LOTD 04/22/2016 – Girls just wanna have fun!

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TUNES

I have no clue why, but while I was working on the pictures of todays post, the song ‘Girls just wanna have fun’ was stuck in my head :p

The base of the look was the incredible jewelry from Tracei.

In SL it is really hard to find modern casual jewelry. I have a lot of elegant jewelry or as well filigree little jewelry – most of the in either gold or silver – , but if you look for bigger, modern casual chic jewelry it is quite a challenge. When I discovered Tracei, it felt like I would be in heaven!

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So long I was looking for some bold but still chic and fashionable jewelry and accessories, that can be mixed and word with casual styles.

Today I would like to showcase 3 parts of the fantastic jewelry collection of Tracei.

For the earrings I went with a pair of “Calista”. The “Calista” earrings are available in 6 monochrome shades and for my post I chose the opal blue ones. The “Calista” earrings are the perfect choice to take you through the actual season and onwards to the desired summer πŸ˜‰ The earrings are so versatile, as you can use them for casual chic stylings as well as for pimp up your beach wear look or even for an evenings party! With the inbuilt resizer you can size them to your likings and needs. Originally the “Calista” earrings were released at the Lost & Found event but they found their way to the Tracei main store and marketplace now as well.

The wonderful ring and glasses are made by Tracei as well. The “Artio” sunglasses as well can be resized via a resizer and inside the lenses you have amazing reflections, what makes them look amazing realistic. The “Evan Apatite” ring makes the perfect finish for the accessorizing. With the oversized but clean look it makes a statement and can be worn by both genders. I loved the mix of the darn onyx ring with the smooth gem at the top a lot and it kinda brings to gether the casual with the chic thought of the look.

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For the outfit I put on one of the latest releases from Asia Rae. The “Polly” top is a real playful looking little shirt with little lines over the shoulders and a long ruffled part on the front that reaches down to the belly button, what adds a very sexy touch in my view πŸ˜‰

For the pants I decided to go with one of my long time favourites, the “Zipper Skinny” jeans made by Maitreya. I wanted some simple but not boring basics for the clothing, to make the accessories and shoes shine even more.

Talking about shoes…

Today I am wearing the “Echium” heels from Glamistry. Those heels are a definite must have for every girls wardrobe.

Basically you could call them plateau pumps but they are so much more than that! With the amazing add-ons that have a scales look, those heels are simply stunning and so adaptable to so many different styles and looks. The love of the detail of Glamistry again shows with the little studs that hold the add-ons in place and as well with the repeating of the scales fabric on the bottom of the heel. Again the shoes can be purchased in many colors which you can mix and match for the basic shoe, add ons, metals, heel and the sole.

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The cool furniture I used for my set, was a mix and match of several items I got at various events. The cute pastel fan I got from Art Dummy which sadly is closed now , the cool shelf was made by Lark and the wonderful ‘boat couch’ I found on an event as well from Stockholm & Lima, one of my favourite brands when it comes to furniture with high details. Sometimes less is more and for fashion posts I really do like a pure and simple surrounding πŸ˜‰

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Details

Top: Asia Rae – “Polly Top”

Pants: Maitreya – “Zipper-Skinny Jeans”

Shoes: Glamistry – “Echium”

Earrings: Tracei – “Calista”

Ring: Tracei – “Evan Apatite Ring”

Sunglasses: Tracei – “Artio Sky”

Fan: Art Dummy – “Breeze”

Shelf: Lark – “Beachcomber Shelf”

Sofa: Stockholm & Lima – “Repurposed Boat”

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

GizzA teams up with Glamisty for Peony!

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A collaboration between designers is always exciting to me, as it brings out new and different sides of each of them or even pairs their best skills and abilities.

The last fact happened in my view on the latest collaboration ofΒ  GizzA & Glamisty.

Both designers have amazing skills when it comes to designing and texturing. The “Peony” outfit and heels show how incredible amazing such a collaboration can be. The outfit – made by GizzA – itself comes in several colors. Originally there is one color for top and pants but I decided to mix 2 of them together since I anyways have a weakness for black and red combinations πŸ˜‰

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The top is a very summer looking top with a great leather texture. I the front you have high closed tight shape, which closes together right at the neck.Β  That leaves a very sexy back with much skin and only covered by 3 lines, that close around the front again, which hold the top in place πŸ˜‰

The pants do have an amazing, aerial floating back piece to them. The sheer part is perfectly rigged to the legs and will follow your legs with every step. The “Peony” pants are 3/4 pants (or sometimes called capri pants) and let enough room for the amazing “Peony” heels from Glamistry.

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Glamistry is one of the most popular shoe designers these days. And if you take a look at their designs you will know why πŸ˜‰

I rarely saw shoes, that are so detailed and realistic, as the Glamistry ones. They always release up to date creations and offer an amazing color system for customers. Usually you buy one color but you are able to add more colors on your HUD by just buying another color. That means you do not buy another pair of shoes, you just add another color on your HUD. That is a very inventory friendly system to have a lot of colors for each shoe!

For the “Peony Heels”, Glamistry certainly made the perfect matching colors to the “Peony Outfit” from GizzA. You have the possibility to color several parts of the shoes in a different color. The shoes itself have 2 parts like you can see on the picture above, I colored them black and red. Then you are able as well to choose for metals, heels and sole, to make sure you have the best combination for your look. To me that makes those shoes very versatile and perfect for any kind of styling πŸ™‚

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The incredible tattoo was made by my favourite tattoo designer and friend, Julie Hastings. She made the “Charade” tatoo for the actual round of the Epiphany gacha event.

The cute hairstyle, together with the hat, comes from Ayashi and the amazing bracelet was made by Asteria for one of the past round of the Enchantment event, if I remember correctly.

Since I have an addiction to piercings as well and rarely can use them usually, I could not resist to add the little “Dark Queen Septum” πŸ˜‰

The cool walls you can see behind me, are from E.V.E. Studio. I used several copies and resized them to build a surrounding for my today’s pictures πŸ˜‰

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Details

Outfit: GizzA – “Peony Outfit” – NEW

Heels: Glamistry – “Peony Heels” – NEW

Hair & Hat: Ayashi – “Rin”

Necklace: Mandala – “Hannya”

Bracelets: Astralia – “Amarantha”

Ring: (NS) – “Vicious Rose”

Piercing: **RE** – “Dark Queen Septum”

Tattoo: White Widow – “Charade” – NEW @ Epiphany (Gacha)

Scene: E.V.E. Studio – “Dystopia Room Divider”

Poses: Corpus

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

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LOTD 04/19/2016 – Weird Mood

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Yesterday I was in a very weird mood, when I put together the look for my GizzA shift. It was not a bad nor a good mood… it was just weird.

Do you know that moments where you kinda feel nothing – real nothing? It is a very strange and good feeling the same time. Hard to explain but if you ever had that you will exactly know what I am talking about πŸ˜‰

In such moments it is very dangerous for me to style. As I never know what the outcome will be… will it be a great funky look or will I look like a clown…

That is, why I always let one day go by and look at it again t make sure it looks ok :p

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I started with the new “Joanna Laced Dress” from GizzA. A short, cute and amazing short mesh dress, which comes in several colors and patterns. What I liked a lot, was that the dress was not just made with a deep neckline in the back, but had those laces as a neat decoration what made it outstanding to me already. I decided for the ‘Red Floral’ version for today’s post. I was thinking a long time, what I could do with it. I did not want to make a too casual and common spring look, as I saw that already a lot of times for this dress.

I was looking into my ‘Shoulder Parts’ folder and found the cool “Epaulette Set” as well made by GizzA. They are not a new release but more and more I discovered that ‘old time goodies’ are still worth to be kept for several stylings :p

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Β The “Epaulette Set” comes with both shoulder pieces and an amazing mixture of chains and pearls as a necklace to connect both parts. I used the white version for today but there are many different colors available at the GizzA main store.

For arms and legs I wanted something not too heavy, but as well nothing too simple.

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The “Lovana” heels from Stelloane just perfectly worked for what I was aiming for.

With the cute laces wrapped around the whole leg, it was not just pups or sandals but as well not heavy, totally covering boots πŸ˜‰

The arm pieces from the “Bonfire” outfit from Edelfabrik perfectly complimented the shows for the overall look.

I know I used the “Sidsel Hat” before, but I just love it so much, that I had to use it one more time πŸ˜‰ To me that added a light touch of an artist look as I saw many painter RP with such hats… I know weird thoughts but sometimes… like I said it in the beginning… I am in a strange mood anyways atm πŸ™‚

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Details

Dress: GizzA – “Joanna Laced Dress” – NEW

Shoulder Parts: GizzA – Epaulette Set”

Shoes: Stelloane – “Lovana”

Arm Parts: Edelfabrik – “Bonfire Bangles” (part of an outfit)

Hat: Elysium – “Sidsel Hat”

Nailpolish: Nailed It! – “French Spring Beauty”

Hair: EMO-tions – “Alicia”

Poses: agapee

Location: Netherwoods

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

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Post Apocalyptic Mood

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A Post Apocalyptic Poem

All these days are filled with rust,
With nothing living on the earth’s crust.

Ships and cars and planes and hearts,
Are all that you’ll find,
But who said that the human race has become refined?

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Civilization has ended… Yes,
Cultures have been removed… Yes,
Common sense ceases to be relevant… Yes,
But was it not compulsory before?

Perhaps the era of technology has ended,
And most souls of the past have descended,
But we are still human after all…
Aren’t we?

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Does a smart phone and a suit and a job and a home,
Make us the humans we have all known,
Or is there something inside of all of us,
Something that helps the wounded,
Instead of our own.

Maybe it’s the feeling inside when we see another,
The rush of excitement, pain, fear and the next world,
To discover.

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Maybe it’s the thought of putting down,
What has so much to offer just for your own needs,
Greedy…
Needy…

I don’t see a difference from this world and the last,
Perhaps someone I stumble apon will shut me down fast,
Or perhaps they will nod and walk on, right past.

[by Lewis Cavallo]

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Details

Outfit (incl boots): Moon Elixir – “Lark”

Hair: No.Match – “No.Border”

Poses: ..::DARE::..

Location: Ironwood Hills

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

The Wood Fairy – A Fairytale…

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A while ago I found a wonderful fairytale on the www and it was stuck in my mind so bad that I really had to style something around it. It is not meant to kinda tell the story but it was heavily inspired by it πŸ˜‰ The Fairytale is one of the favourite ones from Czechoslovakia and was told in London round about 1966 if my research was correct πŸ˜‰

I am an addicted to old fairy tales myself and read a lot of them – maybe it is the child inside of me that always refused to fully grow up πŸ˜‰

So I am not claiming that novel for myself, but I would like to share it with you.

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The Wood Fairy

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Betushka. She lived with her mother, a poor widow who had only a tumbledown cottage and two goats. But in spite of this poverty, Betushka was always merry.

From spring to autumn, Betushka drove the goats each day to pasture in a birch wood. Every morning her mother put a slice of bread and an empty spindle into her bag. The spindle would hold the flaxen thread she would spin while she watched the goats. She was too poor to own a distaff on which to wind the flax, so she wound it around her head, to carry it thus to the wood.

“Work hard, Betushka,” her mother always said, “and fill the spindle before you return home.”

Off skipped Betushka, singing along the way. She danced behind the goats into the wood of birch trees and sat down under a tree. With her left hand she pulled fibers from the flax around her head and with her right hand twirled her spindle so that it hummed over the ground. All the time she sang merrily and the goats nibbled the green grass among the trees.

When the sun showed that it was midday, Betushka stopped her spinning. She gave each of the goats a morsel of bread and picked a few strawberries to eat with what remained. After this, she sprang up and danced. The sun shone even more warmly and the birds sang yet more sweetly.

After her dance, Betushka began again to spin busily. At evening when she drove the goats home she was able to hand her mother a spindle full of flaxen thread.

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One fine spring day, when Betushka was ready as usual to dance, suddenly there appeared before her a most beautiful maiden. Her white dress floated about her as thin as gossamer, her golden hair flowed to her waist, and a wreath of forest blossoms crowned her head. Betushka was struck silent.

The wood fairy smiled at her and in a sweet voice asked, “Betushka, do you like to dance?”

At this, Betushka lost her fear. “Oh! I could dance all the day long!”

“Come then, let us dance together. I will teach you.” She took Betushka and began to dance with her.

Round and round they circled, while sweet music sounded over their heads. The maiden had called upon the birds sitting in the birch trees to accompany them. Nightingales, larks, goldfinches, thrushes, and a clever mockingbird sang such sweet melodies that Betushka’s heart filled with delight. She quite forgot her goats and her spinning. On and on she danced, with feet never weary, until evening when the last rosy rays of sunset were disappearing. The music ceased and the maiden vanished as suddenly as she had come.

Betushka looked around. There was her spindle — only half filled with thread. Sadly she put it into her bag and drove the goats from the wood. She did not sing while going down the road this time, but reproached herself for forgetting her duty. She resolved that she would not do this again. When she reached home she was so quiet that her mother asked if she were ill.

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“No, Mother, I am not ill.” But she did not tell her mother about the lovely maiden. She hid the half-filled spindle, promising herself to work twice as hard tomorrow to make up for today.

Early the next morning Betushka again drove the goats to pasture, singing merrily as usual. She entered the wood and began her spinning, intending to do twice her usual amount.

At noon Betushka picked a few strawberries, but she did not dance. To her goats she said, “Today, I dare not dance. Why don’t you dance, my little goats?”

“Come and dance with me,” called a voice. It was the beautiful maiden.

But this time Betushka was afraid, and she was also ashamed. She asked the maiden to leave her alone. “Before sunset, I must finish my spinning,” she said.

The maiden answered, “If you will dance with me, someone will help you finish your spinning.” With the birds singing beautifully as before, Betushka could not resist. She and the maiden began to dance, and again they danced till evening.

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Now when Betushka looked at her nearly empty spindle, she burst into tears. But the maiden unwound the flax from Betushka’s head, twined it around a slender birch tree, seized the spindle, and began to spin. The spindle hummed over the ground and grew thick with thread. By the time the sun had dropped from sight, all the flax was spun. As the maiden handed the full spindle to Betushka, she said, “Wind it and grumble not. Remember, wind it and grumble not.” Then, suddenly, she disappeared.

Betushka, happy now, drove the goats home, singing as she went, and gave her mother the full spindle. Betushka’s mother, however, was not pleased with what Betushka had failed to do the day before and asked her about it. Betushka told her that she had danced, but she kept the maiden a secret.

The next day Betushka went still earlier to the birch wood. The goats grazed while she sang and spun, until at noon the beautiful maiden appeared and again seized Betushka by the waist to dance. While the birds sang for them, the two danced on and on, Betushka quite forgetting her spindle and the goats.

When the sun was setting, Betushka looked around. There was the half-filled spindle! But the maiden grasped Betushka’s bag, became invisible for a moment, then handed back the bag stuffed with something light. She ordered her not to look into it before reaching home, and with these words she disappeared.

Betushka started home, not daring to look into the bag. But halfway there she was unable to resist peeking, for the bag was so light she feared a trick. She looked into the bag, and began to weep. It was full of dry birch leaves! Angrily she tossed some of these out of the bag, but suddenly she stopped — she knew they would make good litter for the goats to sleep on.

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Now she was almost afraid to go home. There her mother was awaiting her. “What kind of spindle did you bring me yesterday?” she asked. “I wound and wound, but the spindle remained full. ‘Some evil spirit has spun you,’ I grumbled, and at that instant the thread vanished from the spindle. Tell me what this means.”

Betushka then told her mother about the maiden and their dancing. “That was a wood fairy,” exclaimed her mother, alarmed. “The wood fairies dance at midday and at midnight. If you had been a little boy, you might not have escaped alive. But to little girls, the wood fairies often give rich presents.” Next, she added. “To think that you did not tell me. If I had not grumbled I might have had a room full of thread.”

Betushka then thought of her bag and wondered if there might not, after all, be something under those leaves. She lifted out the spindle and the unspun flax. “Look, Mother!” Her mother looked and clapped her hands. Under the spindle the birch leaves had turned to gold!

Betushka told her mother how the fairy had directed her not to look into the bag until she got home, but that she had not obeyed and had thrown out some of the leaves. “Tis fortunate you did not empty out the whole bagful,” said her mother.

The next morning Betushka and her mother went into the wood, to look carefully over the ground where Betushka had thrown out the dry leaves. Only fresh birch leaves lay there, but the gold that Betushka did bring home was enough for a farm with a garden and some cows. She wore beautiful dresses and no longer had to graze the goats. Nothing, however, gave her such delight as she had dancing with the wood fairy. Often she ran to the birch wood, hoping to see the beautiful maiden, but never again did the wood fairy appear.

[Favourite Fairy Tales, Czechoslovakia]

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Details

Outfit: Zibska – “Alfhildir”

Arms: [ContraptioN] – “The Cursed Hand”

Shoes: Wicca’s Wardrobe – “Gypsy Boots” – NEW

Headpiece: DRD – “Dead Religion Headdress”

Collar: Kibitz – “Strap Collar”

Hair: [e] (Elikatira)- “Sybil”

Eye Makeup: [White~Widow] – “Inca Gold”

Poses: ..::DARE::..

Location: Crest of Vrek’mar

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

LOTD 04/06/2016 – Modern Chic with Elysium, GizzA & 22769

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Today I was in a sort of chic mode :p

When I today was trying to sort my inventory again (yes, I know, I should do that more often, like I always tell in my classes^^) I found some amazing things. Lately RL was keeping me pretty busy and so I was not able to catch up with all the new releases as I normally do…

But finally, RL gave me enough room to put together a look with some of those incredible releases πŸ˜‰

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I am still in love with the new “Isabelle” skin from [sys] and I am wearing it for quite some time now. It was released for the Skin Fair 2016, but I am sure now after it is over for some time you will find it at the [sys] main store. AS well from [sys] comes that super sexy top. It was released on the Whore Couture event. The “Freya Bra” has usually matching panties to it, which I did not use this time, but I will do a nother post soon with the whole set πŸ˜‰ The bra comes in a fitted mesh version, as well as for the Slink and Maitreya mesh bodies.

For the pants I wanted something high waisted and my choice fell on one of my favourite pants in that style – the “High Waist Woolen Pants” from GizzA.

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The cool shoulder parts as well from GizzA and they are part of the “Spiky Fur Top”. Those shoulder parts went amazingly together with the “A Rock in a Heart Place” collar in silver from 22769.

The cute “Sidsel” hat was made by Elysium for the Gacha Guardian. The hat comes as a left and right version in many different colors. As well for Gacha Guardian Elysium made the amazing “Soes” earrings in different awesome colors.

The cool rings were available at one of the last rounds of On9, but i’m pretty sure you will find them at the [Since 1975] main store by now.

The absolute cool hair, which fitted perfectly under the “Sidsel” hat, was made by Mirja Mills, owner & designer of EMO-tions.

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The furniture for today’s set are available at the Tres Chic event. 22769 created a wonderful “Pallet Bedroom” set, that just perfectly fits with a modern loft look for today’s style. The whole set includes the bed (available as PG and adult version), 3 different wall arts, the breeze block with the lamp and a sweet decoration set, where I used the rug, the plant and the magazine from.

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Details

Bra: [sys] – “Freya”

Pants: GizzA – “High Waist Woolen Pants”

ShoulderΒ  Parts: GizzA – Spiky Fur Top” (part of the top only)

Hat: Elysium – “Sidsel Hat” – NEW (Gacha Guardian)

Collar: 22769 – “A Rock in a Heart Place”

Earrings: Elysium – “Soes Earrings” – NEW (Gacha Guardian)

Cuffs: Astralia – “Amarantha”

Rings: [Since 1975] – “Fang Rings”

Hair: EMO-tions – “Alicia”

Skin: [sys] – “Isabelle”

Freckles: Le Forme – “Freckles V2” (Catwa Applier)

Eye Shadow: Slackgirl – “Spring Shadow” (Catwa Applier)

Lipstick: Zibska – “Blacktop” (Catwa Applier)

Eyes: Ikon – “Hope Eyes”

Head: Catwa – “Jessica”

Body: Slink – “Physique”

Poses: Corpus

Furniture/Set: 22769 – “Pallet Bedroom! NEW @ Tres Chic

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

Bird of Prey – Pose & Picture Processing Studies with DARE Poses

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..::DARE::.. – Face Hands – “Collar” (#81)

I more and more find my own fun, in playing and fooling around with poses, experimenting with angles and learn new picture processing techniques…

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..::DARE::.. – Editorial pose 63 – “You Can’t See Me” (#63)

When I started blogging, I always saw the need toa full body shot, a head shot and maybe even some close-ups of certain accessories. Nothing wrong with that, but the longer I was blogging, the more it was kinda boring to do always the same kind of pictures for each post.

What is a very common way of blog pictures – and yes I tried that as well *grins* – is to have one big picture and then include little close up circles or squares for more details. Nothing wrong with that either, but over the time I more and more had the desire of making more artistic looking pictures, which still showcase the designers work properly.

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..::DARE::.. – Face Hands – “Imma Burrito” (#82)

If you have a full body shot, often enough the shoes, the jewelry or even nails often enough are too tiny to really showcase them as the full avatar gets kinda tiny when you try to have all of your body on your picture. Mostly I had the feeling then, that I had more ambience and background on my pictures, than the actual items I wanted to showcase. I thought by myself, what would be wrong to have real closeups as a full picture… sometimes maybe my head or face was missing but is that so important, if I want to showcase an item that my face is on the picture as well? Yes and no… certainly you want to show that the pictures are of yourself and brand yourself for marketing purposes, but sometimes you can even show your face in one closeup and have other pictures with certain parts of your body or furniture. I realized, that if I do that, I need to find interesting angles for the pictures, as if I just crop them they can look boring very easy.

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..::DARE::.. – Editorial pose 46 – “I Work Out” (#46)

I already talked about how you can twist and turn poses to weird angles and in the end they turn out as amazing crops or closeups. Some pose stores help with that kind of pictures and ideas, as they make unusual, editorial poses, which sometimes look weird if you see them as a whole or just from the wrong angle. Exactly those poses can be the most interesting if you go for crops, closeups or even interesting angles.

During the last Ferosh Fashion Weekend, I discovered a pose store, which I basically know for a long time but kinda lost out of the view over the time – to be honest I do not really know why…

Chance Greatrex, owner and creator of DARE poses, has a very special vision for his poses. They are really out of the box and different to so many I found on the grid. Just the fact that all his poses have each a unique and story telling name, shows that there is way more behind his poses than just an animation πŸ˜‰

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..::DARE::.. – Editorial pose 62 – “The Struggle Is Real” (#62)

Lately I got s pose set called “Face Hands”, which probably was made with the intention to feature a hand/face combination for example for makeup and nails, rings or hand jewelry. They re perfect for closeups and different angles and while snapping I even had a hard time to sort out the ones I love the most, since I cannot overload a post with over 20 pictures*snickers*

Β Since I wanted to do a pose study, I decided to go for something simple but still with ym personal twist for the outfit. I realized, that La Petite Morte has a sale going on where Voshie gives her skins away for 100 lindens! As I still do experiment with my new Catwa head and do not have much skins for it yet, I TPed over to the La Petite Morte and took a look. I was very surprised as I just expected older skins to be on sale, when I realized there are as well newer ones with appliers for several mesh heads and bodies!

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..::DARE::.. – Face Hands – “Bedtime” (#78)

I have to admit, I have a weakness for fantasy skins even if I am not able to use them too often, but for pictures they always add something special to the whole look. When I was looking around – after I found the TP to the sales room… typical me… – I immediately fell in love with the “Belle” skin in diamond. It comes with a Catwa applier and when I tried the demo, it looked so stunning that I could not resist to get me one πŸ˜‰

The face has a wonderful ornament around the eyes and the lips are one of the most stunning lips I ever saw on the Catwa head. With the light purple/grey touch and a shimmering finish, the skin screamed for something mystical or fantasy looking.

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..::DARE::.. – Editorial pose 46 – “I Work Out” (#46)

To not disturb the view on the body too much I went with the “Siren Set No. 1” by Pixicat. The tight fit on the Slink Physique and the minimal covering of the body was just perfect for a poses and skin showcase. The cool “Bird of Prey” head-piece, we made a little while ago for a themed event, and it just went perfectly with the rest of the look, even if it is a pity that it covers the amazing eye makeup of the skin… that requires another post with this incredible, amazing skin soon I guess :p

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..::DARE::.. – Editorial pose 55 – “Now You See Me” (#55)

The cool finger rings I found at the last round of On9 made by [Since 1975] and I am pretty sure they will be at their main store now.

For the hair I wanted something pulled back, what did not interfere with the head-piece too much and so my choice fell on a ponytail from [taketomi].

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..::DARE::.. – Face Hands – “Damn Hot Coffee” (#80)

What as well took me a lot of time lately was polishing my picture procession. I played less with windlights and tried more to work with a graphic program to post process my pictures by painting and drawing certain things like shadows and lights and as well I tired to find new techniques to create certain effects. Fog was something I really wanted to learn for a long time, something that looks realistic and not just painted on and edgy looking. As well, how I can create shadows without using the SL shadows, or my shaky hands to draw fuzzy lines πŸ˜‰ YouTube has a lot of offers for learning new things and from time to time it is really exciting to test something new, like green screen against white screen shots and the possibilities you have with those kind of photography.

So for this post I mixed clean pose studies with interesting angles and new techniques of picture processing and even if it took me a while it was a very intensive learning time, which I really enjoyed πŸ™‚

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..::DARE::.. – Runway pose 18 – “Edgy Leaned Feet Apart” (#18)

Details

Outfit: Pixicat – “Siren Set No. 1” (Gacha Item at their main store)

Headpiece: Wicca’s Wardrobe – “Bird of Prey Mask”

Hair: [taketomi] – “MamiPlared_Bento”

Nails Rings: [Since 1975] – “FangRings”

Shoes: :)(: (Pixelfashion) – “Slavia Shoes” (for Slink high feet)

Skin: La Petite Morte – “Bella”

Body: Slink – “Physique”

Head: Catwa – “Jessica”

Poses: ..::DARE::..

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

Pose Studies Dare 12a

..::DARE::.. – Editorial pose 49 – “Floppy Wings” (#49)

Dance with a Fairytale

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I know I had a lot of Unicorn posts lately, but I really do love the theme and the fairytale behind it. This month we have a lot of designs who point towards the novel and on of my favourites comes from Enfant Terrible.

She made a wonderful “Vintage Romance” set, wich is made for the 3 popular mesh bodes of Slink & Maitreya. The set is available in 4 different colors for the outfit and the shoes. Grey, Black, Ivory & Rose.

Maybe the best will be if I add the gacha key so you can see all the options :p

25183339705_37010538d5_o(Picture by Enfant Terrible)

I totally fell in love, when I got the “Vintage Romance” set. First of all the unicorn theme, then the amazing vintage touch with the frills, ruffles and the amazing pastel colors. Last but not least as well the incredible details, which Enfant always puts on her designs.

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The cute hairstyle with the amazing unicorn and the sweet twirled hair was made by Olive for the last round of the Enchantment. You are able to take off the front part with the horn but for this post it was just perfect like it is πŸ˜‰

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Since I rediscovered DARE poses again, I am really in love with them. They are so incredible dynamic, that they give a certain mood to so many different pictures. They always look, as if they would capture a single moment out of an animation, what makes them look very interesting and always out of the box. On the first view they sometimes look crazy but if you play around with the angles you can have the most amazing captures ever. Certainly it always depends on the subject and what you are going for, but for me DARE poses are perfectly for my pictures and art work and even a few sets are made for runway posing. Their slogan “Poses that will make you stand out” is a real true statement πŸ˜‰ Soon I will do a nother body studies post with a bunch of newer poses as well πŸ˜‰

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Now I just had to find a location to shoot this wonderful outfit, together with the amazing poses. I remembered a collective of sims, which I saw when I was doing some sim hopping.

The Ippos Collective. A wonderful collective of 4 different fantasy looking sims, some of them even allow you to rezz a small prop or a poseball. Just make sure you pick it up after you are done, to make sure others can explore the sims and all their beauty as well πŸ˜‰ Since it is a residential too you will find residents there as well. I guess respect is something that we all should have, to not intrude in their private sphere without their permission πŸ˜‰

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Details

Outfit (incl Shoes & Collar): .Enfant Terrible. – “Vintage Romance” – NEW Gacha Set @ The Arcade

Hair: .Olive. – “The Twirl Hair”

Head: Catwa – Jessica”

Skin: [sys] – “Isabelle” – NEW for Skin Fair 2016

Eye Makeup: Zibska – “Aless”

Body: Slink – “Physique”

Eyes: Ikon – “Hope Eyes”

Poses:Β ..::DARE::..

Location: The Ippos Collective – Ippos

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

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Sunny Day with *agapee* & Eclipse

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The sun comes out more and more and I just had to do another Spring post today πŸ˜‰

I was experimenting some more with my new mesh head I got, but to be honest I did not yet found anything new. So I will focus on the amazing dress, which I got from *agapee* andΒ  the cool boots made by Eclipse.

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The amazing “Jean Outfit” is a real spring ensemble. With the sweet long-sleeved top, decorated by that little scarf, and the wonderful belted skirt with the delicate lace part in the front, it is perfect for the first warm sun beams.

The outfit comes with a HUD to change the colors of the short and the scarf to 6 different ones, so that you can customize the whole outfit perfectly to your very own likings.

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The super cute hairstyle comes from Truth and was made for the actual round of The Fantasy Collective.

For the pictures, I wanted something sweet and modern, to complement the outfit itself. When I was lately doing some sim hopping, I discovered a residential sim called “Mataiva”. The name for the place is “The Iconic Spell”.

“The Ionic Spell is what remains of a little village devastated by a large solar storm.. For 10 years the people have lived without electricity and looked for ways to restore the light.The community is close and we must stick together to find the answer”

That is the description which I found in the sim description field. On the first view you won’t see the destructions, as most of the sim look like, as if the residents have rebuilt it, but some corners still show the basic idea. It is a fantastic place to walk around and enjoy the love to the detail, the people put in here to create this wonderful little world.

I am sure I will return to this awesome place to discover some more interesting corners for future pics and posts πŸ˜‰

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Details

Outfit: *agapee* – “Jean Outfit”

Boots: Eclipse – “Oh Me”

Hair: Truth – “Tierney” – NEW @ The Fantasy Collective

Body: Slink – “Physique”

Head: Catwa – “Jessica”

Freckles: Le Forme – “Beauty Moles II V3”

Eyes: Ikon – “Hope Eyes”

Poses: Devilish Poses

Location: The Iconic Spell

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

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Wastelands – I finally got my first mesh head :p

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Today I will have my first post trying out my new mesh head. Before I want to go deeper into my mesh head adventure… I would like to drag your attention on the awesome clothing I chose for this post.

Today I chose a fantastic outfit from [sys], which totally caught my heart. The cool used cargo pants with the huge belt and the grunge looking top, totally would be something I would wear in RL as well.

Β The whole “Straps” set comes with a huge HUD to customize fabrics and colors and you as well can choose from 2 different fabrics in each 3 colors for the top. As well you can bus all the parts separate in many different colors at the actual round of Shiny Shabby.

The amazing and cool hair was made by Mirja Mills, owner and designer of EMO-tions. The “Sandrine” hair style totally went with the urban look of the “Straps” outfit from [sys]. The clean sorted and back pulled braids part over the right shoulder, so that you have some in front and some on the back of the shoulder. The perfect rigging makes it possible to move your shoulder and arm what ever direction you can imagine.

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The cool “Dagger” boots come from Gizza and originally were made for males. If you know me that is not something that holds me back from trying to wear them as a female as well :p.

Since one of the versions is a non rigged one, I was able to resize them and make them a little smaller to fit my female measures πŸ˜‰ I did not wanna wear too much jewelry to keep the urban character of the look, but the “Dulce” necklace from Kunglers was a wonderful match to keep the style idea.

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But now to the topic of my todays post… my first mesh head.

(My thoughts and opinions are just my very own ones,Β  for myself and I do NOT mean to attack anyone who has a different opinion about this topic!)

I was against the mesh heads for a very long time as to me personally you can try as much with skins and makeups, you always will look similar to so many others if you wear a mesh head. The probably results out of the fact, that we cannot yet customize the facial features on all of them. some allow at least some stretching to all directions of the whole head, but certain trademarks like the nose, the mouth or the eyes cannot really be customized as much as we are able with our default avatar head.

To me a unique face counts a lot as it makes a huge part of the character of an avatar. If you are in the modeling scene you are taught to make your avatar as unique as possible, to create trademarks that let you standout from many others and to selfbrand yourself. I never was looking too much left and right or tried to copy an already existing model or avatar even if I had seen many faces that I really adore. I more admired them for being how they are as usually they had a very distinctive face, that make them stand out where every they showed up. People like Shena Neox, Vixie Rayna, blackliquid Tokyoska, Absinthe (sintheontherocks), Kay Fairey or Honey Bender – to just name a few – I always was able to recognize on shows, vendors, printΒ  or video productions. And that kinda was my engine from the very beginning, to develop a face for Wicca, that always showed it was her without having her name tag right beside her.

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So you can imagine how I was wondering, when the first mesh heads came out and so many ppl ran like crazy for them. All of a sudden many people looked similar and after a while, it was even possible to name the heads and where they are coming from, anyways who was wearing them and what kind of skin they applied to it. I always questioned myself where the uniqueness was going with the lauch of the new aera of mesh attachments. I always tried the demos of the new mesh heads, anyways of which brand. Popular ones and as well the ones of the under dogs. More and more different heads came out but always when I tried them with several different skins, I never lost the feeling of loosing my own face by wearing one of the mesh heads.

For a while I skipped the idea of a mesh head for myself until about a week ago when the Skin Fair 2016 opened. As usual I went there to see if I could find a new skin for myself. I was surprised and disappointed as it seemed, that so many popular skin labels only made appliers for all kind of mesh heads but none anymore bothered with skins for the default avatar head. I left the fair after a short while and back at home the mesh heads came back to my mind and I again ran around and collected demos from all over the place.

After a few days of trying, I found one head that looked not too bad. The “Jessica” head from Catwa. It did not have those huge kissy lips that stuck out from the face and the nose was not as tiny as for the most I tried before. I thought I could give it a try and got it.

On the first day, when I did not yet bother too much about makeups yet, I just go me some freckles, as Wicca has freckles for years now. Together with the new “Isabelle” skin from [sys] I started my first mesh head adventure…

Since I was wearing a [sys] skin before I was lucky with all my other mesh body attachments like my Slink hands & feet or my Physique body, as I could use all my already existing appliers. On the first view I really did like the new “Jessica” head, even though it was not Wicca anymore. There are pros about a mesh head, that I really can see, as you do not have any angles or shadows on spots, where they do not belong, like we have them on our default avatar faces around the nose, on the forehead or around the chin. The head and face just look realistic and smooth. On the other hand, taking pictures is so much more easy as you do not have a lot of post processing in graphic programs anymore.

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The day after I started to fool around with makeups. I was told with the new Omega system it would be so easy to customize the face and make it my own, since you can use a variety of different makeups and face art. So I went for some Catwa – Omega makeup shopping…

Back home I unpacked them all and started testing… And ther the first huge disappointment came up…

The head limits a lot in using makeups or combine makeups in a way so that you do not see any seams. When I applied the first eye shadow it took off my freckles and when I tried to reapply the freckles parts of the eyeshadow were gone. So first of all for some makeups I have to make a decision if I want to take my freckles off or not. If you wanna achieve a realistic look as blogger and model, in my opinion you cannot have freckles on one day and none on the other as freckles as well are part of the character that you try to create. I can see that if you do not play too much with makeups and wear more of an everyday look with not too heavy makeups it might work perfectly well. But for the work of a model and blogger you usually play around with makeups a lot and the mesh head limits you in that like crazy, especially if you are an addicted to extraordinary, huge or mixed makeups. Mixing makeups, like adding up layers and create unique looks anyways does not work at all.

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My overall resume is not totally against mesh heads, as I can see the usage in some cases. For myself, I decided, that the mesh head might be fun for some pictures or art work, or even for vendor pictures sometimes, but not something I would wear in general as I would loose to much of Wicca and myself.

I am looking forward to the time when SL will add some more bones for the head creators, so we maybe can really customize the mesh heads with the sliders, like we used to with our default avatar faces πŸ˜‰

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Details

Outfit: [sys] – “Straps” – NEW @ Shiny Shabby

Hair: EMO-tions – “Sandrine” – NEW @ We <3 RP

Shoes: GizzA – “Dagger Boots”

Necklace: Kunglers Extra – “Dulce Necklace”

Head: Catwa – “Jessica”

Skin: [sys] – “Isabelle” – NEW @ Skin Fair 2016

Freckles: LE FORME – “Beauty Moles II V3”

Eyes: Ikon – “Hope Eyes”

Body: Slink – Physique

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin (yes it is really me πŸ˜‰ )