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come on down to Stokame Woods for our anti-valentine celebration! There are some fun gifts to hunt for and DJ Summer Deadlight will be playing some tunes.

Presented by Second Look Studio, Cupid Confidential and Bittersweet

limo: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Candela%20Este/130/112/25

I dropped in to see the new Zaara sim today and as a photographer immediately thought “ohhhh lots of great textures around here for shooting against” and started to explore. I came upon the shrine to Ganesha, took my shoes off as it asks at the entrace (there are a pile of shoes here including a pair complete with feet… it’s very funny) and stepped inside.

It’s been a while, but I used to have a very strong hatha yoga practice (that’s the physical part) and also used to meet with a group once a week to chant and talk about spirituality, and during that time, Ganesha represented the part of me that I’d call upon when facing a challenge. Ganesha is the remover of obstacles, the Lord of beginnings. As I stood considering the large statue a chant started playing over and over in my mind…

om gam ganapataye namaha

rough translation… “yeah ganesha!” ok that is over-simplifying it but really… deep down, that’s the idea.

You call upon Ganesha with chants and offerings. Ganesha likes sweet things, and while Zaara has left some wonderful fruit, I look at his big belly and I know that really, Ganesha likes candy. I didn’t put any holiday wishes out there at Christmas or new years, so I’m saying it now. I hope you all have a wonderful 2009, I’m leaving a piece of candy on the altar for us.

For the record…

…I am not behind, nor do I know who is behind, the “Worst Crap from SL & Fash Feed” flickr stream. Anyone who knows me knows I speak my mind and do not feel the need to hide behind an anonymous account. lol, If I say you suck, I’ll put my name behind it.

Ok, you know those times when you put something new on and go nuts? This is one of those times. The new Gothic tone of Tuli’s Elizabeth skin still has me oohing and aaaahing over it and i’ve been wearing it all day.

I am so glad that Tuli chose the Elizabeth face for this super light tone; it’s my favorite of her current skins and I wear it in one variation of another almost every day.With Halloween upon on, I can have the look I like best while getting into the holiday spirit! El, who has always loved her skins on the pale end, is loving the softer makeups in this tone and is already planning way more photos than I can possibly shoot.

me:
[]::Tuli::[] Elizabeth (gothic) ~ Nocturne
[Kyoot Army] – Swirly Cyclone Dress – Black (retired, I think)
Little Heaven_hair01_charlotte_black
PixelDolls (LunaViola) Basic Boot: HUD colorable- 18 colors included.

El:
[]::Tuli::[] Elizabeth (gothic) ~ Innocent
[Kyoot Army] – Swirly Cyclone Dress – Dusty Rose (retired, I think)
Little Heaven_hair05_claudia_white
PixelDolls (LunaViola) Basic Boot: HUD colorable- 18 colors included.

For some unknown reason, my parents would not let me be a girl scout. To this day my mother claims that she had no idea I wanted to, and, honestly, I am not sure why I ever wanted to. I am not the “perform a task to be rewarded by a figure of authority in an organization” kind of person. Though, the cookies might have made it worthwhile.

One thing for sure, if girl scouts dressed like this, heh, I may have been more persistent in asking to be part of it!

Worldwide Industries, maker of the infamous lifted tank, was a shop that didn’t really register with me until I was taken by my bf to get the oopsie bikini. That particular bikini comes with an untied version that I keep for the privacy of my own home, but while we were there I took a look around and put the shop on my “gotta come back here later” list. Every item in the shop is sexy as hell, and I knew upon seeing the Girl Scout uniform that it had to be mine.

The uniform comes with lots of options. There is a bikini, 2 tank tops, skirt, a button down top with various award badges and 2 different version of the socks. Nothing reduces my inhibitions about hitting the buy button faster than lots of options.

These shots were taken at the lovely Tempura sim, which has so many great places to shoot, you could grab a dozen shots and have the scene be different for every one.

Worldwide Industries GIRLSCOUT OUTFIT
Cake – Bitten – Chestnut
Maitreya Female Desert Boots – Brown
[]::Tuli::[] Elizabeth (tanned) ~ Electra (br)

When Annyka Bekkers passed over a preview of this sweet, Daisy face-painted version of her Tuesday skin I came to a realization that at first surprised me: there is a serious lack of anything granola-crunching-hippy in my inventory, same goes for El. I had a RL friend over at the time and voiced my surprise out loud and he said “Well, hippies are one thing you are surrounded by every day, I’m not surprised you ignore that style in SL.” You see, in RL, I live in Woodstock, NY, home to (not my photos) guys like grandpa woodstock and shops like Woostock Earth and Modern Mythology (note the boycott CVS sign, it wouldn’t be Woodstock if people weren’t boycotting something). There are drum circles at the Magic Meadow on the full moon and actual moved-here-in-the-60s protesters on the village green holding signs that say “Give Peace a Chance” on the weekends. I am not kidding…for real.

I messaged shopping aficionado Halfpint Pennell and asked for some suggestions. For hair she sent me to Mirai Style, where both El and I picked up wigs that were perfect for this shoot…but not so crunchy to be lost in inventory forever never to be worn again.

Clothing was also an issue as most of my flowy stuff is black or deep red and I needed something more natural. HP sent me to Kurotsubaki and I fell in love with this cropped cardigan. I was oh so tempted to get it in red but brown seemed more appropriate for the laid back hippy chick I was pretending to be. El had been looking for an excuse to pick up some of the separates from Zaara and the Maitri top in copper was just the thing. When hippies aren’t wearing long flowing skirts made of hemp, denim is the standard. The denim skirt from BP and the Promise jeans from Decoy completed our outfits nicely.

…and then, like a 5 year old, El yells, “Look how cool this shirt is when I am upside down, take a pic take a pic!” and it’s a great shot to show off our free sandals from Lassitude & Ennui.

The Daisy skin is going to be a group gift…survey reward….some kinda gift for the blowpop group. Thanks for the preview Annyka…one item like this in our inventory can inspire a whole shoot…and a shopping spree!

El
*blowpop* Tuesday Honey [1d. Daisy 1] brun, frkl
Zaara : Maitri *copper*
[Decoy] Promise Jeans – Dark Denim
+*Miho NoHAT*+.Gold_MiraiStyle
(Miriel Everyday) Find Your Way Necklace – Gold/Yellow
Lassitude & Ennui Signature sandals – brown

me:
*blowpop* Tuesday Honey [1d. Daisy] brun, frkl
*KUROTSUBAKI* short knit cardigan brown
BP*DNM PANTS SKIRT /light
MIRAI STYLE hair .+*Dafy*+.Brown [MS]
Yummy Jewlery Momento Locket
Lassitude & Ennui Signature sandals – brown

Just one more Decoy shoot…I can’t resist….

The day after the Second Look Studio show featuring Decoy, Tuli and Dernier Cri, El met up with Halfpint at the set to check out some gifts Annette had bestowed on them in appreciation for the show. I will be the first to say that Annette hooks El and I up, a lot….but I photograph this stuff because I think it’s amazing, not because I love the person behind the work. *waves to Annette*

As El and HP started to try on their new goodies I had to start snapping shots and it turned into a shoot that lasted for several hours and had them dying new Dernier Cri hair to complement clothing and skin. The following images show all Decoy clothing and shoes, Tuli skins (including her new ones) and Dernier Cri hair.

If you haven’t heard about the coloring method used by Dernier Cri I’ll explain: you purchase a hairstyle, not a color. The first time you wear the hair you also wear a hud that lets you select the color you want for that hair. What I LOVE about this, is that you can buy a multi-pack of hair and dye them any colors you want. You aren’t stuck with a “blonds” pack or a “reds” pack. I also love that you don’t need to decide what colors you want the hair in until you are ready to wear it! Imagine having a favorite hairstyle in inventory just waiting for you to tell it what color to be to match that outfit or skin you just bought.

If you have not stepped over to Decoy since this release you really must go now. Clothing from Decoy is so well made, she obsesses over seams and her skill with light and shadow and draping fabric is pretty mind blowing.

Seems El and HP neglected to hand over a their clothing and accessories list. All of the Decoy clothing goodness can be found at the redesigned shop, go on in and head to the room on the right for clothing, shoes are on the left. Skins are at Tuli’s shop and hair can be found at Asuka Martin’s shop, Dernier Cri.

Take *THAT* system skirts! Be gone little crotch covering miniskirt prims that never ever look perfect!!!

omg what M*A*ii*K*I have done with this sculptie skirt, LL can learn a thing or two I tell ya.

The Striped dress comes with the gloves and leggings as well an an attachment on the chest that almost looked right on El, but it called more attention to her chest which she really doesn’t need. A pair of poufy black bloomer shorts are also included, but we were so excited about the possibility of making this prim skirt fit as closely as possible that we left them out for this shoot.

click photos for better detail

M * A * ii * K * I Striped Strapless Black/SteelBlue
BP lace legwarmers
Magika Hair – Rose – Black
(Miriel Everyday) Bauble Necklace – Black
Material Squirrel Storm Wings
*Hexed* Alt – Demonia Boots
*blowpop* Mellie3_Honey [curacao] black, freckles