I've been raving about this event to friends, but I am now going to rave about it to you... I know that I should have just come here first and caught all the birds with one net - so to speak - but the blogger part of my brain broke and so you will have to excuse the tardiness...
I am very excited over the event called Mingle. You might have heard about it before, as there have been many posts about the event from many different sources, but if you haven't then you should really take note right now hehe...
Mingle is an interactive game, played with a handy HUD, that sees you having to complete random tasks to enable you to move onto the next challenge. It's all in one easy to navigate location and you don't need to worry about going in alone either - I did - there are lots of people completing the tasks themselves and I found people were willing to help you if you helped them! In this case the event really sticks to it's name... Mingling to get the challenges done is part of the fun and you could be lucky like me and walk away with a new friend!
The outfit I am wearing was the one that I wore whilst working through the challenges, but I had to go back later once I had completed the event to take a reminder picture of the fun I had, and share a couple of my favourite prizes too! There were so many prizes, some of them I simply adore, by some of my favourite SL designers... MishMish is there, Intrigue Co, Schadenfreude and Half Deer too, as well as !Ohmai - which can be seen in the photo. These things are all going to be exclusive to the event, and the only way you can get your hands on them is by completing the tasks! The bears from !Ohmai were one of the things that caught my attention most, I mean how can you not love that little teddy face? Though OK I admit, I also got very excited about the Battlefield Earrings from Auxiliary - of which I only wore one, how daring of me LOL - and although it isn't something you have to wait until the end to receive - because it is part of one of the challenges - I couldn't resist this beautiful bouquet from [PILOT].
Note to HellBone here... Valentines day, one like this please?
I should mention my outfit details too, because well I do love this look hehe... The hair was a very early Valentines Day present from a good friend, who saw it and thought of me LOL - Magika hair with a large bow, cute kitty ears and a pony tail LOL... Does sound like something I'd wear! Two necklaces for good measure today, as I felt that one wasn't enough LOL! A locked heavy choker from FAUX and a cute, watch that is very much in keeping with the Valentine's feel from Maxi Gossamer fit the bill of what was needed! OH and not to forget my rings... I loved the new set from Cute Poison, but for some reason the Bad Bitch vibe wasn't working for me - as everyone knows I am a good girl - so I dug around and suddenly remembered my Famous Rings from Remarkable Oblivion... Famous Bitch! That sound's a bit more like it hehe! My outfit is one that I pulled from my hoard hehe... Direct from SAKIDE it looks like a naughty, revved up cross over between a school girl and a biker chick - or maybe that was just the way I wore it LOL!
What is she wearing;
Hair: Magika - Meow
Skin: Glam Affair - Candy Skin in America 09 (Past Arcade Item)
Face Wounds: (Right Eye) Corvus - Scarred Face Tattoo, (Left Cheek) Corvus - Cheek Scars, AND (Right Cheek) Little Pricks - Stapled Face Tattoo
Piercings: Cute Poison - Hush Piercings in Black (Past Project Limited)
Earring: Auxiliary - Battlefield Earrings in Love (Available now ONLY at Mingle)
Choker: FAUX - Pop Lock & Drop Necklace in Gun Metal
Necklace: Maxi Gossamer - Patience Heart Watch in Silver
Outfit: SAKIDE - Dating Outfit in Black
Rings: (Left) Remarkable Oblivion - Famous Ring in Silver, AND, (Right) Cute Poison - Bitch Ring in Silver (Available now at The Big Show)
Pose: PRETENSE - Styptic Pose 4
Teddy Bear: !Ohmai - Beary Lurvin (Available now ONLY at Mingle)
Flowers: [PILOT] - Mingle Mixed Bouquet (Available now ONLY at Mingle)
You might have seen what I am about to show you EVERYWHERE in the last few days, but I will admit that I had to jump straight into the 'OHMYGAHSOFREAKINCUTE' brigade and share these adorable little critters with you.
Though I will admit, this post scares me a little LOL... The items I have to share today, the reasons for the post at any rate, are due to the collaborative minds of MishMish and !Ohmai... I've been blogging for MishMish for a while now, and I still love Aime's stuff, love love love it! The thing that scares me is the !Ohmai connection hehe... I've been addicted to this brand since I first saw the Pygmy Puffs... Now being sent something that Anya has created, in league with another of my irresistible stuff stores creators... *has a rather badly hidden fan girl moment!*
*breathes again* OK OK enough squeaking hehe...
The things I am talking about are, of course, the Supernova Collection, found in the background behind me. Collabor88 this month is all about the space age - I haven't been able to get in there yet, but when I do those Intrigue Co. lava lamps are also mine hehe - and so Aime Takaai set about creating her own little worlds in the form of three adorable little planets, whilst Anya Ohmai added her own flair to the spacemen that explored these planets.
I dressed myself to be a little alien to match - not too much because I have a massive problem with aliens - but like a little lost traveller being collected by the Piggy Spacemen!!!
Starting with my starry dress, or the Nebula Dress from KOSH, this is an older dress in my closet but I love the subtle starryness. The Moon and the Stars for you Necklace from Maxi Gossamer, also added to that outer space feeling without being too obvious. I did however, go to town on the crazy head accessories hehe...The head pet is from Laundanum Lollipops and is a Rare prize in a gacha machine, I then added the head jewel called Malkavian Dreams to give me that third eye look, which is available now at The Surreal Complex from Distorted Dreams. Then added some cute little Sprout Ears from an old gacha by Kre-ations.
The rings should also get mention here, even though they do not entirely fit with the theme of the photo... The adorable Bad Bitch Ring Set - I am only wearing the Bitch but the other says Bad - is available from Cute Posion for The Boobies and Ass Show event called The Big Show!
What is she wearing;
Head Pet: Laudanum Lollipops - Squidgey Theletek in Rare
Hair Accessory: Distorted Dreams - Malkavian Dreams Jewelry Set (Available now at The Surreal Complex)
Hair: Wasabi Pills - Maya Mesh Hair in Crystal Pink (Past FLF Item)
Ears: Kre-ations (Now Cubic Cherry Kre-ations) - Sprout Gacha Ears in Little Star
Skin: Glam Affair - Candy Skin in America 09 (Past Arcade Item)
Face Wounds: (Right Eye) Corvus - Scarred Face Tattoo, (Left Cheek) Corvus - Cheek Scars, AND (Right Cheek) Little Pricks - Stapled Face Tattoo
Piercings: Cute Poison - Hush Piercings in Black (Past Project Limited)
Tongue: Zombie Suicide - Forked Tongue (Past Hunt Prize)
Necklace: Maxi Gossamer - The Moon and Stars For You
Rings: (Right) Remarkable Oblivion - Famous Ring in Silver, AND, (Left) Cute Poison - Bitch Ring in Silver (Available now at The Big Show)
Dress: KOSH - Nebula Dress
Pose: Status - Mourn Pose 5 (No Longer Available!)
Piggy, Planets & Curtain: MishMish & !Ohmai - Supernova (Available now at Collabor88)
One of the things I love most about the Monday Memes - hosted by Miss Strawberry Singh - is that they not only give me a chance to keep my blogger mojo in working order, in that I have to blog at least once a week on a Monday, but they also at times give me a chance to challenge myself.
This week's Meme should not seem that much of a challenge, but it is something that I have never felt very confident with.
The theme of this week is Black and White Portraits.
Now when I say that this feels like a challenge for me personally, I bet people might be scratching their heads thinking HUH? Though for me there is something about a Black and White Image that seems harder to conquer than a colour image. I don't know how to put my finger on it really, but it's like a rawness, a laying bare of yourself while shadows pick out all of your flaws. I was shy about being in the photo alone, for some stranger reason, until that is a little blue friend came to save the day hehe...
I am not sure if I prefer the colour or the black and white version of this photo, so I will leave it open to discussion... But thank you Berry for once again helping me to push my boundaries hehe...
What is she wearing;
Ears: Noodles - Experiment 626 Ears in Original
Hair: Wasabi Pills - Jade Mesh Hair in Crystal Pink
Skin: Glam Affair - Candy Skin in America 09 (Past Arcade Item)
Face Wounds: (Right Eye) Corvus - Scarred Face Tattoo, (Left Cheek) Corvus - Cheek Scars, AND (Right Cheek) Little Pricks - Stapled Face Tattoo
Piercings: Cute Poison - Hush Piercings in Black (Past Project Limited)
Necklace & Ring: Maxi Gossamer - Royal Khadijah Estate (Past Collabor88 Item)
Bracelet: SiniStyle Strap Bracelets (No Longer Available!)
Top: R3volt - LeBlanc Top
Stitch: Mesh Mafia - Back Stitch
Pose: Starry Heaven - Airi Pose 1
Everywhere you look in SL you are surrounded by dreams and the imaginings of other people. The full sims, to the smallest builds are all the dreams and art of those who create them. Some are filled with fairytale romance, others are dark and twisted, and there are a myriad of different things in between... But each of these is a little work of art in it's own way.
For me personally, this is one of my favourite things about SL, I love seeing each little artwork brought to life - everyone's avatar, all of the creations and all of the sims make SL one of the most interesting virtual realities in my opinion. So when I heard about an event based on art, dreams and fairytales I knew I wouldn't be able to steer clear, and as of last night I am willing to tell anyone who will listen that the setting for The Surreal Complex is well worth a look, even if you aren't in a shopping mood!
The fact that I stumbled upon this event, is all due to Miss Nimil Blackflag - owner of SongBird, who sent me a set of her items for the event. The Seer's Eyes, can be picked up in the dreams section of the event, and come in a set of mesh eyes for the head and the hands and are available in four different gorgeous colours. The colours are one of the things I love most about these eyes... They are like gemstones in their brightness, and well you know me, I love to play around with things that are a little different... Hands in the eyes is definitely a little different hehe... Of course that lead to the entire look being a little different LOL...
I was sent the hunt prize item from ImmateriA for the new Tainted Love Hunt too, and decided that I wanted to feature part of that with this look... the hunt prize has both male and female prizes but it was the props from these prizes that I randomly decided to include. The cage comes from the female - or Jarinda - prize and the male - or Joringel - prize of the feathers... I didn't know before though but the story of Jarinda and Joringel is a Grimm fairytale about a witch who turns maidens into birds... It is very pretty and Naenia Demina - ImmateriA's owner - has really pulled the story into her prize items well...
I then went to town on decorating myself lol... I wanted a sexy looking outfit, hence my outfit being made up of a pale pink lace bra - from SAKIDE as part of the Vintage Glam outfit - and a simple but striking necklace that could be used as a warning from Cute Poison. It was the make-up and body parts that I went to town on however... First and possibly most obvious would have to be the amazing Moth Antennae from Lovely Alien. These are worth raving about! They come in two very slightly different styles and the most amazing part... THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY FREE! I then teamed the moth thing with some brilliant glow in the dark teeth from Gauze called Nightmare. I believe these were released at last years Horror Fest, I cannot remember now but my goodness there is so much you can do with them, they can be coloured into any different combination you want! Lastly I started to apply the make-up... The War Paint came first - unfortunately this particular paint is no longer available as the creator has moved on and started working on other things, but then I re-discovered the eye-shadow and eyelashes called Ankoku from [ni.ju]... They were just perfect for finishing off my somewhat mothy look hehe...
What is she wearing;
Antenna: Lovely Alien - Moth Antennae (Freebie on the Marketplace)
Hair: Wasabi Pills - Jade in Crystal Pink
Skin: Glam Affair - Candy Skin in America 09 (Past Arcade Item)
Eyes: SongBird - Seer's Eyes (Available now at The Surreal Complex)
Make-Up: (Gray Eyeshadow & Eyelashes) [ni.ju] - Ankoku, AND, (White Body Paint) YaYo - War Paint (No Longer Available!)
Mouth: [Gauze] - Nightmare
Necklace: Cute Poison - Poison Necklace in Silver (Available Now at Suicide Dollz)
Bra: SAKIDE - Vintage Glam in Pink
Feathers & Cage: ImmateriA - Jarinda and Joringel (Part of the Tainted Love Hunt)
Pose: HelaMiyo - Look in the Sky Pose 5
I have, and will always be, one of those people that LOVES fairytales. Be they in their original form or in some modern representation such as some of the new re-tellings of the stories... Hell and I are addicted to a TV series called Grimm for example... But one of the most fairytale filled events to hit the grid is now back within it's second outing, and I was really excited to share some of the details about Sl's new Enchantment...
As you can see it is based on the fairytale that is Red Riding Hood, shot in a Rudhish style of course... There are so many awesome designers, providing us with many awesome things of course, but a few things caught my eye more than others... The problem with this event for me though was it pulled me right out of my comfort zone. I have never felt comfortable asking people to be given things to blog, but this time I sucked up my shyness and spoke to some people...
I fell in love with the wolf pose from Captivity Co... All of their poses are awesome but this one just screamed of a modern Red Riding Rudh style look... A Rudh that has been able to befriend the wolf rather than being scared off by it. Captivity Co isn't a new place by any means, but to me it is somewhere I haven't really looked at much before - ashamed as I am to admit it - but the poses that come out of the store are creative and well made... I highly recommend them...
We packed ourselves a picnic basket - and a little friend from MishMish came along for a ride - and we made ourselves a little picnic spot by hanging my red cape from a tree - the chair and the tree by the way come from Kalopsia...
But Rudh Riding Hood's look is far from traditional, in fact the dress I am wearing is an old prize from SAKIDE that was available during last Halloween's System Failure. I teamed the dress with some messy but pretty red hair from Analog Dog, called Wound Up, and then finished the look with a gorgeous necklace from AZE Designs. The Necklace is the Baneful Wolf's Eye Necklace and it comes in bloody or clean versions, you can't see it very clearly on the photo above but it will be bigger if you look at the picture on my Flickr stream...
I just love the fairytale theme of this event, and to the new designers I have met, thank you so much for letting me have the opportunity to blog for you...I cannot wait till the next fairytale now!!!
What is she wearing;
Hair: Analog Dog - Wound Up Hair in Dark Reds
Skin: Glam Affair - Candy Skin in America 09 (Past Arcade Item)
Face Wounds: (Right Eye) Corvus - Scarred Face Tattoo, (Left Cheek) Corvus - Cheek Scars, AND (Right Cheek) Little Pricks - Stapled Face Tattoo
Piercings: (Under Eye) Cute Poison - Tsukimi Piercings, AND, (Lips) Cute Poison - Hush Piercings in Black (Past Project Limited)
Dress: SAKIDE - Sightless Nurse Outfit
Necklace: AZE Designs - Baneful Wolf's Eye Necklace in Bloody (Available now at Enchantment)
Bracelet: Death Row Designs - Chrono Fangs Bracelet in Steam
Tights: Izzie's - Patterned Tights II in Torn
Boots: [sYs] - DOOM in Red Spyker
Wolf: [Captivity. Co] - My Wolf (Available now at Enchantment)
Chair: Kalopsia - Red Riding Hood Chair (Available now at Enchantment)
Tree: Kalopsia - Hanging Tree (Available now at Enchantment)
Basket: MishMish - Mouse on a Basket in Light Tea (Available now at Enchantment)
She ran into the diner and shouted "Gimme all your pie, or I'll shoot!"
Brandishing the biggest bazooka gun that she could lift, the cartoon character of a woman draped in an outfit that would make even Ronald McDonald jealous, stood in the doorway to the retro restaurant letting her eyes grow accustomed to the inside space.
"Bugger" she thought, "There's no one here!" After a brief moment, when a somewhat downhearted look passed over her face, she moved to rest her toy gun against the wall... It was heavy and actually it was kinda hot due to the fact it was fully loaded with fresh hamburgers - her ammunition of choice for the day...
With the briefest of looks to check there truly was no one around, the woman bounced over the counter and reached for the maple pecan pie... Realising there were no forks available, she went for the caveman approach and shovelled it in... Before snatching up her weapon and disappearing into the night.
All that remained for the diner owner to find the next morning, were the faint lingering smell of hamburgers - though that wasn't unfamiliar in the diner, and the empty plate with a note saying "Next time I want Cheesecake!" with a name scrawled beneath that read The Fastfood Bandit!
The look that I pulled together for this was random I know but I had things in my inventory that had been collecting dust and I thought they needed to get out into the light of day. I found the location by chance but if you haven't heard about this place you might want to check it out. The diner is located at Gachatopia - a place where people can rent stores just to resell their gacha items... I think this is a bloody brilliant idea... I might have to think about trying to rent one myself?! Who knows... But if you have a need of something to make up a set, then wander around here, you never know what you will stumble across!
The outfit started in my head as a pair of tights, the Good Gravy and Fries tights from Sugar Heart, and the PizzaBoots from Rachel Breaker, but in my mind I knew I couldn't stop there... Sometimes I get caught up in an idea too much hehe... I went all out fast food, starting with the dress - which sadly is no longer available, and then accessorising with a headband and hat both from yumyums, an eye patch from Blah and some jewellery that is no longer available too... That's one of the things I love about having a journal blog, I can dig deep and still share things that might not be brand new.
The last thing that the Fast Food Bandit needed was her special weapon... This Bazooka was a past release at The Arcade from Tee*fy, and although the Burgzooka is perfect for robbing the diner, I had a really hard time choosing the weapon I wanted LOL...
What is she wearing;
Hats: (Ice Cream) yumyums - Scoop Me Up Headband in Pink Fury, AND, (Cupcake) yumyums - Mad Cupcake Hats in Curious Alice RARE
Hair: Ploom - 5 More Minutes
Eye Patch: Blah - My Cupcake Patch in Unicorn Jelly
Skin: Glam Affair - Candy Skin in America 09 (Past Arcade Item)
Face Wounds: (Right Eye) Corvus - Scarred Face Tattoo, (Left Cheek) Corvus - Cheek Scars, AND (Right Cheek) Little Pricks - Stapled Face Tattoo
Piercings: (Under Eye) Cute Poison - Tsukimi Piercings, AND, (Lips) Cute Poison - Hush Piercings in Black (Past Project Limited)
Necklace: Canimal - Eat Donuts!! (No Longer Available!)
Bazooka: Tee*fy - Burgzooka (Past Arcade Item)
Dress: Sanu - OmNom Dress (No Longer Available!)
Bracelet: [ATOMIC] - i <3 Sushi (No Longer Available!)
Tights: {Sugar Heart} - Junk Food Tights in Good Gravy! & Fries RARE (Past Arcade Item)
Shoes: Rachel Breaker - PizzaBoot in Pizza
I got very lucky when it comes to Berry's Meme this week... Her Meme is based around her fake honeymoon with her rather handsome fake hubby, but the key theme is actually an interview with questions from someone else to her... We needed to have a photo with someone else, or at least that was what I felt I needed when I saw the instructions, and so I go back to being very lucky because I had the perfect picture in mind...
This is my friend Dyson. I would consider this awesome, funny, caring, friendly guy to be one of my besties - someone I talk to on a daily basis and feel a void if I don't get to speak to him... Hehe soppy shit I know but you know how it is with some people, there aren't many I would say things like this for, but Dice is one of those!
So when I saw that Berry was asking us to be interviewed by someone, I knew I had the prime opportunity to share this awesome photo of us... He willingly gave me a few questions, some of which seem kinda hard, but it's time for some answers so here goes nothing...
Dyson: How did you get started in SL? I was originally playing another on-line community game, a little like SL only less realistic I suppose, called Furcadia. I wasn't keen at first but I was dragged into that game by a boyfriend at the time and became part of a little social circle. One of the guys discovered SL after looking for a place that was more advanced and gave him more freedom to be able to create things. We all got pulled into the SLuniverse with him and that is how Rudhmellowen as you know her now came to be hehe...
Dyson: How did you get started blogging? I always used to say "No, No way!" when people said would I ever blog. The people I knew with them at the time were using them as a way of bitching about people, and that wasn't for me. Though I guess it tickled my imagination and I began looking into other blogs, I loved the ones in which people shared their SL experiences without being cruel to others, and I began to realise that chronicling my SL in a blog would be like keeping a journal - something I could look back on and remember the time I'd spent playing with an on-line Barbie doll lol... So I held my nose, took a breath and dived in head first - on September 11th 2010 - letting myself get addicted ever since hehe...
Dyson: What's the origin of your name? That's another long winded story, but basically when I was younger - and still today in fact - I was very heavily into all things Tolkein. I wanted something that would stand out in a crowd and so I worked out a name for myself that could possibly be found in a Tolkein imagined, Elvish household.
Dyson: What's the genre or style that inspires you most? God that's a hard question because you know me, I like to be fairly eclectic. Though I guess I tend to veer more towards Gothic than mainstream. I usually tell people I am a zombie too, and then again very occasionally my rainbow Kawaii side springs to life... I am so complicated hehe... I guess I will say that I am most inspired by the Gothic/horror style.
Dyson: Where's your favourite place to take pictures? I know it will sound boring, but I think one of my favourite places to take pictures tends to be the family swamp. I love the natural feeling, but I will admit that the ability to rez props and the like here is also something that wins big brownie points. I LOVE to explore and take pictures in new places but the majority of my photography seems to be done at home.
Dyson: What's your favourite store? That's another tough one. I love places like MishMish and Intrigue Co because of the sheer adorableness of stuff that they create. I love Magika, Wasabi Pills and Ploom for hair, KOSH, Cute Poison and Maxi Gossamer for jewellery and well I wear a good deal of SAKIDE clothing... The problem with choosing my favourite clothing store is that I tend to just buy things that I like when I see them and will buy from all kinds of different stores, so I could never say just one, more like just one that I like a lot right now hehe!
Dyson: What's your biggest fashion. . .What's that word. . Faux Pas? Hmmm well now that I think about it, I tend not to fit in with the crowd of people that I seem to be around a vast majority of the time... I'm always reminding myself of New Years Eve when suddenly a large number - possibly about 20 or 30 people - from our friendly allied MCs appeared at the swamp. They were all dressed in what I could call biker uniform of black leather and denim and there was I dressed like a bright blue mermaid of land style look... I really felt uncomfortable for a while, because I didn't fit the biker norm... Now I look back on it and think 'If ya don't like it then it's your problem not mine and I am not changing for anyone!'
Dyson: What is your favourite personally created piece of art? Or which piece are you most proud of? Well another hard one, thanks Dice LOL... I have to say that looking through my Flickr collection there are a few that seem to jump out at me as special, although I do love them all!
* The first was one of the ones I created for the colour challenge during it's second outing. It was the first time I'd done any major photoshop tweaking... I called it a "Divine Gold Water Sprite".
* Another was made as a celebration of the 52 Weeks of Colour Challenge coming to a final stop. A bunch of the regulars - myself included - got together to create a special photo as a means of Thank You to the challenge founder, Luna Jubilee... Check the photo "Panties for Luna".
* Lastly in this picture collection I love this photo of the Lyrica Gallery that I took. Normally I don't take photos of places, let alone share them on Flickr, but this time was different because I was asked to show my photos at the gallery. I almost fainted when I was asked, was the most other worldly experience, but I guess it is one I am proud of... I had to get a photo of my work up, in the "Rudh at a Gallery" shot.
Dyson: What non-visuals give you inspiration? I get VERY inspired by music and my finished photos will always reflect that. Anything that gets me singing and dancing will always get a slightly more vibrant picture out of me, but recently one of the songs that I put on to drag something good out of me is the version of "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone.
What are they wearing;
Rudh:
Hair: Magika - Such
Skin: Glam Affair - Candy Skin in America 09 (Past Arcade Item)
Face Wounds: (Right Eye) Corvus - Scarred Face Tattoo, (Left Cheek) Corvus - Cheek Scars, AND (Right Cheek) Little Pricks - Stapled Face Tattoo
Piercings: (Under Eye) Cute Poison - Tsukimi Piercings, AND, (Lips) Cute Poison - Hush Piercings in Black (Past Project Limited Item)
Necklace: KOSH - Studeni Necklace in Ebony
Top: DeeTaleZ - Hot Vintage Top in Black
Shorts: SAKIDE - Insouciant Shorts in Blue
Dyson:
Hair: KMadd - Raven in Club Black
Skin: Aeros - Miles Skin in Irish Creme smooth
Ears: RealEvil Industries - Rebel Ears & Piercings in Mammoth
Tattoo: Para Designs - Rockabilly
Face Piercing: Hebenon Vial - Against The Stream in Frost
Wings: Sensations - Devil Wings
Pants: Lepointe & Bastchild - S'Wear Bootcut Jeans
Pose: SparrowTree Studios - Head Games
