Monday 23 August 2010

Flattery gets you everywhere and CONTEST, people

Loooooooooooook!


Journey blogged the beach hut



Oh my that girl has flair. I need prims and I need 'em NOW.

Shamelessly stealing her photo but do look at the interior shots too. Wow.

She can take photos like a dream, including fashion shots that make me want to go spend Lindens I don't have. Take a look at her blog PrimGameProper in the sidebar because it's one to add to your must-read list:


Back to the contest though: read on




Here's a bit of the tree house which you can win by sending me (Ariadne Korda) a notecard in the next 2 days remember? Contest in yesterday's post and see both that and the beach hut and then get writing.



"Dear Ari I need your tree house / beach house to live in because I am a homeless elf / dreamer / beach bum and you are the greatest most fabulous most modest builder in SL"


That would do it.


Been meeting some great people recently I have to say, including Em Ellesmere of Sleek Home: also just added because (no not just because she blogged me) she's fun and also has a flair with decor.

I have to get to work as I am still typing VERY SLOWLY still but I think I have the letters sussed. Punctuation still requires peering at the keyboard *sigh*.

Sunday 22 August 2010

Keyboard adventures and Yet Another Beach Hut and it's free, sort of

I don't really think it's worth saying 'sorry haven't blogged' after a couple of weeks' silence (well, unless my massive following of 8 need a rambling and bad photo fix really badly).

My laptop -  and main working tool  - died, see. No, this is not a plea to buy my stuff to help me replace it (unless you feel like buying about 6 million of my builds).

I was halfway through this (see below) when it happened.



Uh-huh. Yet another beach house: they seem to be all the rage in SL but I built this one for a friend who had a real one and sent me a photo of it. It's 19 prims plus 2 for the optional deck below. And sort of free this week at Vent du Sud - read on!

I should really box it and sell it with lots of breathless prose, right? (No blogging, little building = few sales and my Linden balance is almost as sick as my ex-Vaio). Not sure how much it should be but around 300L I think.

But breathless prose is hard for one particular reason: I have finally bitten the bullet and after decades (!) of touch typing on a Swiss (qwertz) keyboard have migrated to a French azerty one. Finding punctuation is a challenge. As for putting numbers UPPER CASE... ugh.


However, to celebrate a rather smart, sturdy and apart from the keyboard lovely machine (and to hell with the Linden balance), here's an idea. Or two. While I watch sunsets from said beach house and attempt to get my typing speed back.



Spend over 200L at Vent du Sud this coming week and I'll send over the beach house free - transaction history on a notecard please (to Ariadne Korda). Check it out  and have a dance by the water thanks to a strategically placed Intan.

Or you can have a tree haven (direct TP here) if you spend over 300L.

Also? Send me a note explaining why you need either one and one person (for each) will get one TOTALLY FREE. 

Amuse me. I could use it.

All notecards will be rewarded by something, I promise.

I really need to advertise the tree house properly too, in fact. Lots of fun stuff like retractable ladders and blinds etc. and normally 899L.

I will pop whichever in your inventory with a badly-typed hello.

You have NO IDEA how long this post is taking to do.  Look at the picture while I check for typos so far.



Fashion news? Due to circumstances, thin on the ground except I have FINALLY discovered hair from Fri.day but ask for indulgence as I can't find my store Slurls on this machine yet but you can find it - and this lovely shaggy do called Deena by typing Fri.day in search and probably not having to remember where the y or the . are to be found on your keyboard. ARGH.

What a sentence.

Off to watch sunrises for a change. May be back soon but I have to WORK on this machine on Monday. And it could be sloz. Er... slow.

Tuesday 10 August 2010

When the dogs bark, when the bees sting...

... or was it when the dogs bite?

Never mind. Just imagine me in Julie Andrews mode. Or something.  Raindrops and roses, etc. etc.

But these are a few of my favourite things, or at least in the 'small and pretty' category of what I make.


Those little touches that I love to add to builds, all three. It makes a place look like home.  
The bathtub planter has click-to change plants, and the fire pillar and basket turn on and off. They're usually a pretty reasonable 100L (OK 99L) each. But I've popped them a copiable version of them in a single WHITE box right beside the subscribo at Vent du Sud for just 100L for a couple of days (and also at my display space at Blueberry, here).

But wouldn't they also make nice gifts? (Yes. Really. They would).

So there is also a RED box containing a transfer version. Same price but you can either send the entire pack to a friend or send them separately.

And as I'm still swamped with RL work, here's a favourite outfit for hot sticky days like today to cheer myself up (in RL, shorts and a tee and hair doing frizzy mess rather than elegantly messy):

This was a group gift from MNK, but it's still there in lots of other summer colours. And the bows are just cuteness. Wish I could go hole up under my own olive tree in RL but back to work, so I'll just loiter under the one at Vent du Sud!

Saturday 7 August 2010

So happy I could jump off a cliff

... and in fact I did.

And why yes, that's a terrible photo but if you look hard enough, I'm over to the right, mid-air.

So, it was time for a few changes at Vent du Sud. And by changes, I mean a little work on the 'non-commercial aspect'. That, to me, is just as important as having my stuff out to sell.

So... cliffs! You can dive off them (four dives... just click on the little pizza-slice thing up on the rocks, and it changes colour for each). It lets you swim after too, so feel free to do just that. I zoomed all the way around the island last night (and even added an opening bridge near the bigger lighthouse so you don't have to get out of the water - just click).



There's also a pool right beside, with a couple of gently floating air mattressses. Older stuff of mine but several poses: help yourself if you like (10L - one is copy, one is transfer. More glamorous ones coming soonish).  But really, again, this isn't about buying anything, it's about just enjoying a few moments' peace, or taking photos, or watching the FABULOUS sunsets over the rocks.

Where? Behind the Vent du Sud Art Café, by the smaller lighthouse on the island. 

So if you feel like a dip, please be our guest. The water's lovely.  If I get a minute I could add a couple of nice pose sets too, hm? The Intan dance balls reach there, however, so try a slow by the water... :)

Yes, mellowness. I'm ridiculously happy these days, both SL and RL, and fully intend to share a little by some more gifts and offers for people who read my blog and /or are on my subscribo - if my clients would FINALLY take themselves off on holiday and leave me some (relative) peace.
I'll get there.

In the meantime, enjoy the water... and watch this space :)
(I also need new bikinis: This one is from Nicky Ree and is cute, but I think from 2007:
good tips, anyone?) 

Thursday 5 August 2010

Broken arms, blogged, and beautifully shabby chic

No, not me. My cleaning lady broke her arm and will be off for 5 weeks (yes, I'm a spoiled person who has 3 hours a week's worth of somebody else doing my housework, and it's wonderful).

So I'm all behind in SL after a binge with mop and dusters, plus a pesky work deadline too so will attempt to be short. And yes, I do mean a binge. I (ssshhhh) actually like cleaning so it was rather more than 3 hours.

I did manage to set up my display space so kindly offered by Jennaa and the House and Garden group, though, and am delighted to see so many people picked up the lavender and sunflowers, plus the Blueberry special cushion set-with-zillion-poses. The cushions are still there, btw. but inside now.



There will be another special deal and prize coming soon, both there and at Vent du Sud but for the time being, there's this (also available at both locations):

Inspired by the absolute cuteness of the store at Blueberry, it's a 'shabby chic' version of the CURVE IT (plus me in Zaara, oooo look  rather fetchingly matching the cushions). Soft, pastel-y colours, worn wood.



So please use your imagination and imagine this with up to 5 people, or snuggling up in one of 3 great couples poses. Just 9 prims and just 100L instead of 199L until I finish this wretched deadline sitting on my desk. ETA around two days, so don't wait too long!

Being curved (no, really?) it's great for space-saving in a corner, or put out a couple around a campfire (it's copiable). Or a pool (see the one by the pool at Vent du Sud, precisely HERE, plus a more nautical-type one. And a soft, neutral one at the Art Café across the square - DO check out the expo btw... it's gorgeous).

I'm off to do battle  with theText From Hell (it's 8 am here) and hoping to finish two custom orders and get set up with the prize... thing I've planned before the weekend, but it's going to take some time to set up. And my windows look a bit grubby.

But do wander over to Vent du Sud, hit the subscribo, and I'll get there. And you'll know about it.

Last but not least, one of the lovely bloggers I met through not being in a Certain Hunt blogged me yesterday. BLOGGED ME. I was stunned. It's also a great fashion blog, so check it out right here: this lady has a superb eye for great fashion (and of course excellent taste in decor).

(And yes, this is short. I line up words for a living, so help me)

Sunday 1 August 2010

Sometimes you need sunflowers (even virtual ones)

What a week. Seriously. You don't want to know. Whining is not good. So I won't.

But were good things too.

I live in southern France in RL (already good) and yesterday I was out in picture-book surroundings, including lavender and field upon field of sunflowers - which I love.  AND I found a milk churn at a flea market!

So here's a milk churn with sunflowers and some lavender.

Free. Right by the subscribo, here at Vent du Sud.  Even copiable.


If you sign up to the subscribo, you'll get news of a VERY special, er, "not-hunt" offer this week which will not only mean a great offer but a couple of lucky people are - I hope - going to win a BIG prize.

And still in sunflower and lavender mood, I wore this: it's the loveliest, swishiest summery dress that is perfect for dancing on hot summer evenings. It's from A la Folie, and comes with shoes and a sculpt bustier that I'm not wearing - it's also nice without. Name - "Ciel et Terre" - earth and sky. The fabric is just... yum.

Look.  Swish.


Come and dance any time at Vent du Sud, btw. A peaceful, summery bit of France, with Intan for couples and a dance floor... and sunflowers. Of course.