Today

Today

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary’s cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,
holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,
well, today is just that kind of day.

~ “Today” by Billy Collins

Today

It’s still National Poetry Month in the U.S., and since I have a moment here to share another poem, I will from one of my very favorite poets, Billy Collins. I keep two of his books in my Kindle at all times and read a poem every day the way my grandmother read daily devotionals. I can’t say enough about his work. Read the poem again. Enjoy it, please.

And today is the day when I want to unlatch the door to the canary’s cage and celebrate the sunlight with flowers in my hair. CrystalDoll Lemon is offering this darling dress in several colors at the 100 Block, and I was mightily impressed. She does her own mesh—this is not a template—and her textures are light and pretty. I love the evocative drapiness, the well-fit alpha and the lovely shadowing. I am definitely going to be checking out more of her work!

I paired it with Maxi Gossamer’s newest sandals, also mesh and also made by the creator without a template. I think I take for granted that Maxi does amazing work in mesh—she puts out so many great designs. I was absolutely delighted to see she is offering sandals for Slink feet now. My pretty necklace is from Ellantha Larsson, who is offering this as part of a set that includes face and belly piercings at the 100 Block.

Today

Truth Hawks has come out with this lovely hair that comes with several flower add-ons that he will be offering at The Seasons Story just in time for spring, but I chose to wear Jaycee Dover’s flower hair band from the 100 Block. My gorgeous skin is one of Shantia Soulstar’s lovely creations, beautiful without makeup but I felt that I needed to make it bloom with her add-on eyeshadow and lipstick. Today is a beautiful day!

Today

“Today is just that kind of day.”

Hair: TRUTH HAIR Fleur – Browns by Truth Hawks for >TRUTH<, available at The Seasons Story *

Skin: Zoul Creations – Robyn – Tone 6 – Dk Brows with Zoul Creations – Robyn – Tone 6 – Lips 07 and Zoul Creations – Robyn – Tone 6 – Eyeshadow 06 by Shantia Soulstar for Zoul Creations *

Eyes: PC pearl – columbia – small bright by Lano Ling for Poetic Eyes *

Dress: {dollle*} 082 Long Sleeve Off Shoulder – Pink by CrystalDoll Lemon for {dollle*},

Hair flowers: luxe. – Fleur Branch (cherry blossom) by Jaycee Dover for luxe., available at the 100 Block *

Necklace: .:ellabella:. Empress Crow – Necklace by Ellantha Larsson for.:ellabella:., avaavailable at the 100 Block *

Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual Right and Slink Mesh Hands (av) Elegant Left by Siddean Munro for Slink

Nail appliers: [ bubble ] Fishnet Nails – Light Set by Moonbubble Gothly for [bubble], available at the 100 Block *

Feet: Slink Mesh Feet (Av) Flat by Siddean Munro for Slink

Sandals: MG – Sandals – Lotus Flower Blossom 1 by Maxi Gossamer for Maxi Gossamer, available at Collabor88 *

Poses: .[ pose+ivity ]. 100 Block Blog Pack by Meccaa for Pose+ivity, available at the 100 Block *

P.S. Come back tomorrow for hints for Miamai!!

The Maiden

The Maiden

“Come o’er the sea,
Maiden with me,
Mine through the sunshine, storms and snows;
Seasons may roll,
But the true soul
Burns the same, where’er it goes.”
~ Thomas Moore

The Maiden

I felt like a maiden from a storybook fantasy tale today. It’s probably because of this glorious new mesh dress from Monica Outlander, which comes in a number of colors, but all have the peacock feather insets in the skirt and at the bodice. With her gorgeously drawn shadows, Monica makes a simple mesh silhouette seem complex and lush, tailored with dart seams and insets.

The Maiden

There’s another reason I feel like a fair maiden, and that’s because of the skin I am wearing today. Jade Glazner is releasing this beautiful new skin at Skin Fair 2014. Freya comes in six tones with four brow options and two different cleavage options. Jade is also selling all the standard appliers separately for the skin. She will also be offering a set of dark glossy lipsticks as a gift in her store. (I wore the green for the full-length photos but stripped it off for the close up so you could see the skin in its delicate glory).

My long maiden locks are Tabata Jewell’s newest contribution to the grid. With storybook length and beautiful face-framing qualities, this hair, which comes with one of Tabata’s clever texture-changing HUDs, makes this maiden even fairer.

The Maiden

“In beauty of face no maiden ever equaled her. It was the radiance of an opium-dream – an airy and spirit-lifting vision more wildly divine than the fantasies which hovered about the slumbering souls of the daughters of Delos.”
― Edgar Allan Poe,
Ligeia

Hair: Vanity Hair:Spooky(Roots)-Fatpack by Tabata Jewell for Vanity Hair *

Skin: ::NM:: Freya (SUNKISSED) Blonde Brows / Small Cleavage by Jade Glazner for Nar Mattaru, available at Skin Fair 2014 (Sim 2) (Opens March 14 to the general public)

Eyes: ::Nar Mattaru:: Bardo Eyes / Forest by Jade Glazner for Nar Mattaru

Dress: Miamai_Kia Diamond by Monica Outlander for Miamai *

Choker: .:ellabella:. Bygone Medusa – Cream by  Ellantha Larsson for.:ellabella:. *

Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Elegant1 Right and Slink Mesh Hands (av) Flat Left by Siddean Munro for Slink

Nail applier: Flair – Fingernails Applier Slink A/E – Set 200 by Sasy Scarborough for Flair *

Poses by Dove Swanson for Long Awkward Pose (no longer available)

The Maiden

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” ~ Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

I am so PLEASED to congratulate Fabfree for winning the Avi Choice awards for best blog. I sincerely think there was no better blog for the title. (I am not being gracious here—I mean it.) I was good friends with Renee Lowenhart when she was running the blog, and I know how much work she put into building Fabfree. Love Trill and the other ladies have taken the baton and run with it, keeping up the fine standards Renee set and making it even better. They work DAMN hard on that blog, bringing people news of great items, keeping the free area at the Wash going, and running a ginormous group of freebie hunters. And they put slurls on EVERYTHING (and I know how much work that is). I know I refer new people to the blog at least three times a week. I am so pleased they got the award.

That being said, I am also pleased that I ranked in the top 5. Of course it’s not scientific and of course it’s all about some crazy poll on a website but dang, let me gloat just a little here for being in the top 5. I was thrilled to be nominated, so of course for this I am so honored. Thank you for voting for me! And congratulations to the other blogs!

avi choice 2 copy

That being said, I will now take you back in time to the Victorian era when Christmases were festooned with holly and velvet and delight galore! Actually, I’ll take you over to Genre, whose theme this month is “Victorian Christmas,” and a ton of creators are participating. I am actually amazed at some of the work because I can tell it’s original mesh, not templates, and it’s been done with the event in mind.

Take for example the skirt I wear from Kaliope Karas in plaid with a green hem, which I separated from a whole outfit she is offering so I could show Kerryth Tarantal’s gorgeous jacket with her distinctive complex textures. Kerryth has grown by leaps and bounds, looking at this, having drawn in all the fine detail—buttons, shadows, piping. She’s not just laying a fractal on a prim anymore. It’s gorgeous. And you can barely see but Tiffy Vella has made the most darling mesh shoes with a Victorian brocade print and a ruffled vamp.

A Christmas Carol

The accessories at the event are exquisite. The gorgeous choker and earrings from Ellantha Larsson are simply a taste of what is being offered and Synjari Myriam’s top hat is one of many toppers up for sale. Chandra Masala offers this porcelain and pristine skin with a hark back to bygone days and I wore one of Helena Stringer’s makeup tattoos to get a deeper lip.

You will also find a variety of Victorian creations to furnish your house including this curio desk from Morgana Brid, which includes texture change features to change the wood and upholstery. And Lashae Karsin used her posing talent to make a stately Victorian chair that also has a few standing poses. Abathyr is generously offering the Christmas stocking I show with a texture change script to allow different names to be embroidered on the stocking for a mere 10L. In fact, almost every creator offers one 10L item so being Victorian this holiday won’t break the bank.

A Christmas Carol

“And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!” ~ Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Hair: TRUTH HAIR Fernanda by Truth Hawks for >TRUTH< *

Skin: Jalwa- Zahida – Victorian – Eyebrows by Chandra Masala for Jalwa, available at Genre *

Makeup: *TSM* Mistress Lips -Last Kiss by Helena Stringer for The Stringer Mausoleum, available at Genre *

Eyes: PC Eyes – Christmas Tale – medium medium by Lano Ling for Poetic Eyes

Jacket: Spyralle  Snowflake Lace Jacket Red by Kerryth Tarantal for Spyralle, available at Genre *

Skirt: KaliKo – Joanie Christmas Caroling Skirt by  Kaliope Karas for KaliKo, available at Genre *

Choker and earrings: .:ellabella:. Bygone Medusa – Yule by  Ellantha Larsson for .:ellabella:., available at Genre *

Top hat: .:SF:. “Memento Mori” Mini Top Hat – Thulian by Synjari Myriam for Senzafine, available at Genre *

Shoes: Eclectica Victoriana Shoe for Genre-red by Tiffy Vella for Eclectica, available at Genre *

Décor: