Le Cadre’ shop!

Holy carp! I signed up for this thing on a lark, seeing the last call for submissions on fashionplanet (which, I tried to get the store blog added to and have heard nothing back. Maybe he hasn't had time yet. Assuming you're supposed to email him and ask even, since I couldn't find anything that actually told me how to get added). I totally didn't expect to be accepted, but I figured I ought to send out an app anyway... AND I GOT IN. I'm blown away. So, soon there will be a third location! There are bigger spots open in Ohana Isle too (or at least were as of a couple of days ago), and I wouldn't mind moving in to something bigger there, with the treasure hunts it gets some nice traffic, and I do really like the area. But I so don't have the time for setting that up right now, so I'm going to have to wait for the next round. I have to finish my treasure hunt goodie too- it's not going to be anything super awesome this time, but kind of cutesy, at least.

I need to look at the area and see what the style's like, so I can try to get a handle on how exactly I'm dressing up my shops (I finally installed my floor in La Reina last night, but I'm sure whether I'm going to bring that vévé over or not. I chose it specifically for that location, I think she'd like the pink beaches. And, I've sort of been plotting building a French Quarter dollhouse on the roof and seeing if G. would mind if I replaced the shop with it. Not that I've had the time to get started yet [way too much happening way too fast! Before this even! I want to do some of the Halloween fun, but I also have this huge ass commission I need to finish, decorating and outfitting the shop in La Reina, and of course I get the "ZOMG MUST MAKE" bug biting me every so often. Sending things off to bloggers to be reviewed takes time- of course, it's the bucket, so I'm kind of antsy that most of them haven't said head or tails about it yet since it will be going away in a couple of weeks, and wouldn't be surprised if they ignore me entirely anyway since it isn't fashion-fashion. Got to say, it's been a bit disheartening as well as a pain in the ass hunting down the people to submit things to and the format they each want, and I'm seriously considering not even trying for anything ever again. I'm sure it gets easier once you've done it a few times, but starting up? Gah. On the bright side, getting in to Le Cadre' is a massive ego boost, so I don't feel quite so "I'm not good enough for them, they're ignoring me"]).

And I HAVE to get the ad together of the thing I just made yesterday and the day before now. I want to add another piece (thank you insomnia?) but I think I'll release the bits I've got now as one set, and have it be an extra, like the long eyeball necklace and the arachnophobia tiara. With that much space...I need to take picture of way more stuff I've already got made up. The crown earrings will be going in La Reina, at least, as well as the matching crown, and if I do end up expanding like this I may start offering different things in different locations more...

Touch my bucket!

So, I've been working on this treat bucket forever. Numerous hurdles presented themselves, which eventually led to me doing it the easy way and bypassing all of the hurdles entirely, so it should have been done weeks ago- it was making the hard way work that took so long.



(That's the eyeball bracelet from My Mother's Eyes- I've been wearing lots of the pieces of it recently often.)

Come to La Reina, and buy the great big coffin gift box for $0, for a bucket of your very own.

(For personal reference: ATTACHMENTS CANNOT GIVE OUT NO COPY ITEMS! Even if they are transfer. It won't do it. It refuses to take them out of the inventory and give them out, as expected. So in the future, ignore all thoughts of "I could make it like a trading card game" and "this would help keep inventory clutter down" because it ain't gonna let you. Remember this for the next time you do something like this. Please. It will save you weeks and weeks of headaches.)

Mostly for my reference so I don't forget, because I didn't actually document this code (yeah, I know. Bad girl), functionality: on touch, the bucket hands out one of the (many) items it contains, which are some sort of candy (some of which is not friendly candy) or costume items. Everything is meant to be worn. Also, upon addressing the bucket in chat channel 13 it will: hold out the bucket and say "Trick or Treat!" both audibly and in chat (/13 tot, /13 trick, /13 treat, /13 trick or treat); extinguish the lights (/13 dark); light up (/13 light). Included is a very rudimentary AO which holds the arm straight when holding the bucket, and holds it tucked up when sitting. And, crap, I think the AO overrides the holding the bucket out. I'll have to figure out a workaround for that...at least it isn't horrible breakage, and most people won't notice it- but it will irk me if I don't fix it.

Today, I ironed out (what I thought were) the last kinks (caused by over engineering expecting it to work the other way until I got an unsuspecting other-than-me person to help test it), and started distributing it. First, G. got one, and I tested hers out just in case to make sure it all was working. Once I knew I had a working copy, I knew I could load up the coffin that I was very happy that no one had noticed and gotten a copy out of while it was broken overnight.

G's a bad influence on me, by the way. I spent most of the day in a new _pink_ mohawk.



G. started inviting people to the shop (while I was...a very scary drag queen on the roof fitting something for a guy shape), and I came down to say hi instead of just being a disembodied voice once I'd gotten that done with. I sent out a group notice, since I was finally ready (and I love my bucket, I'm really quite proud of it). I got to meet some really neat new people, including one of the people who joined my group during the Jewelry Exposition (ok, _the_ person, although someone has joined since!) and we talked about Doctor Who for a while, as well as other this and thats.

In return, once everyone left and the place was empty, I checked out her groups, and found Octoberville.

!!!!!!!!

Pure awesomeness. A scavenger hunt around an entire Halloween themed sim (so you have a reason to actually get your hands dirty and explore), which 100 random things you have to find. The downside is that it is quite popular, so the lag can be somewhat brutal. But it is something I highly recommend. Although I still haven't figured out how to get past the first room of the haunted house!



(The horns I'm wearing while roasting marshmallows there? They're in the bucket.)

New Shop!

I've set up a new shop in La Reina- currently both my shop and the sim itself are in the process of being built, but I've got a start of it with things from the Jewelry Exposition.

I'm really excited! And I've started putting pumpkins and jack o'lanterns all over for Halloween.

Freebies: Pirate Hat, Helios

Incentive to join the Schadenfreude Enterprises group: I've released my first work-free freebie (since you have to find Helios, and really I have already been slowly distributing this to people for a while). A sculpted tricorne hat. I'm freebieing it because while it is still not too bad, it isn't perfect. The loss of detail with the JPEG2000 compression irks me horribly, and it was my first sculpty after all, so it was expected it wouldn't be perfect. I'll probably release head scarves for it at some point, but I doubt I'll texture it. However, anyone can request the sculpt map, and they can export it to texture their own (I do ask that you not reup the sculpt map just so you can sell the hat yourself, because that's rather tacky). I rather like my shiny black vinyl pirate hat, but that's because I actually have a shiny black vinyl pirate hat.


Picture taken on board The Black Sparrow in the Blackspot Shipyard on the Isle of Tao, one of the finest ships you might ever have the opportunity to sail upon.

I've been searching for treasure hunt items at the Exposition (and is it a pain! While most follow the in plain sight rule, the boxes are tiny!), and discovered that Helios is being distributed no modify. That was not intended, I must have accidentally given her the wrong permissions. Please contact me to get full mod versions of what you've found. (That goes for everything I've released so far, by the way- so if you've got something that's no mod, please let me know so I can fix it!)

Jewelry Exposition, first weekend

I'm well chuffed, I logged in to SL to find quite a tidy pile of money waiting for me. I'm sure it's quite modest in relation to the more well knowns (or, in fact, the known-at-alls), but it's quite substantially more Lindens than I've ever seen before! I calculate Lindens' worth in uploads, so I consider myself quite flush. I was a touch worried getting everything ready that I wasn't going to sell a blessed thing, and well, I was supposing just the cost of uploading all of the ad textures was getting off easy compared to rent plus that to give it a go in a case where I wouldn't have the built in traffic. Does give me hope I might actually be able to afford a shop though (which isn't to say people haven't been supportive; Max is often encouraging about how well things will sell, but he both shares my tastes a fair bit, and is my friend; and a couple of other people have made "you should sell that" noises when they inquire where I got things, but only a couple and they may just be being polite and all), so I suppose I ought to give some serious thought to where and what sort of rotation to run. Bleh, the responsibility of paying rent consistently is actually the worst bit.

I suppose either way this means quite a nice import cushion. (I suppose I say "I suppose" too much, but you'll get used to that.) I guess I'll just have to spend it building more clothes then! I do have to sort out an AO as well, I just keep waffling on what sort of poses. But standing around with the defaults really is beginning to irk me something fierce.

Booth!

My Jewelry Exposition booth is set up. The Exposition does not start until Saturday, however. I needed to set up early because I have to take a trip out of town. I should be back Sunday, barring new disasters.



Landmark.

Alcmund cross on velvet ribbon

St. Alcmund was a bishop miracle worker, who died in 781. In the eleventh century he appeared to a parishioner, telling him to move his bones, which had been forgotten. His remains were later gathered together with other Hexham saints, and they were all destroyed in 1296 when the region was attacked by Scottish Highlanders.

The Alcmund cross has a single gem in the centre, and is on a velvet ribbon, tied with a bow in the back.




The colour key:



(Hair from Here Comes Trouble)

Fleur de Lys earrings and bracelet

The fleur-de-lys is a stylized iris design, that was especially utilized by French monarchy, although it also featured prominently in heraldry in general as well.

The Fleur de Lys set is a bracelet and ring with the design, and assorted colour changing ability. The earrings have gem drops or pearls, or can be without drops entirely with /49 earring clear. The bracelet has the normal assortment of Cathedral gems and pearls.




The colour key:

Prouille ring

A church in Prouille in France is where the apparition of Mary of Our Lady of the Rosary appeared to Saint Dominic in 1208.

Prouille is a ring, scripted with my regular hand scripts, that features a rose window, of the early Gothic style associated with Our Lady of the Rosary, with a pearl in the centre.




The variation keys:

Irmina necklace and earring set

Saint Irmina was the daughter of Dagobert II, whose betrothed husband died on their wedding day. She became a Benedictine abbess, and died in 716 C.E. at monastery of Weissenburg.

Irmina is a cathedral inspired set, with semi transparent gems and window inset, reminiscent of stained glass. Irmina currently comes in a light version with white pearls, and a dark version with black pearls, which also features more aged silver. Irmina actually features two necklaces, as the links were too prim heavy to be completed around the entire necklace in one attachment. There is a version with a spine and a chest attachment, that features the links for the entire necklace, and a version with just a single attachment that has a simple chain across the back (the links go far enough back that both look identical from the front).

Both versions are scripted to change colours. The gems and glass change, between red, orange, yellow, green, teal, blue, purple, black and white- for instance, type /49 necklace red to turn it red, alternately you can type /49 all red, which will also change other items in the Cathedral set. Telling it to change to clear will set the window open, without the glass, leaving the rest set to its current colours. The earrings do not change colour.




A key for the colour changing is included. And /49 necklace clear will make the window open.

Arachnophobia I necklace, earrings, and ring set

This spidery set is a recreation of something I made with beads and wire. The original is blue, although I plan to make a red version if I ever find good beads for it.

Again, inquire directly for different permissions, separate pieces, other colour versions.

Spinning fuses earrings and necklace

These necklaces and earrings glow, and the elements inside them spin around, giving a somewhat pulsing effect. I will probably only be offering one colour at the Jewelry Exposition (I'm leaning towards the blue), due to prim limits and all, but they are all available directly from me- just IM Allegory Malaprop if you would like some, or to see an in-world demonstration of the movement. Please let me know whether you would prefer modify/transfer/no copy, or modify/copy/no transfer. Separately, earrings and necklaces are L$50 each, or get a necklace and matching earrings for L$80. I shall figure some sort of bulk pricing for you if you are interested in full sets of colours.

Current colour selection: Metal choice of silver or copper, and element choice of blue, green, pink, red, or violet. Custom colours available on request.




(It should perhaps be mentioned that my proclivities towards steampunk tend heavily towards taking the word literally. For instance, I regularly have my hair styled in a green mohawk when visiting Caledon and New Babbage, and my attire, while inspired by the trends, may not always fall within the general accepted rules. Thus, these fulfill my scientific curiousity as well as my occasional tendency to wear things that provide their own light source in dark venues- while I tend more towards the venues in which the majority of people are wearing black except for those who see neons and enormous tie-on hair as a way to buck the trend, these could be considered accessories for your steamraver, a truly horrifying thought.)

Ring boxes

My rings come with a lot of instructions, because while you can just wear them and everything works, you can also make them work better for you particularly by doing a few things of gradually increasing complexity. The getting your hands dirty instructions are included in the rings themselves, because that's where you need to be to do those things. But you can also make it fit better just by editing it the way you normally would, in a particular way. So for that, I figured I should add it on the same level as the ring itself so people who are daunted easily would find it, since it isn't hard. This meant I needed ring boxes!

Now, I largely blame my RL friend E for this. She has a ring box collection, and the two of us ended up finding elephants and penguins and all sorts of adorable little velour boxes this one place (and she walked out with 10, I think it was). Secondly, I blame this great big peach room:

that had been in my sandbox for a couple of days. The back of the peach slid around to close it the door as well. It's gone now, but it was there when I made my first ring box:

which I still don't know what I'm going to use for, and I'm sure I'm going to change the texture (this was just a free thingie I had handy for a placeholder), but not only does it include my script and instructions, it also opens and closes on touch. Because, well, I had to. It isn't particularly of the style of the two sets that I really needed boxes for (I have other rings, but I haven't gotten the full sets together yet, and besides, Helios needed to be sent off), so after some thought, I went with these for Helios and Astraios:

Yes, they do have the rings sitting in the boxes themselves as well. Max made me stop when I started talking about making a pose to be able to hold them as well though, since really, that's the height of silliness. Also, they'd never get done.

Helios and Astraios

The first things I'm actually getting ads and such together with are for the Jewelry Exposition, since I have the impetus for it. I need to get all the little details on the scripting for the rings (they've got a script that makes educated guesses as to your hand position, and moves the ring accordingly, instead of having them just stick out like they tend to otherwise) for Helios done so I can send them off, and I also want to send Miriel the pictures for the webpage.

Helios is what I am going to contribute to the treasure hunt. It's an Art Deco sunburst design, that comes in quite a few pieces. For her, one of the aforementioned scripted rings, a bracelet, broach, hair pin, necklace, and 3 sets of earrings- one set with drops, one set with fairly small studs, and one set that has both as well as some hoops further up the ear for those who prefer to wear multiple earrings. For him, a set of cufflinks, and a more intricate ring
Astraios is a set that is quite similar to Helios, coming in the same variety of pieces (and got the ads done at the same time since they had to be similar). It is a 6 pointed star instead of the sunburst, and in silver and black instead of gold and white. Because I'm not really someone who wears gold (or white), myself. Some day I'm going to have to figure out what to price everything. I really don't know.