Burberry By The Beach

I love a bit of Burberry. In fact, I love anything with berry in it. Here I am in my kitchen about to cook some coffee. I mean I'm a modern independent, high achieving, self-sufficient kind of girl and I do for myself. I can cook, clean and keep my beach retreat looking spick. So what if my culinary skills stretch to coffee and toast. At least I dress like I mean business.

I really like this combo taken from a little bit of this and that.

See those pots down there? I take great pride in the fact that they've never been used and are still as shiny as the day I brought them. Those cook books in the background from Dutchie are there for show too. I only ever read fashion mags.

And that sink? Well it's there for decoration really and glistens like the Krupp diamond. Why waste water when I can just throw my plates out and return to Lapointe & Bastchild Designs for more. You see I am instrumental in keeping the SL economy going. Ta Ta.

Ze bitz 'n' bobz:

Le Skin: Elle Pale in Make Up 7 by Belleza
Le Hair: Larissa in Swedish by Truth
Le Eyes: Expressive Eyes in Big Grey by Nany Merlin
Le Top & gloves: From Praha outfit designed by Beauty Avatar
Le Pants: Seaman pants in Pitch by Boom
Le Shoes: Aequus in Red by Maitreya Gold
Le Hat: Alley by Tesla
Le Earrings: Pearl Flower & Heart by CentoPallini

Now I am absolutely loving the Viewer 2.1 Beta. I am so confused about why 1.23 crashed all the time, Emerald looses my inventory and viewer 2 seemed to give me graphic glitches. This Beta version is da bomb for me. We have just clicked and I'm really enjoying SL like I haven't experienced in ages.

NEW RELEASE - Mind Your Business In The New Dutchie Office.

As promised, here is a new release from my favorite lifestyle designer, Ms Froukje Hoorenbee of Furniture & House by Dutchie.

If you value your personal SL environment, you will undoubtedly know this amazing brand simply by the name Dutchie. I unfortunately came across Froukje's amazing work quite late which is a terrible shame as I would have surrounded myself with her brand of wonderful much earlier. Anyway, Froukje and I spoke last week and she shared with me her new amazing creation, The Dutchie Office made as a sky box. Please feast your eyes on the pictures and forgive me my rather heavy use of photo's in this post but when you find something like this, you must give it all the fan fare you can muster.

I really wanted to capture the incredible detailing of the build and dressings of this quality structure. It is being released this weekend so do make sure you drop in and see it for yourself. The prim usage, both unfurnished and furnished is very conservative so you have no excuse for not taking care of business.

Fox In The House.

I'm always tickled to receive a package from Fashionboi Landar of House of Fox because I always know I'm in for a treat. I wasn't disappointed when I hastily whipped on the contents to find this razor sharp number called Couture in Black that included a hat and huge diamante crusted earrings. What I always appreciate with Ms Landar's creations is the fact that she makes skins as dramatic and intense as her clothing line so you can really go to town and let your inner Ga Ga out to play.

I couldn't resist showing off my golden booteh's from Bax too. These boots are fab, fab, fab.  Look at the details - skilled shading and realistic leather folds around the lower boot.  Brilliant.

Ze Look

Skin & hair base: Lara (Make Up #2) Light hair base by House of Fox
Eyes: Expressive Eyes in Big Grey by Nany Merlin
Dress/Hat/Gloves/Earrings: Couture In Black by House of Fox
Stockings and garter: From Barbee (store no long open) - designed by natsu Serevi.
Shoes: Prestige Boots in Gold by Bax Coen
Necklaces: Exotic necklace by Tik Tok
Location: The Wastelands

ZombiePopcorn SL Carnival - There's Nothing More Scary Than A Clown

One of my favorite sims used to be Carnival Of Doom. It seriously scared the crap out of me which I know is really stupid but it did have an atmosphere of doom n dread. Taking a visit to the ZombiePopcorn SL Carnival, it was reminiscent of that sim and the mystery that seems to surround carny folk. I have always had a bit of an aversion to carnivals and circuses...something about the transient nature of them. A world created full of lights, sounds and smells one minute, and like a phantom, gone the next leaving a wake of litter in its place.

I walked the shops, rode the dodgem cars, navigated the fun house and it was a hoot. So if you want to see a great sim and enjoy all the fun of the fair, take this TP to the ZombiPopcorn SL Carnival. But beware...the man murdering circus clown might get ya.

Summer Loving At Casa Del Shai

The lovely Shai Delacroix, fashion designer extraordinaire of Casa Del Shai fame, sent me her new Summer 2010 release of this gorgeous dress called La Eleganza. Shai has been making hand-painted and sculpted clothing in SL since 2006 and at the Fashion Blogger's Choice Awards of 2007 was voted 'Best of' in many categories. One can only imagine that what Shai doesn't know about SL clothing construction is hardly worth mentioning.

La Eleganza is as the name implies. Elegant, stylish and classic, the dress is timeless in its appeal. A perfect and versatile dress for any occasion.  I imagine it going along on your summer vacation and seeing lots of action.

Case Del Shai is full of amazing fashion and I urge you to take a trip there and engorge yourself on all that fabulousness.

I just had to get into my new Inaya skins again. This one is Maori and I just think the face is totally divine.

Skin: Maori Meia skin by Inaya Skins
Hair: Anda in Brown by Mirai Style Hair Salon
Eyes: Twilight Eyes (Bella) by Exodi
Nails: Gold by J's
Dress: La Eleganza in Cocoa by Casa Del Shai
Shoes: Aequus in Gold with Brown ankle wrap by Maitreya Gold
Bracelets: Tennis Bracelet by Aluinn

I'm In An *elymode* State Of Mind

What can I say about Elysium Eilde? She's one of the people who have made SL more beautiful in lots of different ways. Her penguin promoter walking around Second Look Studio, her photography studio, once had a label on his head saying "Ely is a genius". Guess what?  He was absolutely right. She has taken some of the best photographs in SL, produced some of the most inspired fashion shows among other things and is now a fashion designer of note. Her designs are of the utmost quality and her artistic skills are blatantly obvious when you take a close look at her pieces.

Ely, aka as *elymode*, sent me a blogger pack of these two dresses called Danaini in both Lilac and Gold. Feast your eyes on the amazing color and textures of these dresses. Beautiful Ely, just stunning.

I probably should have shown these in a summer, beach setting but the luminous colors and gossamer silky material led me to the fantasy forest and next thing, I had wings on.

You simply must go to *elymode* and indulge in exceptional quality textures and well cut pieces that will become wardrobe staples.

Hair in both shots from Truth.
Skin in both shots from Belliza.
Shoes in both shots from Maitreya Gold.
Dresses from *elymode*
Wings created by Jen Shikami

Catch Up With Chalice

Coooooeeeeeee.

Well my little darlings I'm back. What you say? Didn't know you'd gone? Don't be so cheeky.

My short hiatus commenced as above. Sitting in my living room recently, that whiny annoying, pain in the ass inner voice of mine said, 'You need a change of living space'. 'Oh God not again' screamed my logical voice of reason.  While I love, adore, idolize my NotSoBad Dubai house I knew resistance was futile. I took off trawling the grid for a new home. I am the Imelda Marcos of Pre-Fabs and I'll do it again, mark my words. This post is an eclectic collection of drivel so don't scowl, scroll, if you don't want to read.

I've been everywhere man. I have scoured the length and breadth of SL and poured over the Lifestyle Blogs to see what floated my boat. I do this every time I create a new space, I'm possessed and maniacal until I finish it.

In the end I chose the Beach House designed by tunes Meness from 2Xtreme. I visited it quite some time ago and recalled how the earthiness of it resonated with me. While I drooled over many houses, it was this one I want to live in this week (oh God make it longer than a week-I'm exhausted). I will do a pictorial of my new space when I have the time. Here I am on this amazing meditation pillow from the beautiful mind of Isolahara Catteneo, genius of Mudshake. Go there people...it's illustrious.  You can see a bit of my Beach House in the background.

Can you tell I'm in a zen place?

Seriously, who would think to make a girly coffin to chillax in? Isolahara that's who? It's got everything a girl could want and an ash tray for my sly ciggie.  Ok so the coffin is a bit short for the Cha but you can't have everything in one little box.

Seriously, do not disturb?  Can it get any better.

I then took a ride to Mudhoney and love is an understatement. Looking at all the loveliness, I stumbled upon this little box that was full of furniture. I do believe the extraordinary Ms Rayvn Hynes has developed little themed photography boxes. I will check this out later but popped in the Shabby Chic room for a photo as you can see below.  If I am incorrect I do apologize but I did see a range of theme's to choose from in vendor posters and this is such a great idea for ppl with little space.

As you can see, I haven't changed my clothes for 3 days but it's okay because these little Pantaloon inspired shorts are part of the The Niven Collection MonoChrome II-Autoro White designed by my favorite designer, Scarlett Niven. The entire outfit is a gem and I seriously don't wish to live my life out of these shorts.  A walk through The Niven Collection Boutique tells you that Scarlett has an amazing grasp of fashion.  When I wear her pieces, I always think RL and that is what lifts her above many in the game, the game being SL fashion.

My friend, darling Vixie dropped over for a look at my efforts and we chatted like we always do.

Vix n me.  See I still won't take them off even with my thongs.

Thongs:  A summer staple that cuts across race, religion, sex, style and social status, the almighty thong is one of the world's great levelers  -  By Chris Sheedy

I have neglected my darling Truth Hawkes. Mr Truth doesn't know me at all but I do call him my darling because he makes my hair stand on end. I haven't had a Truth shop-a-thon for a few weeks so headed there to snap up my favorites but what I snapped was this shot. I must say I'm not very impressed with this do. Me thinks the dog must have gone a round with this one Truth.  Or perhaps this man and/or pygmy brought it elsewhere?  Yeah that's it...Truth would never use such cheap shampoo.

Now I have a very special treat for you coming soon.  One of my most favorite lifestyle creators, Ms Froukje Hoorenbeek from Furniture and Houses by Dutchie has designed something very special and I'll be featuring it in Chalice In Wonderland just prior to it's release.  OMG I'm excited.  Stay tuned.  You'll love it.

Please Let Me Raise My Pants

Chalice is as tall as can be and often struggles with non-modify pants.

I found three examples in my inventory to support my dilemma when it comes to skirts and sometimes dresses. I assume its because I am so tall that with non-mod pants that I can't make shorter, the skirt/dress prims aren't long enough to cover the pants. In most instances, I can't lower the skirt enough to rectify the problem. I'm sure others are in the same boat so can I ask designers to consider making glitch pants modifiable so that your gorgeous outfits look their best and don't have pants hanging below the hems? I have quite a few outfits I just can't wear because of this which is a shame.

Look At Me, Look At Me, Look At Me.

The dress is Niven called Kashmir Konnection and a real fav of mine. I think Scarlett Niven's extreme talent must have sent her mad because she's selling this dress for the meager sum of $10L. I mean that is insane but thank you Scarlett...I love this profusion of color and texture. Look at the quirky brooch that hangs over the chest...it's gorgeous.

I am wearing my new favorite skin from Inaya called Kimshara. It has a dark hair base just perfect to attach Inaya's Maya hair piece that hangs over one eye...it's edgy I think.

These pictures are taken at a cool sim called Viceland. Not that you can see from these pics, but its awesome for photo taking so take a trip there and let your imagination run free.

Take care everyone. It's a long weekend in Australia for the Queen's Birthday. Poor people from the U.K. don't even get to have a day off. Happy Birthday Lizzie (and I don't mean Lizzie Lexington although if it's your birthday too, Happy Birthday Lizzie L.). 

Not that it will ever be read by them but I wanted to send a message of condolence to all the Linden Lab employees that have unfortunately been let go.  One third of the workforce is a lot of people and I can't help but wonder what impact this will have on service.  I do want to say thank you to all of you who have undoubtedly contributed in a multitude of ways to maintaining and improving SL and I wish you all the very best in whatever you do.  I know we all hark on about performance etc but we do keep coming back to this virtual existence and I for one think its brilliant and fun and addictive.

From the people I've got to know and observe, it's not a outlet for socially inept losers but in the main, it attracts incredibly talented and forward thinking people who all have a story.  SL take a bow.

Inaya Skins....You Simply MUST Try Them

I just can't say this any plainer. If you do nothing when you log in, TP to Inaya Skins and try on the demo's. You absolutely must. I was contacted by Sandro Fratica in-world asking if I would be interested in featuring these new skins in my blog. Sandro is co-owner along with skin designer, Naalyeh Raleigh. I visited their store and Sandro kindly handed me a blogger package containing these new skins that had only days ago been released.

People...OMG. I am in love...LOVE I tell you and I want to share it. Only you know if you love a skin when you try it on but please, do yourself a little favor and just see if you love them as much as I do.

In my rush to get this post out, I haven't had time to show all the line but I will finish them off in a day or two. These will just have to tide you over in the meantime. I always struggle with profiling skins in respect to the pictures. I thought this would be the easiest way to show you the full length and face without overdoing it with individual pictures. These were shot in world with no post work in an attempt to give you a fair representation of the skin. If they look this good raw, imagine how they'll look with you all tarted up?

Sandro and Naalyeh you have an amazing line of skins on your hands and I simply can't wait to see it grow and prosper. I just can't express how I love these skins and will be keeping an eagle eye on all of your upcoming releases.

There are hair bases, freckles, teeth and hair attachments for sale but I recommend you just go there and try them all on.

Introducing alaskametro Skin

I love blogging. A couple of days ago Alaska Metropolitan dropped me a folder of her new skins with the brand name of alaskametro and an invitation to her launch party on June 5. Unfortunately I was unable to attend but finally got to try out the skins yesterday. Actually to be factual, the name alaskametro is followed by the 'greater than' symbol and a 3 = heart.   Unfortunately when I type this in I get an error so just pretend it's there.

I am (obviously) not a terribly good skin reviewer, unlike Gogo from JUICYBOMB.COM who does fantastic reviews on skins. In saying that, I know what I like and I like this skin. Utilizing the SL 2.0+ viewer, Alaska has created a very affordable way for us to have amazing options with the one skin. This is taken from Alaska's note card as she best describes her product:

Begin by choosing a base skin tone from the selection of semi-tintable, seamless skins. From there, up to 4 hair colours are available, with 3 eyebrow options each. A skin pack includes 1 eyebrow option, in 1 hair colour, in 1 base tone, but contains 4 variations: regular, freckled, Brazilian waxed, and freckled with Brazilian waxed.


Makeup packs are available to enhance your alaskametro<3 skin, and are modifiable to allow you to add your own tattoos, nail polish, body glitter, etc. Makeup packs use the SL 2.0 "Tattoos" layer and will NOT work in older Second Life software.

Base skin tones are currently available in 4 semi-tintable shades:
ROSE: warm, beige pinkish-toned light skin
BRONZE: warm, tanned/bronzed medium light skin
SPICE: very warm tanned medium skin
EBONY: cool-toned, very dark/African skin

Each skin tone is modifiable by up to 7% using the My Appearance sliders.

Up to 4 hair colours are available for each skin base tone: blonde, red, brunette, and raven.

There are 3 eyebrow options are currently available:
01: smooth, combed brow arch
02: elegant, natural brow arch
03: sparsely-plucked brow arch

A skin pack, sold at L$900, includes 1 skin base tone with 1 eyebrow option in 1 hair colour, but includes 4 skin files.

Follow the blog at http://blog.alaskametro-sl.com for the latest news, tutorials, and styling tips using alaskametro<3 products.

Shown here is the Rose tone with Fresh Make Up #2 (left) and Matte Make Up #2 (right).

Nice bum.

Just for the record, no PS effects have been used in these pics. I would encourage you all to go try on some demo's to see for yourself. I'm really impressed by this skin and the freckle's make it so interesting. I do think she has done extremely well with the hands in particular. Take a look at the first pic which shows them quite well.

So looking forward to seeing this brand grow.

Top and Pants: Wool Tangerine by Alb Dream Fashion
Hair: Maitreya Nimue in Natural Blond
Shoes: You got it - Maitreya
Necklace: Antique Rose by gisele
Bangles: Sugar Copper Gem Bangles by Fresh Baked Goods