*Second Spaces* Then & Now! part 4

Welcome to part 4 of the Second Spaces Then & Now series! Those of us who have been in SL for a while know how far design has come over the years. It’s a lot of fun to look back and see what SL looked like in 2005, 2006…and to appreciate the improvements and advancements since then. This series is a fun look at some of SL’s best designers to see how they’ve grown over the years. I also hope this might inspire those who are interested in starting their own designs – everyone has to start somewhere!

[to see previous Then  & Now posts, select “Then & Now” from the Categories drop down on the left of the page!]

Ramos Designs

Susan and xTrojan Ramos are the creative team behind Ramos Designs, a shop that continues to be one of my favorite spots for basics and fundamentals, and one that I recommend frequently to folks just starting down their SL decorating path. Susan told me that she’s deleted her old inventory, so we can’t take a stroll down that memory lane…but she did provide me with some pics of the Ramos store over the years. I love being able to see the physical growth of the brand!

Here’s where Ramos started – the 2004 shop is their very first!

*Halloween Goodies, part 2!*

We’ve got the sim mostly decorated and ready for our Fall Festival and for Halloween…but I’m always still on the lookout for great Halloween decorations! Here are some more goodies that you need to check out!

First, a quick hit from Aimesi Designs — Mea Carnell has a very nice hay wagon available for $200L…just perfect for your moonlight hayride!

I also popped into Passionate Neko Dreams’ Halloween shop…really, to look at their outfits (which are awesome and totally worth checking out, but since this isn’t a fashion blog…we’ll move on 🙂 ) and found that Saur Holt also has a great selection of really cute sculpted jack-o-lanterns. They’re $100L each…and well, they’re precious.

Then I made a stop at Ramos Designs, one of my self-declared must-shop places in SL. Susan and xTrojan Ramos really go all out for Halloween — a huge selection of detailed gravestones, a full haunted house, floating ghosty things, and tons more. Here are the things I love the most!

Halloween characters — these are so cute! The mummy, reaper, and Franky are each $150L, and the witch with the cauldron is $250L. The witch is animated with very shifty eyes as she stirs and stirs and stirs and stirs her brew. (see what I did there?) They’re all great fun, and the mummy, reaper, and Franky are also each available in large or small (same price, I believe) — I have to say the mummy is my favorite. He’s cute, AND looks like he’s being held up at gunpoint. 🙂

There are also very realistic coffins available for $275L…animated for boys and girls, and including the classic “I’m rising from the dead and this is how I will sit up” pose. I love that one!

My absolute favorite thing from Ramos — because I love all things wee and precious! — are these tabletop jack-o-lantern candles!!! They’re $25L each and are so so so cute, even sitting in front of a very large pool of blood. I love that middle guy!

I will keep updating as I find more Halloween things that you have to have! Be sure to swing by each of these shops and check out all the goodies…tell them Elle sent you! (see what I did there, too?)

If any of you, my dear readers, see something awesome that you think I should blog, feel free to IM me in world or email me at ellekirshner@aol.com. Thanks!

*Second Spaces *Design Contest!

Interior decorators! Design enthusiasts! Folks who just love to put pretty things together in a room! Second Spaces is delighted to announce our first ever Shadowbox Design Contest!!

Exotic Getaway Shadowbox Design Contest

ex·ot·ic
adj.
Intriguingly unusual or different; excitingly strange

Here’s how it works: each contestant gets a Second Spaces shadowbox to decorate. “Exotic Getaway” can mean a lot of things — especially in Second Life! We have an expert panel of designer judges who will select our winners – we’ll be looking for creativity, clever aesthetics, smart use of prims, and an overall sense of design. Make your shadowbox a place where the judges will want to vacation! 😉 The contest will run for approximately 2 weeks, during which the contestants can organize their shadowboxes. We’ll wrap it up with an event on August 9th when the boxes are ready for viewing — we’ll have a live DJ and festivities, the judges will make their selections and we’ll announce the winners at the end of the event! It’ll be a party, so everyone is invited!

Here’s what you need to know:
– There are only 10 shadowboxes available. *UPDATE: August 6 — one box has become available again! If you think you can pull it off by Saturday, then get over there and grab it!** To enter the contest, jump over to the Second Spaces contest grounds, select an available shadowbox and claim it as yours. To claim it, you need to do three things:

1. You’ll see a rent box in front of the shadowbox; right click and pay $1L to rent the space.
2. Right-click and Buy the shadowbox for $0L. Do NOT Take the shadowbox into your inventory; when you buy it, you’re buying the original, so leave it sitting right where it is. Buying it will allow you to retexture the inside of the box as needed.
3. Send an IM to Elle Kirshner to let her know you’ve entered the contest!

– Only 200 prims are allowed in your design! That includes furniture, accessories, plants — whatever you use. 200 prims is all you get!
– No more than $1000L can be spent on your design! That’s right — it’s exotic on a budget. 🙂 On the day of the contest event, you’ll be asked to provide a notecard detailing all objects purchased and their Linden value.
– Your design elements can be purchased OR built by you! Now’s your chance to show off your building skills!
– Only the INSIDE of the shadowbox can be re-textured. The outside must remain textured with the Second Spaces background.
– You may place items just outside the shadowbox on the platform, if needed.

That’s it!! Prize categories and prize packages will be announced soon. Here’s what I can tell you now: the prizes are provided by some of the best furniture/decor designers in all of Second Life!

Contest Sponsors:
The Loft // Heart Garden Centre
Melino Style // Ramos Designs
Del Sol Furniture // Avenue Four

Don’t miss your chance — get over to the Second Spaces contest grounds and claim your shadowbox, then get to it! Keep your eye on the blog for more info on the prizes and the progress of the contest! Good luck!!

*Holiday Stuff*

Ok, first — Happy Holidays, all. Second — I’ve been searching for cool holiday decor, and have not really found much that I consider above & beyond. Sure, you can find trees and wreaths and garlands and lights all over the place – some are nice, some are not – but I was looking for things a bit outside the norm, things with a bit more charm. I will continue my hunt, but I wanted to go ahead and share what I’ve found so far.

First, at Boudoir, owner Xia Xevious has several really cute, great quality items. She has Christmas ornaments that have exactly the texture I’ve been trying to create myself — and which has remained elusive to me. Great job, Xia — I am envious.

Xia has a collection of other items, shown below – great detail and nice features, like the color change. The snowmen are so cute that I had to buy them, and they now reside happily in front of my bamboo patch.

I also checked out Ramos Designs, one of my frequently-shopped choices for furniture and accessories. They have a large selection of Christmas items – again, a lot of trees, lights, wreaths, etc – all great quality, as expected from Ramos, and certainly worth checking out. I bought some lights to decorate the club, and I’ll have to post some pics of that later. Also, they had an awesome Santa chair, complete with Santa and poseballs. I swear I took pics of that…but I can’t seem to locate them. I’ll have to come back to that. Another thing they had at Ramos that caught my eye were some adorable and wonderfully detailed tabletop Christmas trees!! Wee and petite – I love them!

For my house, I didn’t get too fancy. I have my snowmen, of course, and I picked up a very nice and simple and *free* Christmas Tree from Mantra’s Doll City location. There’s a 4 prim version and a 10 prim version, and the trees are copy. Very simple, and slightly elegant — nice detail, again.

And now — I saved the best for last. 🙂 Of course, I had to check in at Heart Garden Centre, my absolute favorite place for SL plants, and those wonderful Heart girls did not let me down!!!!

The lighted trees may be some of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in SL. I ❤ them beyond words. The poinsettia bush is awesome – you have to love a poinsettia plant during the holidays, and an entire bush? Absolutely. The detail, as always, is amazing. Man, I have been all about detail in this post — it’s important!

You can find Xia’s stuff upstairs at her Boudoir location in Roosa.

Check out Ramos Designs holiday items here on Ramos Island.

Check out Heart Garden Centre’s holiday items at their main sim. The lighted trees come in white, pink, blue, green, and red, and are available as singles or in landscaping packs of saplings or mature trees. They also have Christmas trees, garlands, etc — I picked up some poinsettia garlands that I’m going to put in the club, too. I’ll have to update once I’ve done that. Check it out – enjoy!