Archive for November 2012

141

Skater Girl




Credits:
Jacket Top:    ColdLogic - Tate (Brown)~New!
Jeans:    {Mon Tissu} - Lou Lou (Dark)
Skates:    :Jazzitude: - Blue Nordic Warmer Skates~New!
Scarf:    FATEwear - Harry Scarf (Tundra)[Tinted]
Hair:    !Ohmai - Chloe (Wine)
Eyes:    IKON - Eternal Eyes (Pool)
Skin:    AL Vulo - Eleonor (Son of Flowers)[Group Gift]
Pose:    Adorkable - Ice Skate

140

Statement Piece



What I've learned from Project Runway: Fashion is always about the statement piece. A statement piece is that one item in the wardrobe that the rest of your look compliments. Sometimes it's a dress, or a pair of pumps, or maybe it's your accessory.

I decided to be a bit different. Even though the necklace here has something to say, the statement piece in this picture is the chair. It's an accessory all on it's own. It's colorful pop is really what makes the photo here. Not my classic sheath dress from Bilo, or the now vintage Baby T's from Pixel Mode. The furniture in this outfit has changed my Breakfast at Tiffany's look to something more modern. 

Here is my second submission for Bilo and HANDverk's collaboration photo contest. As mentioned in my previous post, both stores have joined forces to inspire a creative photograph contest. The prize? A chunk of change and more importantly - substantial store credit in both stores.


Credits:
Dress:    {Bilo} - Annaya (Black)
Pumps:    [PM]Pixel Mode - Baby T's (Plain Black)
Necklace:    HANDverk - Strand Necklace (Crazed Cerulean)
Glasses:    Izzie's Oversized Mesh Glasses [Hud Controlled]
Hair:    [e]Elikatira - Rush (Red 08)
Skin:    League - Jen (Fair Glam Goth)
Pose:    Part of my AO

Chair:    HANDverk - Marshmallow Sofa




139

Golden



Did you know that Bilo and HANDverk are holding a photocontest? Both creators have teamed up   with an AMAZING prize package for the best photograph. More information can be found at both stores, so sign up today! The contest ends November 30th.

Taxi to Bilo
Taxi to HANDverk


Credits:
Jewelry Set:    HANDverk - Golden Triangles 
Skin:    {Bilo} - Genevive [Group Gift]
Hair:    Exile - By The Shore (Teak) [Former TDR Exclusive]
Eyes:    IKON - Sunrise Eyes (Bleached Gold)
Lashes:    Redgrave - Corner Painted
Hands:    -Korundi- Mesh Hands
Pose:    Magnifique - Big or Small Save Them All
Post Editing:   A whole ****ing lot. 




138

Wake the White Queen


All this time I have yet to make it to FAIR. It's not for lack of interest, it's just been one of those things I've not had a chance to do. #slackblogger. I went today, though. And though I have very little use for formal wear, I find myself going gaga over it. This dress from Apple May is probably one of the best pieces of mesh I've seen on the market. The textures are wonderful, but more importantly it moves very well and it was very fun to pose in. 

Truth came out with two new releases on Friday (which is known around the grid as Truth Day.) I'm still hoping one day he will make me a braid that goes down the back (yes, I know there are other versions of braids and braids from other hair makers) because I've wanted a 'cranberry' braid for forever now. Even though I'm still hopeful, I love it when he releases a more editorial hair such as this nice windswept coif. 

See my necklace and earrings? They are from the newest jewelry store on the grid. It's called Cae and you can find the location in the Truth District. Cae is owned by Cae Hancroft, the author of Simply Stylish. I've been following Cae's blog since I learned SL blogs existed. I've always loved her taste and style, which is classic and chic. Both of which have been inherited in her original mesh creations. Keep up the awesome work, Cae! 



Credits:
Dress:   Apple May - Winter Formal Mesh Gown (Snow)~FAIR
Jewelry Set:    Cae - Timeless Set New!
Hair:    Truth - Nyx (Teal w/ roots) [HUD controlled barett] New!
Eyes:    IKON - Eternal Eyes (Pool)
Hands:    SLink Mesh Hands
Lashes:    Beetle Bones - Dainty Black
Skin:    Curio - Moonbeam Light (Red velvet 1)[Currently not available]
Pose 1:    Miseria - August Pose Set
Pose 2:    Picture This! Poses - Pretty Dress




137

Teal Inspiration


I've been having a difficult time getting inspired lately. I know this is something we bloggers and artists go through from time to time, but I can usually count on something to inspire me. [SL] Blogger Support even has an 'Inspire Me' challenge of daily things that one can use for inspiration and let's not forget Luna Jubilee's famous 52 Weeks of Colour: Part Deux either. 

This is probably because I've had a stressful couple of weeks along with the holiday, right? Makes sense.  

Teal is my favorite color. I know it's hard to really say what one's favorite color is. Hell, even I do. I love all colors, truly. But there's something about teal that I absolutely love. I figured if I couldn't get my favorite color to inspire me than I was doomed as a photographer for all eternity. Fortunately, this is not the case. I was able to shoot something I am really pleased with. PLUS! I found two new stores on the grid. 

The first store is .lame. I found it by punching 'teal' into the marketplace just to see what came up. This sofa that I am currently sprawled over was one of the first things that popped up. Love the colors! The second store is called Maubray. I saw these hot red shoes on the fifty linden Friday list. It seems like we have an up and coming accessory store nosing it's way on the grid. 



Credits:
Top:    ColdLogic - Sweater (Naples Blue)
Jeans:    Maitreya - Zipper Skinny Jeans (#2)
Shoes:    Maubray - Marijen Wedge (Red)
Hair:    Truth - Swift (Teal w/roots)
Eyes:    IKON - Eternal Eyes (Pool)
Hands:    Slink Mesh Hands
Skin:    League - Jen (Fair Aqua)
Top Pose:    Picture This! Poses - Lazy Days
Bottom Pose:    .lame [Part of the couch]


136

Winter Wonderful


I can honestly say I do not know what winter looks like. Now, I've lived in snowy regions and I know that, yes, during my childhood, I was exposed to the fluffy white stuff of wintery goodness. Do I remember it? Vaguely and by vaguely I mean...vaguely. I was very young when my mother decided to plunk us down in the subtropics and we never went back to seasons. 

Fact: I danced around in snow for the first time in 25 years about three weeks ago when I sat with my dearest in a Perkins located in Stillwater, Minnesota. The day was dreary as all get out and it was raining. I was sitting across from him at the booth complaining about the flavor of the coffee and enjoying an omlette. I happened to glance up at the window in time to see the rain start flurrying sideways. Snow! It was snow, to be sure, but it wasn't the kind of snow that blankets the ground and stays there for the remainder of the winter. It never event touched the ground, but I still got to feel it drift through my fingers. Yes, damp cold snow flurries on the dreariest of days in a gloomy, unkept Perkins parking lot was probably one of the prettiest things I've seen in a while. 



Credits:
Fur Poncho/Hat:    Orquiedea ~ Around the World
Sweater:    /Artilleri/ - Marius Knit Sweater (Green)
Jeans:    {mon tissu} - 1929 Cigarette Jeans (Ink)
Boots:    [GoS] - Equestrian Boots (Chocolate)
Hair:    Truth - Adeline (Cranberry) New!
Eyes:    IKON - Eternal Eyes (Pool)
Hands:    SLink Mesh Hands
Skin:    League - Jen (Fair Peach)
Pose:    Picture This! Poses - My Pretty Dress

SIM Location:    Magical Farm



135

Yuri So Fabulous!


Woah, woah, woah! Stop! Is that a non-Truth hair in my blog? Why, yes! It is! Normally I blog Truth exclusively, but then this brand new Alice Project happened.

Alice Project has hit the Around the World event with NINE new hairstyles. The one I fell in love with is Yuri - which I suspect a majority of the grid will fall in love with as well.


Credits:
Top:    .Evolve. - Harlow Long Tank (Mustard) New!
Necklace:    Maxi Gossamer - Tilly Ethnic (Short 2)
Hair:    *Alice Project* - Yuri [Dye HUD]~Around the World New!
Skin:    League - Jen (Fair Peach)
Pose:    Self



134

Around the World 


The Ego Co's Around the World Event - A fashion event dedicated to the cultural melting pot that is SL - is in full swing, bringing talented designers from across the grid in one place with themed locations. I happened upon this dress from Remy while shopping with my fellow fashionista Ohna. The Remy dress was located in the African section, though I'm not sure what's very African about it. What it is to me is kind of futuristic femme fatale. However, I think that point is rather moot as this dress is probably the most interesting and amazing mesh item I have purchased for my SLwardrobe. It fits like a glove on my mesh shape, the texture is expertly rendered, and the style itself? Total 'wow'. This is a statement piece. It doesn't need a lot to make it stand out.

To fit in with my futuristic femme fatale, I've posed in the skybox by Abiss that is currently for sale at the Mens Department

Finally, the pose is from my own store: Picture This! Poses and will be up for sale soon. 


Credits:
Dress:    Remy - Lasa Sress (Sage)~Around the World
Earrings:    Purple Moon - Idril Earring w/ Malachites
Hair:    Discord Designs - Cris (Pillarbox Red)~Around the World
Eyeliner:    Damned - CatEyes
Eyes:    IKON - Eternal Eyes (Pool) New!
Hands:    Slink Mesh Hands 
Skin:    League - Jen (Fair SmokyRose)
Pose:    Picture This! Poses - Model Stand 02



133

Skankless in Seattle


I'm excited to announce that Picture This! Poses is going to be in the latest event from the Ego. Co. The event is called Around the World and is angled at showcasing the cultural melting pot that is SecondLife. I'm really super excited over this because it gave me an excuse to conjure up some belly dance poses for my fledgling pose store.

Making the poses was a snap. I'm a belly dancer in real life (okay, more of a teacher now), but I signed up for The Middle East as my designated area. I figured this would be the best place to plop my poses because I am a folkloric and Egyptian style dancer. And then I started trying to costume myself in SecondLife.

Bellydancing is big all over the world, but of course it originates from the Middle East. However, the Turkish and Greeks have put their own stylized flares on the dance. Lebanon, too. Many dancer describe the differences as Egypt being a more earthy, grounded dance and Turkish/Greek styles being more airy and light. Costumes from Egypt tend to have a more classy appearance while Turkey? Well, um, not so much. No matter how classical their dance form is, the Turkish costume is very glitzy and sexy.

I've been having a hard time piecing together a decent looking belly dance costume that's not poorly textured, a mess of ill fitting sculpts, bad alpha layers, and terrible flexie prims. I think I have spent close to $3,000 Linden in trying to get an Egyptian look down - settling for Turkish - and then just not having it work. I was kind of getting ready to piecemeal myself a casual outfit and name my pose Sha'abi Street and then, at the last instant, found this $99L dress set.

It's pretty basic, I'm not going to lie. However, wading through the terrible mesh alphas and shoddy sculpts made this simple system layer ensemble a breath of fresh air. And sure, the hips are a bit low - So low that I would peg this dress in Turkey rather than Egypt - but it's still got a formal, classical feel that usually accompanies the Egyptian look.


Credits:
Shirt/Skirt:    *RAMP* Designs - Beauty has a Name 
Jewelry:    ~Soedara~ - Marefa
Hair:    Truth - Marley (Cranberry w/ roots) New!
Eyes:    IKON - Sunrise Eyes (Pale Azure)
Lashes:    Beetle Bones Mesh Lashes (Dainty Black)
Nails:    Synthetique - Red Colour Tactics Series
Skin:    LAQ - Essential Elle (Tone 1.0) New!
Pose:    Picture This! Poses - Dance Stance [For Around the World]

132

Newness Evolving



Everyone is very into rainy days lately on their blogs. I suppose that's Fall for you - though where I am from it rarely rains during the Autumn months. We do get quite a bit of fog, though! Initially, I was going to put rain in this picture, but when Harlow Heslop posted a fog tutorial, I decided it would be fun to give that a whirl. 

Evolve recently released some newness in the form of long tanks (Harlow and Winona), mesh jeans, and then some awesome wellie boots. My favorite thing about the wellies as that you have a right attachment and a left attachment when I've had many rigged boots be just one attachment. This way I can wear two different boots like I have pictured above. It's fun! Don't judge! 


Credits:
Top:    .Evolve. - Harlow Long Tank (Ice cream) New!
Jeans:    Zaara - Classic Jeans (Indigo)
Left Boot:    .Evolve. - Wellies (Chevron) New!
Right Boot:    .Evolve. - Wellies (Rainy) New!
Necklace/Bracelet:    Maxi Gossamer - Tarifa [HuD Controlled]~November Collabor88
Eyes:    IKON - Sunrise Eyes (Pale Turquoise)
Nails:    Synthetique Ultimate French Series [Hud Controlled]
Hair:    Truth - Cyanne (Cranberry)[HuD Controlled Scarf] New!
Skin:    League - Jen (Fair Peach)
Pose:    Picture This! Poses - Shy Neko

131

Accidental Elle


I accidentally purchased Elle. I know, I know. You're wondering how did I do this? Well, I'll tell you. You see, the LAQ's new Essentials store was packed with people! I thought I was innocently picking up a mere demo to squirrel away and save for a later time when home alone, where I wouldn't be competing for load times, scripts, and managing lag.

Yeah, I didn't do that. I grabbed the lightest tone of Elle instead! Woops! So, grudgingly, I tried it on. There's no denying the fact that LAQ skins are wonderfully done when looking at past skins. LAQ was one of the first heavy players that I tried, but they just never worked well with my shape and I fell in love with Curio shortly after.

I thought for sure the new skins would not sit right on my face, but I'm blog Sheeple. I follow along with what everyone else does and went to demo the skin (and then accidentally purchased it.) As you can see, the skin is amazing. The detail on the the nose is really something. Especially the light on the tip. There's just something about it that looks very photo realistic to me. The same goes with the grain.

I'm not going to delve too much into the rest of the body because faces are the deciding factor for me. At first I didn't much care for the mouth. The default color of lips on Elle is odd to me (it's a very pasty pink), but the awesome thing about the new LAQ Essential skin lines is that it does away for the need for fatpacks for different make-ups. For a modest price, you can mix and match varying lips, nose shadings, and make-ups. Here I am with a dark, smokey eye and a dramatic kisser.

It should be noted that this picture is most raw. I did liquify the nose edges a bit as the outline of the shoulders. Other than that, I did not enhance shading or highlights like I normally do with my photographs.

By the way, IKON is pushing the photorealism up a notch with a new line of eyes.

Update: This picture is now featured at IKON's mainstore. 


Credits:
Necklace:    Caroline's Jewelry - Audrey Pearl Necklace (Black-Silver)
Skin:    LAQ - Essential Elle (Tone 1.0) New!
Eye make up:    LAQ - Essential Eye 02 New!
Lips:    LAQ - Essential Elle Lips 03 New!
Eyes:    IKON - Eternal Eyes (Green) New!
Lashes:    Beetle Bones - Mesh Lashes (Dainty Black)
Hair:    Truth - Cheyenne (Cranberry)
Pose:    Self


130

Fashionable FaMeshed



I saw on the Stores and Creators group a noticed from Cracked Mirror. I've blogged and been a fan of a few of Cracked Mirror's things, but when she stated how proud she was of her latest mesh creation for FaMeshed, I knew I had to get over and score me a copy (okay, a fatpack) of these amazing dresses. It's a very classic piece. Very preppy. Just a long, button-up shirt dress with a clever little argyle vest to go over. It can be worn as a dress - and is indeed marketed as a dress - but you can see that I layered it with my favorite pair of 'vintage' jeans from Mon Tissu. 

Another item I loved from FaMeshed is the Nicky hair by Wasabi Pills. I don't normally wear Wasabi Pills on Keliah because of the color. The reds are too dark, the colors pack is a bit too bright - though when I do get Wasabi Pills hair, I get the funky colors pack because the red is more vibrant. I couldn't pass on Nicky. I love the headband, the textures..all of it. I especially love the little wisps of hair going on. 



Credits:
Top/Dress:    Cracked Mirror - Woolsworth Dress (Black and White)~ November FaMeshed
Jeans:    {Mon tissu} - Lou Lou (Used)
Boots:    G Field - Wedge Bootie "Beth" (Black)
Necklace:    ::PM:: Purple Moon - Idril Necklace w/ Malachites 
Hair:    /Wasabi Pills/ - Nicky (Flaming Cherry)~ November FaMeshed
Eyes:    IKON - Horizon Eyes (Pale Azure)
Hands:    Slink Mesh Hands
Eyeliner:    L. Fauna - Megawing Liner
Lashes:    Beetle Bones - Mesh Lashes v.01 Dainty Black 
Skin:    League - Jen (Fair Pink Champagne)
Pose:    Picture This! Poses - Here I Am


129

Fall Style


It was the week of new releases from major players in the SL Fashion industry, not to mention the brand new month of FaMeshed. Bloggers are very busy right now! As for me, I'm lingering back on some new-ish releases rather than the brand-brand-brand new things. For one, this coat from ColdLogic. I actually went over to the inworld store to scope out the new dresses and discovered I had missed the awesome coats on the recent releases. ColdLogic always delivers for realistic textures. 

The one new release in my look is the fun updo by Truth. It's called Portia and was released this Friday. 




Credits:
Coat:    ColdLogic - Shreve (Plum)
Skirt:    ColdLogic - Giles (Cocoa)
Tights:    Tee*fy - Basic Solids Earth Tones (Nude)
Boots:    Maitreya - Radical Boots (Suede Chamoisee)
Hair:    Truth - Portia (Cranberry w/ Roots) New!
Eyes:    IKON - Horizon Eyes (Pale Turquoise)
Lashes:    Beetle Bones - Mesh Lashes (Dainty Black)
Hands:    SLink Mesh Hands
Skin:    League - Jen (Fair Grape)
Pose:    Tram 09 [Free Group Gift]