Monday, April 14, 2014

A Little Something Different

I was poking around on Flickr and happened to come across Berry's blog and her new meme featuring Ebbe Linden, which you can read about here. Which I plan to try to do in the near future, but meanwhile, another one of her memes/challenges caught my eye, and what I'm wearing right now in preparation for a new blog post... well that seemed to fit right in.

Here's her original post... but the challenge is to list five pieces of advice you'd like to give to newbies.

#1 - Don't believe everything you read. 
          I find that many newer "residents" come in with the idea that this is nothing but an endless sea   of pixel banging. And further, they seem to feel that this is so much the case that they don't need to do anything in order to get "ye olde sexy times."  Trust me when I tell you, Second Life is not actually populated by nothing but nymphomaniacs or victims of severe priapism. You'll have a lot more fun and maybe even get to that pose ball of your dreams if you'll approach both Second Life and other residents as if you happen to have met while exploring a new place. Because after all, that's what you're doing.

#2 - Know why you're here.
        What I mean by that is... because Second Life really defies description whether you call it a game or a social platform or what have you... I think in order to get the most from it - you have to know why you're here. There is a lot to do, to explore, to learn, to experience and so on here. Not only by yourself but with other people. Every day though, I hear complaints about pain and drama and rudeness etc and I think part of that springs from having expectations of Second Life and of other people that may not be really realistic or fair. Two people may come into Second Life with very different thoughts or ideas about what they want out of Second Life or what they want out of being here. The fact there's a difference of opinion can lead to a lot of heart ache.

#3 - Don't be afraid to ask questions.
        The learning curve for Second Life can be very steep at first. And even long time Residents can still learn new tricks. A lot of people get frustrated because even simple things can seem extremely difficult when you first get started. I recently helped a friend who was doing some interactive work in Second Life as part of her work as a Social Worker and therapist, and since she is not at all a computer person, even things like opening a box or sitting down and standing up seemed very complicated to her.  Eventually those things became old hat to her and she was even able to help some of her colleagues with similar problems. But without me to help her get started, she told me she probably would have given up and lost out on the coursework and training that was taking place within Second Life. 

#4 - Explore, explore, explore.
       Some of the coolest things about Second Life come in two categories. a) Things you can see and do and b) Things you can wear.  There's so much creativity, so much building, creating, designing, planning etc.. you really could never see  it all. But there's lots you can see. Undersea worlds, Caves, Cathedrals, Space, and it's always changing and growing all the time. So, get out there and check it out.  And as for things you can wear, I'm not just talking about what many try to do which is "Look like themselves" or "Look like a super model." You can be a panther. You can be a fairy. You can be a munchkin. You can be a robot. You can be a vampire. And on and on and on.  And yes, I know, I'm sort of on the super model track, lol. I guess it looks that way at least. But that doesn't mean I don't know there's other things out there.

#5 - Be excellent to each other.  The biggest thing, the most important thing is just kindness. There's a lot of generosity in Second Life. There's a lot of creativity and an ability to work together for common goals and the common good. But there's also a lot of petty drama and rudeness and general yucky stuff.  So please, don't leave your manners and your compassion behind the barn door when you sign on. Be kind. It will come back to you.



I did this shot to show that even when I'm being a super model, I can still get my demoness on sometimes.  I actually do have a post planned with this outfit so I won't say a lot about it now except to say that most everything I'm wearing is available at The 100 Block event. Credits will be on my post tomorrow and I'll link from it to here or vice versa. The chair I am sitting in is the Countessa armchair from Angelic Designs in black, a former 60L weekends offer.

Skin is by WoW
Top is by 1Hundred
Pants are by D-Style
Horns and Arm Bracelets by Arise

all at 100 Block



Arrghh... a spring time cold is so not fun...

It's been nearly a week since my last post and my only excuse is that I "hab a code in by nose". I catch everything that comes along, germs are magnetically attracted to me or something.

I've had these snapshots on my hard drive for days and just now felt like getting them ready to post. As always, unless otherwise stated, my pics are merely cropped and arranged. I do not edit for anything else. What you see here is what you get in world. I use analu avataropt whiter windlight setting and that's all. I use a fairly high graphics setting with anti aliasing on but that's all. Please note you can get much bigger views of my pictures by going to my flickr page. (it does often take me a little time after I post on blogger to get the pictures up on flickr but it's not too long a delay)

This is just a springy pretty outfit I put together with pieces from Sn@tch plus various accessories. Sn@tch has been one of my favorite stores in SL now for a long time, simply because Ivey offers great value for the money, several colors in a pack of each item or outfit. She also makes things that I think she would wear herself and I find her clothing very wearable and fun. These two items, the top and skirt were not made to wear together but I think they go together quite nicely.


The top comes in a range of colors with LOLA appliers included and the ruffle as a separate attachment.  There are eight colors in total in the pack and they are called Annika. There's a lovely little silver lace detail on the bodice that I matched a bit with my jewelry choices.

My skirt is mesh and is just so charming with the little flower applique on front and back and the mixed denim/floral fabric look.This skirt comes with an optional belt which I didn't wear, and the pack includes 7 colors. This is the Rae skirt and I am wearing both items in peach.


The shoes I'm wearing with this are just the kind of shoes I like to wear in the summer time. I go bare foot around the house, especially in summer, so I like to have this type of style to slip on when I need to go get the mail or go to the store etc. 

These are by Sax Shepherd Designs, I've mentioned this shop before. These are the Flirt Cross Strap Mules in Leather. I bought the whole pack of Leather Basics and they come with a hud to change the straps, the inner sole, the outer sole etc. These are made for the Slink Medium foot. I set mine to this creamy tan color which seemed like a nice option for spring and summer wear.

In this pic you can see the silver detail on the bodice I mentioned, and I'm wearing the absolutely delightful Cupcake jewelry set from Cae with this outfit. You have metal and gem change options with this set and I set mine to silver and also multi, meaning that the script automatically makes your gem choices multi so instead of all one color it's mixed. So cute.

I am a huge fan of Cae's jewelry and have several sets now. I believe this is the first one I bought and I still love it. Who doesn't love cupcakes!  The set comes with rings also but those are not worn. You can't see the earrings because of my hair but they are just as lovely and wearable as the bracelets and necklace.

My skin is the beautiful Ivy from Lara Hurley skins which I bought during Skin Fair. I am very partial to Lara Hurley's skins and have been for a long time now, I tend to rush to try on each new release and every single one always is gorgeous. I really loved Evon but I think I love Ivy even more. The fatpack comes with lipsticks, beauty marks, choice of eyebrows, cleavage layers and appliers for hands and feet. The appliers for breasts and booty are sold separately but are very reasonably priced and you get all tones at once which is great since I bought two different skin tones of this skin!



The hair I'm wearing is from Lelutka and I have to tell you I kept staring at it because the hair texture is just so pretty and shiny, like real hair! It also comes in small/medium/large for breast sizes and I'm pretty sure I'm wearing the L here and you can see it fits very nicely over my Mirages. The style is called New, and I'm wearing it in Bourneville from the Naturals pack. Hairbases are sold separately for Lelutka hair and I am just wearing one I have from Action Hair which I like very much with it. See below for that info.

The hip belt I'm wearing is made like those candy necklaces we used to get when we were kids. I believe they were offered at the Big Show or maybe the Azz show before the two merged. It's called Hip Candy and is by Geek. There are several varieties, at the time I think I bought all the ones there were as I love hip belts and I loved the idea of this. I think this is the Sugar Crush pack, it's been a few days since I took these shots and I didn't get to make a list as I usually do of what I was wearing. All of the varieties come with a resizer, in my case I have to resize down a bit and then move the belt itself up but that literally takes just a few moments.

My nail appliers which I tried to make sure and show since I like them so much, are by ZoZ. They are a former Designer Circle offering, and are from the Spring Silver 2014 set. I think I might have mentioned this set before. I'm definitely enjoying ZoZ's entry into the nail polish applier market as I've seen some great things. They offered nail polishes with Peeps on them for Easter!


As you can maybe tell I took more shots than I really needed, lol. I just enjoyed this outfit a lot, simple and cute and fresh for spring. I also made a new profile picture from one of the shots I took. This one HAS been retouched unlike all the other pictures on this post.








Mesh Hands and Mesh Feet - Casual/Medium Respectively by Slink.
Mesh Breasts - Mirage by LoLas
Mesh Lashes - Falsies Set 1 by Mon Cheri
Mesh Eyes - Promise by Ikon, various colors, currently Quicksilver

Skin - Ivy by Lara Hurley Skins - Tan, Natural (breast, hand, feet appliers to match)
Hair - New by Lelutka - Bourneville, Large

Top -  Annika Cropped Top, Peach with Applier and Ruffle by Sn@tch
Skirt - Rae skirt in Mesh by Sn@tch, without included belt - Peach/Medium
Shoes - Flirt Cross Band Mules by Sax Shepherd Designs - Leather Basics Pack set to tan

Hair Base 01 by Action - Mocha (Veganic)
Eyeshadow - Shimmer Shadows (Part of the Harley Skin set) Peach skin tone/ Gold with Wing by Pink Fuel
Lipstick - Tender Kisses in Salmon by Blacklace Beauty
Moles - PXL, Medium Moles from the Jade special skin set Skinfair 2014
Nail Polish Applier - ZoZ, Spring 2014 Silver

Earrings, Necklace, Bracelets - Cupcake Ensemble by Cae.
Hip Belt - Hip Candy by Geek in Sugar Rush

Poses by OOO Studio, assorted sets
Backdrop - Blurred Satin Photo Backdrops by Cupid.


Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Lovely's Profile Shot & Life

Hey everyone... I've been a bit quiet,  I know. I have some posts coming up but, nothing is really ready to be posted yet. I'm in one of those moods. I redid my profile and a friend of mine asked me to do a profile shot for her. Thought maybe I'd show you all.

Here's the before/after composite.



I did a little bit of Liquify, some work on her hair and hairline, a little skin smoothing, some lighting adjustments and some shadows etc.. Her name is Lovely.  I'm still not quite satisfied with her hair and may mess with it some more before I'm totally finished

Her skin is from Al Vulo - Mimi in milky, hair by Catwa, necklace and earrings by Gossamer jewelry, top is by Sn@tch.

Here's how it looks at the moment.


I'm no great photographer or photo editor like some of our artists in SL but I think not too shabby.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Lilies of the field - Quick Post

This one's gonna be a bit quick since I haven't had a lot of time lately but I did want to show you this look because it includes the really beautiful Cara skin from Zoul. Cara was offered at Skin Fair and I'm not sure she is available yet in the main store.

Look at her face! At least on me, I find her so elegant and self assured, she seems like a woman for the ages. The skin pack contains eyebrow variations, cleavage variations,  eyeshadows and lipsticks. I am wearing the #1 eyeshadow from the pack but my lipstick is from Blacklace Beauty.

The only thing about the skin I am not completely a fan of is the brows on the skin itself. They are a bit thick for my taste. That's okay though because the creator has thoughtfully included a no brow version and I am wearing that with a set of brow from a former TDR offer from YS & YS. The skin was called Rebecca and this is the dark brown brow.

I'm wearing Cara in tone 4 which is a little darker than my usual skin choices but this skin just seemed to demand a really bronzed look.

Appliers for Slink hands and feet, Lolas and Phat Azz are available separately in store.

My hair is an older style from Calico, called Monique and it comes with the included Lilies. The flowers are scripted for lots of texture change options.I'm wearing the hair in Mocha with a hairbase from Action, hairbase 01 also in Mocha.  I thought the soft curls and flowers went well with the skin's unique beauty.

My necklace and earrings are from Beloved Jewelry. I honestly do not remember when I bought these so I'm sure it's been a while ago. They are the Strands of Beads Necklace and Earrings, and the beads are scripted for texture change.

My bracelets are from Ryca, They are the ICED bangles in Platinum, scripted for resize.

Finally my pretty off the shoulder blouse is part of a set from Sugar & Cyanide, a former Lazy Sunday offering called Zebra Chic. It is mesh and does come with an applier for Lolas. I did have a little trouble getting the two, breasts and top, to work well together but perseverance paid off and I got it to look pretty good.

Here's my attempt at a more artistic version of my first shot -



Here's the details, I'm not going to bother to separate it all, you all know how I roll, lol. All slurls either here or above for your buying pleasure :D

Mesh hands by Slink
Mesh breasts by Lola - Mirage
Mesh lashes by Mon Cheri
Mesh eyes by Ikon - these are from the Promise collection but I switched to Dune rather than my usual Glass or Starfall.

Skin by Zoul, Cara in Tone 4, worn with the 01 eyeshadow included. Hopefully in the main shop soon.
Hair by Calico, Monique in Mocha worn with included Lilies

Moles tattoo layer by PXL
Lipgloss tattoo layer - Tender Kisses in Peach by Blacklace Beauty
Brow tattoo layer by YS & YS
Hairbase tattoo - Action Hairbase 01 Mocha

Blouse by Sugar & Cyanide, part of the Zebra Chic set

Bracelets by RYCA - Iced in Platinum
Necklace and Earrings by Beloved Jewelry, Beaded Strands

Nail Polish applier by ZoZ - available at Designer Circle, Spring 2014 Silver

Poses by Ploom.
Backdrop by Katink, April Showers Bring May Flowers

Thursday, April 3, 2014

A Little Spring Time

I managed to get into Fameshed and wanted to show you possibly my favorite outfit from the event this round. Mutresse has been steadily making a name for itself with beautiful mesh clothing items with lots of options and this spring time fresh outfit is no exception to that rule.

If you are not familiar with Fameshed,(website link) - then you are in for a treat, a chance to see some of the top mesh designers doing their thing. There are clothing items, shoes, hair, jewelry and also home decor and furniture items. They are sold at regular price  however, so don't expect a discount.


Mutresse is offering this adorable pair of shorts and tank, sold separately, this round. They are, as you can see, made to wear together. You actually get two versions of the shorts, one for wear with the tank and one for wearing with other things or by itself. Both clothing pieces come with a hud that allow for color, metal changes etc. The one for the tank is especially detailed, the little knots of the shirt can be changed independently as can the pretty embroidery on the bodice and the lace trim on the hem.

I am not a huge mesh clothing fan but I just really loved this set for some reason. It is very much like something I would wear in real life on a spring day.

The bag I'm carrying is by Je Suis and the animation inside animates only the right hand which makes it very usable with poses or with an ao.


The bag comes with the accessories you can see there, scarf, lotion, sunglasses etc, and is resizable via script if you so desire.

I am also wearing a pair of wedge flip flops which I picked up at Reign this past weekend as part of the Saturday sale. I checked this morning and they were still there but I can't promise that is the case now, at least not for 75L. These are pink but they also are available in a few other colors, made for Slink Medium bare feet.


The embroidery on this top is so realistic, just wonderful!

I am wearing another hair by Emo-tions, the Lora hair which consists of the included hairbase and the braided and curly hair. I thought it was perfect for a casual morning walk or such. It comes with the bands in black but I just did a little retexturing magic to make them pink using a patent leather texture I had in inventory.  (Right click, edit, edit linked prims, very carefully select only the parts you want to change, go to texture tab, select texture etc. I suggest if you try this on something of yours to always make a copy first, just in case. I did, and I've been building and such for a long time now)

I am also wearing more jewelry from Earthstones - this is the "Simply Put" Jewelry set in Amethyst. I was a little sad that there's no Rose Quartz or Tourmaline in this set that would have matched a little better but I think the amethyst is quite nice and not too matchy. I'm also wearing the Zaia hand bracelets I showed you yesterday, this time in MoonstoneAmethyst, also from Earthstones.


I'm still wearing the gorgy face Jade skin in Sunkissed by PXL. I have tons of skins I bought at Skin Fair but this one is hard to take off!  This is the petal pink version.

Here's another peek at the cute wedges I'm wearing. I normally don't like to just show feet but, it's how it turned out this time, lol.



Also want to give a quick little shout out to Hello Dave, nail polish appliers. I'm wearing a polish on both fingers and toes from the Spring Mix set.

And that's it. Fameshed is open for this round until almost the end of April - I'm not sure of the exact date. After that the Mutresse tank and shorts will be at the main store, link above.




Mesh hands - Casual and Mesh feet - Medium by Slink
Mesh lashes - Falsies Set 1 by Mon Cheri
Mesh Eyes - Promise Collection - Starfall by Ikon
Shape - Kallie by Belissima - Much Modified

 Skin - Jade in Sunkissed by PXL - Skinfair2014 set, pink petal
Hair - Lora - Naturals - by Emo-tions (see slurls above)

Nadya Tank Top - available at Fameshed (see link above) by Mutresse
Guzia Shorts - available at Fameshed, (see slurl above) by Mutresse
Wedge Flip Flop in Pink for Slink Medium Feet by Reign - See slurl above

Necklace and Earrings - Simply Put set in Amethyst by Earthstones - see slurl above
Slave Bracelets/Hand Bracelets - Zaia in Moonstone/Amethyst for Slink Casual hands - see slurl above
Polish appliers for hands and feet  - Spring Mix by Hello Dave - see slurl above
Bag - Prete - Striped Pink by Je Suis

Poses by Ploom, assorted sets
Backdrop by Katink, part of the April Showers set.







Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Rings on her fingers, bells on her toes...

And she shall have music wherever she goes....


I honestly am not even sure where to start with this post, so I guess I'll start here with this amazing skin from PXL. It's been a long time since I've loved a skin from PXL, but this one I really honestly do. 

This is Jade in Sunkissed and is part of the special skin set that was offered at Skin Fair.  The set came with four make ups, a plethora of eyebrow, lipgloss and other types of tattoo layers etc. This is the petal pink, and believe it or not, I haven't added one thing to it other than the moles that come with it. That is how much I love this skin. She is so very pretty, elegant, charismatic, just ... as  I said above, amazing in my opinion.


I missed "Mesh Tuesday" yesterday but I decided to go ahead with my planned post, so here's the beautiful and interesting "Rome's Messenger" mesh dress from Soedara. When I grabbed it yesterday, this color, in a set with a black version was offered at 75L. I don't know if that offer is still good.

I don't know much about ancient roman costume other than what I've seen in movies but this seems to me a reasonable facsimile of a roman toga, especially of a young and pretty servant girl.  It's simple and yet full of little details like the wrinkles on the bodice and the shadows of the skirt.I do recommend you wear a pair of system panties if you are feeling a bit modest, as I was.

 This post is partially inspired by two relatively new releases. The new hand bracelets  from Earthstones called Zaia, which come in sets for either the Slink Casual or Elegant hands, is one of them. They are metal change and you can purchase a fatpack of stone choices or single options. This is the quartz version with gold metals to match the toga. Back in the day I was a huge fan of their older versions of slave bracelets so these made me incredibly happy.

The other item is these jeweled shoes by Sax Shepherd Designs. They are called Mata Hari. I bought the Leather Basics Pack and the hud included offers jewel choices, leather choices, sole choices and metal change. They are made for Slink feet and as you can see, absolutely gorgeous.

My hair is the Daisy style from Emo-tions and a click of the hair lets you decide whether to show the daisies and metal decorations or not. It's such a pretty style and suitable for all kinds of styles. I do wish that the metals and daisies were texture change but that's just me loving to have choices. It's a wonderful hair just like it is. It includes a hair base to make the look finished.

My jewelry is from Maxi Gossamer, and I chose the Karina Court necklace and earrings because the style sort of matches the look of the hand bracelets. They are texture change and metal change and if you notice in a couple of my shots like a boob I missed changing one earring. I used the gold/white settings to also match the hand bracelets.

I'm sure most servant girls of Rome were not so bedecked with jewels or wore high heels but we can imagine, right? I used a shadow setting for my windlight to experiment and I think it came out pretty well. Hope you enjoyed the post. Details and slurls below.


 
Mesh hands - Casual and Mesh feet - High by Slink.
Mesh lashes - Falsies Set 1 by Mon Cheri
Mesh eyes by Ikon - Promise Collection - Starfall
Shape - Kallie by Belissima - VERY Modified.

Skin - Jade Sunkissed by PXL - Skinfair 2014 Skinpack - Petal Pink
Hair - Daisy in Chocolate with included hairbase by Emo-tions.

 Dress - Rome's Messenger in White by Soedara (part of the Duality set)
Shoes - Mata Hari by Sax Shepherd Designs - Leather Basics set

Zaia slave bracelets fatpack by Earthstones
Karina Court - Necklace and Earrings by Maxi Gossamer

Poses - Ploom, assorted sets
Backdrop - Katink, part of the Grungey walls sets








 


Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Don't Cop An Attitude With Me, Baby - Opinion/Rant

So, before I get started with this post, I feel the need to add some disclaimers and clauses and ifs ands or buts to it because I don't want to get a slew of comments basically saying "But what about..."

In the first place, I am very well aware that what I want to talk about does not apply to every single creator/designer/blogger/writer in Second Life. Obviously it doesn't. Saying I don't like something that some people are doing obviously means I know not all people are doing it.

Even if I say, as I sometimes do.. "I hate people," I know when I'm saying it that I don't hate ALL people. I love a great many of them, I respect quite a few more.  At that moment however, in a very general aggravation kind of way, I hate everyone. It's really kind of ironic since in another general kind of way, I love people. Human beings are a paradox on legs and that includes their feelings about things and that certainly includes me.

So don't come to me telling me about people who aren't the people I'm talking about, k? Cause I know those people exist and you trying to deflect the point of the post is not going to make me change my mind and is just going to irritate me.

Anyone remember The Hulk? The one with Bill Bixby? "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry"? Yeah, well, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry either.

A while ago, there was a bit of a kerfluffle about bloggers and sponsors and stuff like that. A lot of people weighed in so, what I have to say at this point is not really adding anything new. However, since I've become a blogger myself, I've seen some things that really are starting to burn my toast, you know what I mean? And not all of those things are coming from bloggers. A lot of it, in fact, is coming from creators/designers.

So I'm gonna come right out here and say it. Making content in SL does not make you Coco Chanel or Oscar de la Renta or whoever. 

There are some really splendid creators in SL who do things with their digital brush that are flatly amazing. They are artists in my opinion, and I highly respect their talents.  BUT!  Even those people, even those highly skilled and talented digital artists are not God's gift to the world. They still put their pants on one leg at a time. They still sit at the computer in their pajamas. They still scratch their butts and fart and do all the human things everyone does. And, sadly, the large majority of the world outside those of us in Second Life, don't even know these artists exist. And furthermore, even a lot of the population of Second Life don't know they exist either.

How do I know that? Because every single day in many of the group chats I am in, someone asks about something I've known about for ages. It could be Windlight. It could be a particular brand or a particular kind of thing. But something! And it's not always by someone "new" to Second Life either. And there are brands in Second Life dying as well, either because they haven't moved with the times or their designers have moved on or whatever other reasons they might have. It makes me sad, because there's always someone new to discover those brands if only the right things were done to make that so.

I went to a store the other night that was formerly a Big Name Brand in Second Life. The creator of that Brand is truly a digital artist with textures and prims. I don't think that person knows much about mesh however. But nevertheless, the clothes there are still gorgeous and are mostly system layer based. I couldn't help thinking that if that creator just made some appliers for butts and boobs, she could make a fortune all over again without hardly even lifting a finger.

That's not really the point but it is something that's on my mind. There are a number of Names in SL who are basically bleeding money every day because they won't take the time and effort to make appliers. And at the same time, they are making people like me feel left out. Or at least, that's how I feel. I won't buy your 800L dress, madame or monsieur designer because you aren't making appliers to go with it. And it pisses me off.

The point is, no matter how skilled or original your content is... it still does not make you some kind of Picasso or Michaelangelo. So, I for one, would appreciate it, if you got down off your high horse and down here with the rest of us mortals. I'll give you an example, glad you asked.

Since I've been blogging and gotten onto some feeds, I've been invited to a couple groups as a blogger - a thing that I am so extremely flattered and honored about, I can't even tell you. Seriously, it's a big damn deal to me and I take it very much to heart.

These kind of groups are also places where I see notices of stores looking for bloggers and bloggers looking for sponsors. I'll get to the sponsor thing in a minute. I often read the notices of stores looking for bloggers mostly out of curiosity but also out of a genuine hope I might find a store or two that I can truly appreciate and back and maybe help. Mostly, that isn't the case because the store sells mesh only content and nothing with appliers. I am not inclined to give up my mesh breasts in particular so I regretfully trash those notices. Very occasionally, there's a store that does sell items with appliers. Yippee!

Most of these stores have applications. That's fine, you need some way of keeping track of people who said they want to blog and also weed out those who don't meet your criteria. Very businesslike.

However, when your application more or less states that you expect the bloggers whom you select to place your content above anyone else's and to drop everything to post your content first and foremost - that's a problem. When your application asks if the blogger is willing to put a logo of that store on their blog aka free advertising - that's a problem. In one case, I said no I wasn't and never got a call back even though I have featured that shop's items on my blog. Stuff I paid for my very own self, thank you very much. - That's a problem. If you expect a blogger also to fail to mention any flaws or problems that blogger found with your item on a post - that's a problem. Don't cop an attitude with me, baby, over how I  blog and how I run my blog. You are a creator in second life, bully for you. Get over yourself.

Let me just mention, I spend a lot of cash in Second Life. Every single thing that has been on my blog is something I PAID for with my own cash. And frankly, I'd rather say what I think and feel about items I blog or about things in Second Life in general. Part of my job as a fashion blogger is to tell the truth about what I blog. Most of the time it's a small thing that may not matter that much to me, or to other shoppers, but it's still on my shoulders to tell the truth.

I never want some poor reader to come to me and say, "Petra, why didn't you tell me that product xyz had this problem when you showed it on your blog." I mean, bloggers are also shopping guides, right? I know I've seen things on other people's blogs that I ran right out and bought because I saw it on their blog and liked it. I'd be pretty pissed if I bought something like that and then found it was wonky and the blogger didn't say so. That ain't right. And I won't do that to other people who happen to read a post of mine.

I usually prefer to show things that I really love, than show things I have problems with but if I do show something that has problems, I'm going to bloody well say so. And nobody has a right to get in my face about it. If you sell something with a problem, then you know that perfectly well, so your job is to make a better product. Not bitch and moan because someone called you on your mistake.

If I screw up my courage to ask for a review copy, which so far has not happened since I've had this blog, It's because I either feel that item is way out of my price range - and that means something that costs a lot more than a couple hundred linden or because it's something that's not in my usual shopping line.

But, if YOU are looking for bloggers, don't expect that those bloggers are all going to be in your pocket because you throw some of your content their way. YOU are the one looking for exposure, therefore the blogger is the one doing you the favor, not the other way around. If you want bloggers with integrity then treat them and what they do with some respect. and don't expect them to bend over backwards for you. The blogger - creator relationship is a business relationship where both people get something, one part of the relationship is not better or stronger than the other... or it shouldn't be.

And as an added note, bloggers looking for sponsors make me sad. Full stop. You really need to look at why the hell you are blogging and if the reason is "I want free stuff" please be honest about it and stop making the rest of us look bad. There's nothing wrong with wanting something free sometimes, but be honest about it and you know, maybe take a reality check.

 I blog because I enjoy it. I enjoy the writing. I enjoy the styling. I enjoy the picture taking etc. I hope to show something to others and maybe help someone out, maybe they find that perfect item or I get someone a little exposure or maybe someone just sees a nice picture they enjoy. I hope to show something about myself so that when people read my blog they maybe know something more about me than they would know from just my profile. I'd rather pay for my own ride than feel beholden or that I wasn't being authentic. At the end of the day, authenticity, honesty, integrity, these are who we are. And I want to be the kind of person who knows she was real and honest, even if it made others uncomfortable or angry. The end.