A little free posing gem!

Tonight I was browsing on marketplace for HUDs, and was surprised to find a pose hud for...free! That's right, 0L. I never thought that pose hud and free would ever be in the same sentence! This hud is called Kokopelli HUD. It is pretty simple, you just rez a copy onto the ground, drop in your poses of choice, and then take it back into your inventory.

For this post, I just put in 2 poses and named it "test", as you can see. My main image is actually three pictures combined.
On the far left of my image, that is how the hud looks like when you attach it. The center is me, in the pose that I selected. I will explain the far right when I explain the button functions, which is right under this. (By the way, my eye lock here is not included with the hud)

Top button on the hud brings up the menu on the far right of the above image. In that menu, it is just as you see. You can select your pose this way. T-pose is just your regular pose that you find in most posing stands, similar to the stance in appearance mode.
Left and Right buttons allow you to go through your poses one at a time.
Center button turns the hud on and off. You would know it is on if you see the pose name above the top button as it is in my image.
Finally, the bottom button is said to lock your pose, so that if someone runs into you on a sim, you don't lose your pose. I haven't tested that because I don't shoot outside of my skybox. Onto the pros and cons now.

Pros:
-It's free! No more old fashioned click to hide pose stands that eat prims that are the only free alternative.
-It's simple, and straightforward. Great for people who like to take pics.
-It has an appearance mode stance, which is great for postioning things and wanting to demo hairs, skins, etc.

Cons:
-The hud is a little small in it's size on my screen (just my opinion so not really a real con)
-Every time you add or delete a pose from the hud, it is always asking for your permission. Say you have a set of 3 poses that you want to add. If you add them all at once, it will ask for your permission 3 separate times.
-It places itself a little off center on your screen. You can probably try to fix that but I didn't want to lose the hud, just in case.

I know, that was a lot of writing, but the pros outweigh the cons, and it is a pretty amazing for a free pose hud. Check it out for yourself here!

Others:
-Hair: Truth Hair - Rhonda
-Skin: My UglyDorothy - Precious (black)
-Eyes: Insufferable Dastard - Darkest Browns - Black (2)
-Top: Sleeping Koala (FabFree hunt gift, available until Sept. 30)
-Jeans: Cracked Mirror - Mambo Jeans - grey (mesh)
-Pose: Frooti - Sweet - 5

Sweet, and almost free Tangerine Tango

RezIpsa Loc redesigned their store, and in celebration, there's a cute dollarbie gift! I have no idea how long it would be around, so go get it soon! This gift includes a t-shirt, tights, and nails all in the tangerine tango color. I am wearing the t-shirt and nails below.

Speaking of gifts, a new pose shop opened yesterday and it is called no wow! They have a free pose set available as a gift. I am using two of the poses below, but there are 4 poses in the gift! In the subscriber, there is also a pose set as well too. I also have no idea how long the gift will be out so be sure to check it out soon.

Others:
-Hair: Fab-U-Lous - Lala
-Skin: Avatar Generation(Nzuri line) - Nia Dark
-Eyes: IKON Utopia Eyes - Dark Brown
-Tattoo Lashes: Mock Cosmetics
-Jeans: Mon Tissu - Nora skinny jeans - dark (mesh)
-Feet: SLink - Women Natural Barefeet (Rigged Mesh) (mesh)

My Favorite Holiday "Stuff"

Most of my blogging time is spent on wearable items.  But without all the amazing "stuff" in SL, it would be as boring at the platform where I spend most of my SL time.  Lots of awesome creators of home items, animations and other things that make SL fun have jumped on the holiday bandwagon by either participating in hunts, advent calendars, 12 days of Christmas, and other ways and I wanted to take the time to feature some of my favorites.  This is in no way an exhaustive list but a few I found worth the trips around the grid.

I would be completely remiss if I didn't start with FD Decor.  My friend, Fallacy DeCuir, has her entire sim decked out with holiday goodies.  I swear it has more stuff than Bronner's Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan, which is a place my grandparents lived near when I was a child and once caused my then 5 year old son to have his first anxiety attack, which he remembers to this day as "chest".  If any of you know Fallacy, she tries to make off as if she is some scary mean girl but I think she is a doll and anyone that makes little flowers with happy faces definitely has a bark worse than her bite.  You have to go there if only to see her sim.  When you get over the shock and find the main store, you will find several lucky chairs and lucky presents with awesome prizes.  She also has a log cabin in the Midnight Mania as well as participating in several hunts.

Next is C&D Designs.  Lovely Cherelle Capra, sister of Helena Stringer, fellow Free*Styler and maker of wild hair (we miss her terribly), has been creating for as long as I can remember.  Cher frequently sends out gifts to her subscriber groups (supposedly a big one is coming as soon as tomorrow).  She also has some spectacular items out in hunts right now.  The two builds in the collage are hunt items.  She also is participating in Royal Living's Snowman Hunt, which ends on the 15th.  Those items cost 45 L each but are huge gifts worth hundreds more.  I apologize for forgetting to take a photo.  Cher also has an advent calendar at her store for members of her inworld group.  The cost of each of those items is 1 - 10 L.  The group is free to join now until 12/24.  The group will have a fee after that and an extra special gift is planned for December 25 so get in now if you have the space.

Lots of bloggers have been showing items for the With Love Hunt.  It is one of my favorite hunts right now and I will easily shell out 10 L for such high quality items.  This includes a sample of some of the non-avatar items, though I did want to also mention Adorkable and Status, who have really nice pose packs in the hunt.

Page Eames from LaFlat gave me permission to use her and Plurabelle Laszlo of Bliensen&MaiTai's ad texture for their 12 days of Christmas event which began today.  The two designers will provide free gifts for the next 12 days at their adjoining shops.  I adore these two women and highly recommend the visit.

A new place to me, Dirty Little Secret, has a in-store hunt going on through the 25th with 10 prizes to find.  I am showing one, the tree stump lounger, but there are others from furniture to cuffs/collars.  They are hidden in the store and enclosed area as well as the skybox store.

Baby Monkey's 12 days of Christmas begins tomorrow with this gift.  Yeah, this stuff is wearable but this is always a very popular event and includes shoes and accessories.  It is free to everyone.  The group is currently closed to new members as there is a big celebration but make sure to check out the numerous lucky boards, the midnight mania as well as super-cheap (like 10 L) cute shoes during your visit.  You can find the item hidden in one of the ornaments on the tree.  Pixieplumb Flanagan has told me she will keep each gift up for a few days in order to give more people a chance to get them.  A new gift will be added daily.

Other places I've really enjoyed this holiday season have been the Advent Calendar at KittyCats, which Sileny mentioned in a previous post.  All items are free and I was able to get past gifts which I had missed, which was a really nice feature.   Also, Sway's, as in previous years has a fantastic advent calendar.  Her's are a bit challenging because you have to go find the hints but it has definitely been worth it.  Zacca and nonino have joined in this year and made it really special.  Adorkable has also been giving out a free pose every day during the holiday season and there are still several more to pick up.  She is also participating in the With Love and POE hunts so she is offering an insane amount of free poses right now.

All these designers have put in countless hours at little to no compensation to provide us with wonderful gifts.  When I think about where to spend my lindens, I feel it's important to support folks like the people I've written about above.  Give back if you can!

Credits:
FD Decor Collage: (clockwise from flowers): Candy Cane Hunt, POE Hunt, Lucky Chair Prize, Traditional Christmas Hunt, Lucky Chair, Lucky Chair, Lucky Chair.

C&D Designs: (clockwise from fishing shack): POE Hunt, H&G Traditional Christmas Hunt, Subscriber gift (today), packaging (sometimes I love this as much as the gift! Am I alone out there in this?)

With Love Hunt: (clockwise from Lamp Post): each item 10 L
Lost Angel: Winter Street Lamp: multipose
Awesome Blossom: Madison Loft Skybox
Artilleri: Bixleta Toaster Fatpack
Intrigue Co.: Unicorn Carosel (w/ and w/o rainbow - but why wouldn't you?)
oOo Studio: Cozy: multipose
Hanaya: Canadian Cedar Greenhouse (winter)
Adorkable Poses (not pictured)
Status Poses (not pictured) sim seems to be down!  Look up Gidge Uriza's profile, leave her random IM's and find the store location in her picks.

LaFlat/Bliensen & MaiTai 12 days/12 gifts

Dirty Little Secret: 2011 Holiday Hunt

Baby Monkey 12 Days of Christmas - begins TOMORROW

Bullwinkle ABB Hunt item

Bullwinkle. is taking part in the American Bazaar Birthday Hunt (ABB hunt) and this tank is their prize. It's not at all hard to find. The hint that I will give you is that it is on the first floor. It will be available until September 30.

Also, did you hear that SocialANGtz is having a sale from today (September 4th) to September 11th? Single poses are only 10L, and pose packs are only 50L! I am using one of the poses in the picture below.

Others:
-Hair: eha* Shino (Black Ash; tinted much darker)
-Skin: Chain and Vine - Lian - Tone 7 CHO
-Eyes: Fashism
-Tattoo Lashes: Mock Cosmetics
-Capris: Fri.day

Pink Outfitters 50L sweater!

Pink Outfitters has a new release of the Evalina Sweaters, and until the end of the month (February 28th), you can buy the pink sweater for only 50L! You can find this sweater on the first floor and left side of the store.

As for the cute poses I'm using, they are from estetica for Humpday Happiness tomorrow and part of a pack of 12 yoga poses. For today only, (February 23rd, 2011) you can buy the pack for only 69L!

Others:
-Hair: Fab-U-lous
-Skin: DUTCH TOUCH
-Eyes: JM:Mai
-Undershirt: S:ychophany (not available, store closed)
-Jeans: [Decoy]

Mystic Sky Valentine's Lucky Cupcake

You can win this fab Belladonna gown in the Lucky Cupcake at Mystic Sky through Sunday.  Here is the deal:  The gown requires two parts to be won.  You are looking for Belladonna Gown Box 1 and Box 2.  The dip is set on a 3 minute timer and there are more prizes than gags so your odds of winning are better than average.  I really like this idea as it could go faster than a lucky chair.  And if you are really impatient, like me, there is a 50% off sale on all Red and Pink clothing items in the store and this gown is included.

You can also win a matching accessory for your hair and a set of red checkered eyes.

Also for pose lovers, FD Poses has included 2 couples poses for 50% off.  You can also pick them up at Mystic Sky.

Thank you, Skyler John of Mystic Sky and Foxx Demonia of FD Poses, for your generosity!

Orange Not!

I thought it time to show something beyond orange since most of the world does not celebrate Halloween like us in the States.  Sari's has an adorable dress out that is free right now called Lil' Lilac.  It is simple (but very well made) and bursting with color...so nice because you can dress it up with an array of accessories.  The flats I am wearing are free color change flats at Baby Monkey, which is also having a half-off on all pink shoes until the end of the month with funds going towards breast cancer awareness. Sari's dress would look great with dreadlocks and a bulky scarf but I went another way with it because I went on a spree last night at Festivale, which is marking it's one year anniversary with lots of sales.

Tiny Bird has all it's hair packs (men's, too) marked half-off right now.  I am wearing Into My Arms and I love the extra hairpin you can wear in your mouth.  Orchid Zenovka of Deco has to be my one of my all time favorite jewelry makers and I was stoked when I found she had new items that were half price.  I am wearing the Cerebellum Charm set which includes little brain earrings and a necklace with skulls, spiders and a brain as charms.  She made the coolest "Jackie O" style glasses that I am in love with.  Also, if you are collecting Halloween items she has a great pair of pumpkin earrings that are only 25 L right now at the Festivale sim.

Don't forget to go to Long Awkward Poses, too.  All pose sets are half off and this is the last week you can get the pose packs with both priority 3 and 4 poses (P4 overrides your AO).  Beginning Monday the only P4 will be available so it's a good time to stock up.  I am using poses from the SLex and the City and Red Carpet Diva sets.

Fly Me to the Moon

Voshie Paine of La Petit Morte is offering the coolest dollarbie until November 1st.  It is a pose set that includes the Moon against a black backdrop and a broom with pose.  It is absolutely perfect for Halloween posing.  The outfit I am wearing is the very fetching Spiderweb in orange that you can get for only 10 L at Viviane Fashions.  It includes the shoes, which have spiders on the toes. Follow the red arrow to find it.

The skin I'm wearing is currently free right now at Cupcakes!  It is from the new Daydream line, which is a huge favorite of mine.  It is has exclusive fairy makeup.  Also, each day Mimi and Rosemary, Cupcake goddesses have a different makeup version of the new line marked down to 100 L.  PS. If you are looking for the lucky chairs and cupcake, they have been removed until because they were causing excessive lag and failed transactions.  Look for it again when they can purchase their new sim.

Hair: fascino: Licio: not free

Paint Splatted and Androgynous

This post is for the girls who are boys who like boys to be girls, who do boys like they're girls who do girls like they're boys

Random Fashions has a free (or 1L) paint splattered suit upstairs and everything else on that floor is 10L - OMGWTF!!



Check it...all clothing worn below is 10L Random Fashions.

By the way, it's the WIFE's fault I made Eisa look like a sex offender here. We are totally into the MiA skins and she made me get the one with the tasche. Guys, you must check out these skins, they are GORGEOUS (they don't all have facial hair)



Come on boys, get brave with your colours and patterns. Guys look cool in animal print too ya know! (think Rod Stewart...ummm....yeah)




All clothing by Random Fashions .(paint splat suit 0/1L all other clothing 10L)

-MiA- Male Medium Skin-Suave
Female Skin: Adrianna - Bazy (not free)
Chucks - Akeyo (not free)

The female hair worn above is a group gift by Rock Candy. You must check out the store too, upstairs you will find lots of 1L and 10L clothing, hair, AOs which suit males and female and those who are a combo of both. I've shown only a small selection of items below.



Boy Pants for 5L for a set of 5 at Rock Candy



Shape, Poses, Hair, Pants, Jacket, Boots all from Rock Candy (1L - Shape 25L)
Skin and grey tshirt by Garbage Prototype at Gnubie Store(0L)

Moar Shopping to the MAX

YAY, I had the perfect RL shopping expedition today!


Gift boxes with Anim: Stitch By Stitch (1L)

I needed to buy an outfit for a girly night out tomorrow, so off I went into town. The first shop I visited...THERE IT WAS, the perfect dress...and only £25 (so of course I had to spend a fortune on accessories, because the dress was so cheap).

I was only shopping for an hour, which is not enough, so I logged onto SL to quench my shopping urges and look what I picked up. Many of these were found whilst I was doing the Footprint Hunt, but not all items are part of the hunt.


Skirt and Jacket found in 2 stockings (Footprint Hunt) : Anuenue (0L)
Colour changeable Hat/Hair: (Footprint Hunt) Waka & Yuki (0L)
Xmas Skin: Sin &Secrets (1L)


Pucci Dress found in gingerbread man (Footprint Hunt): C'est La Vie (0L) - there are 2 gifts there but I only found one
Hair: Glitter (Group Gift, join group and look in notices)
Shoes: Fuel: (not free)

Both of these following cute dresses are free group gifts in the C'est la vie store and include the poses

Dresses: C'est la vie (group gifts in store)
Blonde Hair: Glitter, Footprint Hunt gift found in stocking (0L)
Hat Hair: Waka & Yuki (as before)
Socks: The Sock Shop (1L)
Skin: Tuli (previous group gift)

I hunted high and low for the Footprint gift at LikeA but no luck there, until I saw the group joiner in store, clicked to join and look what I found in the notices. The most amazing jeans which can be worn in various styles




Jeans: LikeA (group gift, look in notice archives)
Jacket: Anuenue Footprint hunt gift as before
Hair: Waka & Yuki Foot print hunt gift as before

Sole Sisters have a really cute pair of white Holly Shoes as a 1L holiday gift in store, love these. Other colours are available for 100L



Jeans: LikeA (corrected LM) Group gift (as before)
Holly Shoes in white: Sole Sisters (1L)

Have I missed anything? Ok i'm going back to LikeA (corrected LM) to see if i can find the hunt gift. This is a great store.

I'm cooooold

Today is the first day of snow here in my part of Scotland. It's freeeezing! It's not that lovely white fluffy snow though, its the wet, sleety grey stuff, the one positive thing about it was my kids actually wanted to leave the house earlier for school this morning because they were excited - the wierdo's! I think I will have to hang out at warm sunny places in SL to make myself feel better.

I've got another lovely mix of stuff to show you here today.

This is the So Chic outfit by Thalia Fashion Collection
Whoops my bad! I saw the free group gift text on this sign but it is not this outfit which is free. The outfits on the other side of this sign for this outfit are free and lovely too. Thanks to Schnaeppchen for pointing this out.

OUTFIT NOT FREE, sorry for misleading anyone, I'm half asleep still.


I found the Meu and Ska Shack store on a shopping trip around Osaka a few days ago and it has some great free gifts. Meu has really fun girly stuff, vintage style with bold prints, I really love. The top was not free (only 80L), the skirt was a free gift and there are some Tshirts there too.


Also worn (not free):
Barber Hair: yumyum
Skin: :: DUTCH TOUCH :: Skin Indie Summer MU 7

Here's one I've been meaning to post for a while, the fantastic Stuka dress, lucky chair gift at Blue Blood . I have been wearing this permanently over the past 3 days. Thank God we don't get smellyvision on SL.



Fantastic new free outfit in the Blue Blood store too.


Also worn
Wild Woman Hair: MiaSnow
ByrneDarkly skin: MiaSnow (not free)
Ribbon Boots: Shiny Things (not free)

We have a new little store at Blue Blood, there's a small collection of items there so far (if you would like to provide a free or 1L gift let me know) .

I made these a couple of AO's a few weeks ago and today seems like the perfect day to blog them. You can find these at the Free*Style Blue Blood location.

Cooold AO's, one for men and one for women. They show perfectly how it feels to live in Scotland today. They are 1L each (or pay what you wish.)

If you click on the photo and view it in original size in Flickr you can see these animated

♫ Truuuly Scrumptious ♫

♪ We 3 are truly scrumptious ♬

Voshie Paine TP'd me to see the scrummy new hair from DP yumyum today. I even fell in love with the demo's, they make you hold these little cakes in a knife and fork. I wish that we could get the cakes and poses seperately...but until then I'm gonna wear the demo 'cos it's sooo cute. (Oh and I bought the hair too)


Big thanks to pretty Liri Jewell for posing with us here.

So then I saw a sign FREEBIES in the store and cammed over, saw some goodies which I already had, so cammed further around the wall...lo and behold...NEW 1L DRESSES..wooohhhhhooo!

Lokum Shilova of Rezzable TP'd us over to Greenies Lawn Rezzable to take our photo's, this place is the perfect setting for flouncing around in these pretty dresses.

This cute 3 person 'Love Hearts' pose was a free gift from Snookies.


Button and Rose Dresses DP yumyum (1L each)
Secret Friday Dress in Brown, DP yumyum (36L)

If you haven't been to Greenies lately you must check it out, this garden makes you feel like a little tiny fairy.

This Greenie looks like he's been overdoing it on the sunbeds, he's radiating!


Much thankies to Voshie and Lokum for modelling in these pics with me

You will also get to meet Lady Bartlok the frog and give her a lovely big kiss, she likes that!

[13:20] The wind in the grass whispers: Lady Bartlok of Lawnpond looks very happy.


Next on my travels. I hadn't visited UnTone for a little while, this is another store I really love. Outside the store they have a little truck with this adorable check pants and sweater, both free.


*UnToneQuilt* Check pants (0L)
*UnToneQuilt* Duck brown sweatshirt (0L)
*UnToneQuilt*patchwork bootee (not free)

Inside the store you will also find some gorgeous free earring (just seen) and this bangle. The skin I am wearing here is a group gift from Glanz. See the Skin Love blog for more details and pics of the different makeups. They are absolutely lovely!
If you are a skin hoar like me, please bookmark the Skin Love blog as they are not on the feed yet. I'm showing some free skins on there when I have the time too.



Hair: barberyumyum*11(M)/honey, yumyum (120L)
Skin: koharu - pale.Red, Glanz (Group Gift in store)

Also, not quite done yet...here's some info aspiring models may find interesting.

Voshie has opened a modelling agency called Nocturne, and is having an open call for models.
She is looking for unique looking avatars. Are you different from the rest?

Here's some info copied from the notecard.

Are you a vampire, a Neko, a burlesque and curvy pinup, a latex diva or gunslinger? Do you have a distinctive look? Do you feel comfy being different from the normal SL Barbie or Ken? Perfect! Then you might be just the right model for us.

Do you like to work with ambitious models in a highly-motivated and experienced team environment? Do you know which light setting makes a pale vampire skin look sexy? Have you got enough patience to wait until a Neko's ear stops twitching? Then you might be the right photographer to work with us.

If you think you are the man/woman/not of this earth person, for the job, please contact Voshie Paine for an application for or visit Nocturne.

You will also find some unique free poses at the agency created by Helianthus Mesmer.

MnM Hunt, and it is a hunt....oh yes....

....AKA, the most confusing hunt in the virtual world (if you don't speak Japanese).
Once I had completed it though, in hindsight it was really rather simple. Info on the MnM website HERE

So the hunt started yesterday and runs through to 24 Nov and you win wonderful prizes from *BP, MCH and Honey Kitty.

You begin at the Okinawa sim, you are looking for a large acorn which appears randomly in certain locations. It is the same acorn which appears all of the sim, so you don't need to collect them from all over the sim. I found 3 places it where the acorn appears but there are more locations.

The 3 places I found acorns


BUT, it's not as simple as you collect an acorn and you get a prize...oh no! you are sent on a trail for your prize, you have to work for it.

When you collect an acorn you are also given a notecard which gives landmarks to 3 more locations : Electro Kitty, MnM at Glass Earth and MnM at Oz. So my tip is, stay where you are and keep collecting around 8 or more acorns (in case lag swallows them, which happened to me).

Go to one of the locations on the notecard you are given (it is the same notecard with each acorn), where you will find treasure chests.
Click on the chest to open, see your name above the chest.
Ctrl + drag the acorn from your inventory into the open chest)
*You don't need to put an the acorn in every chest. I have written on the photo's below how many acorns you need at each location, please read the pictures carefully.

The 3 locations on the notecard given with the acorns.


When the chest accepts your acorn (any problems please read the MnM blog), you will be given a leaf which says *wear* and a notecard with the prize location LM.



Take your leafs to the prize location and touch a chest to open. When you see your name above the chest drag your leaf into the chest.
Honey Kitty and MCH have the same prize in each chest so you only need one leaf for these. BP* has 3 prizes so you need 3 leaves.

BP* has 3 gifts, drop a leaf into a chest at gift 1, 2 and 3 location as shown on the photo below.


You only need to drop a leaf in 1 chest at Honey Kitty and MCH as they all contain the same prize


After all your efforts, well what do you win? Cute stuff, that's what!




Gorgeous Smooch pumps worn above are from Vinyl Cafe, free for a limited time




The skirt and top worn above are by Pink Outfitters. The top is a group gift (search Pink Outfitters and look in notice archives) and the skirt is 1L in the Pink Outfitters store.

The Xmas tree with couple pose shown below is also a BP* prize, comes in snow particle or no particle version and different sizes.

Here I am posing with my real life cousin (SL name 'Chapman'). He's wearing a normal male shape here for a change, he normally looks like a turkey in SL. I remember when he was born...arghhhghghghghghg (I feel old now)


Big thanks to Jojoruno, elka lahane and a lovely mysterious girl called Teshi (who if she reads this blog won't realise it was me, as I was playing an alt) for helping me with this hunt.

Also to my fellow confused hunters Zuzu and Uma Ceawlin for making me realise that it was not only me who felt like a total retard doing this hunt. XD