Acha and I weren’t close friends, but she’s still played a major influence in my SLife.  Her blog has inspired me and introduced me to awesome new-to-me stores.  She encouraged me when I first started blogging.  She encouraged me when I first started creating.  She wrote copy for my store when I was first starting out, and her generous words inspired me to work harder and be better, to try and live up to her elegant descriptions.  By including me as a tiny part of her blog in various Not Me posts, she gave me a sense of being part of the greater community.  By featuring early Vanitas Vesture on her blog, she made me feel like I was “somebody” in my own small way.

So, in honor of Acha, here’s my response to the Same Damn Thing challenge.  (Acha’s original concept is here, and more info on the redux is here.)(...)
Read the rest of For Acha: Same Damn Thing (388 words)

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Post tags: Achariya, Dark Mouse, Elikatira, Illusions, Kyoot, L.Fauna, Long Awkward Pose, Mynerva, Same Damn Thing, Schadenfreude, Sea Salts, SLink, Tres Blah

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Credits:
Hair: Shag – Sylph – Starlight (Seasons Hunt gift)
Lashes: sur+ Aurora Borealis Lashes (Seasons Hunt gift)
Skin: Tres Blah {Tan} Blessa: Bardot – Red Brows
Kyoot Makeup – Cateye 1 (Winter 1) (Seasons Hunt gift)
Wings: =HooT= Frozen Wings (Seasons Hunt gift)
Hands: (...)
Read the rest of Seasons Hunt: Silver (61 words)

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Post tags: Blowpop, Creamshop, Elate, Hoot, JE*Republic, Kyoot, Shag, skin&bones, SLink, sur, Tres Blah

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I bought a new tarot deck last month, and have been trying to learn to read the cards.  It’s been an interesting process, working to learn the symbology of the imagery and internalize the fundamental message of each card.

I’ve always been fascinated by the visual imagery of tarot, and as I study the cards and their meanings, I get drawn into the visual possibilities — I want to design my own deck, and create tarot-based paintings and SL tableaux.  I want to make the creative process part of the learning process.

I’ve read through a couple books at this point, and have begun re-reading them, doing the learning exercises suggested this time around.  Today is exercise 1.1: What do I believe about Tarot? Am I “totally skeptical about using the tarot for anything but fun”, or am I “absolutely convinced that the tarot can give me specific, personal guidance?”

I suppose (...)
Read the rest of Gypsy (220 words)

© SarahTheRed for Red and Re-read, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Fri.day, L.Fauna, Long Awkward Pose, Magic Nook, R.A.Crystal, SLink, The Loft, Tres Blah, Wishbox, Zaara

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From top to bottom:

Miriel Realistic Eyes in Muted Hazel are, unfortunately, no longer available in-world, but they remain favorites.  The coloring on these is perfect, with just the right shade of green around the edges, with the heavy amber haloing around the pupil.

I love the size of the irises and pupils in Eponym Fallen Eyes in Chicory, and the shading around the edge of the iris.  The hint of pink in the corners is nice, hinting at realism without getting too veiny.

Kunstkammer Surrealist Eyes in Olive Green really capture the detail of the human iris, with its weird structure, like transparent bits all layered over each other and jumbled a bit.  The muted coloring is very natural.

SLink‘s Eyescream Eyes in Flecked Forest are smouldering, with nice shading along the top of the whole eye, where the eyelid casts a shadow.  I also like the soft blurred edge of the pupil.

Disclaimer: I’m acquainted with some of the designers shown here.  However, I only blog things I like, regardless of affiliations or gifts.

© SarahTheRed for Red and Re-read, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Eponym, Kunstkammer, Miriel, SLink

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I seriously love shoes; just ask my husband.  You may have noticed I’ve blogged one or two pair of shoes for the Footwear Expo.  It’s closed now, but all the footwear is available at the designers’ shops.

I’ve saved my favorite footwear grouping for last.  The thing is, sometimes you don’t want to wear shoes.  Sometimes it’s nice to be barefoot.  Sometimes being barefoot is the best design decision, for a particular look.  But, but, the system feet are so hideous!  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen some very well-done skins, but skin creators don’t have a lot to work with, when it comes to our sad club feet.

Siddean Munro, creator behind SLink, has delivered us all from system feet.  I’ve been enamored with her bare feet since they were released; they were my first adventure in prim feet (I fought them for so long!)  For ladies, we have a choice of four foot silhouettes, from flat-footed to tiptoe, and the recently released extreme pointe foot.  (Gentlemen also have a few barefoot options, so men, you’re not left out!)

Now, I’m still not as good as tinting the feet as I’d like to be, but practice will make perfect, and the tinting HUD is very easy to work with.  The shading on the foot is incredibly detailed, with shadows between the toes, where light wouldn’t hit, and highlights indicating the underlying tendon structure.  Delicate subtle veins trace the top of the foot.  There are of course a variety of toenail options — both colored nail polish, and a range of natural nail shades to suit different skin tones.  I adore these feet, and if you’ve even once considered going bare-foot in-world, I’d suggest you give these a try.  Demos are free, after all.

Feet, left to right:
SLink- Jolie Pied Bare Feet, from left to right: Flat, Medium, Tiptoes, Extreme Pointe

En Scene Credits:
Hair: Tiny Bird – Precious Things – Stein Silver (tinted)
Skin: Imagen Skins – Irene 2.0 – Este – Natural (promotional sample)
Bubbles: Reasonable Desires Strippable Bubble Costume
Feet: SLink – Jolie Pied Bare Feet Tiptoes
Bathtub: The Loft – Oriana Bathtub

Disclaimer: Medium feet, Extreme Pointe feet, and Imagen skin are promotional samples.  I’m acquainted with some of the designers shown here.  However, I only blog things I like, regardless of affiliations or gifts.

© SarahTheRed for Red and Re-read, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Imagen Skins, Reasonable Desires, SLink, The Loft, Tiny Bird

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Clock’s a-tickin’, folks, Footwear Expo ends tonight!

There are several shoes styles that defy easy categorization, like these two.  Sure, technically, they’re flats and boots, but really, their unique function means they don’t quite fit in.  The pointe shoes on the left include prim feet, allowing the ribbons to really form to the foot.  The shiny rubber rainboots had me itching to find a nice rainy sim to splash around in.

The three shoes above also don’t fit nicely into standard categories, but then, normal isn’t really (...)
Read the rest of Footwear Expo: Specialty Shoes (261 words)

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Post tags: Aitui, Armidi, Creamshop, Demina Design, G Field, Imagen Skins, Kari & TW, Kitties Lair, Lazy Places, Philotic Energy, Pulling Strings, SLink, Smile Shop Fukuoka, Sn@tch, Surf Couture, Tooter Claxon

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I’m not quite sure why we collectively equate shoes with sex, but we do.  And no shoe screams sex more than an over-knee boot.

These are, of course, three examples of knee-high boots at the Footwear Expo.  Structured, slouchy, or skin-tight, these boots will add sexiness to any look.  You know you want some — over-knee boots, that is!

Credits:
Shoes, left to right:
SLink – Sydney Overknee Boot – 50L Friday Gold Edition
Coco KneeHigh Boots
J’s Thigh High Boots – Black

En Scene Photo Credits:
Hair: Truth - Marianne – Copper
Skin: Sn@tch – Plush Skin – Tone 2 – Babydoll Fr
Jacket: part of iBizarre Soraya Bolero Jumpsuit – Blue
Leotard: Elymode – bodysuit – wine/blue
Tights: Sn@tch – Cheetah Tights – Black
Boots: SLink - Sydney Overknee Boot – 50L Friday Gold Edition
Pose: Long Awkward Pose
Photographed at the Kyoot Mainstore

Disclaimer: Promotional samples: Coco and J’s boots, Sn@tch skin, Elymode bodysuit.  I’m acquainted with some of the designers shown here.  However, I only blog things I like, regardless of affiliations or gifts.

© SarahTheRed for Red and Re-read, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Coco, Elymode, iBizarre, J's, Kyoot, SLink, Sn@tch, Truth, [LAP]

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Wheeeee! More footwear from the Footwear Expo!  I was planning on saying something about wearing open-toed shoes in winter, since it’s a virtual world, and our toes don’t get cold or wet, etc.  But, why do we always comment on the weather?  Why do we do so more often in the winter?  It’s funny how our physical worlds have such a strong influence on how we see our virtual worlds.

Ok, back to the shoes.  Obviously, these are sandals, a selection from the Footwear Expo.  All but the second pair in the first row have prim feet, so it was an adventure for me to learn all the different tinting HUDs.  I’m still a bit of a noob when it comes to tinting feet, so please excuse any errors.  What I find most interesting is that with the tinting HUD often do far more than just tinting.  From resizing to toenail colors to recoloring individual parts of the shoe, these HUDs offer far more options than old-fashioned click-to-change-color shoes.

A few final notes(...)
Read the rest of Footwear Expo: Sandals (156 words)

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Post tags: Bella Donna at Periquita, Decoy, Kalnins, Kitties Lair, Maitreya Gold, SLink, YourSkin & YourShape

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Kallisti Burns of Discord Designs has been making new color combos for her latest hairstyle, Mira, and they are awesome.  What I love about these is that each coloring has a unique pattern in the hair, giving each a really unique personality.  From the goth-y Noir to the beachy-surfer Sunkissed to the art-school-kid SarahTheRed, they all bring a very different feel to the avatar.

(...)
Read the rest of Mira mami mira! (198 words)

© SarahTheRed for Red and Re-read, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Blowpop, Discord Designs, LeLutka, SLink

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Now, on to the blog post at hand.  I was planning this outfit for Halloween, but computer problems prevented me from doing so.  Fortunately, every day is Halloween in SL, where we don’t need an excuse to dress up in a costume.

This look started with the frankenfeet Siddean Munro of SLink sent to me.  They’re absolutely hilarious, and the best part is that I don’t have to worry about matching the feet to my skin!  I wasn’t sure what to do with them, until I remembered the Victorian Lace Nightgown from Studio Sidhe I’d seen on Plurk a while back.  I shortened the skirt a bit to show off the feet, and it’s perfect, don’t you think?  The detail on the bodice is really lovely, and the prim buttons are a nice touch.

(...)
Read the rest of Frankenfeet (139 words)

© SarahTheRed for Red and Re-read, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chai, Exile, Pulling Strings, SLink, Studio Sidhe, YoLo

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