California Morning
Good Sunday everyone. And first of all an excuse to all our readers and of course also to the creators for not blogging that much in the last few weeks. It is funny – our blog became one year old now and yet I faced something like a blogging blocade. If you are a blogger, you maybe know that. If you are not let me try to explain: it was like logging in, putting some scenes and outfits together and was just not feeling it. And since it is my job to represent items the very best way I can I decided not to force it and try to get my blogging-mojo back.
On the plus side: I finally managed to get my ass in gear and to make pictures that are somewhat appealing to me. And of course I have some adorable newness to show you. Two events started beginning of April – The Mens Dept. and The Challenge. And I mixed items from both events for this californian inspired blogpost. The Mens Dept. provided me with a new haircut from Uw.st. The “Lenny Hair” is finally a curly hairstyle – and there are not that much on the grid for men anyways. And i must say I fell in love with this hair. Also Poetic Colors brought some adorable new eyes in the Mens Dept. I am wearing the Jaded Eyes Emerald. The Thorn Necklace comes from Kosh and the Cardigan from !gO! – both also available at the sales event for guys. The denims instead are the new mesh release from [ JP ]:dsg and I simply love them. First of all the texturing is fantastic. And second the denims have a belt that does not look like you are wearing a tire around your hips. Really well done and strongly recommended.
The titel of this post is “California Morning” and it comes from this months theme of The Challenge: California Bungalow. And L&K Prefabs have exactly that as item for The Challenge – a California Bungalow. The prefab has a very bold texturing and has two rooms and a veranda also. And it is not only a 100% mesh build but also beautifully made. I especially love the texturing inside and I hope that the pictures give you a fair impression of that.
What I am showing you here is the main room of the bungalow. The chairs and the side table in the upper part of the picture come from [kusshon] and are – again – from the Mens Dept. The new released Singapore series has a great vacation vibe, but also fits, like shown above, in nearly every kind of room. Like with all items from [kusshon] there are a lot of gadgets included in the furniture. Not alone that the chairs hold 14 animations – the pillows also give you things like magazines, a glass of wine and a cigarette matching some of the animations. I really love the backdrop and the side table with the tropical fruits.
In the lower part of above picture you can see some more items from The Challenge. There is the dining table with chairs from EoD called “Dining at Home”. And the tea set is just one of the many things the table can rez. The nightstand comes from 22769 ~ [bauwerk] and it works as nightstand for your bed, but also as console like used here. The set includes a completely decorated version, a plain version and all decoration pieces as stand alones also. The Light on the nightstand has a turn on/off script inside. The rug is a new release from L&K Prefabs which will come to the store soon in many different colors. The guitar bookcase is from floorplan and again from the Mens Dept. And the antler is a mesh accessory from Scarlet Creative.
Breno just released the Niall Morning Chaise. I really love the texturing on this one and the poses fit even taller avatars like I am. Also there are a lot of new stuff to find in the new Breno Store like the checkmate artwork also. The stars lamp are from *bbqq* and are their share for the new Mens Dept. The books and the newspapers are decoration pieces I gathered for some time now. And the bookshelf in the closing picture is from World Of Wood and I really must say that this piece is definitely one of the most realistic looking bookshelfes I have found in secondlife. So if you have a thing for books you definitely should pay World Of Wood a visit.
Hair: UW.St – Prince (black) (for the Mens Dept.)
Eyes: Poetic Colors – Jaded Eyes Emerald (for the Mens Dept.)
Cardigan: !gO! – Male Cardigan (for the Mens Dept.)
Necklace: KOSH – Thorn Necklace Antique (for the Mens Dept.)
Pants: [ JP ]dsg. – Manoa JNS denim
Prefab: L&K Prefabs – Blue Bungalow (for “The Challenge“)
Chairs: [kusshon] – Singapore Chair (for the Mens Dept.)
Sidetable: [kusshon] – Singapore Sidetable with Fruits (for the Mens Dept.)
Backdrop: [kusshon] – Singapore Wall Rug (for the Mens Dept.)
Nightstand: 22769 ~ [bauwerk] –California Nightstand (for “The Challenge“)
Table and Chairs: End Of Daze – Dining at Home (for “The Challenge“)
Rug: L&K Prefabs – Ilio Rug (owl) (out soon)
Bookcase: floorplan. – guitar bookcase (for the Mens Dept.)
Antler: Scarlet Creative – Mounted Antler
Drapes: LISP Bazaar – Beatrice Heavy Drapes
Daybed: Breno – Niall Morning Chaise
Artwork: Breno – Checkmate
Lamps: *bbqq* – Stars Lamp (for the Mens Dept.)
Newspaper: World Of Wood – Newspapers
Books: flowey & art dummy – part of “sleepless bed”
Rug: L&K Prefabs – Ilio Rug (owl) (khaki)
Bookshelf: World Of Wood – Hunters Bookshelf
The Challenger
Happy weekend. There is a new fun event within secondlife called “The Challenge”. So what is this all about? It is a group of Home and Garden builder who decided that it would be nice to become challenged by random themes each month to craft at least one item according to the theme. And of course the themes are not necessarily that obvious. So for the first round the creators got “Tudor Style” and they did a brilliant job with their items.
First of all: Tudor is not a really common building style within SL – so it is nice that people decided to bring it inworld. And second – even if the creators worked around the theme you still can tell that it is an item from their store. Like i.e. this Tudor Bench from EoD. It is available in three different options/colors and it is massivly filled with single and couple animations. It is a wonderful piece of furniture that – as you can see – not only matches history themed rooms and homes.
Another wonderful item to be found within “The Challenge” is the Rhys Pergola from BRENO. And again – this is indeed Tudor style but also fits nearly every kind of sim you can imagine. Also it comes with and without curtains. So if you need something for your virtual garden or park – you definitely should check back with BRENO. Michigans Shack even crafted a complete Tudor house you can see in the background. And yes – it is big, but wonderful. The Tudor Mansion has 6 rooms on the first floor and 5 rooms on the second floor and makes a fantastic home for SL familys.
The thing that thrills me about “The Challenge” is the variety of items and also – like said above – that they are according to the theme but that they are also brilliant stand alone items that have not just become built for the one purpose, but are an addition to the offers of the stores. And last but not least: most of “The Challenge” items are having a discount in the first week of release – and if i calculated right this will be until 6. March 2013. So better hurry up!
List of stuff:
Hair: [iruco] hair23M (black)
Skin: Belleza – Jacob Skin Mens Dept edition (for the Mens Dept.)
Jumper: [SLEEPY EDDY] – Turtleneck Fishermans Sweater Brown
Pants: Razorblade Jacket – Hoon Faded Cords
Sneaker: [ JP ]dsg. – Sneaker Varial Multicolor (comes with HUD)
Bench: End Of Daze – Tudor Chaise (for “The Challenge“)
Pergola: BRENO – Rhys Pergola (for “The Challenge“)
House: [Michigans Shack] – Tudor Mansion House Prefab (for “The Challenge“)
Skybox: Garden of Dreams – The Field
On the Beach
The February Mens Dept. has some great skins to find for a bargain. I already showed you the new FRUK Skin yesterday – today it is the special edition of the Jacob Skin from Belleza. Wonderfully made and rich on details and I especially love the tone of the skin – not to dark and not to fair. Definitely worth to check out. Also from the Mens Dept. are the Arabasque Briefs from Lazybum. They come in six different styles, with prim bulge and drawstrings.
Poses are essential for pictures within secondlife. Poseology offer the Donovan Pose Set also at the Mens Dept. and these are very casual and great to use for any occasion (as shown below).
BRENO just have released the Corfu Hammock you can see behind me in above pictures. The hammock has three different fabric textures (guy thing – shown here, pure and Santorini) and also three different wood textures (bleached, cherry -shown here and dark). Also it has seven single and nine couple poses included. It is a lovely item for each beach themed sim or also for your secondlife garden since it is so versatile to fit nearly every style.
The sneaker I am wearing are the new release from [ JP ] dsg. The Varial Sneaker can become controlled by a HUD with size and color and are extremely detailed and just so real looking. And there is a thing I really want to add: I really love the way [ JP ] dsg. are setting up their HUDs – first it is really understandable by first sight and you do not have to click through a bunch of submenues to get what you want and second the design of the HUD is everytime a piece of art by its own.
List of stuff:
Hair: [iruco] hair23M (black)
Skin: Belleza – Jacob Skin Mens Dept edition (for the Mens Dept.)
Briefs: [Lazybum] – Arabasque Briefs B&B (for the Mens Dept.)
Sneaker: [ JP ]dsg. – Sneaker Varial Multicolor (comes with HUD)
Poses: Poseology – Donovan Pose Set (for the Mens Dept.)
Hammock: BRENO – Corfu Hammock
Dreamscene: Garden of Dreams – Hidden Cove
Basalt
I am way late to show you some goodies from the Mens Dept and other locations. When it rains it pours – so people say: after the problems with my internet I faced some RL personal trouble that kept me away from blogging for far too long. But well – I am back (again) and here we go:
The Mens Dept February Round has some gems for you to get for a bargain. And as always you find at the venue a mix from clothing to furniture. Spotlight on the Shell Chair from [HANDverk]. Like everything from [HANDverk] the chair is a modern classic piece you just do not want to miss. It is breathing a certain 60ies/70ies style and the simplicity of the chair is marvellous. The chair comes with 7 animations and is available in black and in red. The shirt I am wearing is one of the items from 22769 ~ casual couture. The doubletee Pi is a layered shirt – or in other words: a tee over a longsleeve. It looks kinda indie/skater to me and is definitely a keeper. There are two other shirts to find at the venue also. And also the necklace comes from the current Mens Dept. It is from KOSH and it is called Pivot Necklace. The necklace comes in 3 different styles and there are also matching rings.
Dura released a new hair two days ago. Boy*41 is a more modern cut with shaved neck – so you need a hairbase for this one. The skin I am wearing is from the Body Co. Sale at The Warehouse.
And finally – the skybox: The prefab is one of the new releases from GARDEN OF DREAMS. The “Showcase Set” contains – amongst 3 other scenes – this one called Basalt. I absolutely love the minimalism in this one. And in my opinion it works also brilliant as a small shop. The set is full mesh and has a Landimpact of 12 – so it definitely is a fantastic shell for everything you can imagine.
List of stuff:
Hair: Dura – Dura-Boy*41 (black)
Skin: The Body Co – Fox (light) (at The Warehouse)
Necklace: KOSH – Pivot Necklace (B) (for the Mens Dept.)
Shirt: 22769 ~ casual couture – Doubletee Pi (for the Mens Dept.)
Pants: Razorblade Jacket – Hoon Faded Cords
Sneaker: [ JP ]dsg. – Sneaker Ventura
Chair: [HANDverk] – Shell Chair Black (Pre-Release for the Mens Dept.)
Scene: Garden of Dreams – Showcase Set Basalt (mesh | LI 12)












