Bonus Dress Offer - Sexy Second

While the official time for the Bonus Dress offer is over (and totally my fault on not being clear about the length of time), Sexy Second mentioned it in an article today. So, I will extend the offer of the free Twilight Delight dress in white featured in the magazine with the purchase of ANY collection from the collection store for three more days. YOU NEED TO SEND ME A NOTECARD however, advising me that you would LIKE the dress (wink). I will send one out right away.

Also, as I mentioned to Jaime Wheeler, I will happily do this again if someone gets another Samara Studios outfit in the next issue of Sexy Second — if there is an open call of course .

The promotion was a great success! Thanks to Dion, Wonder, Sexy Second and all the ladies who bought collections and dresses yesterday!

I Don’t Get Out Much!

I really don’t. But Sn@tch is having a modeling contest and it was great to get out of my workaday persona. I also wanted to support Ivey as I think she does a great job! So I went back in time a bit before I had a mini empire (laughing here) and worked so much. And it was great!

Thank you Ivey and best of success with your show!

Later note: Since everyone thinks I am a WIZ at Photoshop from these pictures, I want to state that there is NO POST PROCESSING AT ALL here on any pick. Just some cropping and my SS logo. I didn’t even fiddle with the Windlight presets. AMAZING isn’t it?

Bonus Dress Special

To celebrate having a Samara Studios dress in the newest Sexy Seconds Magazine, I  am offering this dress (Twilight Delight White) as a bonus gift for anyone that purchases ANY collection from the collections store at : http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gembong%20West/224/69/28

Thank you Dion for being a great customer and thank you Wonder for being a good photographer and letting me link to your Flickr photo!

This will be announced on Fashcon and to the group tomorrow. Offer good until midnight May 7. I will just send them automatically. No need for a notecard. If you purchase a collection and DO NOT receive a bonus dress, please let me know. We know how friendly Phil’s Place has been of late

Boutique Opening Special $10L

Two new bright summer tops are just out at the new Boutique shop in Whiskers. Find them as you come in the door. $10 Lindens each — cause I know you love those $10 Linden items (wink).

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Whiskers/89/49/36

New Boutique Location

There is a new boutique location of Samara Studios in Whiskers — Whiskers 82/52/36!

It is perfect for those of you who want to come and look quickly at the best sellers. I’ll be adding some more $10 items here soon. Shoes, shapes and a much more extensive selection is still in Gembong.

That’s the news.

What’s YOUR Number?

Some of you may have seen the post in the official blog about the new Avatar Rendering Counter.It let’s your know how hard the server is working to render (draw) your avatar. You can see the number floating above the heads on those near you as well as yourself. Handy.

So what does all this mean for the future? Presumably some clever script guys will make an “entry gate” that won’t let people in with a number over — say 500 (very good but 1 is best - wink). This got me wondering about my wardrobe which is naturally fairly simple except for my everyday OMGthatissogorgeouswheredidyougetit–CalicoCreations hair. I did a little test for curiosity sake and thought you might want to see what happened.

These are different versions of a VERY PLAIN outfit.
Click the photo for a larger view.

• The one on the far right is my normal attire. THE BIG RED NUMBER is BAD. BAD BAD NUMBER - LOL. It includes 25 prims per shoe, facelight and HAIR.
• The picture in the middle is the same but with simpler (ETD Sideswipe in this case) hair.
• The picture with the lowest number is the same but without hair. Something I would almost NEVER do.
• And, If I take off ALL attachments and just have on a top and pants (no prims), my magic number is ONE! How great is that?

The big offenders are obvious to many of us. Highly detailed and blinging jewelry and hair. Animation overrides don’t figure in this number as they are not “rendered”. They still cause lag of course. I was amazed how much my C G Facelight added to the mix (48 points) — especially since windlight doesn’t love us so much without it. HMMM.

Still, you can see by the center picture that you can look fairly well dressed in crowded places with a very low and happily green number. For me it was all about the hair.

So, I went through my personal hair inventory and picked out a few of the styles that are low numbers on the rendering scale. These are by NO MEANS the only low number styles, just ones I had in my inventory. And not too surprisingly many of the best ones for server strain are FREE. the more transparent and flexi prims and the more complex the design, the higher the number.

• *booN free hair NMR32
• *DH*Mysena Romance
• *TRUTH* Danny (VERY low number)
• Bewitched Rosa (VERY low number)
• Calla Lucerne
• Curl Up and Dye: Dani, Flying Nun, Geisha, Lara, Nyna, Rico
• ETD: Airy, Chandra, Sideswipe, Vixen, Casual, Lily, Jessica II, Jolleen, Bedded Attitude, Simply Sassy
• Gurl6: Babe, Abundance, Nikki, Impulse
• Philotic Energy: Beri, Boyd, Eliane
• WRONG: Style 1

If you want to check your own numbers, you need the latest release candidate (Second Life 1.20.5 (86279) Apr 30 2008 00:22:51) or later. You need to turn on your ADVANCED menu if it isn’t showing. CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+D will do it. Sorry, I don’t know the MAC keys.

Here’s the path you need to turn on Avatar Rendering Costs. Have fun and spend those rendering costs wisely if your in a crowd. Cinco De Mayo is coming up

Elements: Swimwear

Sometimes you want to be NOTICED but not EXPOSED (wink). Elements one piece swimsuits solve that problem. Available in five colors as well as a discounted Fat Pack, each top and bottom come in two layers. A flexi prim tie is included for a bit of sassy fun. And of course while it wasn’t my PLAN (LOL), you can also wear the top with pants or a skirt. Find them on a previously empty wall by the lawn area between Classic Casuals and Collections.

Samara Studios SLURL

May Drawing Winner!

Congratulations to Carmen Szapira, the May winner at Samara Studios Fashion — an update group. Carmen picked the Velossity — no it isn’t spelled incorrectly (wink) — racing leathers in BLUE as her gift.

The next drawing will be June 1. To be eligible you need to be a member of Samara Studios Fashion and have one of the three fashion areas at Samara Studios (Collections, Classic Casuals or Shoes Simply Shoes) in your picks. People in my friends list are not eligible.

The winner gets any one item of their choice. This includes collections and fat packs as well as shoes.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gembong%20West/233/104/31

Spring Halter Sets

Spring Halter sets are now available in four colors. Each set includes a white halter in 3 layers, printed slacks, tight pants on undies layer, shorts, prims in regular and petite for city shorts and a lovely flowing skirt patterned after the Twilight group. The colors include rose, navy, green and teal. A deeply discounted fat pack is available.

There is currently a “Try Me Out” version in tan available at a discounted price. Find it by the vendors in a box on the floor.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gembong%20West/244/115/31

Taurus and Fashion

Astrology is not fortunetelling, it is an analysis of planetary energies and their relations to our real (and virtual) worlds. If you don’t believe in astrology, simply skip this or read it for fun. If you do, feel free to use it as a contemplative starting point or a reflecting pool of sorts. And before you ask — I have been certified in astrology in RL by one of the top schools. And yes, you really can do that

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It is difficult to say how much the planets influence us in our virtual world, but each avatar has a human behind it who IS nudged by movements of the stars. Let’s take a brief look back at Aries (Mar 20 - Apr 19) since it is the start of the zodiac year.

**While each individual (and possibly each avatar if there is more than one) has MANY other energies impacting their own personal charts, these universal energies give us a backdrop of sorts where our individual dramas unfold. **

Aries is a cardinal sign of new beginnings. It welcomes Spring, new growth, new directions, new outlooks. It is ruled by the planet Mars — fierce spurts of energy, anger, warfare, action. The energies of Aries contain the attitude of fighting the good fight — righting wrongs, the mother bear protecting her young at all costs.

In the fashion world of Phil’s Place we saw new innovations in design, seasoned designers starting completely new product lines, old timers in new settings — rising from the ashes of shops that were no more. We also saw designers finding new ways to reward their groups and customers. There was a fair amount of conflict on the blogs and this warring energy may have also shown up in situations where groups of designers worked together. People were thinking in new ways and this may have brought about disagreements at times.

As with all the signs, there is a mixture of energies. One of my favorite quotes from the blogs pretty much sums up one side: “IDK - I wish the economy would perk up, but until then guerrilla marketing shall commence.” At its best, however, Aries gave designers a push to break out of their old mindsets and start again with renewed energy.

As we move into Taurus (Apr 19 - May 20) much of the enthusiasm and angst dissipate. We are in earth territory now, the fires are dieing down for better or worse and it is a time to regroup. Taurus energy encompasses stability, strength, solidarity, stubbornness, and a need for security.

Designers could find themselves circling back to favorite designs, ones that have stood the test of time and have a comfortable feel. These could be reworked, improved upon or simply used as a model for a slightly different version. It could easily be a down time compared to the last few weeks. If the need to slip under the covers for just another twenty minutes rather than work on that new outfit prevails — it is simply Taurus at work. The stick-to-it nature of Taurus will get the job done in the end. It is a natural progression of energy and not a fault of any work ethic.

Fashionistas could find themselves going through their inventory trying to find that favorite old pair of jeans, dressing in what seems most comfortable (and comforting) be it a bikini or a ball gown. Low heeled sandals may be the popular choice for the first time since Fall. Or, tennies might be the first chosen style. For many, this will be a month to stay with the tried and true, both in clothes and designers.