Farewell to Calla, my home.

My home, such as it was, was in the Calla sim. I had build rights in a 512 area above the golf course, provided gratis by my (currently former) Boss Sabrina Doolittle. You see, as a fashionista, I'm rarely there, and only needed a spot to put up the pose stand and background thingy plus other tchotchkes, like my pancakes. I could do what I wanted, as long as I kept it up in the sky.

Sabrina basically left SL and over time began reducing her SL involvement, which included the sim, just recently. A few days ago I logged in to find Calla gone. At first I thought it was temporary, but after a couple of days I figured it was going to be gone for good. So I asked around on what to do since I had some items rezzed, including my pose stuff. Some said, that in the old days, when sims were deleted your stuffage got returned to you, but mine wasn't. So it was suggested I contact the Lindens and they'd probably temporarily bring back the sim so I could grab my stuff, which they did. I didn't even have to beg or anything, just telling them about my stuff left on the sim was enough.

So, I received notice of the temp return of the sim, and went back to get my stuff and take some last pictures.

This is the Picture Perfect Pro



What's the Picture Perfect Pro, you ask? The enhanced super deluxe version of Sabrina's Picture Perfect Studio (pose stand and background thingy). What's that you ask? You never saw it in Sabrina's store? Of course you didn't, it wasn't 100% finished when Sabrina took her hiatus, which eventually became permanent, from SL. She and I worked on it together, which is why I know about it...but I don't have a copy of the almost ready for release device. We were talking, which led to discussion of the picture perfect and other photo thingies and talk turned to doing an enhanced version with built in lighting, but still low prim and cheap. I think we were planning between 500 and 1000L$. Anyway, I did the lighting scripts, based on those for the Picture Perfect Studio Light Effects, but it's up to version 1.4 or was it 1.5. Anyway all 4 lamps are individually controlled by chat. The rings they're on spin around, top and bottom individually, but the standard placement was designed to reduce shadows in the pre-windlight client to zero. Took 4 lamps to do it, we tried 2 and it almost worked with 3, but we couldn't get the placement perfect, so we settled on 4.

The background thingy is a cylinder so it will fit inside residences, sphere's big enough for avatars with a big enough opening were a bit too big, also getting textures to look good inside of sphere's was a bit annoying, using a cylinder was easier. Sabrina did the script for that, she's much better at texture manipulating stuff. She also did the physical build of the thing, she's so much better with prims and textures than I am.

The pose stand itself contained one of our secret weapons, a simplified version of my pose stand rotation script. You see, I was once taking pictures of an outfit and wanted to take a picture of the back with a certain pose that faced me. So I rotated the stand in edit mode and I got to thinking, hey wouldn't it be cool to be able to turn this thing with a chat command, without having to go into edit mode and then cam back in. So I figured out how to do it, and built the script. Now I wanted to test it in my Picture Perfect but I figured that since the scripts were no-mod that I couldn't put my own script in it. so I searched through my inventory and found a full mod pose stand with pose changer buttons and an invis button. I altered it, improved it. rebuilt it...I had the technology....better...stronger...faster, and then I put my script in it. And it kicked ass. I handed it out to a few people, who liked it, but I wasn't going to sell it, because it just did what the picture perfect did, only better because I could rotate it along x, y or z axis with chat commands without camming out or changing cam position. So I told sabrina about the script and she told me that even if the PP scripts were no-mod I could still put other scripts in it, just like poses. So we did, and it worked great, but the controls were a bit complicated. Sabrina said she got so many help requests for her easy to use Picture Perfect stuff as it was so she asked if I could simplify the rotation script, Z-axis only and say a dozen set positions like a clock. I could and did, and that was the version of the pose stand going into the Picture Perfect Pro. My original PP pose stand got the fully geeky version of the script though.

So now that Calla is gone, no more chance for the PP pro to be released and if I am correct the original PP can't be bought anymore. I don't think it's sold anywhere else. And the Studio Light Effects I designed and built was also sold there so it can't be bought anymore either, though I'm willing to sell them directly out of inventory.

I could duplicate the function of the PP Pro pose stand with one of my own, easy enough, and in fact I have such a stand in inventory, which I may release now that the PP is unavailable. But I don't have a replacement for either of the background things, though I could do a version of the original PP's one, given time. The problem would be the textures, I can't do em. The Pro, there's no way I could build that. I could come close in basic shape, but it would be ugly, and I don't have Sabrina's texture changing script for the cylinder.

And how many prims on the PP Pro? I think we got it down to 16...total for everything, stand, cylinder, and lights, but I think there were plans to get it to 12 or was it 10. See those lamps were "bulbs"...inside of a faux reflector, using a single cylinder and faking with textures would have removed 4 prims. Either way we got it down to lower prim than practically anything else out there. It was great, even in unfinished form.

Here's the original Picture Perfect Studio, low prim, 250L$ One of the best purchases I ever made.



My light was sold next to it, Sabrina and I shared income on that. For a while, that thing sold like crazy.

Here's the exterior of the store where Sabrina sold the PP and other picture related stuff, albums, frames, etc.



Ahhh Linden Lifestyles HQ. Where the famed LL male and female freebie packs were available. I have them too and can drop them on newbies as I see them. Oh how I miss the Linden Lifestyles blog. Sabrina and Salome wrote so well.







Calla Country club, there were games inside, pool and a couple of others, and there were a few casino machines, but they went out when gambling in SL did. If memory serves me correctly Sabrina threw a few parties there. It had a small stage and dance floor, IIRC. It was a nice cozy venue for small parties. I have a golf cart given to me by Sabrina that has my name and Calla Country Club enscribed on it. The golf course, which no one ever used, that I know of, is nearby.



Chez Petite, Sabrina's low prim furniture store.



My skybox, in the skies of Calla. That's my bed, used only for a few pictures, a Caledon dance pole, and you can see a bit of my en garde piste



There's the rest of the piste, my Picture Perfect setup, my vanity table with the Tete a Pied makeup box on it, my magazine style homage to the Hussy and the Patootie head, and my pancakes.



Calla Marina, where Sabrina sold that great little housebout, that I always wanted, even if it's too small to put a picture perfect in. She'd customize it for you too. It really is a nice little place to live in.



The bridge, leading from the commercial side of calla to the residential. The golf course was on both sides of the river/inlet



Now I'm going to have to find another spot to "live" or at least put my "studio" setup in. I don't have the L$ to spend on both a 512 and shopping. I have a L$ budget (especially these days with medical expenses). I'd like to find a semi-regular writing gig with one of the "big blogs" to earn a little L$ besides writing Elsa Klensch style reading scripts for fashion shows. Will serve as lackey/minion/weapons testing target in exchange for a 512! Back to sandboxes for SL picture taking for me, give the geeks a thrill to see me skin testing sometimes.

My inventory frightens me, but look at these cool earrings I forgot to blog.

Oh sure, there's fashionistas with double the inventory (there are people with 60000 items!), but my inventory is ummm very disorganized. I throw stuff away, but it adds up. I also have that shame of the fashionista...unopened bought items. I have all sorts of things in there. I have a house, I think, probably more than one. I know I have a really cute victorian cottage....somewhere. I have fantastic waistcoats that are in my unsorted folder rather than my Caledon folder. I have a couple of VERY nice gowns by a relatively unknown designer that I NEED to blog, once I find my info on the store again.

I've got some unfinished projects in there, like my Steampunk Automaton and things I meant to blog but never got around to doing, some of that dating back to....2006.

Here's some pics of some cool earrings from JUNK by Koge Cleaver. (these are from July I think) Koge makes really cool looking earrings. I think one of the reasons I hadn't posted these is that I was wearing my thin lips shape because I was wearing last years Fleur Relay For Life skins which look better on my thin lips shape and are not available anymore...I think.







Yes, that's HCT hair and I'm wearing blue eyes instead of green, some of the strands get in the way of the jewellery, sorry about that. But they are really nice and well worth purchasing. Lets see if I can find a SLURL to Koge's shop:

Nope, but Koge does have a shop on OnRez and check out Koge's profile for a TP to the shop.

Tete a Pied Vivant Review.

The new Tete a Pied Vivant line has been released and here is a review from Tete a Pied's #1 groupie, Roslin and CJ's *****, me!

Here's the ad:



The new skins use different shades from the Tap Deux line. In fact if you want lots of variations of Tan, Faux Tan, Dark Tan, Dark, etc. TaP is not for you. The new shades are from lightest to darkest: Cream, Blush, Almond, Buff, Bronze and Chestnut. Cream is very light, Jackal Ennui style goth light I would say.

These are the makeup types: Basic red, Basic pink, Basic nude, Just Lips, Pinup, Biba, Bebelle, Kyoko, Candy, Sultry, Natural, Feline, Freckle, Horus, Glam, Cercle. I got the same preview pack others got, ie one skin in Pinup, basic nude, and Candy. I also purchased a three pack in Buff in both Just Lips and Red Lips.

The Vivant skins, unlike the previous TaP skins are hybrids. They have some photosourcing, but not too much photosourcing in my opinion. That makes them look a bit more modern than TaP Deux, which might appeal to more skin buyers, as well for those looking for more realism. But since they are not heavily photosourced, they won't turn-off TaP's loyal markets of certain fashionistas, redheads, and Caledonian ladies.

Here I am in the Buff Pinup 1, which was the first of the Vivants I put on. It was love at first sight. This skin reminds me a bit of some of the old TaP Une series in a way, which I like.



Here I am wearing the Bronze basic nude 1. This one said to me that TaP is trying to reach outside the traditional TaP market. This one is very modern and more like a traditional SL skin than older TaP's were.



And in the Blush Candy 3. You'll notice that the lips are slightly different on all the makeups. If one makeups lips don't look good on you then try another.



That's ETD Roslin hair worn in the photos above, I just had to wear it.

In the vendors in the store you'll find demos of every makeup in every skin shade. That surprised me because that's a lot of work doing that, and Roslin said that they weren't likely to do it again after doing it for TaP Deux. But they did, and I appreciate it greatly. I do have one complaint about the build, because of the way the stairs are set up the walkway in front of the skins is a bit narrow, but there's space at each end of the store for hobnobbing and kibbitzing, not including the roof.

Also, the pricing is different than the TaP Deux skins. Singles are L$500, three packs are 1200. That's right, they're a steal! Roslin and CJ want people to think of skin as an acessory that one changes with clothing and the new prices reflect that. Here's another important thing, brows and kitty's are mod.

That's right redheads, with TaP Vivant you can have every skin match your gorgeous red tresses. Just pick up the mod brow bases, and put it on. That goes for blondes too. That makes me ecstatic in joy and tribulation. See the results in this collage using the Just Lips 1 skin.



ETD Maaliyah hair

Pubic hair works similarly, just put on what kitty hair options you want, they're on the underwear layer. For those interested, the traditional TaP heart shaped kitty hair is included.

Here's some comparisons of Tap Vivant Red Lips 2 skin with the TaP Deux Sophisticate 1 skin (custom redhead version) I compared these two because of the similar lipcolors:


Full body front, notice the changes in the torso shading.:



Full body back, notice the new butt! I love the new butt!:



Torso. You can see the torso shading changes better. The cleavage enhancement is still evident, but my boobehs look a bit more realistic in the Vivant:



And the face. There's subtle changes in the facial highlighting, a sort of glow. There's some changes in the lip texture too.:



Again, ETD Roslin hair

If you're wondering how the skins might look on everybody's favourite missing Redheaded Shameless Hussy (Sabrina Doolittle) and Patootie Head (Salome Strangelove), here is yet another homage to my bosses at Linden Lifestyles If any skin has a chance to steal Sabrina's Whoring Heart(tm) from her Gala's it's TaP Vivant. This is the Just Lips 1 skin.



Armidi Bombshell hair in Ginger III on my faux Sabrina self, and ETD Patootie in Chestnut on my faux Salome self.

And here I am crying and pouting because I want them ALL! Yep, I LOVE them, but of course, I AM Roslin and CJ's ***** (Inspired a bit by Ida Keen's New World Notes Uncanny Valley contest entry last year.)



ETD Patootie in Crimson, facial emote from my Mystitool.

Tete a Pied is located in the Nouveau sim.

Skin Review: Minnu Model Skins

There's a been a plethora of new skin designers showing up in SL, and established designers that I have not heard of releasing new skins. I was dropped a Sample pack of Minnu Model Skins a few days ago. I had not heard of their creator, Minnu Palen before, and gave them a try. Originally I was not planning on doing any kind of a review, because when it comes to skin reviews, my boss Sabrina Doolittle is the best skin reviewer around, in my humble opinion. But she's away from SL, and I thought these skins deserved a review, at least on my own blog.

Lets get the basics out of the way. Minnu Model Skins (which I will abbreviate to MM) are mostly hand drawn with some photosourcing on the body, but not too much photosourcing, because Minnu believes too much can ruin a skin. There are 5 skin shades, Pale, Light, Mid, Tan, Dark. I, of course, am a pale face. Pale is the new tan! This is the Pale skin shade with the Dominate makeup.



First thing I thought when I put them on was: zOMG, I've got the "Aspire" look a la Colleen Desmoulins or Isabella Sampaio. I have to admit that I think the overall look is "generic SL glamour". There are a lot of skins that can give a look like this. However, most of those have much more photosourcing, which in most cases makes them look like crap on my avatar. MM skins keeps it more subtle. The abs are defined but not too over shaded, the knees are nicely done, and it's a very pleasant and easy to look at skin. It does everything reasonably well, even if it's not a "stand out from the crowd" skin.


There's a been a plethora of new skin designers showing up in SL, a

I even like the brows! They only currently come in this brown shade, though Minnu has said that different brow colors have already been requested. The faces themselves have that generic "slightly exotic SL glamour" look on me with the high contoured cheekbones. The lippies seem to be all frosts, which is a downside in my opinion. (I prefer matte, creamy and glossy lippies in RL) The faces worked well with full lips and thin lips as can be seen. I tried them on a bunch of different shapes and the face flattered them all, even the famous Spin Spin Sugar shape. That may be the reason for the "generic SL glamour" look, that look may work on more shapes and faces than other basic looks.

Here's the Light shade in the 40's makeup:



Now the standard MM skins may not be "stand out" skins but the Mia's are. The Mia's are "Asian" skins. Very pretty skins. In fact the Mia's are IMHO the best "Asian" skin in SL that I have seen:



On the left is the Mia Deep on the right is Mia Ice Queen. You can also see the boobehs, which are the standard boobehs on all the MM skins. Yes the nipples are blurry but that could just be my shape, which seems to make ALL nipples blurry. They could also use a bit of highlighting/shading to enhance the cleavage, IMHO.

Now, I am no Sabrina Doolittle but here's a kitty shot:



The kitty is important to some. Now I'm not that familiar with kitty's in SL, but I think this kitty's pubic hair is a bit sparse. As for the bits themselves they aren't scary looking. You can also see the hands, which are very nice with knuckles and prettily manicured nails that don't look like someone dipped them in white paint.

So overall do I recommend these skins? Yes, for those who want the look this kind of skin gives, and for those who want a bit of photosourcing but not too much, and for those who want a reasonably good skin that's very pleasant to look at. Single skins are $L 1100, fatpacks of four are $L 4000, older skins are $L 900, and eyes are $L50.

Minnu Model Skins is located at: JT World VI 211,208,22 The build does NOT suck, and you know how I am about builds. There are also other locations. In addition to skins, MM also sells shapes and eyes.

One other note, the location above has a small fashion runway with seating suitable for a small fashion show. Minnu has said that she wants to support new designers and give them a place to show off their stuff, which I applaud. Contact Minnu Palen for more details.

Sorry for the image problem folks, I had a duplicate of this post saved thanks to a glitch and when I deleted the duplicate it deleted the images too, and I didn't realize it was doing that fast enough.

Missing my bosses, oh no it's faux Sabrina and Salome again.

Yes, I'm missing Sabrina and Salome's post on Linden Lifestyles very much. No, I don't know when they'll be back. Summer is a very busy time for them, something similar happened last year. But not only am I their Friday Interview Lacky, I am their #1 fan or should be. So when I really mis the "Red Headed Shameless Hussy" or "The Patootie Haired One." I'll dress like them, and then sit in my skybox and say "Pants" and "Squee"

You see, Sabrina and Salome are among my favorite people to hang out with, though I haven't done that a lot, they're very busy ladiee. Theyr'e even funnier and wittier in virtual person than they are in their blog posts.

Sabrina, or as I like to cal her, "The Red Headed Shameless Hussy" is in part the inspiration for my own "Red Headed strangeness".And it is because of her, that I can't spell jewellery and favourite in the US way anymore. This is one of my favorite Sabrina outfits, i'ts a mixture of different pieces Armidi Bombshell hair and a Gala skin. This is my only Gala skin. I've always wanted to know what Gala looked like on me so I finally broke down and got one. I reallylike it...mostly, except for a minor quibble with the brow color, but I'm extremely picky about brow color. I think Gala skin looks better with thinner lips so I tweked them down a bit just for this skin. The outfit itself is a little bit punk, a little bit girly, and a lot sexy. Details are in her original blog post, and of course she looks better in the total ensemble than I do.

the eo/last call/wrong/oi/heart headband outfit post:





Ah Salome, everyone's favorite Patootie wearer and Mistress of Squee. She's my shoe inspiration. These outfits are from Reasonable desires, the purple bodiced gown and the nun set. That's the only Passport skin I own and frankly my shape does not flatter it. I'm also not fond of Starley's default brows but that is just me and my brow pickyness. I've said it once and I'll say it again redheads are hard to please, especially when that redhead is me. Salome is not a redhead though and like her I'm a fan of ETD's browns, especially Chestnut. Salome looks much cuter in the nun's habit than I do.

nun habit and purple bodice dress from reasonable desires review





I have sometimes thought of myself as Sabrina and Salome's strange "love child" because I'm like a combination of them in some ways stylewise. And has been said on Linden Lifestyles, they show their love by telling each other (and me) why they hate what they're wearing. Sabrina is one of the reasons I switched to less intense greens in my eyes. And I am their #1 fan, but not a stalker! Really. I'm not that crazy, Sabrina has sticks! I just like to do "faux Sabrina and Salome" when they go missing, like I said, yeah that's the ticket. But I am too much Roslin and CJ's ***** to look like them all the time. I love my Tete a Pied skins.And I have my whole "CC looks like a 50's housewife / sophisticated businesswoman / ocassional hussy / penguin" thing going on.

But wherever they are and whatever they are doing I wish them a speedy return to blogging, so that we all may read "Pants!" and "Squee!" again.