wear the purple accented version of this great dress, because it really did just pop as a great colour combo. The dress also comes in solids or some fabulous animal prints.

The ruffle skirt has two options one is single tiered the other triple, and oh so cute. The shirt I have worn before, and I just love them, especially in this great apple green colour, it goes with my apple ring from Addict and the Olive version of these boots. The jumpsuit also has solid options as colour choices, but the print is really nice, and somewhat somber, but with enough going on to be very attention grabbing at the same time.

I am also holding onto the new clutch purses from Sticky Fingers, these are so fun, and inspired by McQueen, and have some great solids as well as prints as options. These are also MESH, but again not rigged, so you can move them to where you need them to sit on your hand. They also have an underarm wear option.

The skins I am wearing are the more recent Adam n Eve skinline called Natalie. These skins have all the usual options that Adam n Eve go all out on giving in each pack. You get breast enhanced options – this is on the skin itself, so with or without – Hair Bases and Brows in Red, Blonde, Black. Freckles and Manicure and Pedicure layers, on tattoo and socks and gloves for the nails. Great looking skins, you will definitely need to DEMO DEMO DEMO.

Click HERE to SLURL’s Page.

Poses by : aDORKable 

Equipment Used:

VR Studio 3.0 and HUD and Library for location shoots – VR Foundry Mainstore , VR Foundry @ The Deck

Eyes:

Ellis - LeLutka

Lashes:

Natural Curl Sculpted Lashes – LeLutka

1st Me:

Skin Worn:

Natalie – Adam n Eve 

Hair:

Saar – Maitreya 

Clothes:

Melanie V-neck Dress - La Viere

Shoes/Boots:

Relax Boots MESH – Slink 

Accessories:

:FANATIK: My bad girl purse  - Sticky Fingers

Montana Feather Earrings & Necklace – Essentia 

__________________

2nd  Me:

Skin Worn:

Natalie – Adam n Eve 

Hair:

Voluminous Scarf Hair #3  & Scarf – Maitreya 

Clothes:

JumpSuit  Printed – La Viere 

Shoes/Boots:

Relax Boots MESH – Slink 

Accessories:

:FANATIK: My bad girl purse – Sticky Fingers

__________________________

3rd Me:

Skin Worn:

Natalie – Adam n Eve 

Hair:

Jordyn – Maitreya 

Clothes:

Chinese Fushion Shirt Apple Green, Ruffle Mini Skirt Yellow – La Viere 

Shoes/Boots:

Relax Boots MESH – SLink 

Accessories:

Apple Ring – Addict

Lots of goodies, and today it is all about boots, pants, skirts and hair. Even more exciting is that some of the pieces are MESH, and I am so loving MESH, it is  really one of the most exciting things to experience as far as growth on the grid over the last few years. As evolved as sculpts were and still are in terms of what they brought to the grid,they never completely took over from prims. Where as MESH does in fact have that ability and is something I am enjoying watching.

The pants I am wearing in this first picture are all from Slink, they are a gorgeous pair of dress pants, that come in many wonderful colours, only some shown here. The fit is great, even though I seem to have dropped a size from my regular Standard Sizing sizes, but that is always going to depend on the overall style of a garment. The colour and fabric choice is super, and I love the length and turned up cuff. The adorable lace or leo shrug I am wearing is from Cynful, one of their latest releases, so adorable, and a great must have for over any kind of look…these also come in solids.

I am pretty sure I have worn it in a post before, but even so, the tux cropped shirt from Sn@tch is yummy, and speaking of Yummy the necklace I am wearing is their latest ‘Pieces of the Past” necklace. This necklace is truly beautiful, and very incredibly created, using pieces of items that you would feel incredibly nostalgic about.

All of the hair I am wearing in this post is from Exile, and these two styles are their latest, Meg and Misha, such gorgeous long and wavy styles that are drop dead sexy. I love the exaggerated wavy of Misha, but it is definitely the windblown Meg that is my favourite of the two.

The Westbury Mini skirts are Mesh inserted skirts by Mon tissu. As explained before this type of skirt is made using the pants layer of a regular clothing layer, and then using a mesh piece filling the space between the legs, rather than wrapping the mesh around the whole body. These are more like power skirt minis, if you were old enough during Heather Locklears reign at Melrose, you will know what I am talking about. The colours they come in are great, and I had a ball mixing and matching with them.

Another of the more recent items from Mon Tissu is the Sequined Cardigan, this cardi is so pretty and fun, and again so 80′s in feel as there was so much of that back then.

You will notice also that in the pics I am showing teeth, well this is not Natasha make up, but actually lipsticks with teeth by Acid & Mala, and if you haven’t got any of them, you really need to grab as many as you can. The lipsticks come in different transparencies as well, so the strength on the lipstick shade varies according to your mood, I really love how the look with the Natasha skin by LeLutka, which is always my go to skin.

Most of the accessories are from LaGyo, that store always amazes me with it’s incredible fashionable pieces, I do wish they would make more shield rings though I love them so much.

The boots are the latest release from Maitreya, and are MESH and rigged. They are glorious ankle boots, which have stunning colours – though not sure why she stopped at eleven and I want to see 12,13, and 14 because I know Onyx enough to know there were others lol. The suede leather look is superb, and I just love how they have a real cobbler made look to them of a custom boot. These are a merging of older fashioned influences with a modern take, and that has come out just perfect. Another great reason to get your bums onto a MESH viewer and fast.

Click HERE to SLURL’s Page.

Poses by : PLOOM

Equipment Used:

VR Studio 3.0 and HUD and Library for location shoots – VR Foundry Mainstore , VR Foundry @ The Deck

Eyes:

Ellis - LeLutka

Lashes:

Natural Curl Sculpted Lashes – LeLutka

PANTS PIC:

1st Me:

Skin Worn:

Natasha – LeLutka 

Nature Lips – Iced Purple – 10% – Teeth – Acid & Mala

Hair:

Meg – Exile 

Clothes:

Lala’s Shrug ~ Lace - Cynful 

RB Tank – Maitreya 

Dress Pants MESH - Slink 

Shoes/Boots:

Devi Boots MESH – Maitreya 

Accessories:

Nails - Mandala 

Bozena sunglasses - LaGyo

___________________________________

2nd Me:

Skin Worn:

Natasha – LeLutka 

Nature Lips – Rose – 30% – Teeth – Acid & Mala 

Hair:

Meg – Exile 

Clothes:

Cropped Tux Top – Sn@tch 

Dress Pants MESH – Slink 

Shoes/Boots:

Devi Boots MESH - Maitreya 

Accessories:

Nails - Mandala 

Natasha Bag – Orta 

_______________________________

3rd Me:

Skin Worn:

Natasha - LeLutka 

Nature Lips – Pink – 10% – Teeth - Acid & Mala 

Hair:

Misha - Exile

Clothes:

Lala’s Shrug Leo - Cynful 

RB Tank - Maitreya 

Dress Pants MESH - Slink 

Shoes/Boots:

Devi Boots MESH - Maitreya 

Accessories:

Nails - Mandala 

Shield Rings, Lora Purse - LaGyo

4th Me:

Skin Worn:

Natasha - LeLutka 

Nature Lips – Warm Red – 10% – Teeth - Acid & Mala 

Hair:

Misha – Exile 

Clothes:

Crochet Tank Top, Cropped Cardigan – Sn@tch 

Dress Pants MESH - SLink 

Shoes/Boots:

Devi Boots MESH - Maitreya 

Accessories:

Pieces of the past necklace – Yummy

SKIRTS PIC :

1st Me:

Skin Worn:

Natasha - LeLutka 

Nature Lips – Pink – 10% – Teeth - Acid & Mala 

Hair:

Glory – Exile

Clothes:

Westbury Mini ~ MESH – Mon Tissu 

Ava Jacket MESH – Maitreya 

Shoes/Boots:

Devi Boots MESH - Maitreya 

Accessories:

Day Tripper Bag – Addict 

__________________________
2nd Me:

Skin Worn:

Natasha - LeLutka 

Nature Lips – Pink – 10% – Teeth - Acid & Mala 

Hair:

Esme – Exile

Clothes:

Westbury Mini ~ MESH - Mon Tissu 

Sequin Cardigan – Mon Tissu 

Shoes/Boots:

Devi Boots MESH - Maitreya 

Accessories:

Ginger Belt – Day n Night 

Pieces of the past necklace - Yummy

____________________________

3rd Me:

Skin Worn:

Natasha - LeLutka 

Nature Lips – Pink – 10% – Teeth - Acid & Mala 

Hair:

Nia – Exile 

Clothes:

Westbury Mini ~ MESH - Mon Tissu 

Short Trench, Tartan Tights Yellow  - Maitreya 

Shoes/Boots:

Devi Boots MESH - Maitreya 

____________________________________

4th Me:

Skin Worn:

Natasha - LeLutka 

Nature Lips – Pink – 10% – Teeth - Acid & Mala 

Hair:

Minx – Exile

Clothes:

Bodysuit - Maitreya 

Shoes/Boots:

Devi Boots MESH - Maitreya 

Accessories:

Mira shoulder-bag – LaGyo

So the other day I was checking out a new store for What’s New SL, and got really very excited. You see, in Second Life there has always been a desire to have food items, and of course these are always fun to discover, especially when they are really well done. Well this store takes well done to a whole new level. You see while I was there I clicked on a demo model of the smoothie maker, the drop down appeared and it asked me to choose a flavour, I chose strawberry and kiwi. Then appearing in the blender were in fact, strawberries and kiwi pieces, and with a whirring sound it started up, and the fruit spun around and then milk appeared and BAM it all smoothed out and appeared in a glass, garnished with Kiwi and Strawberry.

I picked it up, and not only do you do a drinking animation, but your mouth puckers up and you hear a sound of slurping through a straw as you drink, and that was it, I knew that I had to take Whimsy there, she would love it. So a few days later we returned, and were lucky to have the owner there as well. We had a chat, and it was then that we were asked to try the demo models that I hadn’t seen the days before. You see this is not just food on a tray you take from, oh no, this is full on food creation, scripted pots and pans, and serving trays with place-mats and plates that the food appears on once cooked. It was honestly too hard to show you in pics only what this involves, this is genius scripting, and texture work done to create such beautiful meals, as well as text in chat – not shown – that really adds to the atmosphere of presenting to friends and family a beautifully orchestrated meal.

This isn’t just food that is there and then moves, this stuff goes from raw to baked, or sometimes items are added while cooking to add extra flavour, it really truly is a delight, and all you need is the space of any stove or oven to rez the pans on or in, and the table for the tray and place-mats. There are also fondue sets, and sushi platters, as well as full movie snack sets. You really need to check it all out for yourself. But I do hope that the movie gives you a quick peek at the concept, and you can take it from there. Also be sure to join the in world group, as there are discounts when purchasing, and credit value is accrued for your avatar the more you spend, so definitely do that first when entering the store, there should be an invite sent to you by menu.

Whimsy, Mel and I dressed up to share the Ham Dinner, and if you go and visit her blog you will find the Pancake Breakfast, that we also shot in our fabulous Bunnie Avatars from Beetlebones.

In the movie we are also in a house by DEER, the Casa Bramasole which I will show in greater detail soon.

Ham Dinner Kit by Le Bistro 

Sasy is wearing: 

Awe Dress - Celoe (MESH)

Cairo Boots – Celoe (MESH)

Clean Gloss Bird Skin – Fashionably Dead 

Yippie Hair – LeLutka 

Mel is wearing:

Vermont Sweater – Vanguard

The Dark Deal Jeans – WMD 

The Law Hair –  Armidi 

Ewan Skin  - Belleza 

Whimsy is wearing :

Angel Hair - Slink 

Heather Skin – Jesylilo

Sunkissed Lips – Tuli 

Cue Earrings – Miel 

Nails - Mandala 

Georgette Lace Cocktail Dress – Connors 

Saffron Pumps - LeLutka