A new me in a strange new world

Returning to SL this past week has been so much fun. Between buying up all of the awesome new mesh items that I missed out on this past year, and organising the Ulaa event, I have found myself spending tons of time in world. 

My favourite thing ever so far has to be the SLINK hands and feet, and of course the shoes which I plan to blog in a massive post this week. 

The slink hands have made everything so much prettier and amazingly easier. Buying shoes without having to either deal with system feet or stress myself out over the HUD's and matching to skins is the best thing to ever happen since mesh. 

Of course, as I plan for the future of this blog (please excuse me whilst I find time to give it a makeover) I have made sure that I have hunted down the bargains as much as possible. Of course, sometimes I can't avoid those extra spends. It's not my fault that it's all so pretty!

So here's the new me. I'm in a strange new world. Watch this space as I explore it.

♥ Style Card ♥

Skin - [Pink Fuel] Renee (Hazel) $L149

Hair - Truth Anita (Variety) $L400

Nails - La Boheme - Deco Marquee $L50 for the Ulaa Fund

Top - *BOOM* - Nyu day top (nude) $L175 @ Uber

Skirt - Tres Blah - Denim Mini skirt (Criss Cross) $L225 @ Uber

Pose - Nani Look at me $L125 for the Ulaa Fund

Love Ulaa

As most of you know I have been gone a while. I have missed the comings and goings on plurk and in world, and I just got back and have been playing catch up. 

This has been brought to my attention ... http://www.gofundme.com/atht7w 

I do not know Ulaa other than to say I have seen her around plurk. But this has really drawn my attention. 

I know there has been talk of running an event and some things have already been offered, but as I understand it nobody has the time right now to get an event up and running quickly enough for it to actually help. 
With my daughter on holiday for two weeks, and very little to do right now. I HAVE TIME. 

So this is going to happen. I need to work out land (which has been offered I think) and a date which is likely to be within the next week or two. I have a build ready to rez as soon as I get the land sorted. 

What do I need from you? 

DESIGNERS - I am not expecting, or asking you, to make new items. Or for exclusive items. I know, from experience, your time is precious. What I am asking is that you offer something, ANYTHING for the cause. It can be a current item, a retired - quality - item, or a recolour. Whatever you have. I will have a vendor ready soon which will allow you to give either 50% or 100% of sales to the cause. If you are interested IM Tracy Rubble in world and I'll put your name down. 

BLOGGERS - I need you to do what you do best. Get the word out. I'll have a logo ready very soon along with a press release. IM Tracy Rubble and I'll ensure you get a copy. Also, blogging the event and items on sale would be a HUGE help. This won't work without shoppers. 

I also need a place to host DJ's and some DJ's willing to do the event. Tip jars will be placed for donations to the cause. 

EVERYONE ELSE - I need people to spread the word. Any help you can give or anything you can offer will be amazing. 

If you remember "randomkindness" that I managed to sneak under your noses for the best part of a month two years ago before you found me out... This event will be run in the spirit of that. I do not aim to, nor wish to gain anything from this except for the knowledge that Ulaa and her son get some precious time with her mother. Please join me in the spirit of this. 

PLEASE NOTE - 

DRAMA - I know this has already happened and put a dampener on spirits. Ulaa has not asked for this event. I reiterate that I barely know her. Any drama should be directed towards me for doing this. NOT ULAA who is having a tough enough time already. 

I encourage you all to direct, very loud and very open drama towards me. SL secrets, anon plurks and rants from private profiles. It's all marketing and gets the event more attention. Thank you so much in advance. 

Ok, so you know what to do 

LET'S MAKE THIS BLOODY HAPPEN!!!!!

Applications are here

Take a Break

Some of you may wonder where I have been. Others just wonder who the hell I am. The latter I cannot help with, the former I will try now to explain as fully as I can.

Approximately a year ago, give or take a few months, I found myself growing despondant towards second life. I had closed Trubble, my store of nearly five years, and created Nzuri. The new store never truely worked out what it was. I found myself creating intermittently and without any purpose. I didn't care for marketing and couldn't find it within myself to give the brand any real push.

Gradually I found myself spending most of my time on an alt breeding and auctioning fennux. That was fun, but costly, and it soon became obvious that I didn't want to keep pushing money into SL just because I felt that I had to stay. In my mind I had given so much time and money to my various projects that I couldn't just drop it all and leave. Yet, I wasn't happy.

I was lonely most of all. I had inadvertently folded myself into the world of SL fashion, which I loved. The problem was that most of my friends were designers or bloggers who were understandably busy with their own businesses and projects. I found myself, for months, standing in my skybox alone with nobody even chatting in IM. I tried to initiate conversations at first but I struggled to chat to new people, and most of those I knew were busy. It became a viscious circle.

Then, one night in June 2013, I decided to do something new. I grabbed a controller and joined my RL partner on his Xbox. Before I knew it I had my own console and we were soon both promoted to leadership of a 3000+ member gaming community.
I didn't look back or log back in.

In the past year I have learned a lot about me. I can communicate. I spent time dealing with people daily. I organised some big tournaments and events alongside other communities. Eventually we broke off and started a new community from scratch. We built it up and after a few months left it in very capable hands, opting instead to just play the games.

It was slow, but I have found myself beginning to miss SL and the opportunities it gave me. So I am coming back. This time part time, and this time I am going to find what makes me happy, not what I feel is expected.

For now I will not be designing. I might blog if I feel like it. I WILL be socialising, making contacts and friends and having fun. I am also considering running my own event. Not for the money, but just for the fun of doing it. If I can organise 60 young gamers into teams and have them win a tournament against a competitive clan who have a track record of being unbeatable, or keep over 300 members organised into brigades without arguments kicking off daily... I am sure I can organise a fun event filled with designers who want it to succeed as much as I do.

Of course, this is all for the future. Things will take time. For now, if you find yourself standing around bored.... Or have room for a little one to come join in your fun. Hit me up!!

Tracy rubble

In the meadow

Summer hasn't quite arrived yet. For some reason the sky seems determined to stay gray and moody; keeping me away from the beach and that cute swimsuit I've begged my dad for.

Even though it's dull, it's not too cold for a pretty summer dress. This one from Somnia is perfect. It's short, flowing and any of the colours in the fatpack would brighten up anybody's day. I chose pink because it's my favourite, but you can choose from a generous selection.

I changed my hair too. Like it?
I've been blonde for so long that I really fancied a change, so I chose this warm brown from Wasabi Pills. I love the casual, soft look and I just adore the bangs.

I took a little day trip to a gorgeous little sim called Eternity which is a gorgeous country themed sim which feels very retro and summery. I found it through Asthenia Pinnazo's blog and fell in love. If you get a chance please go and see it for yourself. Hidden in the long grass around the lake are tons of spots to sit and relax or to take photographs.

Here's hoping summer is here soon.

Wendy x

♥Style Card♥

Skin - Al Vulo - Alyss - Wonderland Blonde Fair

Shape - Own 

Hair - Wasabi Pills - Kumi Mesh Hair - Wild Honey

Necklace - LVS Kids - Gatcha Cord Necklace - Voodoo Buddy

Dress - Somnia Velvet Shimmer Dress - Pink 

Pose - From Tuty's shy girl ao

Release your inner child

♥Style Card♥

Skin - al vulo - Alyss - Wonderland Fairy

Shape - my own 

Hair - Truth - Lavinia - Pearl

Sweater - The Sea Hole - Braid Front sweatshirt - Barbiecar

Shorts - The Sea Hole - Pika Denim Shorts - Azteca Blue 

Socks - Pink Princess - Striped Socks - Pink 

Shoes - Footworks - Pippa patent flats - Black
Necklace - LVS kids - Gatcha Cord Necklace - Voodoo Buddy

♥Playground♥

Monkeybars - Artilleri Playground 

Seesaw - Artilleri Playground 

Sway's Playground

SL Firsts - A meme from Strawberry Singh

Pic stolen from Wendy - See tomorrows post for a style card.

1. First SL Friend: Wil Dreadlow. I had an avatar before Tracy but never really called anybody a 'friend' as I barely logged in for more than a few weeks at a time. Wil and I rezzed at around the same time and had great fun running around being newbies together. We spent a ton of time at a sim called heaven above the clouds, and the rest of our time exploring. We did hang out once every few weeks until he left SL too. Got to admit I really miss the randomness he brought.

2. First SL Kiss: I don't actually remember one. My RL hubby used to be in-world a lot, and we're partnered, so I don't think I actually ever bothered. 

3. First SLex time/place/partner: See number 2. 

4. First SL Partner/Girlfriend/Boyfriend/Wife/Husband: My first SL partner was a guy called KC. It was early 2008 and my RL knew about it. It was pretty much a platonic friendship more than anything else, but we got partnered and "played house" for a while. 

5: First SL Job: My first job was as a dancer in a club. I cannot remember the name of the club, only that the uniform was a red flame dress. I stayed there for months whilst waiting for my 6 month rez day to arrive so that I could get a job at Galaxy. At the same time I had opened my first incarnation of Trubble.

6. First SL Creation: The least said the better, but it was a slider made dress with a looprez skirt made out of a freebie net texture. It was vile. I don't even have pictures.

7. First encounter with a Linden: I interviewed Glenn Linden and I forget the name of the other. It was for the SL business convention a few years ago, about the time viewer 2 launched. I can't remember that much about it, but basically it was on skype and over in twenty minutes. I also met some Linden's for a "storytime in the cornfield" a few years ago. This was before the cornfield was opened and it was unavailable so we ended up around a campfire. I think it was after an office hour of some description. 

8. First encounter with a SLebrity: Callie Cline came to a party in my store once. Does that count?

9. First SL sim you fell in love with: Midnight Reflections. It was just one amazing, huge garden. I'm not sure if it's still around but I absolutely loved exploring it. There were poseballs all over for photographs. Romantic picnic areas dotted clifftops over waterfalls. Wil and I found it in our first week and we'd find a spot there to relax and chat. 

10. First Blog Post: Other than a really boring "hello world" post - http://gforgirl.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/waiting-for-summer.html

Where the waters flow

By the sacred grove, where the waters flow

We will come and go, in the forest.

- Van Morrison

◘Style Card◘

Skin - Al Vulo - Georgie - Custard

Shape - My own

Hair - Alice Project - Heather - Autumn Red (Shop Free*style)

Top - Sassy - Casual Chic Top - pink (Shop Free*style)

Pants - SYSY's - Pinstripe Rayures Pant - Rose (R)

Shoes - F*S Studded Flats (Shop Free*style)

Swimming in the sea hole

Hey Girls! 

This is my first post on GforGirl and I am really excited to be here. 

I'm Wendy Riaxik (Wendy Densmith in search) and I'm sixteen years old. I am blogging here to represent the roleplayed teens of second life, and I will be hunting down all of the funky and fun stuff that is suitable for teenagers. I'll also be telling you all about some really brilliant places targeted at teens. If you have any ideas you can comment on any of my posts, IM me in-world or email me wendydensmith@gmail.com

So... 

Don't you just hate it when you find a new store to love, and then learn that it is closing for good. 

Yeah, it happened to me today. 

I was scanning through some feeds and blogs looking for somewhere to shop for some cute summer clothes that my Dad would approve of. It's heating up and I really wanted something cute and casual to wear whilst I hang out with my friends.  

I'm sixteen and I really don't think dad would let me out of the house in a short skirt or low cut tank. So, when I found this post on Seraphim about The Sea Hole's closing sale I decided to go and see if they had anything on offer that would work. 

I am really glad that I did because I managed to pick up these shorts and the gorgeous retro blouse for just 50 L each! I also picked up a few other things that I will try to show you before the weekend. 

The pieces are amazing quality with fab textures. I especially love the texturing on the shorts and the fact that there are so many styles and choices in the store. The blouse is mesh and comes with a variety of sizes. I usually wear a medium and this one fits perfectly. 

If you haven't checked out The Sea Hole before now then please do go and take a look before it closes. I wish I had found it sooner and I just know that I'll be spending a lot of time and Lindens there before it goes forever. 

♥♥ Love Wendy ♥♥

►Style Card◄

Skin - Al Vulo - Alyss Wonderland blonde brow fairy. 

Shape - My own

Lashes - M - Lashes tattoo

Hair - Truth - Lavinia Pearl

Eyes - By Snow - Fresh Eyes Aster

Blouse - The Sea Hole - Davenport Blouse - Antifreeze

Shorts - The Sea Hole - Pika Shorts Azteka - Blue

Necklace - LVS Kids - Gatcha Cord Necklace - voodoo buddy

Pose - Tuty's SHY GIRL AO

Update

There are never enough good excuses for an update. Doing things differently is always refreshing and always exciting. So, without further ado... I am going to update!

      New Blogger - We have a new blogger coming on-board. Ok, so she isn't exactly new. She is an alt of one of the other bloggers, but she has a different style that would fit perfectly with what we already have.
Wendy Densmith is a teen blogger. She will be styling suitable styles and funky stuff for the teens of SL. If you feel that your creations would be suitable for a fourteen to eighteen year old please contact Wendy in-world and she'll take a look. Also, if you have styling ideas for her, feel free to drop a notecard.

      New Look - I will be working on a new look and layout for the blog in the coming weeks. I want to make it look better, and be easier for you to read. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome in the comments, or directly to any of the bloggers.

      Updated Policies - I will be updating the policies today. The changes will be minor, but please check them before you drop notecards or review copies. I want to ensure that everything is going to the right place and that the bloggers aren't being inundated with things that they do not deal with. Do not worry if you do send something to the wrong place. We will either contact you, or we will do what we can internally.

      Open Blog Policy - This is an open forum. Feel free to comment, discuss and even submit posts if you want to. Want to try blogging? Contact Tracy Rubble or email tracyrubble@gmail.com with your post and any pictures. If it fits it will be posted. We are also looking for a couple more bloggers who would like to post regularly. This blog is all about the girls, but we would love to add people with different styles and even possibly a homes and furniture blogger. Get in touch if you would like to help.

      All of that said, welcome to the new era of G for Girl.

Tracy xx

Damn Phishing scams

So today was the day that nearly ended Second Life for me. I work as a sales assistant for a large store to earn the money to keep my store open, while working someone came in and spammed everyone on the sim about a free gift from her store. I went into the conference call and clicked her name to bring up the profile so I could copy/paste it into the ban list but instead caught the link, having a blonde moment I thought I'll just go take a look. The link brought up the login page and as Marketplace does that didn't think anything of it so logged in....what a stupid thing to do, the next thing I know I crashed in SL, although it wasn't a crash it was someone logging in on my account after they had changed the password.

Thankfully Linden Labs were on the case the minute I sent a contact form in and within a couple of hours I was allowed to change the password again and regain control of my avatar, some of the messages I received were quite nasty so I sent them an explanation/sorry IM and closed the window, one lady was very sweet about it.

My account, as far as the second life website is concerned is still in administration lock down and my L$'s are still missing but I have had an email saying I have a refund pending. If I had lost the account I would have shut the whole lot down and left SL, there is still a chance that I will loose the store as without the L$'s I had saved I will lose the land and not be able to pay the rent on my other stores but I hope it won't come to that. It may also have affected my reputation and that is something I rely on.

If anyone who reads this was affected by this scam through my avatar I would like to say a huge sorry, and would warn anyone to be very very careful over what they click on. I would also like to remind people that most of the avatars used for these scams are innocent victims especially if, like me, they have been in SL for many years and have a business of one form or other.

Ephedra Loon

Hair Fair 2012 - Discord Designs

My favourite thing about SL is the creativity. I love seeing creators who stretch the limits of the tools, simply to see what they can do. I love to see somebody find a workaround to ensure that they can create the item that they envisioned. I also love to see the detail that comes from somebody working so hard to make their idea a reality.

One person who has always awed me with her determination to break the mould and do something different is Kallisti Burns of Discord Designs. In the time that I have known Kallisti and her store I have seen her break many of the rules, designing hairstyles that I have never seen elsewhere and brining us some of the most realistic braids on the Grid. 

For this years hair fair Kallisti has gone one step further, uploading some fantastic mesh hairstyles.

The two styles above are just a selection of the goodies available a Discord Designs' Hair Fair location. The first is my solid favourite, Dhilon. I adore the ruggedness of the style. It's messiness adds the the realism. 

The second is Bouncer. A style that I was lucky enough to see some of the creation process. Bounder is a mohican style, created to resemble a close cut with many individual spikes. Again I love the realism. 

All of the styles on offer come complete with hair-bases that are designed to follow the design from the mesh onto the avatar. The braids have a base resembling the natural pulls of a scalp with tightly braided hair. Bouncer has a shaved scalp. 

Kallisti never lets a detail go, which guarantees you quality hair.

Style Card

Skin - Al Vulo - Georgie - Pink Blonde Cleavage Custard. R

Shape - My Own

Top - Angelred - Mesh Dani Sweater - Beige R

Hair 1 - Discord Designs - Dhilon - Natural Ginger (For Hair Fair) R

Hair 2 - Discord Designs  - Bouncer - Baby Blonde (For Hair Fair) R

One Voice - Standing together.

All Items available at One Voice.

Copyright issues affect all of us within SL. 

Designers and content creators watch as their hard work is stolen. Those thieves then go on to resell the creations under their own names, also stealing the credit. Or they might give it away for free and full perms. Either way the original designers are then hit with a loss in sales.

Honest shoppers are then stung. They find their favourite stores closing. They find prices rising whilst designers struggle to cover the costs of their losses. Those costs ranging from legal action to simply having to retire stolen stock. 

Eventually we will all be affected. We will lose the fresh content we all need to keep this world interesting. 

Recently Gala Phoenix of Curio was affected in a way we could never have foreseen. The DMCA process, designed to protect her intellectual property has failed her and now she is facing an expensive RL court battle to prove her rights and get her store back. 

More information here. 

Designers from across SL have come together to form One Voice. We're standing together to help Gala and to take a stand against theft. We're saying "this isn't okay." 

Come and join us. Head on over to the One Voice fair and pick up a few creations from your favourite designers. Every donation helps towards giving Gala a chance to defend her business. 

Every donation makes One Voice louder.

You know what to do.

- Style Card - 

Pose – Fatcat – Falbala 1 – R

Skin – Al Vulo – Georgie *Peacock Blonde Custard – R

Shape – My Own

Lashes Al Vulo – MEsh Lashes – R

Hair – Mina Hair – Charlize R (Comes with colour change hud)

Jewellery – Sax Shepherd Designs – Pitanga Jewellery Set – Mixed Cherry – R

Dress – SHUSH – Floral Dress White (Mesh) R

Shoes – N-Core – Shark 2 One Voice Edition - R

One Bad Pixel

Myself wearing Cherry Cheong dress in Pink and Cigarette pants in Red. 

BEFORE I SAY ANY MORE... GO THERE NOW!

I totally should have waited until I could boost up to ultra and take a picture but I have to share this with you all right now! I'm a mesh convert and it's the fault of a bunch of ladies at the launch party for new mesh brand One Bad Pixel.

As of this time we have no idea who the designers are behind the brand (See the store for a little "guess who" contest.)

I don't usually like mesh. I've never gotten my head around what size I am, and I hate tweaking to make my curvy figure fit. With these I didn't have to tweak a thing... and I'm a medium! Bonus!

I'll post more pictures when I can boost up graphics. But here's a few of the store (Which is so gorgeous it deserves some spotlight), the party and the pretties!

The exterior and Garden

The Interior

Glomesh Halter and Crop Jeans worn by RachelleMcmillan Resident

Lazy Days

One red balloon floats to the moon

Just let it fly away

I only know that I'm longing to go

Back to my lazy day.

(Enya - Lazy Day)

Too Lazy for words, so straight to the style card

Shape - My own

Skin - Ys & Ys Cara Etoile (for The Dressing Room)

Hair - Exile Paige in Beach (For The Dressing Room)

Earrings - Glow Studio Her Longest Earrings (For the Dressing Room)

Dress - Baiastice Gygi Mesh Dress (For the Dressing Room)

Location - Fotoscope

Gimme Some Skin

Live It All Out, Live It All In
Gotta Come Here Honey Gimme Some Skin

(Iggy Pop - Gimme Some Skin)

I always know what to expect when an Adam n Eve product lands in my inventory. I know that I'm going to get quality.
These three skins arrived yesterday and they're certainly no exception. Sachi has delivered yet again with smooth skin textures, kissable lips and realistic soft shadings.

(Style Card) 

Skins as labelled - All Adam n Eve  (R)

Shape - My Own

Hair - LeLutka Addison in Jessica

Eyes - Sterling Artistry Peaceful Eyes in Tranquillity

Lashes - Crissy Designs Irresistible Look Eyelashes

Pose - Exposeur Top Model - Anslee

Honey's I'm home!

A few months ago I made the hard decision to leave all of my friends, my business and everything I'd learned in Second Life behind. It wasn't a choice I made lightly, in fact it kind of crept up on me over a year or so.

The reasons for me leaving were complex and varied, but in general I had little spare time. What spare time I did have I wanted to spend with my RL family and getting RL happy. Months passed and RL got pretty amazing. Now things have changed.

My other half was forced to leave his job, so we're now both home all day long until he finds more work. Those who know my other half know that he's an amazing man who seems to spend his entire life doing things to show K and I how much he loves us. So it's no surprise that him being home all day means he's taken more than his fair share of the housework. He's also been decorating and catching up with the DIY and doing most of the school runs too! This has left me with big chunks of spare time that I can't fill up with studying or watching tv. So for the time being, I'm back!

This blog will be my main project within SL. I'll maybe do some small time designing for events and things where needed, but I don't have the L's behind me to run a store anymore (Sponsors welcome :p) <<< for those who feel the need, I AM JOKING.

So that's it. I'll be having a scan over the blog and making a few minor changes to the review policies and things over the next few days, but pretty much feel free to drag me into an IM if you want to talk.

It's lovely to be back.

Tracy x

Forever - RIP 12 years.

Twelve years ago this week I lost my best friend. 

I won't say how. 

I was almost 15 years old, he was 16. I never thought he wouldn't be there forever. 

We never took photographs, that wasn't really in our nature. I didn't think we needed to document memories. I never thought he wouldn't be there forever. 

Then he left. He chose to leave. I was left with the forever. 

Missing somebody never gets easier. It never goes away. Questions never get answered, and and what if's never get realised. 

Forever is a long time. 

Style Card 

Hair - LeLutka Addison Dark Red

Skin - Skintimate Vegas

Shape - My Own

Dress - Pink Box Sweater Dress -Black

Pose - Olive Juice Sit 2 

Location - Peaches Memorial Ground/Graveyard.

Bubblegum weekends

Look out on a summer's day,
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.

(Don Mclean, Starry Starry night)

-Style Card-

Hair - Exile Buffy - Roots Lapis (Platinum hunt 2011 gift)

Lashes - LeLutka Seductress volume sculpted lashes

Skin - Rockberry - Apple G Natural BLD Clv

Shape - My own

Dress - L'Abel Country Chic - Savanna Maxidress green

Glasses - Epic Kyoot nerdy glasses - teal (Gatcha Festival running now until 31August)

Sugar Dummy - Nzuri (shameless self promotion I know)

Sofa - What Next 

Plant pots - My own 

House - nordari - mint.apartment

B.Unique is now open

B.Unique is open. You've probably seen the teasers over the last few weeks, well here it is....for the opening each of the founders have created items for you that are unique.  These items will be available until the 28th July or until 50 of that item is sold after which they will no longer be available.

The founding members are Ayla Verity of Ayla's, Tracy Rubble of Nzuri, Sysy Chapman of Sysy, Sway Dench of Sway's and myself Ephedra Loon of DCD.

For more information and a closer look at the vendors please see the B.Unique blog or the Flikr

Be-Unique