Going All Mesh On Us

Easel with modern paintings and animations.

[kusshon] is going to change to only mesh items, so some old but still lovely sculpt stuff is going at 60L or less ... and there's a hunt on for 8 pumpkins filled with cute furnishings, two of them mesh, until November 1. Lludmila loves [kusshon] and the pun in the name. Cushions with a kiss! Beolas, das verdient einen Kuss.

Curved retro shelf.

Table with chairs and animations and props.

Delicate Queen Anne occasional tables and a precious
umbrella stand.

Cat Shelf Cuteness

Cutest Thing Evah: Cat Shelves. Gacha for 50L at Izzie's. Pick up the free dripping blood jewelry while you're there!

I Simply Remember ...

Lludmila waits for a house to rez at the
Collabor88 Home and Garden Showroom. 

I've been remiss of late - not posting anything on my blogs. I've got lots of good reasons. Well, reasons, anyway. It's hard to photograph, trim, write up, document items. So I have decided to just list a few favorite shops here - and post some photos if I feel like it.

This post is limited to houses and furnishings. I have no end of both - much of which was exceedingly cheap or free, "free" being my favorite color. But there are several shops I will go to and actually pay for things. Okay, I cheat with Trompe Loeil - I get that stuff from Collabor88. Oh, I dread the coming of Collabor88 each month - knowing how little resistance I have as well as how difficult it is to even get in there in the first week to ten days.

Frostbite Cottage, Willoughby Lakehouse, Cortona Villas,
Rustic Cabin, Beach Bungalow, oopsie - Outdoor Rock Shower,
Chatham Loft Skybox. Note how some houses hover in midair. 

So, that's my first shop: Trompe Loeil. I have counted 12 houses/buildings from Cory Edo, whom I follow on Plurk where she entices us with unfinished versions of things for Collabor88 and FaMESHed. I avoid FaMESHed because I think the wares there are over-priced. Some of these TL structures have only been deployed long enough for me to say, "Ooooo, miiiiine." I've lived in others. By "lived in" I mean I kitted them out with furnishings and spent some time with them. They are all gorgeous. They are perfection. And that is my only quibble with them. I don't live in perfection in RL, so a lack of scrapes and dings makes me uneasy. "Perfection" is not necessarily realistic.

Barton Creek Tower section, Caramel (with Trompe Loeil furniture),
the Moose that made me so happy, Westlake Mini in the trees.

I have only four buildings from L2 Studios, but I have used them all. L2S structures are all about dings. My absolute favorite house was the Caramel, which has been deployed several times. The Westlake Mini was out for ages because I liked it so much. By "ages" I mean many months. Second Life time works like dog years, only even faster. The Writer's Shed is now up on Awen - and is sprinkled with quirky things from Art Dummy, Kusshon, Ionic and Sway's.

The Writer's Shed - in some artsy midnight mode.

Waldinsel is littered with my buildings and Waldron suggested I could just pile them all up at 100 meter intervals, but he's nice enough to let me stick stuff all over and I don't want to wear out my welcome. And too many houses are distracting. Yonks ago there was a hunt on some island where you could get a coffee shop, if you found the egg or whatever the prim was, and that building lived in my inventory unused (typical) until recently. I was so intrigued by the overly generous freebie (I think an entire building with really nice textures is pretty darn generous) that I went to the shop's showroom and looked at all the houses. I picked one called, prosaically, "08" and purchased it. The two of them now stand side-by-side on a huge grass prim (oh, so much easier than trying to arrange a house on uneven ground), "08" now filled with almost every piece I've ever gotten from this last favorite shop-where-I-will-actually-pay-for-stuff, Zinnia's.

Cambodia inspired jungle pool (subscriber gift), psychiatrist
furniture, bathhouse (and HY's 08), more Zinnia stuff.
I'd add more, but frankly, there's so much. Go look at my
Flickr pages.

I love the colorful southwestern style from Zinnia's. Sure, I've accumulated some free stuff through the hunts from there, but I've also bought quite a bit. As colorful as it all is, it all seems to coordinate. I haven't been so happy with decorating since I found the moose head to put in the Westlake Mini (see L2S photos above). There is no more room in "08" and I've already had to remove a bed so I could put in a daybed instead. And if she puts out something else, I suppose I'll have to sacrifice some other furnishing to stick back in a file folder for a while.

There are so many other places with great things (Post is one that springs to mind), but these are the main three.

The Dreaming House is probably just up long enough
to admire it. Sigh.

Shops:
Trompe Loeil Mainstore
Collabor88 (Several favorite shops are regulars there - Clawtooth & Barnesworth Anubis, for example. Collabor88 opens on the 8th day of each month and is heck-on-toast to get into.)
L2 Studio
Zinnia's

Other Locations:
Lludmila's Pied a Terre in Awen (Wormhole to Chatham Loft skybox inside)
Willa Waldinsel (a collaborative work in progress)
Cafe Lludmila (just 'cuz)

Amazing Things

Annthrasite doesn't look out of place or anything. 

Annthrasite was innocently trying to wrangle some freebies out of Paisley Daisy when she saw a gorgeous fountain out in front of the shop. She clicked on it to see where it came from and got the landmark for the shop. Wow. The role-play oriented furniture is beautifully textured and detailed and low land impact - but not cheap. However ...

Hmm, seems to be available for another 18 days ...

They are holding a one year anniversary celebration with some snazzy freebies. So, hop along to aisling and just gape at how beautiful things are. Oh, and play Las Vegas with the gachas. There are some really cute vintage office accessories for 50L a try!

For You And Your Four-Footer

These hunts are getting tougher.

The HHVET sim is so pretty! And right now they're having a fun hunt where you find the animals and get the hunt prize ... without getting roasted or losing a virtual arm.

This will be a doddle. Just get it while he's yawning.

Lludmila really enjoyed it, and still has both her arms ... as well as ...

The haul.

... a huge haul of prizes. Above please see the gifts ostensibly for humans. Other prizes include accessories for the quadruped in your life (and if you don't have one, you can adopt one there or become one!) and some small animal avatars. Lludmila is tempted to become a snail and spend more time at the sim.

Prizes:

1. Starfish bottle
2. Large and small toadstool seats
3. Raven tree
4. A cat tree for displaying your breedables
5. Horsey headphones
6. Planter on a stool
7. Two Chinese wall hangings (ooo! who doesn't need more of that?)
8. Mouth weeds for large horse
9. Carrot mouth cookie treat for horse
10. Human display cage (strangely restful!)
11. Fall leaf branch for horse mouth
12. Peacock stained glass in bright or muted [pictured] colors (and modifiable!)
13. Knitted pear and apple mouth toys for horse
14. Tiny rump apple stand ... that gives apples
15. Snail av in 3 colors (can't wait to try this out!)
16. Small (-er than human) Seahorse av (ditto!)
17. Short dress in stately giraffe pattern
18. Park bench with critters (highest prim count - at 10!)
19. Mesh planter shaped like an elephant
20. Feed sack and hay rack
21. Tri-monkey wall plaque and mosaic donkey music box.

More photos at my Flickr page. 

Virtually Dreaming

Brown Cottage Chair set from the Lucky Chair.

Kathy dropped by Dreamland Designs just to take a gander, and went home with an inventory full of goodies. The furniture is stuffed with animations that give props when necessary.

Cozy Attic Chair set - FREE!

Lazy Days Beach Chair - 10L (just outside main door).

 While gathering information for this post, Kathy forgot which one was free and which was Lucky Chair, etc., so she scurried back and realized she missed the Sweet Candy Vintage Chaise for 10L.

Sweet Candy Vintage Chaise (just inside door), also 10L!

Rustic Blue Plaids Bedroom Set - alternate in the Lucky Chair.
"Where did all my clothes go?"

Plenty of naughty anims in the bedroom set, but also some
tame ones. Perhaps Kathy is reading a naughty book.

There's a Midnight Mania and a Mini-Mania board, so if you're persistent, you can really load up on some nice furniture. Oh, and I guess you could also buy some full price. Huh! Who'd do that? Oh, right - me.

Dreamland Designs

I Warned Y'All!

"Cottage"? "Cottage"?! This thing is eNORmous! But at least you can shrink it a bit.

Lludmila is a sucker for houses. She stalked the Collabor88 sim by map until the avatar count dipped below 50, took off all her prims and tp'd in for a purchase. She went to the demo afterwards to look it over, because that would have just taken time out of dancing with her friends (and the teleport sign was last to rez). Now she has this enormous tree house and nowhere to put it. It's silly to use it as a skybox.
But she warned you folks at Trompe Loeil! It's cruel and unusual punishment to produce these things and then sell them at such a low price. You were warned. We have no recourse but to punch your -

Late addition to March Collabor88.

Awwww, shhhhugar. You guys think of ev'rything.

Ya Sure, You Betcha!

I'm not sure. Are these really free?

Free at Ya's: sisal rug, Japanese furnishings, stepladder and potted plants, and a set of 3 terracotta jugs. Ooo, that snow looks refreshing! Might be worth visiting the mainstore, too!

Kathy's already starting to deploy some.

P-P-P-Perfect for the P-P-P-Parsimonious

Piddler's Perch 10L sale! 

Piddler's Perch is having a Our Favorite Things Sales Event - 15 cute items for only 10L each for a very short time. Nice animations (singles and couples), some color changes, but no-copy. If you are at all interested, do not wait.

Park Place FTLOH and MAH hunt prizes.

Two of the Park Place hunt prizes in February coordinate! Woo-hoo! Lludmila loves it when that happens! Pity she's allergic.

Sorry, no "P" in Hanaya's recent group gift.

Hanaya's has a sweet February Group Gift of reversible wall art. Sorry it doesn't fit in with the "P" theme, but ... it was Pretty!

Huntin' in the Courtyard

We thought we'd try the Courtyard Hunt because it was small (hints and slurls here) and furnishings oriented. Note: If you just wander around the Courtyard you'll find most of the shops, but also some other shops with, perhaps, cool free stuff. 

So, without further ado, here's our haul:

Seating from Dreamscapes Art Gallery

Dresser etc. from Chic

Skybox - looked all through my notes & can't figure out where it came from.
Nor can we find it. Cal must have deleted it after photo-ing.

This and more hunt gifts at Before Sleep

Wooden tree and DIY stool and crate from other hunts
also at Before Sleep.

No asparagus on this Spargel & Shine nighttable -
I have absolutely nowhere to put this, but it's gorgeous, innit?

Nautical Bench from L'aize Dayz

Cranes & sushi table from Shabby Tabby

Huge picnic from Creations Kitchen

Truly monumental artwork (resizable) from Kavisha's Gallery

Sushi & sake for two from PRIME

Lumiere & Persnickety hunt gifts and bonus gift clock at
Urban Daisies (not in the hunt - but we don't do this by halves).

Open plan house from Designer Prims

Bonus gift from Designer Prims! Color-changing daisies.
(Not sure about the one in the middle - perhaps vase didn't rez.)

Our New Favorite Shop

[Editor's Note: The gist of this is: cheap but really nice/fun furniture at this location.  Sometimes we just can't get Lludmila's typist to STFU.  Look at the pix but read on only if you're bored.]

Just when I think keeping my inventory below 42K is a goal I can stick with, I return to the freebie blogs and see things that look interesting.  I was perusing this post on what's New in 2013 hunt and thinking, yeah, yeah, blah-blah, yadda-ya ...And then: Ooo!  A new little housie!  Now, it looked an awful lot like one I already had, but when has that stopped me before?  It's free, innit?  I must have it, even if it is similar.  This one looked like it had little window boxes.  Maybe Lludmila will want little window boxes the next time I deploy a little house by the water.  So I trip along to HC Creations.

I'm first to admit I'm a bit of a thickie.  Even with the hint provided from the hunt blog I'll have trouble locating the hunt prize, and even if I do find it right away, I'll look around to see if there is anything else interesting.  In the process of doing this at HC Creations, I ran across this punching bag and amused myself by punching and kicking it a few times.  Oh, very funny.  Wouldn't that be handy if Lludmila's typist has had a  bad day in RL(tm)?  Work off some frustration on a punching bag?  Ha ha, I thought.

Punching Bag 89L

I finally located the prize (confusing myself between US and UK definitions of "first floor" when I should actually be thinking German, apparently) so I was wandering among the beds and thought I'd look at one that seemed cute from a distance with colors I'm sort of partial to (aqua and brown combos) and had Lludmila sit on it.  It was set to jumping on the bed, which amused me.  So, because I have been looking for a new bed for a current skybox (and, of course, the dozens of other beds in my inventory weren't good enough), I thought I'd look at the price.

Letter bed with more textures than you could believe - 79L.

And that's when my whole world moved under me.  If it were possible, Lludmila would have fallen off the bed.  This bed, with singles and couples (and so some naughty) animations and texture changes was 79L.  Lludmila staggered up and down the shop wondering how they could charge that for a bed she thought might go for 250L (which would cause some real agonizing to pay, but could be worth it ... but please keep in mind that I have paid 3,000L for a horse - but that's a horse, for crying out loud, that Lludmila could ride and did all sorts of things and so far has not ended up in the water like all other vehicles she drives).

Lludmila and her horse Major chatting w/ her alopeciac landlord.

So, I'm afraid we went a teeny bit crazy there.  Then it was bedtime in RL(tm) and I had to quit, but thought I'd go back if what I unpacked today was worth it.

OMG.  And here it is:

" ... Kumbayaaaaa." Wicker set of chair, plant, tea set generating table,
rug, and guitar pillow ... 20L. Yes, you read that right.

Rezzing greenhouse that includes color change
accessories and plot of grass. Ummm, not many Ls - 79L.

Massage table, plant, accessories, & sequential anims: 129L.

Pillow pile that goes with the letter bed w/ one anim per  pillow: 9L.

I did go back.  I had to have that punching bag and wanted to confirm some prices before blogging.  It was hard to not buy a whole bunch of other stuff, so Lludmila just tried them out.

Hahaha - our view upon arrival.

Deck chair  with many, many anims - 15L

Innertube with anims and rotation: 39L.

Some of the reading material supplied.

I recommend this shop.  The items and textures are good, the animations are good animations, and the prices are more than just affordable.  Partially this is because some of the items are not copy.  So, if you want your bed in 7 houses, you'll have to buy 7 of them.  Lludmila and I don't furnish places to be identical, so that's not a problem.  I don't mind no-copy, as long as I remember to take and not delete them.  Not all items are no-copy, but just be aware.

Oh, and then while I was wandering around one last time, I found this for just 1L.  Don't anyone tell these folks they don't know how to charge for their furniture.  I beg you.

Sensual pose lounger - 1L  ... ONE?!  Holy shhhugar!

Addendum: Someone asked about primmage.  Items with more than one object will vary depending on how much of it you deploy, but here's the general breakdown:

Wicker set with guitar: 24 prims
Punching Bag: 11 prims
Massage set: 26 prims
Lludmila's bed (because they vary): 8 prims and 43 textures
Greenhouse set: about 33, the greenhouse itself is 2 prims and the primmiest item is the meadow with 8 prims
The hunt item cottage (not pictured) is 25 prims without accessories.  27 primsworth of accessories rez, but can be removed piecemeal.
Oh, and the massage table set was 129L. What was I thinking?! I must have just had a shopping fugue overtake me!