For the HOARD! ~ Garden Party

This post showcases PurpleMoon in a double set, as not only am I wearing the gorgeous group gift gown, "Drew" in Dreams of Chocolate (mesh), I just had to buy the jewellery that was modelled with it - Lazuri "Fall Romance". This colour of dress is exclusive to the group gift (which is still available at the time of posting) but her styles are released in multiple colours. Lazuri seems to be a protégé brand as it is by a different designer but managed by PM, so her designs are recommended alongside various dresses (a cunning sale strategy!). The pearl drops on earrings and necklace have a choice of textures, but intriguingly show a different one on left and right, with lots of sparkling coloured gems to complement and up to 3 bracelets on each arm.

With the richness of the dress and jewels, I had to dress up a bit. I have an absolutely ridiculous number of hats, mostly by The Mad Hattery, but I never seem to wear them; so although it hides the hair a little, I decided to hat up for this shoot with the "Forgotten Orchid" topper.  TMH hats are hugely creative and (I think) both elegant and entertaining at the same time; this one is made in the style of a greenhouse containing a potted orchid which is escaping out of the louvred roof!

The hair is "Ophelia" by La Boheme, made for the second Crazy Ass Hair Hunt, which I also wore for my Vampire Burlesque Circus post in the 2012 Colour Challenge. It has tiny metalled flowers in the back which you can see better in that post, and is colour change scripted, but also handily mod.

Then I thought that a little something extra was needed and put on this fabulous "Wrapped" feather boa by Schadenfreude. It comes in five body hugging pieces (arm and chest/spine attachments), has detailed flexi feathers, and is tintable (of course I chose the white version for maximum modification) so I matched it to the embroidery of the dress. No lady's outfit is complete without a wrap!

I didn't want to swamp the delicate gold of the dress or jewellery with my customary gold skins, so I went with one of my {Frick} designs, "Alt Geisha Tamarind" in cream. I love the soft, painted look of her skins, all of which have beautifully designed make-up schemes; although they are more human than the scaled skins, the fantasy element suits my nature and adds variety, and I find that they stand up better to a range of lighting than some of the more photo-realistic skins on the market. (Ha ha oops, just noticed I forgot to re-tint my feet!)

This skin shows bright stars of orange behind the "Travel" petal make-up by White~Widow which seems to be turning into something of a staple. I also have on some contour blusher by Dead Apples and brass "Sweet Lips" by KOSH, along with the now habitual ContraptioN fangs. The eyes are "Caesius" in copper from the Aquamer collection by Plastik, which came with the gold skin from most of my previous posts.

As a final mention, the chairs are from the "Butterfly Kiss" set by Angelic Designs, along with her "Avalon" antique sterling wine serving tray (purchased last weekend) on an Indian summer side table by What Next, with an apple tree by ForestFloor Creations and disappearing Cheshire Cat by SHD. Because I am always finding little incidental things in other bloggers' backdrops and wondering where they are from :)

Note that I am not using one of the chair animations, I am actually posing with one of a Poseway Fashion Model set exclusive to the Couturiers Docks, which was a completely accidental purchase - it was late, I was tired, I thought I was buying the jewellery on the ad model and failed to register the significance of the pose stand in front... lol oh well. One set of poses won't break the bank, and now I'm just trying to get my money's worth out of them!

~ : ~

For the Hoard! - April, Week One

For a while now, I've been thinking of blogging everything I buy (or otherwise obtain) in SL. I just didn't have the time to do that while I was participating in the 52 Weeks Colour Challenge, and then I got sick and took some time out. Now spring is here, I want to do something to keep my blog active, and clearly the lure of Shiny Things is too great to resist, as this month alone I have spent a whopping L$4,854 (more than twice my premium monthly stipend; I had some savings). OK in real terms this is only just over £15 but that's still quite a lot to spend on virtual goods which, if LL were dissolve tomorrow, I would never get back. 

And that's just this month. I may not be a huge spender on SL, but for someone who actively avoids window shopping, I seem to come across more things than I can ever buy. (Group notices are a big 'help' in this regard, even despite SL's tendency to eat half of them before they reach my inbox.) My shopping list never shrinks, and still has items on it from back in 2005 (probably no longer available or superseded by sculpt and mesh builds) yet every Tuesday I receive my money and go on a shopping spree for whatever has caught my recent fancy.

I am a little ashamed to admit that some of those things end up buried in my inventory, still packed up in boxes, though I will generally wear new outfits for at least a few days after purchase... never to see the light of day again, in most cases! The colour challenge was a great help in finding forgotten treasures, but largely limited to clothing and accessories. If I blog items as I find them, at least they will go on record to provide some kind of organisational assistance, as well as happy memories; and although I will never be a fashion blogger, my followers will have some chance of finding current items; a lot of the things I used in the colour challenge were old and no longer available.

So here we are: beginning my weekly shopping blog, all in the name of swelling the HOARD!* This month, I am working backwards to record everything, but in future I hope to produce a timely post each week, so that there should still be time to hit any sales or hunt events.

Week One, Beginning Tuesday 02 April

Windlight: Phototools Epi Vintage Light

~: Patchwork Piper :~

I had a lovely start to the month as I had been begging the designer at New Trails for a tree in a cosy knit sweater (yes really!) I had seen elsewhere but couldn't find in his store. I merely asked to purchase the tree, but he sent it to me as a gift! Thank you so much Vitrail <3 It made the perfect complementary prop for my new outfit. As I also installed the new Firestorm 4.4.0 viewer this month, I played about with the new Photoshoot settings and found this lovely sort of backlit sepia which isn't too great for clarity but I think makes a beautiful shot.

"Little Witch" mesh sweater-coat, Chaotic battlehorn and
lighted autumn oak with knitted veil (daww <3 )

I saw this baggy, recycled sweater coat from !gO! on Softpaw Sommer's blog and had to have it, thereby discovering a new store and completing most of this week's purchases. The coat is mesh, and fits really well, I didn't even have to put on my standard mesh shape; the only slight problem is that there is a bit of a gap at the collar, between the jacket and hood parts. The only way I could reduce this (and still not fix it entirely) was to stretch my torso length to 100%, which just looks silly on my shape, probably on most; however it's not too noticeable from most angles. The hood is really neat, because it flexes about a bit like hair when your body bends, so it looks soft and dangly.

Also this week I received a rather neat little battle horn from Pucca Firecaster Creations, I think as a subscriber gift (this store is where I got the Cecaelia tentacles for colour challenge 42 - Cosmic). You can sling it over your shoulder, or use the included gesture or chat command to play it, with animation and a spectacular sound effect. You couldn't really see the horn very well when worn, so I hung it from a tree branch and got out my Pan Pipes instead. I may be playing the pipes of peace right now, but I am ready to sound my horn for war if anyone dares disturb me!

"Little Witch" sweater hood. So pointy and witchy!

A close-up of my accessories, none of which were this week's purchases, but just to provide detail. The stag necklace was a recent gift from a designer friend, John Sheppard-McKay of John's Atlantean Treasures (Stargate Atlantis fans take note); he is the reason I came to SL in the first place, as we used to roleplay together and my character (now my alt) followed him here. The boots are from Battle Fairy and reasonably recent though I can't speak for their availability; the bag is eons old, and it looked as though the creator no longer runs a store but is just enjoying SL with his partner. And so he should!

~: Mad Hatted Gypsy :~

Gypsy Life in green with "It's Not Easy Being Green" top hat:
plays Kermit's iconic song from The Muppet Show!

While looking for the Little Witch sweater above, I couldn't resist a fatpack of gypsy dresses at a reduced price for 5 colours. I chose to showcase the two which complement my newest Mad Hattery purchases (I warn you now, there is likely to be at least one of these every month, because I LOVE her hats and she offers them at a 75% discount for the first week of sale, which is a ridiculous bargain). I could easily match a hat to each of the gypsy dresses, but time (and your patience) were pressing.

Gypsy Life in turquoise with "Blue Morning Glory" top hat:
surrounded by a circling cloud of animated butterflies.

~: Put Giraffes In The Air! :~

Giraffes of SL, I greet you - I come in peace!
(Shot through UFO cockpit bubble.)

I have a bit of a thing for giraffes, even though they are herbivores; they are just so unusual and weird-cute. I don't go looking for them (heck, I don't even go looking for dragons; I don't want to die in a debtors' prison!) but if they cross my path, I am likely to pounce. !gO! was selling this awesome giraffe hoodie vest at only L$33, probably because it's sculpted and she's switching (like so many designers) to mesh. OK so the bottom of the garment is a bit bell-like and solid, but it doesn't look too bad and has very cute ruffles on the back; the arm warmers and hoodie are just delightful, and the hood can be worn up or down via a simple command. The vest comes with a pocketful of grass to munch on and a thoughtfully-wiggling mouth attachment (pssst; giraffes eat leaves, but I'll let it slide ;) I don't really have too many giraffe themed things (do I?) so I thought I would showcase them all with the top. And, well... maybe things got a teensy bit out of hand (hoof?) Just a little bit.

It's... a... flying... giraffalien! *Sits down in surprise*
Skulprit Hovercar, Giraffes from D-lab

Put [Giraffes] In The Air by Baracuda - yeah so the song doesn't say 'giraffes' but it's a common pun, and I have a SL song gesture with reworded chat lyrics. I defy ANYONE not to twitch just a little bit to this music. Watch out for the dancing nun! Anyway, I put my flying D-lab giraffe in the air, and put myself up in my Skulprit giraffe patterned UFO. This was one of the designs from a gatcha machine at last year's Unhinged event, one of the rare occasions I don't much mind what pops out and took a gamble, but I was pretty tickled at getting a giraffe pattern!

Getting to know the natives. Omnomnom!
Cutie booties by Duh! D-lab giraffe is a seating pose prop.

Giraffe-tastic! It's PARTY TIME!

Rocking, flying and sitting giraffes from D-lab; all are animated, and the seated giraffe is actually a pose prop, you click to sit near him on the ground in a variety of poses while he raises and lowers his neck. The tall, naturalistic giraffe is a freebie from the early days of sculpting, full-perm and animated (well he sort of turns a bit). The tiny plushie my D-lab 'raffe is holding is a full-perm sculpt map gift from Diesel Magic. Just look at his cute little beady eyes ^.^ ... Why is he looking at me like that? Omg he never stops staring ... OK now I'm a bit scared. (I had one out at my castle and kept moving it around, and Sam Winchester was convinced it was possessed.) 

Adorable Duh! Giraffe booties were replaced in the final image with comfy giraffe slippers from a Barbie's Boutique pajama set - ancient purchase, no idea if she still sells them - and I'm wearing knitted giraffe hat from Inspired, way back in 2007 (she was retiring the animal hats just as Rudh and I bought them at the time, and now doesn't even have a store). I think this pretty much wraps up my giraffe collection. And this post! My goodness that was a marathon and not even the longest post I have to make for this month...

~: Item Credits :~

This week's monty haul: 

!gO! "Little Witch" baggy jumper in yellow, "Gypsy Life" dress fatpack and "Giraffe" vest;

New Trails Lighted Late Autumn Oak with knitted veil (possibly not available as gifted not sold);

Pucca Firecaster Creations Chaotic Horn;

Mad Hattery top hats "It's Not Easy Being Green" and "Blue Morning Glory".

Other items:

~: Patchwork Piper :~

GlamDammit! Brocade Tiger Leather Patch Pants

Battle Fairy Nana's Ankle Boots (Quilted)

Curved Horns 3 by Gnash Graves (free!)

Boudoir Faun Flute from 'Let's Have Some Fawn' forest fairy avatar

Silk & Satyr Dragon Shaman's Belt Pouch by ThomasD Felisimo (no longer selling)

HPMD Little Bird (perching on a tree root)

ChaosLotus plastic beads (not visible, but just to remind me, they match the top!)

I am not going to blog my standard avatar every time: information for these things (in this post, the hair, skin and eyes for the patchwork and giraffe outfits, and my L&E armbands) is all contained in my post for colour challenge 21 - Lemon Chiffon.

~: Gypsy Life :~

Al Vulo - Natalie - amidala bronze skin (group gift)

Curious Kitties Hair (tinted) from Wet Hat - White (old purchase, may not be available)

JAT Silver Stag necklace

free green and blue eyes

~: Giraffes :~

Barbie's Boutique giraffe pajama pants & slippers (old purchase, may not be available)

Inspired knitted giraffe hat by Maegen Parvenu (2007; retired)

Duh! Giraffe booties

Culprit Furniture "Skulprit" hovercar bought at Unhinged Event (map is playing up for lm)

D-lab rocking [chair] giraffe and flying/sitting plushies

Diesel Magic full-perms plushie giraffe sculpt maps (free!)

Tall sculpted giraffe by MathieuBC Noel (free, full-perm)

Pictures taken at Enlightenment/TRP360 Quad Sandbox using Phototools Dream Book Light 04 (foggy trees) & Epi Vintage Light windlight sky settings.

*(Note: World of Warcraft players in the somewhat more 'monstrous' faction, such as my partner Nadir, frequently shout 'For the Horde!' as they fight. I have just started my own WoW account, but ironically in the Alliance faction - simply because I wanted to play a werewolf, and they are on the side of the humans they were made from. I can't shout 'For the Horde!' but I can make my own draconic pun. SL is not all about the shiny, but for me, and especially now time and RL cause me to drift apart from my friends, it is the arch-factor of my continued SLexistance.