*Top 12* Summation!

Here’s sort of a quick link guide to the Top 12 places. I hope it’s been useful — I really, truly appreciate the great comments received here and in-world, and it’s been absolutely delightful to speak with several of the designers that were spotlighted in the list. I’m going to add a link over to the right of the page so that this post can be easily accessed going forward, and I really do hope it can be considered a toolkit of sorts for folks who are ready to claim their own second space!

Houses:

Part 1: Barnesworth Anubis Pre-Fab[ulous] Homes & Furniture [blog post]

Part 2: The Black Spot Shipyard [blog post]

Furniture:

Part 3: The Loft [blog post]

Part 4: Mezzanine [blog post]

Part 5: Del Sol Furniture [blog post]

Part 6: Rustica Home Furnishings [blog post]

Part 7: Ramos Designs Furniture [blog post]

Landscape:

Part 8: Heart Garden Centre [blog post]

Part 9: Botanical [blog spot]

Accessories:

Part 10: CAS [blog post]

Part 11: Avenue Four [blog post]

Part 12: Shade Fantasy Outfitters [blog post]

Thanks again to all for the positive feedback on this series. Stay tuned — I’ve got more evil plots that I’m hatching and plan to unleash on the world – you don’t wanna miss that! In the meantime, I’m going to try my best to resume regularly blogging; I have a few places I was contacted to review, so I want to be sure to get those taken care of first. Hope you’ll check back often!

*Second Spaces* Top 12, part 12!!!

Welcome to Part 12 of my Top 12! Need some background on what this list is all about? Click here for the original post.

I’m just going to jump into this one today — let’s talk about Shade Fantasy Outfitters by Ashade Sinister. I just found and blogged Shade Fantasy back in April, and it immediately jumped into my Top 12. I’ve sent no less than 12 friends to the sim, directed probably as many to my blog to see the pictures, and find myself strolling through there every few weeks. It’s also an amazing build, and so detailed in its details (just go with me on that one) that I always find something I didn’t see the last time. As I mentioned in my original blog post, everything here appears to be very medieval and/or Gorean themed, but do not let that stop you! 1) it’s still an awesome exploration, and 2) a lot of what you’ll find here can be useful in any setting. For example:

Sculpted Beehive: this is so cute — I’ve got to go back and pick one up for the sim. This would be awesome to tuck into a tree or under an eave — the bees circle, there’s a buzzing sound, and if someone clicks the hive for 10 seconds, a swarm of bees surrounds them. NOTHING attracts traffic to a sim like swarming bees! It’s been scientifically proven!

Pitch Tent set: I’m not a camping kind of gal – but I do love this set. This would be perfect in a wooded sim — is there camping in SL? I need to know…

Firefly Light Posts: These. Are. Precious. Little jars of fireflies, all aglow. I would love to have a few of these on my beach – I’m sure they look amazing at sunset or midnight. In the background, I’m parked on the Sculpted Rickety Swing, which includes a boy/girl cuddle pose. I had no boy. I can’t pass up a good swing, though!

Woodcutter’s Block: Ok, this should inspire fear — Elle with an axe. And, of course, the picture makes it look like I’ve just come running from the other side of the room to split the wood…which I did not. 🙂 It’s a really cute animation, and the wood actually does split after 10 chops or so. I think chores are important in SL — builds character.

Veggie Patch: See, more chores, good for the soul! If you’ve ever had to dig for potatoes, as I did in my childhood summers spent in North Carolina, then you know the level of dirty associated with the task. The SL way is much more pleasant. Look – my shirt is still clean!

Kissing Bales: Ok, these are a must have if your land includes a rural-looking space or a barn…or hell, this is SL — put these on your beach house deck! Again, I had no boy to play with, so the kissing is a bit one-sided…I need a blogging assistant. Still, so cute!

Get over to Shade Fantasy Outfitters and play! Oh, and buy stuff! You need it all!

This concludes our Top 12 — I’ll post a recap and consolidated link list in the next day or two. This has been a blast!

*Second Spaces* Top 12, part 11!

Welcome to Part 11 of my Top 12! Need some background on what this list is all about? Click here for the original post.

Hello again! Today we’re going to continue with accessories – specifically, lighting. I’m one to keep my world on Midday 99% of the time, but I still like to have appropriate lamps and lighting just to make a space feel like it should. You can find lighting everywhere, and a lot of the furniture shops you’ll find have lamps to coordinate with their furniture sets, which is always great. For general lighting – meaning lamps that could work anywhere and aren’t specific to a furniture set – my favorite place is Avenue Four by Luna Benavente. She makes the cutest light bulbs — zoom in close!

It’s a nice shop, well laid-out, and Avenue Four has cute furniture, too. For this post, I’m focusing on the lights. Oohh…the lights. My favorites are the Twinkle Stick lights. I bought these over a year ago when I set up my house, and I’ve also used them in the club. Most of Avenue Four’s lights come in really large packs including slightly different variations, lengths, etc. The Twinkle Stick lights are wonderful for grouping, as in the pic below, and great for individual placement to highlight certain spots, like columns or entrances, or even to frame a window.

On this visit to Avenue Four, I noticed the One Night In Bangkok set which includes this lovely and nicely textured lamp. I’m a sucker for anything that looks lacquered.

The Retro Chic lamps come in several colors to match the corresponding living room sets, and really, they’re a style that would work anywhere: great for a dining area — group a few together for an entrance, giving a chandelier-like effect — buy a few and send them to me — really, the possibilities are endless. 🙂

The last picture I’ll share is the Brady Chrome Light. This is the sort of light I love in RL – it’s industrial, but not too much. It would fit in a traditional house as easily as in a warehouse loft – and really works in any room. I especially like this look in a kitchen, that’s just a preference — it really does work anywhere.

Ok, there’s the tease. 🙂 We all need lighting – YOU need lighting — so get over to Avenue Four and check it out. The lighting is, of course, displayed throughout the store, and there is a Lighting corner on the 2nd level where you can pick up the big packs o’ light. Luna also has some really cute string lights that are just adorable for outdoor spaces, too, and you’ll see those displayed, as well. [Insert some light-related cliche’ here, perhaps relating to the end of a tunnel?] Enjoy!

*Second Spaces* Top 12, part 10!

Welcome to Part 10 of my Top 12! Need some background on what this list is all about? Click here for the original post.

Tchotchkes. Knick knacks. Accessories. Stuff. Whatever you call it, it’s the little things that make a house a home, in my opinion. I’ve mentioned it in other posts, too — I just love the little things available in SL that can add character…and, I guess, ‘depth’ works, too..to your space. Our last 3 posts in the Top 12 will focus on stuff like that. 🙂

I love scripted food items in SL. I just do. Few things bring me more glee than offering someone a beer or cocktail and a s’more when they come to my SL house. If you want fun food, then you have to go to CAS. Casandra Jackson is the prolific designer behind CAS, and she has everything you could possibly want.

In that colosseum of goodness you see above, you’ll find appetizers, main courses, desserts, wines, champagnes, liquors and liqueurs (which is right?), candy, chocolates, boxes of cigars, scripted kitchen items like pots, pans, kettles, ice buckets, and more more more. Here are some of my favorite goodies.

Just in time for July 4th, for my American readers, it’s time for grillin’! The steak grill below gives out a complete steak dinner AND a fork.

There are probably about 20 different serving trays with AOs built in that would be perfect for a hosted event or party, and I’m seriously trying to think of a club event where I could have my dancers all working the room with trays held high. 😉 This one is the Drive In Tray and serves cheeseburgers, fries, and sodas.

This ice cream hut is precious — it comes with poseball for ‘working’ the counter, and it dispenses your choice of 6 different flavors of ice cream cones. Mmmmm….

On this trip to CAS, I found the lunch boxes. I love lunch boxes. In elementary school, it was always very important for me to have the coolest, most brand-recognizable lunch box. So, clearly, Scooby Doo is the way to go now.

The coolest thing at CAS are her dining tables. There’s a great variety of styles, and they all come with scripted chairs that offer a few basic sit anims, dining anims, as well as anims for writing a check and using a laptop. It just makes me giggle. 🙂 Casandra also has Ultimate Meal Placemats; include these on your table and they offer 36 different plates of food. The NapkinGlasses give you all the tableware you need, including chopsticks for your sushi lunch:

It’s this sort of thing that makes me want to open a SL restaurant. Get over to CAS and find some fun food for your place — it’s great for special events at your club, too, when you want to give out drinks or appetizers to your guests. Bon Appetit!

*Second Spaces* Top 12, part 9!

Welcome to Part 9 of my Top 12! Need some background on what this list is all about? Click here for the original post.

Hello, dear readers! Today we continue landscaping with Botanical, by Kriss Lehmann. Botanical and Heart Garden are truly the two places I send anyone who says ‘hey, where can i get some plants?’. Botanical is another place you must visit as much for the sim itself as for the product. When you go, explore everywhere. Every. Where. You won’t be complete until you do.

That’s sculpted water I’m sitting beside, and it’s amazing. The water, and the ground covers, and the pathway texture, and the sunbeam, and I’m pretty sure also the rocks, are ALL available for purchase. Of course, Botanical has trees, and they are awesome. The majority of them are quite prim heavy — and worth every prim! — but if you’re limited in your prim allowance, then the trees may not be for you. There are a million other things here that you’ll want, though.

Japanese Red Maple, Emerald Forest Tree, Japanese Orange Maple:

“Sunbeams, Elle? Really?” Yep! This is the most awesome thing ever, and it fills my heart with sunshine and light. Sunbeams and rainbows. Friggin’ awesome.

It’s magical. 🙂

Another thing I really like is that Kriss has provided demos of some of his ground covers and various plants, like reeds, and these capers:

These capers are one of my favorites, too — they’re mod, and I used them in my KT’s garden (which I totally need to blog) — I stretched them out quite a bit, and the effect is perfect — very wild English moors, in my opinion. 🙂 And having demos available is a wonderful idea — plants and ground covers can be tricky, so many thanks to Kriss for giving us a chance to try them out before we buy.

As I mentioned, there are a million things you’ll want at Botanical. There are beautiful butterflies (I have some on my sim 🙂 ) – really gorgeous crystals ( that I used in the lake on the sim 🙂 ) – also, and these are precious, you can find fireflies and will-o’-wisps, perfect for adding touches of whimsy and fantasy. So go forth! Explore! Enjoy! Purchase! Buy me some fireflies! Kthxbai!