Two of my recent purchases called out to my inner faun, and they both show my love of organic swirls. The Twiggy Fireplace from Balderdash is somehow modern and rustic at the same time, and the different candle additions that Saiyge has designed allow you to customize the style. Illusions Festive Florissinae Antlers add a touch of whimsy and also have an amazing variety of texture and decoration combinations.

One of the things I love about the fireplace is its versatility. There’s no fire included in the firebox area, so you’re free to add your favorite fire or fill that area with candles or anything else you might want. I personally love the look of a fireplace filled with candles because I’m a candle fanatic, so I set up a simple arrangement of a few favorites from Balderdash for these photos. Speaking of my candle addiction, you’ll notice some twiggy candle holders shown with the fireplace. These candles are also a new release from Balderdash but come separate from the fireplace in this crystal style, a copper leaf option, and plain white. Saiyge has said she might have more fireplace dressing items out soon, and I’m eager to see what else she creates in this set.

As with anything Saiyge does, you really have to see these candles up close to see the details. I love the flickering stars with the pillar and globe candles, and those come in several colors. The twiggy candles have a beautiful melting shape, and these flames make for a lovely soft backdrop in photos.

I have to pull myself away from the fireplace for just a bit to show off the antlers again. For one low price (L$325), you get 9 different antler textures and 12 decoration options. You can see just a few of my favorites below, but you really need to get the demo to see all of them in person.

Body
Antlers: Illusions Festive Florissinae Antlers
Faun Parts: Titania’s Court Female Faun Chestnut
Ears: Plastik ElfEars – Burdy
Skin: Pink Fuel Skye – Blood Red Bees (dkbrow + hair)
Hair: Exile Naoko / coffee
Eyes: Shine Silent Lucidity Grass

Clothing
Dress: Evie’s Closet Isabella Green

Decor and Poses
Pose: Long Awkward Pose blogger set
Prefab: nodari dark.chocolate
Fireplace: Balderdash Twiggy Fireplace
Fireplace Candles: Balderdash Twig and Crystals Candle Holder
Pillar Candle: Balderdash Cellestia Cellestio Memorial Candle
Globe Candle: Balderdash Cellestia Cellestio Globe Candle – Starlight

So after all my talk about how I wasn’t leaving Sonnet due to LL’s changes to openspace sims, I decided to let Sonnet go. I still didn’t do it because of LL though. There are some changes coming, and I just decided it made more sense to strip down to the basics and figure out what I wanted and needed.

Before I left Sonnet, I had to take some last photos there. The underwater sections were the biggest parts of the dreams brought to life at Sonnet, and I’m grateful to both Kere and Kavar for doing so much to help me make a home there. One of the items Kere built was this underwater theatre. I got some shots when he first surprised me with it, but glow wasn’t working in my SL snapshots at the time so I never felt like I did it justice. I’m not sure I did this time either, but they’re closer to the true beauty of the place at least.

Although Sonnet no longer exists in SL, it will always be with me, and the friends who built it with me are still around looking forward to whatever will come next. I won’t forget it, but for now it’s time to shake my fins elsewhere. And of course, you’re invited along on the journey. Don’t be scared to dive deep into the dark waters because we have enough light to make the whole world shine, and we will.

The first time I heard the word namaste explained to me as “the light within me bows to the light within you”, I fell in love with it. It’s just a beautiful image to have in your mind, and there are times when I need to be reminded both of the light in others and the light within me. The past few weeks have just seemed so crazy for many people with stress and worry coming from all directions, and it’s worn me down a bit. I’ve had a hard time relaxing and focusing on the people and things that make me happy and letting negativity have too much control.

A few people have asked me what will be happening with Sonnet with the recent pricing changes posted by LL, and the short answer is that based on current information, Sonnet isn’t going anywhere. I can afford the additional money, and Sonnet is still worth it to me at that price. Now am I happy about a 67% increase in the monthly cost and the rationale given by LL? No, of course not, but I also personally can’t make the leap to calling it fraud and suing LL and/or reporting them to the FTC. I’m sad for my friends who are being affected so harshly by the announcement, and I admit that I’m anxious about it all and wonder if this will have long-term effects on SL.

And then of course there’s lots of uncertainty and stress outside SL too with worry about the economy and upcoming elections in the United States. Peace of mind seems so scarce lately for many of us, and the energy from the elections has had me spinning. I think I’m not the only one feeling worn out. I’ve found it very easy to just get lost in numerous “what if” scenarios that never turn out well in my head when I should be spending more of my time working on the various projects that have been lingering for weeks so that I can see progress somewhere.

Where is all this leading? Your guess is as good as mine. I’m trying to snap myself out of this tunnel vision and wash some of the gunk off of my spirit. Thanks to really incredible friends who continue to encourage me, I’m hoping that there will be some good news related to Shine to share soon. As I’ve discussed for months, I think Shine is finally going to make the leap beyond eyes to something more. That will all depend on my texturing experiments though, so we’ll see. I’m creating eyes again as well, and that’s energized me a bit in a positive way.

It’s time to find your light and let it shine for the world. Don’t hide it away, and don’t be afraid of it. Take a break if you need to, or be like me and put on some pretty hair and wings and meditate on your reflection. It’s ok to stop for a bit and figure out how to recharge, but don’t forget that you also need to eventually move again.

Alicia Chenaux issued a little mini blogging challenge with topics for today, Wednesday, and Friday this week, and I decided I wanted to play along. Somehow the day has completely gotten away from me, but today’s topic actually kind of fits in with something I’ve wanted to talk about for a while, so I’m going to squeeze in a post anyway.

Here’s the prompt from Alicia:

Second Life is a huge place, but we all have our favorite place where we seem to visit often just to look it, to hang out, to take friends, or just be alone and think. Where is your place, how did you find it, and what keeps you going back? Go there and take a picture! And no, it cannot be your own home! Ok ok, it can be your home. LOL

There are lots of beautiful sims that came to mind when I first read this, but honestly, the ones that are my favorite places are both technically home for me – Ivy Falls and Winterfell Sonnet. And that’s how this prompt overlaps with something I’ve wanted to blog about anyway. I joke about being a dual-sim citizen in SL, and lately some people have asked me about that. Why do I have an openspace sim of my own and yet still have a castle that I rent in Ivy Falls? To be honest, it’s something I’ve wondered about too. All I can tell you is that I wouldn’t give up either place for anything. In Winterfell, I have space to decorate and play with building and doing all kinds of different things, and then in Ivy Falls, the castle is just the perfect hang-out. Friends hang out with me there as we put together outfits or just chat, and it’s a fun place to “hide” and watch people who are shopping.

I stumbled into Winterfell for the first time about a year ago and then moved in to Winterfell Ebonshire a few months later in December. I never would have guessed that I’d end up working with Serra there and helping to post notices and run events and just do what I can to lighten her load a bit. It’s been quite a journey, and all of that has brought Winterfell to a special place in my heart.

Then there’s Ivy Falls, which is the sim I want to focus on for Alicia’s challenge topic. I feel like I’ve been there since the beginning of the sim. Well, I guess I have been. I remember Kavar setting up his sky island and hanging out up there before the sim was officially opened, and I remember the excitement of the grand opening weekend. Unlike Winterfell where the place grabbed me first and then I developed friendships with the people there, Ivy Falls became my home because the people I care about most in SL created it and called it home first. My best friends live and work there, and Kere keeps creating the absolute coolest little hidden nooks to explore. There’s so much to do there from shopping to concerts to exploring to the various special events. Ivy Falls is the place where a whole new phase of SL began for me, and I’ll always love it for that.

So if home is where the heart is, then I have twice the heart in SL. They each fulfill different needs and wants for me, and I’ll keep being a dual-sim citizen as long as Winterfell and Ivy Falls will put up with me. IM me some time if you want a tour of either of them. I love bragging on them and showing them off.

This was a very basic attempt at playing with Fraps and Windows Movie Maker, and when I say basic, I mean the most basic you can possibly imagine. It’s about 90 seconds of me talking while the camera zooms across a bit of Ivy Falls and through my castle there. I must need to download updates for Windows Movie Maker or something because it crashed approximately a million times during the trimming of the video, but here’s my first attempt. I’d been meaning to play with Crazy Talk, but now that there’s that “enable lip sync” option under Advanced Menu – Character to move your lips when you talk in voice chat, I just did that instead.

It’s just like me to finally get a sim and then find that I have less time than expected in Second Life. I was feeling a little bitter, but thankfully, that mood has passed. As a friend pointed out, it really just gives me more time to plan things out in my head, and that’s not such a bad thing.

The biggest news in Winterfell Sonnet is that there is now land along with a really beautiful castle. The castle is a Kere Delcon original, and he took my ideas and ran with them in an amazing way. I also learned a lot just by watching and asking questions here and there, and I truly appreciate all the time he spent with me as I figured out things. Below is a shot of the finished castle with a pirate ship temporarily placed in front of it.

The next step is probably going to be placing all my furniture and photos in the castle and then coming up with a shopping list because I have a feeling I’m missing a few things that the castle needs. Then I’ll move to landscaping and try to figure out where all my trees will go because just between me and you, I have lots of trees. After that, it will be time to focus on the ocean because I’m really dreaming of a merfolk paradise now that I have a whole sim in which to play. The final piece will be heading to the sky as I have some thoughts on bringing my sky island back out in addition to perhaps adding an airship. Now I just need to find the time to try bringing the ideas out of my head and into Winterfell Sonnet.

My real life niece is being homeschooled this year because of some health issues that make it dangerous for her to be around the usual germs that probably wouldn’t bother other kids. This hasn’t been easy on her as she is most definitely pictured under the definition of “social butterfly” much to the amusement of the introverts surrounding her. To try to make things more fun for her, many of the adults who love her have been enlisted as “subject matter experts” in various disciplines to either answer questions she might have or just to share in her projects. I’ve been talking with her about some of her writing activities, and last night, she shared some templates she’s been using to write poems about who she is and where she’s from.

Using the template shared with me by my niece, this is my look at where I’m from in SL. I’m also including this link that shares the original poem on which the template is based as well as the blank template in case anyone else wants to play along.

I am from overhanging trees with reading poses, from Straylight Botanical flora and fairy gardens.
I am from the mountains.
(Tall, protective, wrapping their arms around me.)
I am from the tall green grass and red maple trees.
I am from long talks with my feet up on the couch pillows and days spent hidden away on sky islands with hair floating around,
From friends who bonk me on the head and kick my butt as needed.
I am from the ones who tell it like it is and the ones who make it like it should be.
From merfolk and fishers, steampunk and rockabilly, dolls and twirling dresses.
From yayayayay and wowowowow.
I am from days spent looking at Windlight skies and sharing their beauty with friends while sitting in trees.
I’m from Apparition Woods, Winterfell Ebonshire, Ivy Falls, Winterfell Sonnet,
Sushi platters and champagne dropping hearts and stars.
From the tire swing shared with my best friend and the banana teeter-totter, and the million clothing changes for photos with an amazing and silly friend who almost wasn’t but is now one of my main reasons for sticking around.
I am from frames scattered around my homes showing proof that we are all more than pixels because my heart has been touched by each person in them.
I am from joy and creativity and *hugs* and smoochies.

Remember that I mentioned some big fun news was brewing in yesterday’s post? Well, it came together a little faster than I thought it would. Last night my own openspace sim came into life. I immediately placed a boat on the empty water, and Kavar and I chatted about all the possibilities. I’m still a bit in shock, I think.

My new home is Winterfell Sonnet and is located at the southern end of Winterfell. Winterfell Sonnet actually owes its name to Kavar. He, Kere, and I had been talking about names for the sim, and I was keeping a list of contenders. I wanted something meaningful but short, and at one point, Kavar asked about using Winterfell Sonnet because of my blog title here and the quote from which the title comes. I wrote it down and just kept coming back to it. I liked the way it sounded and looked, the reasoning for it, and just the general literary slant to it, so it climbed to the top of the list and became my pick.

I’m sure I’ll be telling you lots more about Winterfell Sonnet soon, but right now I just wanted to introduce my new baby. There are so many dreams waiting to come to life there. As Kavar and I looked out over the water, I pictured my closest friends there as we all worked on various projects, and I’m just amazingly excited and happy to have this space to share with them now. We are going to have so much fun.

I’ve been running around a bit lately, and I want to take a moment to stop and take a breath just to help me remember all the stuff I’ve been doing. Photoshop has sucked up a fair amount of time with me playing around more with eyes. I’m going to rotate my selection in Exile this week to bring my newer eyes in world, and then I’ll have all the eyes, including the older ones, available still on OnRez and SL Exchange. Kavar said I should just add the new eyes and leave them all in Exile, but I just feel like it’s taking up too much of his space to do that, so I think putting up the newest ones there and then having everything online is a good solution for me right now.

I’ve also spent some time recently trying to figure out animations. I’m seeing progress there, but nothing that’s quite ready to share with anyone yet. Soon I hope to get back to experimenting with those, but I keep finding other fun things to suck up my time like running around sims with my friends and dressing up for photos. My Flickr stream has been a really happy place lately.

Other than that, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time fishing in various spots like Ivy Falls, and I even won my first fishing contest. I have my gold trophy proudly displayed on my bookshelf, and a certain neighbor of mine wishes he had one of his own. *grin* My other home sim Winterfell keeps me busy too. I’m still loving my job as Serra’s assistant, and I find that I attend a lot more of the events these days. In particular, I go to our Monday gathering for some dancing and conversation in the palace every Monday 4-5:30am, and then every Saturday at 2pm, I get to hear Aianna Oh reading from her novel as she reads a chapter a week in the Winterfell library.

So for everyone obsessively loading the blog to see what I’m up to, there you go, and you’ll be hearing more from me later in the week. There’s some stuff brewing that’s going to be very fun to share when it’s all done, and I can hardly wait!

There’s so many happy things going on lately that I’m not even sure where to start. I guess that’s a big part of why I haven’t been posting to the blog lately. A lot of the good stuff has a common theme though, so I’m just going to start there. The common theme is Ivy Falls, a beautiful sim owned by Rekka Berchot and managed by Kere Delcon.

If home is where the heart is, then Ivy Falls is definitely home for me. Two of my closest friends live and work there, and now I also rent an amazing castle there as well. I still own my land in Winterfell and don’t intend to give that up any time soon, but I find that I’ve very much been in an Ivy Falls state of mind recently. You can see an outside shot of the castle to the right, and I’m sure I’ll do a post soon that’s a more involved tour. I’ve decorated it a bit more sparsely than my Winterfell house, but it also reflects a certain part of me that maybe isn’t quite as visible elsewhere.

Ivy Falls is also now home to some of my in-world photography in an exhibit at the Ivy Falls Gallery. It’s my first exhibit, and the whole experience has been really exciting. When Kere first asked me to share some of my shots there, I was honored but I didn’t feel like I had anything to display. He then spent some time with me going through all the photos in my Flickr stream and picking out a few of his favorites, and it was a really good experience for me to hear and see what someone else liked about them. Between that and the general encouragement from my friend Kavar, I’m noticing that I seem to have found the joy in documenting my experiences on Flickr again. A few people have told me I seem more myself lately, and I feel that way too.

You can see part of the Ivy Falls sim in the above screenshot that I snapped while playing with Windlight. I’m honored to say that shot is being used on a couple of signs within the sim and on the Ivy Falls website. It was also used in an Ivy Falls promotional video, and you can see Kavar and me dancing in the Ivy Falls Amphitheatre in that video as well. Kere made the video, and it’s amazing like everything else he touches.

I’m feeling this wave of positive and creative energy flowing around the people I care about, and it makes me so happy for all of us.