Less Than Three Hours Until Shoetopia Opens Its Doors!!

Less Than Three Hours Until Shoetopia Opens Its Doors!!

So I’ve just woken up after finishing my last RL night shift for this cycle. I’m off until Tuesday..so plenty of time to get into Shoetopia, right?Let’s be honest, it’s not going to happen.  The event is going to be packed to the rafters for the majority of the fortnight run, and judging by the quality on display I’d say that’s rightly so.  Elysium Hynes has pinned practically ALL THE THINGS again, so you can use her Pinterest board as a reference guide to what treats lie in store. All bases are covered, with many different styles of shoes; Courtney Stoddenesque towering heels, classic pumps, wedge heels and a fabulous selection of mens styles are all on display.  This is what her pinboard looks like, you can see it by clicking HERE.

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Looking at Ely’s pins I’m just blown away by the imaginative designs and fabulous finishing.  SHOETOPIA is the kind of event that makes you PROUD to be in Second Life, and we have had a LOT of those this year. But don’t despair when you bounce along the sim borders, desperate to find your way inside. You can sort of get your shoe fix by joining the Shoetopia Demo Group.

What I am doing at the moment is trying on all the shoes to determine which ones I am interested in buying. Doing this in the comfort of your own home, before the event, makes perfect sense. There is nothing worse after all than buying some gorgeous shoes only to find that actually, they don’t fit and don’t look as good as you’d hoped.

Using Ely’s Pinterest as a cross reference, I’ve been looking to see if the demos of the shoes that I’m interested in are in the demo group.  If they are, I’m trying them on for size..

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These are actually the first pair I tried on.  They’re the ADJUNCT  ‘As Above, So Below’ boots and as any Witch will know, that phrase has particular significance, so I simply HAD to try them on first!  They’re pretty swish.  I zoomed in and out, took my time while sizing them and adjusting to find my perfect fit and yup, these are definitely on my ‘MUST BUY’  list, although I’ll be opting for black rather than purple.  That said, the purple color really shows the great texture and pattern on these boots doesn’t it? To get even more of a shoe fix, keep your eye on the official Shoetopia Flickr.

A final note; it goes without saying, and it’s certainly something that I’ve spoken about before, but please be considerate to fellow visitors at this event.  By that I mean dress down, remove scripts and generally be an all-round good egg. I fear that the popularity of this occasion is going to inevitably cause problems by way of sim restarts and lag, so anything that we can do to help is a bonus.

Last but not least, this is an event contributing to an amazing charity, so be generous, but most of all, enjoy yourselves! This is going to be FUN!

Shoetopia 2013 opens its doors at Noon SLT (20:00 UK TIME!) and runs until November 30th. 

 

Witchy Wednesday – The Wizarding Fayre 2013

Witchy Wednesday – The Wizarding Fayre 2013

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There is so much Halloween goodness hitting the grid at the moment that it is incredibly difficult to keep up! However, it’s a Wednesday, and I haven’t posted a Witchy Wednesday in ages, so I’m going to feature an absolute corker for you today. 

Watch out for tons of  Witchy related activity, spooky surprises and ghostly goings on in every corner of the grid, with hunts, events and sales galore celebrating the Halloween theme.  Be wary and wise by making sure that your eyes are glued to the blogosphere for news on the latest events.  I also recommend keeping at least one eyeball fixed firmly in a Mad-Eyed Moody style  on Elysium Hyne’s Pinterest boards. Ely seems to moonlight as a pinning whirlwind and is doing a great job of keeping a record of all the festivities. Last but not least, Seraphim SL offers a myriad of event catalogues that are well worth a browse.

So let me tell you about  The Wizarding Faire 2013. This has been going on for a while already and is due to end on the 20th, but it’s an absolute must-see! (I realise I am late to the blogging party on this one, and I’m playing catch-up.  Real life, what can I say?)  The Wizarding Faire is of course a celebration of all things ‘teenage boy-Wizard’ related, but even if you aren’t a fan of the series of books this event is styled after you will still find lots of interesting items on sale, with some of them more Witchy than others.

There are 48 designers in attendance, and each one has contributed something very special. Gachas, clothing, poses, furniture, the list is endless. Not only that, the sim is beautifully designed and fabulous for visiting and taking tonnes of photographs. Look, you know it’s going to be special when you have to open a wall of rocks to step inside!

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I spent a happy hour here exploring and shooting pictures and buying lots of nice things..

I absolutely fell in love with the ATOMIC cauldrons and potion-making supplies. Ivy Graves is a veritable mesh Goddess, and these look fabulous. They’re a great shape, a little different to the cauldron norm and are beautifully textured to  perfectly capture  a worn feel.  The little jars of essential spell making ingredients really look the part too.  Love it!

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I also need to give a shout out to LARK as well, because Sienia has done it again.  ‘It’ being making mesh magic all on her own. I am constantly blown-away by the work that Sienia does. She is blessed with a talent for great design, teamed with an astonishing imagination making Sienia’s creations an important force in Second Life design.

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Her latest works are these are these awesome ‘Towering  Tomes’ that fit in very well with the Imaginarium Librairium that was such a success at The Arcade this year.  These books are actually able to be worn, or can be rezzed to great effect as a furnishings, which is what I have done with mine…

Snapshot_013 You’ll find lots of clothing items at the event. It’s well worth checking out the astonishing Damien Fate’s FATEPLAY label because not only will you find some fantastic clothing, but also the BEST mesh Witch Hat, called ‘Damadore’, that I’ve yet seen on the grid: nice and plain and simple and best of all A FREEBIE! Whoop! There is so much to enjoy at The Wizarding Fayre. It must be said that the team behind this event have produced a corker; rather than fill it to the brim with items that are of dubious quality, each item is a winner. There’s just enough to enjoy with bucket-loads of original mesh items to splurge upon, and the environment is, excuse the pun, simply enchanting. It stands up so well to repeat visits with so much to enjoy. In a grid that is often teaming with events and occasions it takes just one quality themed event to truly show how it’s done, and The Wizarding Fayre meets that brief head-on.

 I’m NOT going  to blog all of it in the hope that this will encourage you to fly on over there and see for yourself.  Check out the list of designers below, how could you not want to visit knowing these guys are taking part?! 

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As a final nudge to elbow you over to Diagon Alley, I must tell you about the frogs.

Yes, you heard me, frogs. What Witch is worth her salt without heartfelt affection for these amphibious critters? I love frogs, and I automatically fell in love with THIS Gacha when I saw it:

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Yup, it’s full of every kind of frog to fulfil all your ribbety needs!  What drew me to it was the inclusion of the Desert Rain Frog, which is featured in THIS video, which I love.  But readers, they are all equally fabulous. I’ve bought a few of these to decorate the landscaped areas at my new home (more on that coming soon!) and each one of them is an absolute joy to behold.  They’re beautifully created and textured, and I have no idea how BEETLEBONES has crafted them, but I am so pleased that they did! They’re AWESOME. Oh, and yes, Gacha prizes. Damn those addictive things!Snapshot_014

This is Sylvia, she’s my pet Moon Frog and she lives on my fireplace:) 

So, tempted by The Wizarding Fayre? Better hop on your trusty broomstick and zoom on over to the event faster than you can exclaim  ‘Expecto Patronum!’

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And if you like my broom, this was a group gift from Dutchie this month, and it is great fun! I’m practically already set for Halloween! See you at The Wizarding Faire

Kitty LOVES The Catnip Carnival!

Kitty LOVES The Catnip Carnival!

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Well come on guys, I wasn’t going to dislike it given that it’s so feline-centric!

It’s a bijou event; there are only a handful of participants and it won’t take you more than ten minutes to peruse the offerings that are available, but every single item on show is lovely and raises funds for Kitties. YAY FOR KITTIES!

You’ll find furniture, skins, poses, hair clothing and jewellery from ten superb content creators who have generously contributed items to the cause.  The full dazzling array of loveliness can be viewed via the Seraphim blog or by visiting Elysium’s Pinterest boards, but I thought I’d share a few of my favourite finds from the event with you here.

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve fallen totally in love with Izzie Button’s work, and she has provided a fantastic skin, ‘Irene’, to  this event. It comes in pale and mocha tones (you get each shade in the pack) and features a discreet cat-eyeliner.  I tried the demo on and was completely sold.  At L$890 for two superb quality skins I’d say you can’t go wrong, and it works really well with the fantastic hair that Truth has contributed to the event, see?

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 This style is called ‘Noemi’.  I love the heavy fringe (bangs) on this style, and the volume and curl on the pigtails. It’s also my first try-out of Truth’s new shades and I am especially in love with the ‘Gingers 04 Fade’ shade that I’m wearing in this picture.  There are a number of colour packs available at L$200 each at the event , but I treated myself to the fantastic variety pack at L$350 so that I could experiment with the colours.  (Stop Press: Truth’s promised me he’s working on some bobs; when they are released I will spontaneously combust!)

I also FINALLY got with the in-crowd and bought myself some Gos Boutique shoes. I’m not really a shoes-y gal in RL, and I can’t say that I am in SL either, but having tried these ‘Lolita Espadrilles’ I fear that I may be about to change (and lose!) my mind. Of course I’d heard all about the amazing GOS skin matching system and that it was totally easy and super-effective to use, so when I bought these (I had to buy them; leopard print) I sort of knew what I was letting myself in for. But OMG it’ really is THAT easy to match your skin to the shoes that it now seems plain ridiculous that I don’t own every pair that they have ever created!  What an absolute blessing to Second Life this concept is, and by the way, the shoes are absolutely sensational.  They’re perfectly shaped and textured and I predict that I will be wearing these all summer long, because they’re just THAT pretty!

I also splurged on a cat-bed (even though I currently don’t have any cats!) and lusted after the Cheeky Pea sofa.  I don’t have need of a new sofa so couldn’t really justify the expense, although I do think that if I was looking to purchase a new one this would have been perfect.  The textures are ideal for a cat-lover and applied beautifully. (But what do you expect, it’s Cheeky Pea!)The poses in the sofa and the co-ordinating floor cushions have been well thought out and carefully applied making this entire ensemble a worthy purchase indeed. I think it would work especially well in a small sky-box.

My absolute favourite item though has to be the Catnip necklace from Cae.  

The detail on this is just brilliant; from the intricate and extremely delicate chain to the cat pendant with crystal embellishment. It’s colour-change and is just so ruddy lovely that I want this in real-life, desperately.  I can’t think of a nicer and classier way to show your support for all things feline than by wearing this.  The metal can be changed to either Gold or Silver, and there are six crystals to select from in a variety of colours, meaning you can team it with practically any outfit in your wardrobe. I don’t envisage that I’ll be taking this off anytime soon!

 I really do hope that the Catnip Carnival is a HUGE success and hope lots of lovely cash is raised for the  River Cities Humane Society For Cats  (Thanks so much to Harlow Heslop, and to all the generous contributors, for bringing this event to our virtual world!)

 Click HERE to go visit!

 

Kitty Plays ‘Catch-Up’

Kitty Plays ‘Catch-Up’

As I’m sure regular readers know I work in real life (Shh! I know we don’t like to talk about that!) so my time in-world is often limited.  This means I have to play ‘catch-up’ when I finally come back in, and I have to say that at the moment Second Life is really overwhelming me due to the amount of events that are currently running on the grid. I shouldn’t complain too much though, it’s a good time to be an avatar, especially if you want to be a super-stylish one too!

Problem for me as a blogger is that there are so many events in-world that I know I can’t possibly do justice to them all on these pages. You have to appreciate that these kinds of occasions take weeks of planning and organising so it’s only fair that when they begin they receive the quality coverage they deserve.

Perhaps one of my issues is that when I attend an event I like to take my time and wander around them, and then I  get distracted, go back to stores repeatedly and have another look, and then forget where I saw things that really caught my eye in the first place. I do actually have a notebook that I use to remind me of locations and places where I’ve seen fabulous items, but of course, that only works if you remember to write in it….DOH!

In a situation like this when I feel that there’s just so much going on that i don’t know where to start, I find a good visual aide to be invaluable.  It saves me time if I can see what an event is offering by checking out a dedicated web-site,or checking out the feeds to see what other bloggers are covering.

Fortunately we are blessed with resources like Serpahim which seems to cover the majority of sales and events on the grid. To be honest, I’d be lost without that blog; it’s become my go-to on a daily basis to find out what’s happening and where, and a quick nosy at their snapshots always help me plan my spends ahead.  I’m also  finding myself glued (or should that be pinned?) to Elysium Hyne’s Pinterest selections for event reportage too. Here’s a huge thank you to Elysium and all the team at Seraphim for their hard work!

Anyway, let’s get on to the good stuff. I have managed to treat myself to a few lovely things this week, so I’ll do a quick post about a few things I’ve spotted at a couple of events before I scurry off to check out some more!

First up, The Liaison Collaborative has gifted us with ‘The Boutique’, which features a superb selection of fashion, accessories and poses. The theme is ‘Fresh’, and they aren’t joking, featuring zesty contributions from Baiastice, !Bang, Belleza, Bilo, Cae, CNS Emotion, E! Apparel, Earthstones, Elikatira, Essences, Flowey, Glam Affair, Gos Boutique, Half-Deer, Haste, Hopscotch, Ikon, Inside Lab, Ispachi, Izzie’s, Just Designs, La Petite Morte, Lassitude & Ennui, Lavallie, Leezu, Noodles, NYU, Olive, Rebel Hope, Valentina E. and Vanity Poses. Phew!   I always enjoy these events; they’re not so large as to leave you feeling bewildered, and the selection of designers that contribute are all well-established, quality brands. There’s a real feeling of finesse to this event and I always get the impression that there’s been a lot of care taken by the planners behind the scenes to ensure that they have curated the very best goodies for the event. That’s why you find brands like Belleza showcasing skins, and how I wish they wouldn’t.

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Because yet again Belleza have adorned their sublime Mya skin with some utterly glorious make-ups and naturally I couldn’t avoid them. As I’ve said before, I love make-ups and it would take some serious coaxing to get me out of my Izzie’s skin and into another, but Ava proved way too hard to resist, with her winged eyeshadow perfection in a variety of colours. It would be just plain rude to not indulge. So I did.

And I look fabulous, see? 

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Don’t even get me started on the totally delicious array of IKON eyes at the event either; I had to walk away lest I spent my rent. Suffice to say that IKON are my favourite brand of eyes in world (I am wearing them in the picture above of course, but these are an existing pair from my collection) and seeing new ones made me all teary and misty-eyed. So to avoid further distress I swiftly departed on to my next destination, The 100 Block.  

This is a ‘Depraved Nation‘ event and it features over 100 participating designers and artists. That’s way too many to list in this post, so if you click HERE you can go visit the official blog and review the selection yourself, but suffice to say I found it very satisfying indeed.  I’ve been zooming all round the, erm, block, most of the morning  with gay abandon and totally relishing the fabulous fashion on display.

There are some really special mesh items on sale and it’s nice to see that there are some goodies for the chaps as well as the ladies, and there’s also hair, piercings and tattoos.

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I discovered a new brand of hair whilst I was at the event.  In the shot above I’m wearing ‘Toffsy’ (Maroon) by Adoness and I really love it. It’s an unusual combination of bob shape with added oomph and curl, and I think that it makes for a winning combination.

But what’s also rather special is this fantastic frock that I discovered at the event.  I’m all about Leopard print in Second Life, well, I am called Kitty after all, and I was really blown away by this stylish gown that I found hanging on the rack at Ellemeno.

I’ve blogged CarrieAnn Lemon’s label before and it’s a relatively new yet well-produced brand that is especially focused upon the mesh boobs market, but don’t let that dissuade you from investigating their goodies because you don’t have to sport mesh boobs to look sensational in them. I was going to wear my Lola’s for this shot, but in the end I thought I looked fabulous enough without.

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Taking a traditional gown shape and bringing it bang up to date with Leopard print is a brave move, yet it works beautifully. Now I wear a LOT of leopard print and there’s one thing I’ve noticed, especially with mesh items. If the textures aren’t carefully applied, and to be frank if a decent Leopard print texture isn’t used in the first place, the result can be a bit..well, rubbish.  But there’s no such worries here with this gown; the print really looks the part and the shape of this dress is nothing short of perfect.

I wish I could wear this in real life, but alas, I’d look like Bella Emberg channelling Bet Lynch.  

But at least in Second Life I can look divine, eh?

So anyway, because I’m still playing catch-up I thought I’d share a small list of events that I really do think you will enjoy checking out, and to make things even more fun for you, I’ve included links (to either Seraphim or Elysium’s posts) so that you can have a peek at the good stuff before checking them out in-world.

Who knows, I may even bump into you at one of these!(You’ll recognise me, a bewildered looking idiot) Be sure to say ‘Hello’ if you do see me!

Happy Shopping! Oh and a thought, if you find something nice why not tell us about it in the comments below? Toodles!