Tag: Ikon

LOTD: The light is changing and Autumn is on her way..

LOTD: The light is changing and Autumn is on her way..

by Lisa Millar ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

ImageSo here I am taking a breather behind a rock and having a think about a few things. (This is my intelligent thinking face, stop laughing at the back!)

I’ve actually managed to get into The Arcade a couple of times now (although not for long sadly, I maxed out at five minutes before I was unceremoniously booted out.) As a result of my swift sojourn there  I have a superfluous amount of oars in my inventory because the Apple Fall Gacha clearly hates me. (I’m desperately trying to get the rare sideboard!) I was lucky enough to get the tall cabinet and believe me it is a thing of sheer beauty, but then, so many items in this round of The Arcade are, and it’s hard to know where to start once you do get in. I’ve actually taken to sitting outside, behind the venue on the chairs and camming in which is a useful tactic if you don’t want to be bamboozled by busty avatars and unceremoniously booted out of the way by toddlededoodles or whatever the child avatars are called these days.

As you can tell by the picture I got my paws on some CURIO OBSCURA boots and I think they are nothing less than extraordinary. In fact, my mind is completely boggled by the Gachas this round. I knew that they were going to be good, but blooming heck, they’re outstanding! In fact,it’s really hard not to completely lose your way on them and just throw all your money at them.  You know, the content creators who have worked on this event must be making an absolute fortune, and quite right too. The effort that has gone into the whole enterprise is there for all to see, and everyone involved deserves to do well from it. I actually find myself just staring at the creations I see on the screen before me in sheer wonder at what has been made.  It’s almost meta-wonder too; I’m staring in wonder at something in a virtual world that someone in the real world made for it. Kind of makes the brain boggle a bit doesn’t it? 

So, the reason for this post.  I happened across a really useful blogpost during the week that features a listing of various yard sales which is very handy to have  if you’re keen to hunt down a particular item. I actually had to put a plea on Plurk for said blogpost too, because I thought I had bookmarked it and was seriously alarmed when I realised that I hadn’t.  (Amazingly enough someone identified exactly what I was looking for by my asking if anyone..”Knew of a blog post by a lady-blogger that features a list of yard sales..”  Plurk really is a clever wee community when it wants to be!)

So the blog post can be found here, and it’s rather blinking good as a comprehensive yard sale starting point. I realise that more locations will have been added since the post was published, but even so it’s a more than adequate way to plan your yardsale tour.  It’s on a blog called ‘All About The Little’, which is a blog aimed at the child avatar community, and even though child avatars are not my thing I do recognise the very important role that they play in many a person’s Second Life. It’s actually a really nice blog too; professionally laid out and very informative too. It’s clearly a labour of love for Addison Faye and aims to keep the kids community up to date with events on the grid, and in my opinion does a cracking job of it.  And if Google docs are more your thing, get your eyes on THIS LIST too! LOOK AT ALL THE SALES, CAN YOU EVEN?!

A final thought, if you’ve had your fill of all things Gacha,  let me frustrate you even further by telling you that this month’s round of Collabor88 has started and it’s a flipping corker.

But don’t despair too much, at least you might be able to get into The Arcade now! 

Kitty Wears:

Hair: Boys & Girls 46 in Sienna by DURA

Eyes:  Ascension Eyes in Sahara (M) by IKON

Skin: Leila (#7) by BELLEZA (The Arcade) 

Nails: Nail Polish from ADORE & ABHOR (Fifty Linden Friday, 6th September)

Scarf:  Skull Burgundy By MILK MOTION (previous Arcade round; you may be able to find at Yard Sales)

Dress:  Oversized Sweatshirt by CYNFUL

Boots:  Mish-mash Carnivale Abomination Boots by CURIO OBSCURA (The Arcade)

…Oh, and pile cream from Preparation Ouch, I knew I shouldn’t have sat on this draughty cold floor for so long! 

 

Look Of The Day: As Summer Moves On..

Look Of The Day: As Summer Moves On..

by Lisa Millar ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

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Unlike most Brits, I have no issue with the American description of Autumn as ‘Fall’. In the UK describing this most beautiful (in my opinion) of seasons as such is nothing short of heresy, but I really like the phrase.

I’m a Fall Baby, and it has always been my most beloved time of year. There’s something in the air; the way that the coldness starts to creep in and the light grows thin. As the season changes the Earth seems to throw one last hurrah to the sun by turning a multitude of festive colours before gradually starting to fade and wither into Winter.

The colours of Fall are my favourite too. The Summer sorbet shades have now changed into a darker hue reflecting the fruits of the season. The darker greens, the radiants reds and the berry shades are as delicious to the eye as the jams of the harvest are to the palette.

For this look of the day I wanted to find something that bridged the gap between the seasons. September is just a few days away yet we’re still having really good weather in the UK, so I wanted something that would warm when the wind bites yet still allow my skin to catch the few fading rays of Vitamin D as they caress the ground.

I found exactly what I was looking for in this rather excellent mesh body-warmer from NS CUTIE SHAPE. It’s called ‘Emotion 1 Padded Vest’ and is available in a variety of patterns and is a scarily reasonable L$50!  Not only that, it includes matching wristwarmers too.  I opted for a glorious dark red and green tartan combo with a luxurious chunky grey fleece collar. It’s very well textured actually, considering the price. I teamed it with my shorts and tights combo (which you can’t see in the picture but trust me, it’s there, I’m not bottomless I promise!) and set off to trudge around some Autumnal sims.

The hairstyle that I am wearing in this picture is the rather bloody awesome ….. by DURA. I confess I haven’t been to Dura for ages, so when I dropped by earlier I was delighted to see an influx of styles ripe for the picking. This is unisex hair, and is far removed from my semi-regular bob preference, but it just works perfectly on my avatar. It fits like a glove, and the shape is perfect. I really love styles that cover the eye like this, although in real life I wouldn’t last five minutes because I’d find myself totally irritated by the hair obscuring my vision. No such problem in Second Life of course!

Even though this style lends itself to a more casual look you can actually dress it up very effectively, so don’t be put off from giving it a try if it’s not your usual fancy. I also opted for a shade a little lighter than my normal choice of darker hues, and coupled with my Kaelyn 20’s skin I think it really looks the part.

Summer is moving on, and Autumn is on her way, but I’m more than ready for the change of season!

Kitty wears:

Skin – Izzies’s Kaelyn 20’s Skin Dark Red Lips/ Kaelyn Eyeliner – C88

Ears – ‘Steking’ Ears – MANDALA

Eyes – ‘Ascension’ Eyes in Sahara M –IKON

Lashes – ‘Flirt’ – HUSH

Bodywarmer – ‘Emotion 1 Padded Vest + wristwarmers’ – NS CUTIE SHAPE

Hair – *Duraboys&girls46* (Sienna)  – DURA

AND…

Pose –  [Clinic] ‘Vintique’ – MARUKIN

Location – Japan Tempura island

(Feeling quite pleased with myself for actually remembering to include the above for a change!)

 

 

Look Of The Day: Young And Beautiful

Look Of The Day: Young And Beautiful

by Lisa Millar ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

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Second Life has been a bit of a bellyache for me recently, and that’s putting it mildly.

Rezzing has been problematic with even simple surface textures taking near impossible lengths of time to load. I can’t bear it when it doesn’t play nice; is anyone else experiencing issues at the moment or is it just me? Quite frankly it’s put me into a funk of gargantuan proportions, hence my lack of updates recently. I can’t blog without pictures, so I need Second Life to be good to me.

I was also struggling to get into events too, especially Collabor88, and I *needed* to get into that one because rumour had it that it was exceptionally good.  Fortunately Second Life decided to be much more responsive earlier and allowed me to go in-world, and I managed to TP into the event.

I’m happy to confirm that it is indeed an incredibly good round (with just a few exceptions that I thought looked out of place) and with the theme being ‘Razzle Dazzle’ we were pretty much guaranteed something very special indeed. There’s a great range of clothing, but also exceptional hair, furniture and buildings too. I was especially impressed by how many designers had included ornate, decorative touches into their work and really gone the extra mile when it came to colour and finish. It’s incredibly satisfying to see and to shop at!

I have a number of fabulous items from the event to share with you.  It’s impossible to pick just one item so I won’t include them all in one post, but feature a few different looks over the next few blog entries.  I’ll be mixing C88 items with other bits and bobs found in my inventory.

First of all, IZZIE BUTTON continues to go from strength to strength where her skin-work is concerned, because her entries for this round are just utterly sublime. 2013 really has been a year of discovery in Second Life for me, and she is definitely one of the designers that I have fallen in love with this year. Her offering for Collabor88 is the ‘Kaelyn 20’s skin, which is available in 4 different make-up options. It’s the whole package, courteously including appliers for slink hands and feet, as well as a choice of light or dark brow options and even eyeliner too. I tend to wear a light tan/medium skin tone but was more than happy to swap for this divinely pale number, and I soon snapped up the entire range. (At L$188 per skin, it would be rude not to!)

My second choice from C88 is the glorious drop-waist frock from TRES BLAH.  It’s in almost my absolute favourite colour; which is a sort of plum/burgundy shade.  (I adore it, and I’d say that about 75% of my real life wardrobe features variations on this colour, the rest is of course black!) so I was thrilled to see so many items at the event sporting this hue. Anyway, back to the dress, which is of course mesh (to be brutally honest reader I would struggle to purchase anything that wasn’t these days) and features a drop waist, a short double-tier lace skirt as well as a delicate pattern to the main body. It’s a modern take on the quintessential flapper style and is available in six colours at L$188 a pop.  I did wonder if it would be a little too girly for me, but nope, it worked perfectly for me with a pair of much-loved patterned lace cut-out leggings  from LARK and my ever-present ILO boots.  I don’t think I’ve stopped wearing ILO boots since the last round of The Arcade finished. I didn’t even win them all, but by gum the ones I did win I am wearing to bloody death!)

To finish my look, and what really makes it for me, has to be this style fromMONSO. It’s called ‘Yong’ and is a unisex style.   I’ve never worn MONSO hair before, but I now consider myself a convert, having snapped up both of the styles that were available from this brand at C88. I made sure I purchased both styles in the custom packs so that I could have lots of wear out of the shades that were included.  I didn’t mind forking out L$288 for each pack either because they contain a great selection of shades and come with a great hud that makes colour and size change an absolute doddle. I did note that the style is materials ready, but alas I fear that makes little difference on my screen due to a graphics card that has sadly seen better days. No matter, materials or not the hair looks stunning and really helped to bring this look together.

To finish I dusted down my trusty Tegryn Scarf in Olive from THEOSOPHY that was gathering dust in  corner and there you have it, a casual, yet very tidy take on the Razzle Dazzle theme courtesy of this fantastic Collabor88 round!

What have you enjoyed about this round of C88? Care to share? Feel free to divulge all in the comments below!

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Kitty wears:

Shape – Kitty’s Own.

Skin – Kaelyn 20’s Skin by Izzies (C88)

Hair – Yong by Monso (C88)

Eyes –         by Ikon

Lashes –      by Hush

Dress – Drop Waist Dress by Tres Blah (C88)

Leggings –    by Lark

Boots –        By Ilo

Scarf – Tegryn Scarf in Olive by Theosophy

LOTD – Work Boots & Romance

LOTD – Work Boots & Romance

by Lisa Millar ♥ 4 Comments

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I don’t really do enough ‘Look Of The Day’ type posts because I always have shedloads to write about other things so I very rarely have the time, but once I’d got dressed earlier I knew that I had to share this particular look with you.  It’s summery yet successfully manages to blend cute smock-top styling with grungy boots and jewellery. It has a hint of  Seattle in 1991 to it, except with less smells and more soap..ahem.

The key item in this look was sourced from Collabor88 which is back with a new round for July and of course it’s as spectacular as previous outings. It features hair, fashion, skins, builds, furniture and accessories. It’s always a challenge to get in and rightly so because the collection is always fabulous.

When I TP’ed in earlier most of the vendors were grey goo for me, even after I’d been there for fifteen minutes, BUT using my skill and judgement  (stop laughing at the back!) and by referring to the item images on the Seraphim website I was able to click on the items I wanted and zoom on out of there before I went completely mad.

So, let’s have a look at the, erm, look shall we?

It centres upon the U.F.O. Bohemian Islet (eyelet?) dress which is unbelievably girly and delicate and just perfect for wearing with shorts or leggings or on its own. It’s perfect bike-riding attire actually, and each pack includes a long version (to be worn as a dress) and a short version (to be worn as a top) which I’m wearing in this image.   As tops go it’s quite a long one, so even though I am wearing shorts underneath you can’t actually see them.

I dressed down the look with these outstanding +ILO+ boots in ‘N.W.O.’ that I won at The Arcade gacha event. I spent a hell of a lot of Lindens in that machine and although I didn’t get every pair I wanted, I did come pretty close! (I missed the cat face ones though, sob!) These have to be my favourite shoes of the moment ; whichever pair I wear they fit like a dream and just look totally bang on trend.  To finish I accessorized with my Boom ‘Friendship Bracelets’ that were also won at The Arcade, and added my ankh necklace by Yummy from a previous Collab88 round.

Last but not least the skin that I am wearing is last week’s Fifty Linden Friday offering from Belleza.  I don’t wear many freckle-faced skins in Second Life so this was a bit of a first for me, and of course being a Belleza skin  it  looks absolutely sublime.  The delicate Jade eyeshadow and muted gloss lip that adorn this enchanting skin compliment the Ikon eyes that I am wearing perfectly.

To finish I added my favourite hairstyle of recent weeks, ‘Bad Reputation’ from Exile. It has to be the most perfect shaggy bob that I’ve ever seen in world and I really love it…but then again, Hair Fair hasn’t started yet has it? (Gulp!)

Details:

  • Shape: Kitty’s Own.
  • Skin: Belleza-Jade-Skin (Medium)
  • Eyes: IKON Ascension Eyes ‘Sahara’ (M) Group Gift
  • Hair: Exile: Bad Reputation Natural Fusion 2
  • Boot:  +ILO+ Work Boot (NWO) RARE – The Arcade  *
  •  Top: U.F.O Bohemian Islet Dress – Lace (Short)
  • Necklace: Yummy ‘Ball chain Necklace’(Ankh)
  • Bracelets – Boom Friendship Bracelets (Various) – The Arcade*

*You may still find these items at yard sales and flea markets.