Excited!!!

 

I've been curious about S/L clothes-making for some time, each time I looked at it, layers in Gimp or Photoshop seemed an insurmountable hurdle - I just couldn't get the concept.
At the weekend I had a chance chat with Cissy (ie we started talking about something else!) who said "It's simple, you just...." - well, suddenly the way she explained it, it made sense and the clouds parted.
Apart from a genuine curiosity I wanted to make something for Bramble that I knew I'd be unable to buy.
His football team is NOT one of the ones you see things for all over the place and I wanted to make him a shirt and wanted him to have it in good time for their very big match this coming Sunday.
Definitely woman-on-a-mission!
New projects take you new places and although Cissy's advice really helped me get the hang of the texture stages, I'd failed to realise I'd need a prim collar. Doh! I hadn't a clue where to get one or even what to put in a search! Thanks Shauna for chatting through that one.
The finished product was presented last night, I know it's far from perfect but it got a great reception and that, and the sense of personal achievement, gave me a huge buzz.

Building..

Our Castle has a Skybox. 
Given the prims involved with the tree-castle itself (600+) we really should be on a bigger plot so prims are tight and I am constantly on the lookout for ways to save them. 
The original skybox is a 3-prim one based on a hollowed-out, maxed-out cube but barely gives room to swing a pixel-cat, let alone get a camera in to see yourself do it without a lot of juggling.
Since making the previous one, I have learned a lot more about using coordinates in building - not just doing it by sight as I was before. 
Time for my 1st experiment with mega-prims. I'm not good with understanding sizes on S/L being primarily a visual person, I knew I wanted it big, much bigger without prim-cost but used the 40, 40 ones and we may well rattle around a bit until we get used to it.
Maybe it's my laptop but they seem to take a while to rez, 1st experiment was on our beach and nothing seemed to be happening. I had to log. I came back to find they had rezzed but in the Castle, or rather in most cases, the Castle was in the mega-prim (there are good reasons to build in sandboxes - NOT dropping huge bricks on your partner being one of them!)
I had been toying with the idea of a pool for some time too and thought i could put one one the roof so did that too. I could have saved prims here by sculpting but wanted to texture faces differently so needed to stick to what I knew how to do.
I played with a bought tile texture to create a new one using it as a border, I love mosaics and found a Roman one that had a central motif that I aligned to form the floor of the pool.
I really must label or otherwise log the textures I use on things! I waste a lot of time hunting for things. 

So far, Skybox and pool, 9 prims.
A few tweaks left to do, I want to check location and need to find some nice pool poses.

 

Christmas....

The tree has gone up in the castle window and the shops are full of Christmassy bits and pieces.

Last year I was given a Christmas card by a good friend, it was pretty special and, to me, completely magical. For one thing it was an actual card that stood, had a personalised greeting but it also did things when touched. For me, then, these were skills that belonged to another world.

Since then I have learned a lot both about build skills in-world and image manipulation on my computer.  I am still nowhere near that league (and so hope to receive another this year) but am now able to give it a shot. 
 

Busy week...

Real life has taken over this week and the times I have logged on I have often been afk (asleep at keyboard) - frustrating!!

Last Sunday  I was flicking through images on my laptop and came across some carved wood that I thought I would like to see in-world. I decided it was time to look at sculpts. I'm not much good at abstract study but when it is purpose-driven, I learn much better - I had my project in mind and off I went to a sandbox, demo version in hand!

I had done a run-through before with this system but without a "make" buzzing in my head it hadn't sunk in with the same grip. I fiddled around, getting places in my own clumsy way, making LOADS of silly mistakes (a far better teacher than quick success) and eventually had something. By this time it was 4 hours later and I had acquired a helper, well yes he was chatting me up but his advice certainly was helpful.

It is often the case in life that what you set out to achieve in life is not quite the same as the thing you want after you have trod the path to get there and this was a case in point. I produced my sculpted object because I need to see things through, although the purist elegance of the single prim still appealed, I realised then that I would get closer to what I wanted using 2 prims and more basic methods. 

Whereas this would not have satisfied me 4 hours earlier, I was now making a decision based on knowledge and the judgement that comes with it, not just because it was all I knew how to do.

Anyway, this is the 2 prim, non-sculpted version.....
  

I am aware of it's imperfections but the item that yielded the textures is something I use in real life everyday, I prepared the textures myself and as such it brings me pleasure to have in my home. 

Marketday

If you've read this before, you'll know that my experience of making stuff is pretty limited - in fact I think you've seen it all! But I'm gradually growing in confidence in my small corner of limited knowledge. 
I am still in awe of skilled builders and script manipulators on here but realise that I learn best when I am being driven by a particular task in mind.
I have friends on here that are skilled builders and I have seen their businesses grow.

My friend Perryn is one of those clever people that crop up in different places in Second Life, you might recognise him from the Steam Hunts and more recently the Silk Road Hunt which is currently running. 
It is from these groups that Perryn sent a notice out inviting sellers to offer an item for 25L - I have never sold anything but have decided to give this a go and will be setting up my pitch on Saturday. The cost of the pitch is only 25L so this is a great way for people like me to get their feet wet and I am setting out my 2 Roman Pavements.

 This is so much NOT my area of expertise that I spent some time last night fiddling with properties for each iten to make them buyable.

Well......we shall see.......

Marketday 

Before this.......

I've blogged before but decided a while back to give a Second Life blog a try.
It is mainly a picture blog and can be found herehttp://bletaverse.com/u/lacewing-mesmeriser

I now want to do more with it but want a sense of continuity to what has gone before, so here are some extracts

Saturday, 11 Sep 2010

My Morning's Work

Well maybe more than a morning.

The Roman Pavement was assembled offline from 137 tiles so that i could

make a 1 prim item.

I'm looking forward to dancing there in the sunset.

Thursday, 26 Aug 2010

  

The way forward...

Brave new steps into land and stuff like that.

A castle in a tree.

Magical

Sunday, 22 Aug 2010

On life being too short to stuff a mushroom (see footnote)

Changes.

I resigned my post as Physician 2 days ago. I haven't hung up my Gorean dresses yet but am taking some time out. It feels right.

You could say the irresistible force met the immovable object, not normally one to shrug and walk away, I decided on this occasion that life simply is too short and am on a break.

I do hope no one is reading this trying to divine my intentions – if so don't bother because I don't know them myself yet!

I am re-evaluating, re-discovering, looking forward.

How do I feel about old haunts?

Do I want the thrill of new challenges?

Do I want to buy land?

Can I resist the ultimate little girl's fantasy?

Creativity flows again. The woman who hated writing now has a dozen poems tucked away – life is strange, I thought by now I knew me and then my me-ness changes.

Bramble continues to be my constant, my rock, my treasure and my love.

You can know that you have something wonderful but when one of you feels under pressure, true mettle shows.

I hope I can be for him, everything he has been for me, should he ever need it.

Footnote

In 1975, the English writer Shirley Conran published the book Superwoman, aimed at busy women, and coined the phrase Life is too short to stuff a mushroom

Sunday 13^th June

Time to reflect

I see I have had this thing running for almost 5 months - amazing how time flies.

When I started this I was still dealing with the events of the year before, still fiercely independent.

I left my home and took the Linden shilling when my landlady went AWOL for 3 months and I realised how fragile the whole renting thing is.

I got more involved in Gorean roleplay and became an apprentice Physician, made some good friends in a small village.

The thread through all this is Bramble, always there, constant.

We became partners on 11th May and Free Companions in Gor where we share a home on 11th June.

Some mock me for citing dates - well, it's who I am and what I do.

We have an unusual bond but it works for us and that's all that matters.

Friday, 11 Jun 2010

Free Companions

Farnacium

Dress from the wonderful "Curious Seamstress"

Greenwood Designs, Blisswood - Home of Curious Seamstress & GWD http://slurl.com/secondlife/Northern%20Lights/68/203/25

Sunday, 25 Apr 2010

Farnacium

The house on sim.....1st day with furniture.

Sunday, 17 Jan 2010

My baby!

My 1st build project, my pride and joy, my baby......ok ok it's a gallery!