I wanted to do my part other than just shopping for the Victoria Bushfire Relief effort, started by Autumn Hykova and Dakota Buck.

This Cafe set w/ Cupcake Giver consists of 4 chairs, 2 high back 2 low back…a glass topped table, and a plate of Cupcakes that when clicked will send one of each colour to inventory, which you then wear and eat.

Each chair has one animation created by Pillow Talk, and they are all mod so that you can reset the sits to what you might need depending on avatar size.

The four chairs, table and cupcake giver are for sale at Essentia Main Store (thank you Fiachra ) and the price is 300L and ALL money will go directly to the relief fund.

I hope that someone finds a use for them for their home or store etc.

Thanks to Mel, Fiachra and Whimsy for helping me create these items.

xox Sasy xox

Do you want to know a secret ooooo ooooo oooooooooo, ok so seriously its been a jam packed week; and you would think with not working now I would have more time lol.

Ok so on with the showing.

So the first Gown is from Sams Secret Boutique, and it is the December Gown – told you I was behind. The lines of this gown are just marvelous, and its the crushed crepe fabric that really makes this gown something to treasure.

There are multiple ways to wear the gown, you have the flexi white ruffle at the empire line, and without it the texture is really pretty also, then you have the incredible open fronted layered gown skirt, that is done with such attention to detail that you really embrace all of those layered qualities.

The back of the gown is plunging – not shown – but definitely worth a mention, as it has two delicate straps across the mid back to just hold it all together.

For the Jewerly I went with something timeless, the Antique Sterling Locket from Genesis, this is a scripted locket that you can load your own pic inside of, which also opens and closes, its a lovely piece that you will want to wear often with many looks.

The hair is the lovely Kailey hair from HCT (Here Comes Trouble) we all know how much I love HCT hair, and I am so excited because Babyboo is studying at the moment to broaden her skills with sculpties and other goodies that she will be able to use in SL.

The skin is the limited release for Valentines Day by Fleur, it is the Lily Shoujo Red Valentine and this skin has all the wonderful attributes of the regular Shoujo line in four tones and these incredible deep red lips. I especially love the beauty mark just under the left eye, its dreamy.

I got overly excited with the ShoujoValentines skins by Fleur, this is the pink version and I just love how bashful and innocent it looks. The blush to the cheeks and the soft pink lips are a delight, you really need to check them out in all the tones and find one that suits you, because this is a limited time skin you will not want to miss out on owning.

A few weeks back Newdoll and I were hanging out – as we do – and she was wearing this fantastic hoodie, asking where it was from we took a little road trip to LA Street Scene, now this is a shopping sim you will spend a lot of time exploring, because every little store has something fun and fabulous inside. Two of the stores in this pic are located there, so make sure you visit and get lots and lots, I did.

The hoodie is the I love my Kitten- Hoodi by MEEMBEE @ LA Street Scene , this store has a mix of delights, I even came out of there with hair as well. But this hoodie is fabulous, not only do you get the wonderful paw mittens for your hands, but there is also an unworn version on strings as well. Not only that but the fab hooded part has pink lined ears, and can be worn down as I am or up over your hair, that is a bit difficult to take pics of though as your head goes oneway and the hood another depending on the poses.

Now Newdoll and I went all over the place, I bought boots and lots of other goodies, but then when Newdoll crashed I came across Manga Passion @ LA Street Scene , this store is adorable and the set I have taken pieces from was like 130L or something nuts. The set is called tenue manga kawaii, and the items I am wearing from it are the cute pink socks and the fantastic belt, with cat face buckle and kit kats tucked into it, I mean what else would a kitty snack on. Just a snippet of adorable info, most things in the folder are called object or New Pants, New Shirt etc.

Now to show off and compliment this look I get to wear my No you didn’t make bloomers bloomers by SN@TCH, I love these and you saw them recently, but I couldn’t resist. They come in long and short and white and black in the set, so a big time bargain. The fabulous hair barrettes that look so much like ears are also from SN@TCH and are the Harajuki Barrettes, so pink and sooo cute with not only the roses but the wonderful little dolly heads sitting amonths the petals, a headband also comes with the set, so if you dont want to lose your ears you have that option all covered, YAY For thinking.

The hair I am wearing is another HCT style called Sella which is a pulled back loose bun style, which can be casual or dressy.

Lastly and a merging into another MUST HAVE, are the Kensington boots by Tesla. These are her latest release and they are fabulous. They remind me of equestrian boots, with their length and buckle, I cannot get over the smooth sleek look of them, especially the higher front that fit just right over the knee, the leather texture is soft enough to feel dreamy, and sturdy looking enough to let you know they are going to be a wear lots and lots boot and be strong enough to take it… they come in a multitude of fantastic leathers and I am so excited that Tesla is on a boot kick right now.

Now speaking of boots and we were, I cannot believe I haven’t blogged this before, and seriously it’s only because of Whimsy the other day did I realise that I hadn’. It pretty much went along the lines of ‘ Why the hell aren’t you wearing your boot fixer” …”What’s a Boot fixer ?” ” OMG WHAT?” .

Then an instant TP and a crazy stair climb you will have to see to believe. Ok so backtracking, a million years ago there was a post on Fashion Finds at Phils Place about the Bootfixer, from a store that was re-selling them. I went and grabbed like 5 at once and handed them out to friends- which now that I think about it probably means Whimsy has had one all along – that woman never unpacks things I send her darn it.

I have since then gone to the creators hole in the ground store numerous times with more friends to get them to grab one. The concept is that regardless of what pose or what AO you use the BootFixer – which is a hud with only one button on/off – will re align your foot. As you can see in the pic left is without and right is with.

Rarely am I ever not wearing mine, even if not wearing boots lol, no reason to have to remind myself to put it on that way :P. Not only is it genius but its 50L anddddd if you want to resell it , which is a brilliant idea for stores that make boots, you can buy a pack of them that are transfer for a discounted price and then sell them for 50L at your store. ARGH I just realised that I didnt get the slurl brb have to log in. Ok got it, will put it under the heading of Boot Fixer in my slurls page :). THis is a MUST have for anyone that wears boots ever, because as I said, not just pic taking is it a much better look but with AO’s it is a life saver.

Anyway don’t forget the Fleur skin is limited time only so get thee to a DEMO.

Click HERE to TP to the stores shown.

Hair by: Here Comes Trouble

Skin by: Fleur

Clothing by: Sams Secret Boutique, Meembee, Manga Passion, SN@TCH

Jewelry/Accessories by: Genesis, SN@TCH, Manga Passion

Shoes by: Tesla

Poses by: Reel Expression, Ana Lu Fresh Poses, Dela

Posestand Professional and Hud by: VR Foundry

Always thankful for:

Essentia for my Beautiful Hair Roses and Jewelry many pieces of which I have watched being

made, and had the pleasure of wearing first as they are custom fit to my shape-

I’m blessed.

My VR Posestand

Professional/VR Posestand HUD/Library is by

VR Foundry

The NEW Features include Keyboard Controls, MONO, HUD Controls, Locking Camera and

Pose Positions, ability to save Colour Sphere Presets, Return to Poses Locked

previously and SOOOO Much more. The VR Posestand is sold seperately as is the

VR Posestand HUD , or in a Package ..now also with stand alone Library HUD, for on location shoots in no build areas –

no notecards needed just throw in your poses.

My eyes which I get complimented on all the time are from

LeLutka the MMS Green which I love, but alas are no

longer available but there are still fabulous eyes to choose from.

Poses and Stands always used by me while taking pics, even if some end up on

cutting room floor:

Maitreya

Digital Dragon Designs

Pixeldolls Empire Dress AO poses

Happy Dispatch

Juicy

Grapevine

Mela’s

[LAP] Long

Akward Pose

ANIMAH

Ana Lu Fresh

Poses

Naughty Neko

Designs

Imperial Elegance

Lost Angels

Studio Sidhe

Vista

Dela

Reel Expression

Ex- Pose & Roodie Noodie

Aphrodite Creations

Tuli

Mamesando

Street Magic

For well over a year now I have watched little snippets here and there referring to “the feed” and criticism of it. Then it started to be about particular blogs, bloggers, stores, designers and what not. It started before I returned to blogging and its been getting worse each and every day, and I do not mean ‘the feed’ but the hating.

Some of you may be wondering what feed? well see that is going to be my first point, and there are going to be a few, you see this has been eating away at me for a long time, and now into 2009 I am over it, truly over it enough to do this on my blog, something which I am against in the first place.

If you do not agree, that is fine, you don’t have to, if you do then yay… this is more so for my sanity as much as anything, because you see when you keep all this in it does effect your everyday, and believe me the hating is effecting mine.

1. The feed that gets the most hate is the Fashion Planet feed… this feed was started and has been kept running by Tao Takashi a resident of Second Life, who has many projects and has always been a very polite man in the few times I have spoken to him in world. The feed was for letting bloggers of fashion, and stores that sold fashion to be able to be listed in one area, so that people could skim and then find a post or ten that interested them enough to read further.

For one thing as stated already ‘The Feed” is not the only thing that Tao does, if you look at his website HERE . But all I ever see recently on ‘The Feed” about Tao is how he has not gotten around to listing someones blog, again NOT THE ONLY THING HE DOES!. Now yes sometimes all at once a dozen or so blogs will be added, that have waited sometimes for months, and then sometimes because he is doing them, someone that has just asked to be added gets added.

Regardless he gave us ‘The Feed” he pioneered it, as far as I know there wasn’t anything prior to it as a feed, but if I am incorrect I apologise, but he gave it to us, has never asked for anything in return and right now the way people carry on it is not surprising it is not his first priority.

Whether you want to admit it or not, stores that appear on ‘The Feed” owe him a lot of their business, whether by their own hand because they have their store blog on there, or because a fashion blog has done a post on their items. Understandably many stores that want to appear there get frustrated because it is a marketing tool, but there are other ways, such as IheartSL which allows you to post and link to your own blog, and is on the feed. What’s New unfortunately ran into author limits , but regardless there are other ways to tide you over until Tao has time to add you.

2. I see constant commentary on the size and quality of peoples pictures on the feed, this again is hating, and I have to wonder how many have clicked the actual link to that blog to investigate further. I still consider myself a PS novice , big time actually, I have been lucky to have been taught things by friends along the way. But only recently did I start using Flickr to store my pictures.

In the case of Vendor ads though, ones that go in world and to your vendors, these pics should be maximum to help lag 512 x 512 some do bigger, some do smaller, but if you are going to post those pictures on your blog then possibly consider saving two versions and naming one blog copy. If you are a fashion blogger and you do save to a site such as Flickr there are options of what size you want to get the html for to post on the blog.

It took me a long time to even know what html was, and how to use it for pics, only because of Word Press did I start to because of the scary numbers saying how much space I was using. With blogger I uploaded directly from hard drive to blogger and if that is the case, then if your pics are big to begin with it wont necessarily make them smaller… but see the thing is that people are laying out their blogs for their blogs, not for the feed, and if they have a particular style template and so on, they are laying it out for that.

But instead of hating on them, IM them, help them, encourage them to learn other tools and how they work, sometimes you will find that the person you do try and help is horrified to find out that they have been doing something others have found annoying. Also as far as quality it is possible that people don’t know how to use the in world tools to get the most effective resolution, I myself only just in the past 8 months or so learned to use ctrl ~ to get the highest resolution, clicking it in advanced and using snapshot or ctrl shift S does not do that, also depending on the graphics card maybe, it is how the person doing the blogging or vendor pics sees their items on them and in world, as well as in whatever tool they are using, improving on that takes time AND encouragement. If I had been commented on when I started about my pics I would have been so upset, I know they are horrible, I have recently been back to appearance mode to see archives, but I am blessed to have been given the time and patience to get better, and hope I get better still.

3. That brings me to this point also, again people are blogging for their own blogs, whether fashion blogs or store blogs it is THEIR blog. I see mention of people annoyed because a designer has the nerve to show multiple colours of an item. Funny how that is really as it could be that 8th colour that you MUST HAVE, but again a suggestion would be better to politely encourage the designer to perhaps do a montage pic showing all the colours in one shot, many stores show all in a fat pack ad anyway so that could be a good pic to post on the blog, and one or two singles to that people know what to look for in the store.

From experience I know that customers and in this case readers see an item in a store blog and then search exactly what they saw, if it differs then they are lost. I once showed a new item from my last job in a different way than the vendor pic and got all kinds of IM wanting to know where it was. Another suggestion would be that if they don’t want to do a montage to perhaps load them all on Flickr or a sharing site and link to them, so people can see more.

But even if they don’t, no one should get all bent out of shape about it, that is what the scroll bar is for, does it really need to be criticised ?. Also those that post on the feed know full well that cuts do not work, but that is a very small amount of people that know that, how do you know that the person that has done numerous items the same hasn’t tried, business wise many post on their blogs and that is it, they do not go and check where that post goes and if it is showing in all locations the way intended, all they are concerned about is that it shows on THEIR blog the way it is meant to.

4. The feed again is something that many use as a marketing tool, but have you ever looked at the blog roll ? seen how many blogs are actually listed but never seem to do any posts. Now this will shock you, I know a designer that posts blog posts on the feed through another format, now one day I realised that they had a blog that is listed on the feed, I asked why they didn’t use that blog to post on as well or instead of, their response was WHAT FEED ? .

This made me laugh, but you see many many moons ago a partner had actually been the one to list that older blog on the feed, they did not know it was there, and had gone on to use another blog as their main and sometimes post on a syndication that takes them to the feed, they didn’t join that syndication to reach the feed, they joined it to be part of that blog knowing that many would go there to see posts of a large range of people.

Now that got me thinking as to how many times that has also happened, for instance I am the one that has gotten work blogs and so on on the feed, and if I was to not be around anymore and they had someone else do the blogging , would that new person know about all the likes and dislikes of the haters ?.

5. If a blog is an information blog, more so than a listing of new items for a store, or a fashion blog, but does relate to the fashion industry they will post on the feed also, but again the blog is theirs to do with what they wish, and if that means re posting information because of an update or new info added, or just because a slurl or time has changed that is them doing the right thing by their business.

If because of how the feed is set up that means that that post reappears at the top of the feed then so be it, the ones that seem the maddest about that are either ones that don’t like having someone already seen get more air time than them, or ones that don’t like scrolling past what they think should be the last thing they saw. Either way get over it, seriously… you cannot be that upset because someones blog moved up or down a feed, if you think that people miss your post because of the second reason you are not giving people that read the feed enough credit.

If you use Word Press look at your stats, look at what posts get read on what days, I can do two or three posts in the same amount of days and the first and second post still get hits from the feed, right now the last post on the feed is marked at 12pm the 24th it is now 9am the 25th sl time but that doesn’t mean that time on that blog is even in sl time. But it does mean that anyone reading the feed daily is going to see you.

7. Picking on vendor ads and designers creations, we are all guilty of being in IM with a friend and confidant and feeling safe enough to say that an item in a store or a notice isn’t fab, yes we all have done it, I know I have more times than I want to admit to, but commenting in the open anywhere is just not right, anyone that is willing to spend hours in PS or GIMP and try their hand at designing for the masses is worth a lot more respect than that.

I pull my hair out trying to make an alpha layer, I get so upset not being able to do anything in PS more than select and deselect my pics for my blog posts.

Not just the spending hours on creating their designs, but to actually invest all the time and energy and MONEY to have a business in SL is hard work, and to occasionally see other designers do the criticising boils my blood. It takes time to learn all aspects of SL creation, you can be an incredible clothing designer but fall short on the ads, or even setting out your store. Or you could be learning as you go, no one older than a year can honestly say they do not have something from an older store that they wouldn’t wear now, that the style and workmanship just isn’t up to the standards that store has elevated to.

Give them a chance, make suggestions if you have to, but don’t dare hate on them, they are trying and they are learning, and they are human, and you do not have to buy the items you do not feel are worthy of your avatar or your lindens. Let them grow, let them find their way, they may just surprise you, plus there probably isn’t anyone that hasn’t seen a glimmer of something in a bad ad that called to them, taken a chance and hit gold.

6. Now this one is more personal, the blogger hate…oh this one gets on my wick the most believe me. I have seen many blog posts or comments about hating on bloggers, or other bloggers feeling they needed to express how much of a let down the rest of the bloggers are.

If you do not like how bloggers blog, don’t read them. If you think you know how to do it better, by all means do so and send me a link. I see comments about all the free stuff bloggers get , I for one know from experience that it takes time to get ‘stuff’ that many bloggers, myself included started out with a huge inventory and wanted to show some of the fabulous things they have purchased along their time in SL.

Yes I started blogging with a 37K inventory and it is bigger than that now, but that also has to do with work. Whether it matters or not, I only spend a minimal time out of work clothes, the longest I am in any outfit other than work stuff is while on a pose stand in my house taking pics to share with others.

Many stores ignore blogger requests because they have been burned in the past, also some just have stores as a sideline hobby and don’t feel the need to market their product outside of their own blog and other methods of advertising, if they are blogged because a blogger buys the items so be it.

It takes time and a lot of trust to build up a base of designers who send you items to blog, yes some newer designers will send to all bloggers, but not usually enough to fill in a post every day, and yes many bloggers post something every day. Look at any bloggers post properly and you know they have always put lindens of their own in that post.

Also many newer bloggers are terrified of designers, they wouldn’t dare approach one to ask to blog them, they often feel that they aren’t good enough to do so , YOU ARE.

Another thing many don’t realise is that just as many designers are intimidated to send items to bloggers, fearful of the outcome of making such an approach, designers and bloggers are people just like customers and readers. We are a community overall, don’t ever be afraid to talk to someone, or ask for help with something.

Aside from that bloggers are doing their best to show items to people that may have an interest in seeing them, and if they don’t they have usually enjoyed putting together the look and writing the post. I don’t know any bloggers personally who are so full of themselves that they went into it believing they had a right to an audience.

Now this is an interesting question, how many designers send items to bloggers NOT on the feed ? there are hundreds of them out there, I send to bloggers I know will do a damn fine job of blogging them, if the items are not their style and they don’t just blog what they are given that is fine too, if they find that the item comes in useful a year from now , well many that know me know I am a big believer of ‘Something old is New to someone”, but don’t hate on bloggers because you don’t like that they aren’t posting anything you haven’t seen before, because they are on the same feed, if you have to then go past the feed, there are so many blogs out there. When I find out a blogger isn’t on the feed I encourage them to join Ihearts so their posts get seen, but its not just because of the clothing, it is because I enjoy their words and creativity, encouragement goes so much further than hate.

Remember most bloggers read the feed too, they fall for a pair of shoes and hair just like the readers do , so if that same hair and shoes or skin or whatever gets shown five days running isn’t that awesome for the store that created it. One thing people seem to forget is that bloggers are not trying to make you look like them, they are sharing their passion for fashion.

If you see a top in a mix and match look that you love that’s awesome, if you want to go out and buy everything they wore, even better…but don’t get all bent out of shape because you have already seen another blogger do the same look.

That is my number one peeve, and this is actually at the bloggers, sorry I feel bad but I have said this to bloggers in the past, so if I don’t let it out now once and for all I will go nuts.

The feed is not your only source of readers, and if it is through the feed you get your traffic that doesn’t mean jack..it just means that readers see you have done a new post and click to see what you have to say because they are a fan. When I read the feed I right click open new tab on everything I like the look of, and then read each post that way.

DO NOT not post something because it has been on the feed already, do not mention that you were going to post something else but its been on the feed already so you didn’t, that makes me NUTS. I am reading YOUR blog, I am possibly even coming from somewhere other than the feed, do not let me miss out on your interpretation of an outfit because someone else has done it already. It could be you that makes the difference in me buying it, yeah believe it or not , someone can see the same items already shown ten times and NOT SEE IT.

People get all snarky about challenges and blogs all doing the same fun thing, well yeah ok sometimes it isn’t fashion related, sometimes its just because they want to be part of the fun, LET THEM, if you do not blog you have no idea how it can get, sometimes bloggers need to take back their blogs, hug them tight and remember that they are theirs to do with what they wish.

Just like people use flickr and snapzillato take fun pictures on, sometimes a blogger needs to just let loose in the forum they created for themselves, they want their readers to know a bit more about them, they want them to experience the other side of that blogger. There is nothing wrong with that, again it is people that have this false sense of what the feed should be, sorry to say but the feed has not been that way for many years.

Lastly another thing is the difference between reviewing and featuring, I see comments a lot about how bloggers don’t do proper reviews, well thats an assumption on the readers part that the blog is a review blog, mine for one is not now and never will be a review blog, it is a fashion blog were I blog what I am wanting to show, or have been given to show, if I am given something that isn’t something I would personally wear out and about that does not change me blogging it – I believe in showing as much as I can from all sorts of ranges, it doesn’t always have to be my everyday style but seriously a day dressed as a keg wearing panda is a fun day, another example would be me in the past wanting to show the fabulous work of Valiant , the mens clothing store, I posted as both male and female to show how fab the creations were, and some of the items fit only the male shape, so I don’t wear them, but wanted to share them.

That is the kind of blog mine is, if I have been sent an item that has a flaw then the designer is told, if it is fixed and re sent it is shown, if it isnt fixed I don’t blog it, there is a page in my blog to show exactly how I blog, know what the bloggers style is before you mix them all up in one pot, we are all different, we all blog differently and we all have different directions for our blogs.

Anyway as I said I had to get that off my mind.

Please stop the hating, it is not doing anyone any good at all, and if you are doing it in public then I’m sorry but you may not lose friends or customers or even readers, but you will lose a lot of respect.

I had this plan, to take pics of as many people that I could, before Christmas and make a book. It was a good plan, except I had left it too late, and time got the better of me. For that I am truly sorry, I did get some wonderful pics and some heartfelt messages from amazing people, and that was the idea, messages from the heart, whether they were quotes or humor , or just how they were feeling about the New Year fastly approaching.

Next time instead of a deadline, I will just take it slower 🙂 . I hope you like them, thank you so much to everyone that helped, and if you aren’t in the pics, please know I really wanted you to be.

Click HERE to see the rest on FLICKR

xox Sasy xox