Miki's Sanctuary

MJ Lace Bra and Panties Sets

2009-09-21T03:33:00.001-07:00

After making some bikinis, I decided to make a few bra and panties sets as well.

The first set has a see-through lace topping on the bra and panties. I like the red one. It also comes in other colours, like the usual white, beige, cyan, black, pink.
The second set has a set of full cups, and the front panel of the panties is see-through lace. Comes in assorted colours as well, the usual white, beige, cyan, pink, plus I tried experimenting to see how purple would look. Seems quite nice too!

The third set is a set of sheer see-through underwear, held together by strings (similar to the string bikini). It comes in a lot more different colours like orange, brown and even magenta. For those sexy moments.

If you bought any of these, and want it in a different colour, just let me know and I will make it for you for a nominal fee (depending on how many other colours you are looking at). Enjoy!

MJ String Bikini

2009-09-21T03:29:00.001-07:00

It has been some time since I last made something, especially clothes. After the long break, here's the first, a set of string bikini. The bikini top is held together behind the neck and back by a simple butterfly knot. Available in a few colours. Personally, I like the red and black ones.

Calligraphy pieces

2009-04-24T22:03:00.001-07:00

It has been some time since I last put up new items for sale. I have put up some Japanese calligraphy pieces for sale in my shops, to be specific, the shops at Realmscape Mall and Dead Alley. These pieces serve as excellent pieces to decorate your homes, simple yet elegant.

If you prefer a certain piece with a different coloured frame, do let me know, I will do a one-to-one exchange. Besides wooden frames, you can ask for coloured frames (black looks nice) as well.

See my profile in world for the landmark, or see my classified in world.

Fantasy clothing

2007-12-08T23:46:00.001-08:00

Besides making fantasy avatars, I have also gotten down to making some clothing items as well. Note that my items don't have scripts in them and don't support any combat systems, so they can't be used a armour in combat sims. However, they are great for those who want to fit into fantasy sims and need something appropriate to wear.

This is a tabard, with the sun moon symbol on the front and back. The symbol is flanked by a dragon on each side. The same symbol is also embossed on the buckle of the belt.

And this is a set of chainmail, which includes the chainmail shirt, chainmail pants and also a pair of chainmail boots.

Fantasy avatars

2007-12-08T23:40:00.001-08:00

After a long break, I have once again started making skins, as well as some clothes. The theme, though, is now fantasy/medieval.

This is my try at a female elf avatar. She has pointed ears, which is hidden by the prim hair. The prim hair is not included, it is actually from ETD, so those interested can get it there, from their "Novice" line of prim hair. The set I am selling comes with the skin and shape, as well as the green shirt and brown pants, and a pair of brown boots. And the leather cuirass, and also the set of metal bracers engraved with dragons.

I have also made a female drow avatar, which comes with not just the skin and shape, but also the bikini set. Her belt is embossed with a spider symbol. Like the elf avatar, prim hair is not included. The one shown in the picture is from ETD too, from their free "Lily" line.

Shop at Sampireun Designs

2007-12-02T06:16:00.000-08:00

This is my new shop space at Sampireun Designs, which is a place the sells Indonesian and Asian stuff. Here, you will find my weapons and martial arts supplies for sale, in line with the theme for the mall.

The SLURL to my new shop

Location vs Advertisement

2007-11-29T23:53:00.000-08:00

Now, one of the things that I have been wondering is the value of traffic. Owners of malls like to say that they have real traffic, that they are located besides a club with high traffic, etc. Some owners also place camping chairs in their malls in an attempt to generate traffic. But just how important is traffic?

After all, unlike the real world, in Second Life, we have teleportation. We have search. While I would go to a well-known mall to look for something in real life, do I really need to do so in SL? If I am going to buy something, I would just search for it. That means well-worded classifieds are definitely going to help you generate sales. They target the people who want to spend. After all, how many people walking around clubs are actually going to buy something while at the club? They are more interested in the club than the stores. I mean, when I go clubbing in the real world, do I spend time walking around the stores near the club?

RL vs SL: 2-0

2007-08-13T07:07:00.000-07:00

The next month is going to be busy again... guess RL has scored yet another one. But don't worry, once I get over the busy times, there will be more new products coming up. I already have the ideas in my head, just no time to get down to doing them. And of course, once things have settled down a bit, I will get back to putting time into Taiji Circle.

Bra and panties set

2007-08-03T22:32:00.000-07:00

The latest in my lingerie collection is this bra and panties set. Besides the standard colours of white, beige, yellow, pink and cyan, I have decided to try making it in black this time too, just to see how well the lace designs turn out. And guess what? It came out well, so I am selling this set in all 6 colours.

If the panties are distorted at the pubic area, just change your hip length to 100 and things will be fine.

More skins by Miki Jannings

2007-08-03T22:25:00.001-07:00

Here are some more skins made by me. As you can see, I like to make skins with pale or light skin tones. As usual, all my skins come with an accompanying shape to bring out the best in their facial features.

The first one is "Yukie", a Japanese avatar with sparse eyebrows, a light skin tone, and slightly dark brown nipples. The pubic area is a bit sparse but highly realistic.

Next up is "Michelle". She is blonde with curvy eyebrows and a slightly darker tone of red for her lip stick. As with my other skins, she has realistic nipples and pubic area.

Last up is "Aki". Very pale skin tone, with brownish eyebrows, though a bit thick. A more pinkish set of nipples with realistic pubic area too. She has a small nose, much smaller than most of my other skins.

Speechless

2007-08-03T02:27:00.000-07:00

There is an optional SecondLife client just out today, implementing voice. As of now, it is an option, so I chose to disable it. Officially, I am now speechless. But I wonder how that is going to be implemented... those of us who choose to be speechless, do we now wear a tag on top of our heads saying "Speechless", or do we just become dumb/mute?

New store - XD Trading Mall

2007-07-17T08:43:00.000-07:00

Update:
As of 28 Jul 07, all those renting spaces within XD Trading Mall have been returned their objects, and the mall owner stove Lu has been manually refunding rent. Apparently, this has to do with the LL policy on gambling in SL. So that's the end of my store here, a bit short-lived. But I have other stores elsewhere.
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I got myself a new store today. It is at this place in Mooter, the SLURL is here. The rent here is cheap, with a 50 prim limit. For the price, this is good. And reasonable too, since the space isn't exactly small. I mean, the shop at Keswick charges more but has a lower prim limit. Do come and get what you need from my vendors here, be it female skins, clothes, lingerie, weapons, even my vendor kit. And the ever popular newbie glasses.

New bras and panties (thongs and shorts, actually)

2007-07-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I suddenly was in the mood today to work on underwear. I guess it must be a break from making skins, which I have gotten the hang of. But while I think I can still improve, I guess it must be boring to be doing the same thing for so long. So I decided to switch back to something that I have tried in the past but didn't really pursue.

So this is my first bra, or rather, the whole set of 5, in white, beige, cyan, yellow and pink. It is full cup, with lacy top, as well as lacy straps.
Next comes this 3/4 cup bra (again, a set of 5) which also has a lacy top, though not as thick a border, as well as lacy straps. And a small simple ribbon in the centre.
I had avoided making underwear because I was afraid of smudging. The crotch area is always very difficult to make, or so I hear/read from the online forums. But somehow, things turned out well with this thongs, no smudging or anything. I guess the crotch area is actually a very thin line in the template, just don't bother to add any details to the crotch area. Anyway, this set of 5 thongs has lacy edges as well.
The last piece is this set of 5 shorts for ladies. The edges are again laced. There is a slight glitch with this piece, though. Your hip length must be quite long, else there will be some distortions near the crotch area. If you see any distortion, just adjust your hip length (in Appearances -> Torso -> Hip Length) and things should be fine.

More new skins

2007-07-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

With some time on my hands, I got down to working on what has been my interest these days, making skins for myself. And of course, after making them, I get to sell them too.

First of all is "Shalise", with blonde hair both on the eyebrows, and also a very realistic blonde pubic area. And realistic nipples too. Both the nipples and the pubic areas were taking from photos of real nipples and pubic hair. So are the eyebrows. The lips are also taken from a photo of a real life model too. For my latest creations, I have made the body more defined, with more shadows and highlights.

Next up is "Ashlee", with a light skin tone. This skin comes with both pubic hair, as well as a shaved pubic region (again, very realistic since it was from a photo...)

Then we have "Akiko", a skin made for Japanese avatars. Unlike previous, similar skins, I have made the skin tone more tanned, not as pale as before. This skin also comes with both shaved and unshaved pubic regions, as well as an accompanying shape with a size more suitable for Japanese.

Last we have "Joanne", with her brown hair (eyebrows and pubic region). Her pubic region is more sparse, but still as realistic and highly defined.

More skins!

2007-07-06T02:45:00.001-07:00

I spent some time and came up with some more new skins. Seems like the current craze for me is making skins.

I have started to get the hang of it too. Using photos of real-life models, I draw facial features onto the templates, fitting them into the correct positions. After uploading the textures, I create the skins. And I came to realise that good looks do not just depend on the skins, the shape is important too. So using the same models, I create a shape that best shows the facial features that I have drawn.

First up is "Mariko", a Japanese look with very pale skin. Don't use light-coloured hair with this skin, since the skin tone is too light.

Next is "Angelina", with brown hair. She has thicker lips, and a small nose.

Then we have "Brooke", who is blonde. Her face is more squarish, and her lips are wider too.

"Katie" here has dark brown hair and a darker skin tone.

New Products - Skins!

2007-07-01T01:06:00.001-07:00

As mentioned in my previous post, I have been trying to create my own skins. And finally, I have managed to do so, and I have not only created one set of skin, but four of them! All of them come with their own shapes too. The basic body shape is the same, but the head has been modified to bring out the best in each of the skins. The skins are shown below, with the more private areas pixeled out.

"Cristine", as seen below, is by far the best. She was made based on a blonde model, with light eyebrows. As you can see, my skins come with light makeup (not a lot of lipstick, etc.) She has a soft. demure look, as you can see.

"Keiko" below is based on a Japanese model. If I had done a better job with her pubic area (it is actually slightly smudged, but otherwise okay, and not noticeable at all if you are wearing clothes) I would have asked more for her.

"Kelly" was made based on a lady with brown hair. She has a more confident look, compared to the others.
"Eve" was the first skin that I made. It was an experiment to see how to make skins in Second Life, and well, that explains why it is not as fine as it could be. The eyebrows are slightly thicker than what I would like, the face a bit too rough. But as a basic starter skin, this is something that will do, considering the low price. And the skin is actually cut-and-paste from a photo of a real person.

New steps... Skins!

2007-06-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

After a small little venture into sculpted prims, my next venture is into making skins. I have already made my first skin, and I will continue to make a few more before I present them to everyone through this blog. It was lot more challenging than I thought, especially since I don't know how to use GIMP well enough. If only GIMP has some automapping function that allows me to set specific anchor points on a photo, then shift those anchor points around to distort the photo to fit onto the UV map...

First Sculptie

2007-06-15T09:00:00.001-07:00

I made my first sculpted prim. And have a problem.

As you can see here, this is actually a katana, made from a 16x15 sphere. I made it using Blender, exported to the OBJ file, opened the OBJ file with Wings3D, and exported it from there to a sculpted texture for use in SecondLife. I also used UVMapper to create a UV map of the prim, and used it as a template to draw a test texture for the sculpted prim. As you can see, the texture did turn out quite well.

The problem is the sculpted prim itself. The original object in Blender looks like a katana. The OBJ imported into Wings3D looks like a katana. But once it has been exported as a sculpted texture, and uploaded into SecondLife, it just doesn't retain the original shape. I wonder if anyone knows why. The tip of the sword is distorted. And so is the hilt guard. While the hilt guard should be a flat disc (and looks so in Blender and Wings3D), it is distorted when uploaded. The blade should be slightly curved with a sharp tip, but it ended up being distorted too. I guess it has to do with exporting to a sculpted texture. I tried the tutorials on baking textures in Blender, but they came up with flattened shapes as well as weird protrusions.

Anyone knows what to do?

Sculpted?

2007-06-11T07:52:00.001-07:00

The recent craze in SecondLife seems to be sculpted prims. After all, what used to require lots of prims and even more prim torturing can now be accomplished with ONE single prim. But then, unless you have experience working with 3D software, it may be easier to stick with simple prims, rather than try to make the same thing out of a sculpted prim.

Just what are sculpted prims? Basically, instead of the standard cubes and spheres, sculpted prims loads in a texture map that you create. If you make a texture map of your avatar (using the OBJ files that SecondLife provides for free on their download page), you can even make a sculpted prim of yourself (or at least, the basic avatar in SecondLife). With a bit of imagination, you can even make a 3D mannequin out of sculpted prims! But that is a challenge best left for the experienced 3D artist.

With no prior knowledge of 3D programs, I am still finding my way around with regards to sculpted prims. My first creation should be a simple katana, which is currently what I am trying to do. I am using Blender, though it is VERY hard to use. But once you get used to it, things get slightly better. Wings3D seems like a simple enough program to use too, but while it looks like a simple program, the interface is not easy to get used to. And if you are thinking about creating textures to use on your sculpted prims, you will probably need UVMapper to create a texture template of your sculpted prim, so that you can use it to paint a texture using your favourite paint program (GIMP, Photoshop, Paint, etc.)

Watch out for my first sculpted prim!

RL vs SL: 1-0

2007-06-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, Real Life really does wonders. I have been busy of late, and have not had time to do any designing, so for those of you out there looking for additions to my creations, sorry! It will be a bit more time before I can find time to come up with something. However, I did do up a simple T-shirt design, for use as freebies/free gifts to hand out. Once I have some time, I will put it up in my stores in-world, you can go there and get a copy for yourself. Meanwhile, do look through my previous creations and who knows, you may just find something that you might have missed out in the past.

New Weapons

2007-04-21T23:30:00.000-07:00

I got down to making a whole series of simple, decorative weapons today. They are purely for decorative purposes, so you can put them up as displays in your home or shop, or you can walk around carrying them to look impressive.

The first is a set of simple longsword and shortsword. The two swords are based on the same simple design, with a two part hilt.

Then I made a simple scimitar, which is a large curving blade. This is also another simple design, no engravings on the blade or elaborate hilt designs.

Next I made a naginata. This is a Japanese polearm, which has a short, slightly curved blade mounted on a pole. It is a popular foot soldier's weapon, and in modern-day Japanese, the art of using the naginata is very popular amongst women.

And why stop at one polearm? So I decided to make another one, this one based slightly on the curving blade of the scimitar. It is actually a Chinese halberd, since the Western one has a different blade design. The famous General Guan Yu from the Three Kingdoms Period of China uses a polearm such as this, though with a shorter pole to make it easier to use from a horse.

And finally, a set of longsword and dagger. This is the more basic of designs, very simple, just the bare minimum. For those who just want something simple, and don't want to pay too much for things.

White outer long sleeve blouse

2007-04-07T23:46:00.000-07:00

This new blouse is semi-transparent, allowing you to show off what you are wearing underneath it. It is meant to be an outer blouse, worn on the jacket layer. As you can see above, I am wearing my light blue tank top underneath the blouse. The ruffles along the neckline and on the sleeves are made of prims. While the prims on the sleeves probably do not need any repositioning, those on the neckline made need to be repositioned, depending on your shape. So I have given modify permission to the neckline prims, for those who need to reposition the prims.

GNU and Linux t-shirt

2007-04-07T23:42:00.000-07:00

Being an advocate of open source software and Linux, I decided to make my own contributions to open source and Linux in Second Life by making this particular t-shirt. The logo on the front is the GNU mascot, while the familiar Linux mascot, the penguin, is found on the back of the t-shirt. Support open source, support Linux, get this t-shirt and wear it, and help spread awareness about Linux and open source software.

Taiji Circle white t-shirt

2007-04-07T23:37:00.000-07:00

Those of you may remember the other set of taiji t-shirts that I recently made. Well, this new t-shirt is made specifically for members of my group Taiji Circle. Besides the taiji symbol, the name "Taiji Circle" in Chinese characters is written under the symbol, and on the back of the t-shirt are the Chinese characters for "Taiji". So if you are a member of the group, do pick up a copy of this t-shirt for yourself, and wear it to help let others know about the group. Hopefully we will be able to find more people interested in taijiquan this way, and who knows, maybe one of them is good at animation and can help us make a set of taiji moves.

Little red dress

2007-04-07T23:34:00.000-07:00

A simple yet sassy design. This new addition to my summer clothing collection is a short red dress with a prim skirt. If red is not your colour, let me know and I will be glad to change the colour to something that you fancy. IM me in world.

Meditation Point

2007-04-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Meditation Point, a place for you to relax and enjoy the serenity of the surroundings. This is an Oriental place, with two main parts. The first is a building where you can sit and meditate, as you can see in the picture below.
The other part of this place is actually an open air space where people can practice taiji together. Currently, there are a few mats here, with animations. The animations are still quite simple ones, but I am sure they will be upgraded to better ones once someone comes up with a more complete set of taiji movements.

Hiro Pendragon's Shop and Dojo

2007-04-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

This is where Hiro Pendragon has his shop and dojo. It is a very beautiful place, with bridges and pavillions made from red colour wood, as well as the main shop itself. Inside the shop, you can find Hiro's free vendor kit, which is a bit unlike my own. His kit is configured using chat, while mine is configured using notecards. So if you are looking for a vendor kit that allows you to configure it using chat messages, you can come here and pick up a copy of Hiro's vendor. Otherwise, it is also a nice place to visit just to feel the tranquility and enjoy the serenity.

Aikibudokan

2007-04-06T21:53:00.000-07:00

One of the few dojos in Second Life, this is Aikibudokan, set in a Japanese-style sim. The dojo is a very simple place, with tatami mats inside a simple Japanese building made of wood and rice paper walls. Outside the dojo are some books related to Japanese martial arts, so do feel free to pick up a copy for yourself.

Caledon

2007-04-05T20:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Caledon, a city set in the time of Queen Victoria. I found this place quite by chance, actually. I was looking through the SL Forums looking for a job, when I came across a post by Jules Whittlesea looking for translators. So I volunteered to help him for a small fee. It turns out that he needed help translating some notecards containing information for an art exhibition. So I helped him translate them into Chinese and Japanese, got paid, and also got an invitation to the exhibition held at Caledon. Click here to get to Whittlesea Commons, shown above, set in Caledon.

Exhibitions are held at the Caledon Gallery of Art, shown above. And below is a glimpse of how an ongoing exhibition at the gallery looks like.

Of course, Caledon is not just about art exhibitions. Do feel free to visit Caledon if you are interested in anything Victorian. There is a Victorian feel to the buildings here, and at the teleport point, you can even find free Victorian era clothes for you to blend in with the place.

Taiji symbol t-shirt

2007-04-01T06:44:00.000-07:00

As part of my contributions to the group Tai Chi Circle, I have made these two simple t-shirts, which have a taiji symbol on the left breast. Members of Tai Chi Circle, do feel free to get yourself a t-shirt or two and wear it around to create awareness about taijiquan.

See-through blouses

2007-04-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

I had always wanted to make clothes from thin cloth, which allows you to see a bit of what lies beneath. You know, like those white blouses made from thin cotton cloth. Well, today, I got down to it, using GIMP, editing the layer mask. When editing layer mask, white is opaque, black is transparent. What I did was set the white portions to light gray instead, so that the result is a slightly transparent blouse. The blouses come in white, pink, cyan and yellow.

Green camisole

2007-04-01T06:37:00.000-07:00

This green colour camisole is lined at the top with a light yellowish strip of see-through cloth. At the same time, near the waist, there is another strip of see-through yellow cloth. I saw a similar design today while on the way home, and decided to see if I can make something like it. This is my simple attempt, which has room for improvement, but that is for another day... and the improved version probably won't go for L$5 like this basic design here.

Red passion dress

2007-03-24T00:56:00.000-07:00

The latest in my clothing designs. This is based on something that I saw on TV. The basic dress is red in colour, and it is supplemented by a prim skirt (3 layers of prims) and a prim upper portion of the dress (2 layers). Ideal for those nights out.

My own vendor kit part 3

2007-03-24T00:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am making my own vendor kit (read more about it here) available for sale. As it allows the use of consolidated textures, and people can actually save quite a bit of L$ from upload costs, I am making the vendor kit available for a price. You can find it at my stores. Do let me know if you need any help with it.

Basic camisoles

2007-03-24T00:23:00.000-07:00

Recently, I tried my hands at making camisoles. These are very basic, simple ones, based on a single template. The camisoles have a simple lace pattern lining the upper edge, and is available in white, cyan, pink and beige.

There is also a similar design, which has a see-through lace instead of the block solid one. This design is available in white, cyan, pink, yellow and beige. What I did was to set the alpha channel of the lace to gray instead of white, so instead of being opaque, it is now semi-transparent, ie. see-through.

And of course, there is also the black colour camisole that I made, which comes with white see-through lace at the top edge.

All these camisoles are made using the undershirt layer, and you can wear shirts, blouses, dresses or jackets over them. Or just wear them by themselves if that is your desire.

My own vendor kit part 2

2007-03-20T03:20:00.000-07:00

I have been working on my vendor kit. Firstly, I found a critical error in the script, which prevents it from selling the items placed inside the vendor. I have since fixed that error, and for those who have gotten my free vendor kit, I have sent an updated copy to them.

Since then, I have heavily modified my vendor kit, working on it to add in features that I want. At present, my vendor kit, version 2, can do the following:
- read settings from a notecard
- read inventory items from another notecard
- hand out (when clicked) either an unique notecard about the item being displayed, or a generic notecard
- IM and email owner upon sale of item
- option to display hover text above the vendor, and choose the colour
- split sales with another person
- use consolidated textures (this is the feature that other vendors cannot do)
- can be set to sell items only to those belonging to the same group as the vendor

After some testing, I am quite certain that it is ready for use, and I will be making it available soon at my stores.

Bare shoulder dress

2007-03-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

This is the latest in my clothing creations. It is a dress which bares the shoulders. The dress comes with shoulder attachments that make up pluffy sleeves. The prim skirt is also semi-transparent. This dress is ideal for formal events when you need a simple, elegant and not too expensive evening gown. Available in black, red, green and gold at my "Evening Collections 2" vendor, which you can find in my stores at C&B Chaos and Beauty and Syc0phancy.

Simple Daisho set

2007-03-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

I made a simple daisho (katana and wakizashi) set today, based on the original Momiji Daisho, in the black colour tone of my "Simple" series (which currently includes the Simple Tachi, and this Simple Daisho set). Unlike the Momiji Daisho set, this set comes with a wakizashi (which is longer than the tanto, but shorter than the katana) instead of a tanto. It is more suited for the male samurai, both in terms of colour tone and the combination of katana-wakizashi. The Momiji Daisho set would favour the female warrior. Do check out my weapons vendor which I have placed in my stores.

My own vendor kit

2007-03-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

After looking around, and even buying a few vendors from SLExchange, I still cannot find a vendor kit that can use consolidated vendors. So, I chose the next available option. I made one. Of course, I didn't start from scratch. Amethyst's free vendor provided the basic script for my vendor kit. All I did was modify her script to add in the ability to scale and offset textures. The vendor itself is very basic, just 3 prims. The centre is the display board containing the vendor script, the items to sell, the textures to use and a notecard to configure the vendor. The other two prims are the next and previous arrows. A set of instructions is also included in the vendor. Click on the red and blue buttons to scroll through the items for sale. To buy, right-click on the vendor and choose "Pay".

Anyway, my vendor is available for free at my stores at POD SHOP Keswick Mall and C&B - Chaos and Beauty.

To set up the vendor, open the "Items" notecard found in the vendor. Each line in the notecard represents an item for sale. The format of each line is as follows:
name of item,description of item,price,horizontal scale,vertical scale,horizontal offset,vertical offset,texture to use

For example:
MJ Cyan short dress,A short summer dress with prim skirt,20,0.5,0.5,0.75,0.25,box_skins_02

What this means is that the item for sale is "MJ Cyan short dress", and the description is "A short summer dress with prim skirt" on sale for L$20. The texture to use is "box_skins_02", with a horizontal scale of 0.5, a vertical scale of 0.5, a horizontal offset of 0.75 and a vertical offset of 0.25. The item for sale, as well as the texture to use, must both be placed inside the vendor. Once the vendor is configure, reset the script.

To figure out the horizontal and vertical offsets to use, see the two examples below. Usually, I put 4 or 16 pictures into each consolidated texture. For a 2x2 consolidated texture, the horizontal and vertical scale to use is 0.5, and it is 0.25 if it is 4x4.

I also found another vendor kit, this one allows you to "Click for notecard". However, I cannot edit the script, else I would have used it for my vendor kit. This vendor kit is configured by notecard too. It is made by Kayla Stonecutter for those who rent stores at Realmscape Mall, and can be found just above the fountain that is beside the teleport point into Realmscape. Right now I am using it to see the swords that I made.

And below is how my shop at POD Shop Keswick Mall looks like now, with the introduction of vendors. The cyan box is the vendor kit I made, available for free. Just remember to give due credit to Amethyst and myself should you decide to modify it.

Product pictures

2007-03-08T07:36:00.000-08:00

I found this post on Second Life Insider today. I must admit that I am guilty of not providing pictures in-world on some of the products that I sell, especially the newly created ones. This is because I usually consolidate pictures into one texture. Meanwhile, those interested in seeing how my creations look like can get a better picture here at my blog.

But with the discovery of vendors, I think I will have to change the way I operate, since the vendor that I found doesn't allow use of consolidated textures. Which means one texture file for each creation. So over the next few days (or weeks), I will be doing up the pictures for my creations for uploading, do be patient with me in the meantime.

Purple short pleat skirt

2007-03-07T08:15:00.000-08:00

I actually made this skirt quite some time back, but I never got down to writing about it, or even selling it, because I couldn't find something to wear it with for a photo. This pleat skirt is made not from round cylinders (which is what most pleat skirts are made from) but from boxes cut into triangles. Basically, it was done using LoopRez v0.6, but instead of the sample-short pleats (which are made from cylinders), I changed them to become boxes, non-hollow, cut so that it forms a triangle for more pronounced pleats.

Bareback high slit dress Part 2

2007-03-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

I have added three more colours for my bareback high slit dress. Besides deep red and black, they are now available in gold, deep green and soft green. You can find them at my stores.

MJ Short dress

2007-03-07T08:05:00.000-08:00

I got the idea for this dress from a fashion magazine. So I did some work and tried to make something similar, working with GIMP and in-world with LoopRez v0.6 for the prim skirt. The dress is available in three colours: beige, cyan and khaki. You can find this dress (in all three colours) at Syc0phancy, at my clothes store. They are also available at my other stores, though maybe not all the colours will be available.

Realmscape Mall

2007-03-07T07:59:00.000-08:00

This is Realmscape Mall, an Asian themed mall which can be accessed at this SLURL. It has a very Oriental touch, as can be seen from the picture above. I haven't really wandered around the sim much yet, but it looks like a place where I can wear my dogi and hakama, or those taiji attire that I made.

The main mall is the one in the centre of the picture above. Inside are spaces for rent. There are also spaces in the basement for rent, going at L$25 per week. And in the fountain outside the mall, there is a free vendor which you can use to sell your stuff. The instructions look easy enough to follow.

White sleeveless blouse

2007-03-04T08:24:00.000-08:00

I was looking through some fashion magazines when I came across this design. So I decided to give it a try at making a texture out of it. I had to come up with the design for the back, though, since the magazine showed only the front view. This blouse is actually worn on the jacket layer, as the lower part of the blouse is longer than what is offered on the shirt layer.

Bareback high slit dress

2007-03-03T23:34:00.000-08:00

Yet another dress, suitable for formal events or just the night out, this bareback dress has high slits running up both sides of the dress, up till near the hips. The top is tied behind the neck (you can see the butterfly knot). Currently available at my stores in deep red and black. If there is any other colour that you want this dress to be in, do let me know either by posting in the comments here or IM me in-world.

"Click for more info" - My signboards

2007-03-02T09:12:00.000-08:00

Due to some people complaining about my "give to nearby" scripts contained in my signboards, which hands out a notecard to people nearby, I have changed my signboards to give out notecards only when clicked upon. The notecards contain a list of items currently being put up for sale by me, as well as the stores and stalls currently rented by me to sell those items. If you cannot find an item at a particular store or stall, you can try to look for it at other locations listed in the notecard. So do feel free to click on my signboards for more information.

MANifesto (used to be Syc0phancy)

2007-03-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

Update on 3 Feb 2008:
The name has changed to MANifesto (for some already, actually). I continue to have a shop here, and you can access it through this SLURL. The place has undergone quite major revamps, and actually looks very much nicer now. Do come visit the club, even if you don't want to buy anything at the shops.
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This is the courtyard outside Syc0phancy, which can be accessed via SLURL here. It is just outside the skyscraper, right beside the teleport point. While the rent inside the skyscraper is higher, the rent for shops in the courtyard is low, at L$25 for 20 prims. If you can't find anymore spaces for rent near the skyscraper, not to worry. A short distance away from the skyscraper, there are some more spaces for rent, at the same price.
The above is my store just outside the skyscraper, on the second level. Most of the stuff are placed in LARGE boxes to make it easier for you to see. Below is another store, at the area just a short distance from the skyscraper (aka Phase 2). The stores here are still available for rent, so if you are looking for low cost rental, do come visit!

Red low neck low back dress

2007-02-28T07:06:00.000-08:00

My latest clothing creation. This full length dress features a low neckline and low back. The hem is slightly slanted, with a colour gradient that gets lighter near the hem. This dress is great for those evenings out, when you don't need something too formal, but nothing too casual too. Especially good for dinner dates!

On a side note, I am going to start prefixing my creations in-world with "MJ", to distinguish them from other items that may bear similar names. It may take a while before all items are updated, so do bear with me.

Calligraphy work 1

2007-02-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

This is a calligraphy work, in Japanese. It is actually a haiku, following the 5-7-5 syllabus. It reads:
めにあてて (me ni atete)
うみがすくなり (umi ga suku nari)
さくらがい (sakura-gai)
The writer goes by the name of 楓雨 (Fu-u), and this piece was actually participated in a calligraphy exhibition in Tokyo in 2002. It is now available for purchase at my shops. Do come down and take a look. Who knows, it may just be what you are looking for to decorate that empty wall at home or in the office.

My store at C&B - Chaos and Beauty

2007-02-28T06:51:00.000-08:00

Update: As of 28 Mar 07, Chaos and Beauty has moved from Cheju to Peacock Park, and due to the move, I was unable to secure a shop at the new Chaos and Beauty. So I am no longer selling things at Chaos and Beauty, but do feel free to visit this place for the art gallery.I have gotten myself another store, this time at C&B - Chaos and Beauty. This is the SLURL. The owner of this place is Nite Zelmanov, and he is renting out places here at L$60 per week for 20 prims, which is a reasonable price, considering that this place attracts reasonably high traffic. You can find shops here selling clothes and gadgets. There is also an art gallery just beside, for those who like to appreciate art pieces.

Lost L$

2007-02-27T06:41:00.000-08:00

I lost some L$ mysteriously today. Only L$3, a small amount, but it is money nonetheless. I checked my transaction history, and somehow there was no history of me losing the L$3. I have emailed Linden Labs technical support to see if this is a bug or something, hopefully they can check it out and give a reply. Otherwise, it is hard to trust that SL is secure... after all, no one likes to lose money mysteriously.

Does anyone have any similar experiences? Any idea what the cause could be?

Taiji Practitioner Set

2007-02-24T23:21:00.000-08:00

I made this basic set for taiji enthusiasts. It contains two sets of taiji attire, in cyan and in pink. Also included in the set are the taiji sword and wooden sword that I made. This set is available for sale in my store, as well as stalls and yard sales that I participate in. For those in Tai Chi Circle, you may want to get this as a starter kit.
Above is me in my cyan taiji attire, and below is me in my pink taiji attire.

Below is me, with my taiji sword, doing a sword routine.

My store at POD SHOP Keswick Mall

2007-02-24T23:13:00.000-08:00

POD SHOP Keswick Mall seems to be quite a new mall, with high traffic (for a mall) though. While there are some shops here already, there are still stores available for rent. Rent here is cheap, going at L$50 per week, so I decided to get myself a store here, to replace the one that I lost when KO Designer Mall Gorean section was sold away.

My store can be found at Keswick 189, 11, 43 so feel free to come and take a look at what I have to offer. My creations are sold here, including dresses, taiji-related items, and swords. I will continue to add more stuff here for sale as I make them, so do watch this space!

Twilight Inc. Village

2007-02-24T23:08:00.000-08:00

Update on 3 Feb 2008:
I have ceased renting here for some time already.
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The shops at Twilight Inc. Village (Sunset Commerce 1 85, 7, 24) sell many different things. Besides the usual stores, there are small market stalls for rent too, going at L$25 per week with a prim limit of 15. This place sees moderate traffic, so the rent is a great deal. Even the stores, going at L$300 per week, is a good deal, considering that this is one of the busier malls around.

So I got myself a stall here (see picture below) intending to sell the clothes I make, as well as maybe some of the swords that I have.

Dreamtime Mall

2007-02-24T23:04:00.000-08:00

Update on 3 Feb 2008:
I have ceased renting here for some time already.
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Dreamtime Mall (Clanis 91, 117, 77) is one of the busiest malls around. Besides having lots of shops, there are also stalls for small-time vendors to sell their stuff.
Each stall has a limit of 10 prims, going at a weekly rental rate of L$50. With the lost of my vendor space at KO Designer's Mall Gorean section, I am moving towards renting spaces (stalls and small stores) to sell my creations. Below is my stall at Dreamtime Mall. Due to the prim limit, I will be putting up clothes for sale here.

Looking for a new space

2007-02-24T09:16:00.000-08:00

KO Designer's Mall Gorean section is now closed. I was quite surprised, actually. I teleported in today, only to find the space empty. After checking with the owner kallyfaith, I found out that they have sold the land there, and are thinking of setting up the Gorean section again at somewhere beside the actual KO Designer's Mall, instead of in a separate place. While waiting for them to set up the new place, it seems that I am now lacking a space to sell my creations. So as of now, I am actively looking for vendor spaces for rent. I don't need many prims (between 25 to 50 is fine with me) as long as the rent is reasonable and they allow floating text. So if you know of any, feel free to let me know, either via IM in-world, or via comments here.

Meanwhile, if you wish to purchase my creations, you can look for them in the various yard sales. Try out Gorean Open Market, Under the Boardwalk Yard Sale, Spirit Realm Yard Sale, etc. Once I have found a new space, I will be sure to let everyone know!

Spirit Realm Free Yard Sale

2007-02-22T23:43:00.000-08:00

This is a HUGE yard sale, and it is free! The prim limit is 25 per lot, and you are allowed to share lots as long as everyone using that lot is agreeable. With that many lots available, you can find quite some stuff up for sale here. I managed to get myself a lot too, somewhere further in. There are also freebies up for grabs here. Definitely worth a visit, and a good place to sell your stuff too! Click here to get to Spirit Realm Free Yard Sale.

Skye Plaza Mall Yard Sale

2007-02-22T23:41:00.000-08:00

To get to the yard sale, click here. The yard sale is just above the shops level, there is a stairs leading to the yard sale from Skye Plaza Mall. There aren't many lots here, but those who do manage to get lots here put up great stuff for sale. So do check it out from time to time to see what is available.

Shopper's Village Yard Sale

2007-02-22T23:37:00.000-08:00

Click here to get to Shopper's Village, where there are shops and also a yard sale. The yard sale is all the way at the end of the village, but it is worth the walk there to check out what is on sale there. Along the way, you will pass by shops (see if anything catches your fancy) and if you can afford it, there are spaces for rent here too.

Yard Sale at Taedong

2007-02-22T23:34:00.000-08:00

At Taedong, when you arrive, you find yourself at the entrance to the castle. At the entrance itself is a teleport script that will bring you to the shops and this yard sale. There is a 15 prim limit per lot here, and there are only 12 lots available, so it may not be easy to get a lot here if you are looking for someplace to sell your stuff. But do feel free to drop in for a look by clicking here.

Skidz Partz Yard Sale

2007-02-22T23:30:00.000-08:00

This is the yard sale at Skidz Partz. To be able to sell things here, you have to join the group Black Sun Systems, Inc. Joining the group is free!

The prim limit here is 5 prims per lot, which is not much, but it also means that vendors either use a vendor prim (if they have lots to sell) or rotate what they put for sale here. Either way, this generates variety.

You can get to Skidz Partz by clicking here.

Black Satin Cross Back Dress

2007-02-22T23:26:00.000-08:00

The latest dress made by me. I got the idea from a newspaper ad, and decided to try my hands at making a cross back dress. I tried to use gradients, burning, dodging and blurs to get the satin effect. The templates were made with GIMP, which is free!

White Taiji Attire

2007-02-22T01:48:00.000-08:00

This is the latest taiji attire made by me. It comes with red lining, red buttons, on a white satin cloth. The background is of course KO Designer's Mall Gorean/Houses/Furniture section, where you can find this attire for sale at only L$20.

Green Poka Dot Dress

2007-02-22T01:45:00.000-08:00

This is the latest dress by me, it is a medium length dress made from a single poka dot design. You can wear it just as it is, as seen below.
Or you can wear it with the prim skirt, as below.

Light Blue Outfit version 2

2007-02-22T01:43:00.000-08:00

I have added a prim skirt to the outfit. This is how it looks like. The prim skirt is semi-transparent. The set comes with a dress, as well as glitch pants. And the tank top in the picture above too. All for L$30 only. Available at the KO Designer's Mall Gorean/Houses/Furniture section.

First Land Program Ceased!

2007-02-20T22:05:00.000-08:00

This was announced today on Linden Labs' Second Life Official Blog. You can read about it here, as well as the many (and I mean many) comments about this move. I guess this move is going to impact all of us, just exactly how, it will take some time to find out. For me, I am adopting the "wait-and-see" attitude for now. Those interested can post their comments on the official blog or the official forums and see if LL replies.

Light Blue Outfit

2007-02-19T07:21:00.000-08:00

This outfit, comprising a light blue tank top and a light blue skirt, was inspired by the movie "Kill Bill 2", where at the end of the movie, the lead actress wore something similar. The tank top has a white edge, and simple lace along the neck. I tried to recreate the crumpled effect for the skirt. I also made a pair of glitch pants to go with this skirt. It is now available at my space at KO Designer's Mall Gorean section.

Under the Boardwalk Public Yard Sale

2007-02-18T20:43:00.000-08:00

This is the public yard sale at Under the Boardwalk. There are also vendor spaces at Under the Boardwalk. To get to the yard sale, you can either follow the arrow after teleporting in, or click on the sign for a teleport to the yard sale directly.

As with other yard sale, the limit is 10 prims, within the confines of each block. There used to be two areas for public yard sale, one as shown and another in the basement of the main area. However, the basement has since been closed to the public. So this open area is the only public yard sale at Under the Boardwalk for now.

As you might have expected, I try to maintain a lot here, so do feel free to drop by and take a look at what I have to offer here.

Whitescreen

2007-02-18T20:39:00.000-08:00

I created this small box for taking snapshots of myself in the outfits that I create. I actually did a bluescreen, but the resulting pictures didn't turn out as expected. In fact, trying to edit pictures really gave the bluescreen halo effect typical of older movies.

There are actually 3 versions of my whitescreen. The one show is with an advanced posing stand. There is also one with a basic posing stand. And the last version is without the posing stand, and will be used for snapshots of items created by me, such as swords.

Decadent Mall Yard Sale

2007-02-17T06:24:00.000-08:00

Decadent Mall is another place with a public yard sale. After teleporting in, head out of the main store area, and follow the path down to the public yard sale under the mall.

As with other public yard sales, you are allowed only one lot (which is a concrete slab) and up to 10 prims within the lot. This yard sale actually is quite popular, with most of the lots already taken up by the time I got here. I had to go all the way behind to get myself a lot.

Light green dress

2007-02-13T06:26:00.000-08:00

I saw a similar dress in the newspapers the other day, and decided to make one. I had originally wanted to use photo source, but eventually gave up the idea (after two hours of hard work) because there was just too much work to be done trying to fit the image onto the template.

So I tried making my own template using the tools and filters available in GIMP. First, to create the crumpled effect, I used the gradient tool to draw around 50 lines, then blurred it with a Gaussian blur, and then used emboss to create the final crumpled effect. The collar area was similar done using gradients. The colours were added using separate layers for each colour, with opacity set at 50% for each colour layer. The result is the dress below, and is available at my shop at KO Designer's Mall, as well as the yard sales in SecondLife that I take part in, such as at Under the Boardwalk and Gorean Open Air Market.

Kendo Shinai

2007-02-11T08:06:00.000-08:00

This is a bamboo sword used for kendo practice, known as a shinai. It is not really a sword, but it is used in place of one, and in the hands of a kendo practitioner, it can still cause quite some pain. Do get yourself one and join me for a short sparring session at any of the dojo in SecondLife.

Aikidogi (with hakama)

2007-02-11T08:02:00.000-08:00

This is my aikidogi, which I am intending to use for aikido practice in SecondLife. I made the hakama some time back, using LoopRez 0.60 to generate the pleat skirt. The top was again a photo source job, though this time, I got the picture of the dogi from the Internet. Do get yourself a set and join me in aikido practice.

Magenta Dress

2007-02-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

Another of my creations over the weekend, and this time, using photo source again. I got the picture from a newspaper ad, took a photo of it, and used that as the photo source. I had to play around with Photoshop to get the picture to fit within the template. The plunging neckline, though, means that bras will show, so be like me in this picture not wear one.

Taiji Attire

2007-02-11T07:52:00.000-08:00

This is one of my creations over the weekend. I tried my hands at creating my own textures, using photo sources. The original picture was a photo of my own taiji attire. After playing around with it in Photoshop, I managed to come up with this. Some parts of the attire look great, giving the satin look, which was what I was trying to create (it took a long long time, since I am a beginner at Photoshop).

For martial artists and tai chi practitioners, this is the set of attire for you to wear around. More colours will soon be made available.

KO Designer's Mall Gorean section

2007-02-11T07:42:00.000-08:00

Update on 3 Feb 2008:
I have ceased renting here for some time already, after the sim was sold.
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This is my shop in KO Designer's Mall, inside the Gorean section, which also links to the furniture and houses section. This is a small free rental space made available by the owner kallyfaith Rolland. She is kind enough to let out these spaces in this section of the mall for free, each space allowing up to 25 prims.

So once I got this space, I set up shop. Not as elaborate as my neighbours, though. My shop is just a simple one with the items for sale, and a BIG signboard that tries to attract attention. Currently, my range of swords (momiji daisho, simple tachi, even a shinai) as well as some other martial arts clothing, and my range of glasses and sunglasses are available for sale here. Clothing that I make will also be available here as I design them.

To get here, try this SLURL http://slurl.com/secondlife/sabre/28/19/29/ which should bring you right to my shop. If you don't see it in front of you, turn around and see if you can see my signboard. Feel free to buy any of the items on sale there if they appeal to you. Pictures of the items on sale can usually be found on this website, under "Creations".

Gorean Open Air Market

2007-02-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

Update on 3 Feb 2008:
I have ceased renting here for some time already, after the sim moved.
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This is my small little lot at the Gorean Open Air Market (SLURL http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caribbean%20Sunrise/65/195/22/). This is a place much like a yard sale, with up to 10 prims allowed for each brown lot. The lots are free, though you have to join the ~Tegair~ group in order to be able to sell things here. There are also lots with freebies, and also a flea market for used goods.

Due to the limited prims here, and because I have yet to get a vendor box, I limit the choice of products available here, and I try to rotate them. Do drop by every once in a while to check out the products available and buy them if they appeal to you.

Satins

2007-02-11T07:15:00.000-08:00

I was searching the web trying to find ways to make realistic satin textures. This came up because I was making a set of taiji attire, the type that people wear at wushu and taiji competitions. Well, the methods for Photoshop have been explained on Natalia's homepage (or rather, a link from her page), but they don't seem to work for GIMP.

Actually, the method is almost the same. I started off with using a blank texture, and drawing 5 short lines using linear gradient in difference mode. Then, using a Gaussian blur filter, with 30 pixel setting, I blurred the texture. Here comes the difference. In Photoshop, to get the final effect, you would use Find Edges. For GIMP, you need to use Emboss. Playing around with the settings for Emboss, I managed to get this.
Then, adding a layer on top of this, I coloured this new layer red, and set opacity to 50%, and this is the end result. Of course, I just need to change the colour of this layer to get different coloured satin textures.

First class at NCI

2007-02-11T02:29:00.000-08:00

I went for my first class yesterday. It was a class on clothing creations by Rainbow. The class was held at NCI South, which you can teleport to from NCI Plaza itself. Just click on one of the two signboards there. Be sure to click the right one!

I got the lesson schedule from the big signboard at NCI Plaza. You can either read it off the screen, or click on the signboard for a notecard with the schedule. There are some interesting classes being held throughout the week. Too bad that most of them are outside my log in hours. Living in a different time zone and all... I wonder if they will give out their course material...

One of the main takeaways from this clothing class is how the textures map onto my body. We were actually told to wear the UV maps and I managed to take some snapshots after the event, so that I can study how the textures are mapped and work on clothing accordingly. Having only used Photoshop CS, I think I want to switch to GIMP, which is free!

Anyway, classes at NCI are free, do check out the schedules and see what interest you. Maybe we will see each other in class one day.

Another job

2007-02-06T07:22:00.000-08:00

I found a new job today. Similar to sweeping the floor, this job pays L$1 every 10 minutes, up to L$500 too. And they can be found in the same mall. So here I was, climbing up the stairs, to clean the glass windows and walls of this big mall. The things I would do just to make a decent living...

I also found other cleaning jobs too, such as scrubbing the floor. And of course, there are gardens and parks with unfinished landscaping. There are wheel barrows lying around, all you have to do to earn L$ is to help the owners finish their landscaping projects by planting some more flowers. So if you see a wheel barrow lying around, and have time to spare to earn that few extra L$, just pick up a shovel and help to plant those flowers.

Working at a casino

2007-02-05T08:29:00.000-08:00

For newbies, one of the places where you can easily earn money without doing much is at a casino. Most of these casinos have camping chairs (usually in front of their slot machines) where you can earn L$2-3 every 10 minutes just by sitting there. Of course, there are other ways to earn money too.

I took up a job at a casino as a security guard. It paid L$1 every 6 minutes, just standing there in the casino's uniform. They even provide a gun for you too! Other jobs at casinos include doorman (standing at the entrance) as well as pole dancers.

There are other jobs too, such as road sweeper (which I have already done as a first job), cleaning windows and even planting flowers! So there is no shortage of ways to earn money in SecondLife, but it can be boring just doing the same thing over and over again. But then, I guess that until my creations start to sell, I may just have to stick with these jobs to earn an income.

Simple Tachi

2007-02-04T06:32:00.000-08:00

Below is a picture showing my latest Japanese sword, a simple tachi (which is longer than the katana, by the way) leaning on a black sword stand. The usual sword stand for katana, wakizashi and tanto displays the swords horizontally. But for tachi, because they are longer, displaying them horizontally takes up space. So tachi are usually displayed in this manner on sword stands specially made. And yes, they are placed upside down, don't ask me why.

First Job

2007-02-04T06:27:00.000-08:00

I got my first job today, sweeping the floor outside a mall. You can see poor me below, sweeping away for a meagre pay of L$1 every 10min. This happens when you cannot find a camping chair... but they don't pay for long anyway. This job, I can earn up to L$500... but that means 5000min on the job! That's more than 80 hours... or more than 3 days.

But I need the money, else I won't be able to upload more textures for use in my creations. Some people work at jobs and forgo their dreams. Some people work at jobs so as to be able to pursue their dreams.

Tai Chi Circle

2007-02-04T06:16:00.000-08:00

I created my own group today, called Tai Chi Circle. I didn't know that it was going to cost me L$100... starting out without much money in the first place, this only made me all the more poorer. So please show your support, buy my creations. *hint hint*

Anyway, this group is for people to learn more about tai chi chuan, or taijiquan (also called tai chi and taiji in short). It is also for practitioners to discuss tai chi, as well as for them to share experiences and training methods. So if any of you are tai chi practitioners, go feel free to join the group.

For a start, I have made a taiji sword (jian), as well as a wooden one. They will be available for sale in my stall at KO Designer's Mall (Gorean/furniture/houses section), as well as any yard sale that I can find. I will attempt to work on animations for tai chi routines, once I get QAvimator working and learn how to use it.

Wushu T-shirts

2007-02-04T06:09:00.000-08:00

Today, I uploaded my first set of textures. There were for a set of t-shirts that I have. The original t-shirt is black with white words, but with GIMP, I managed to make a t-shirt with white background and black words. With this white t-shirt, other colours become possible too! I can make the same t-shirt (with black words) on red backing, blue, green, yellow, beige, and so on.

The Chinese character behind is "wu", which is for martial arts. The small logo on the left chest area is a dragon enclosed in a circle.

I will be putting up these items for sale in yard sales around. Do look out for them. By the way, I have a small area in KO Designer's Mall, in the basement (Gorean/furniture/houses area), do come visit and buy my creations.

Momiji katana and tanto (Daisho set)

2007-02-02T19:25:00.000-08:00

Another sword (or rather, set of swords) made by me. It is a set of katana and tanto, known collectively as the daisho. As the hilt and scabbard are in red, this set is named "Momiji", which is red maple in Japanese. Here is a picture of me posing with the katana in hand. The katana, with its three versions (sheathed, unsheathed, scabbard only) is on sale at Under the Boardwalk's yard sale.
Here is a picture with the daisho set at my waist.

Here, I have drawn out both the katana and the tanto (which is a dagger), dual wielding them.

This is a Japanese sword stand that I made to hold the daisho for display. It is also available for sale at Under the Boardwalk's yard sale.

Ninjato

2007-02-02T19:20:00.000-08:00

Recently, I have made a ninjato, which is a Japanese sword favoured by the ninja. The difference with other Japanese swords is that the ninjato is straight, compared to the slightly curved katana, tachi and wakizashi. It is now on sale at Under the Boardwalk's yard sale. The boxed set contains the sheathed version (as in the picture below), an unsheathed version (for you to wield in your hand) and the sheath only (so that you can attached it to your waist when wielding the unsheathed ninjato).

Freebie Dungeon

2007-02-02T19:17:00.000-08:00

This is yet another newbie area, with lots of freebies. There is an attempt to group the types of freebies available, but generally, things are lying around in crates and boxes, and you have to walk around to find the things you need. There are some animations and gestures here that may interest you, as well as poseballs. As with other freebie areas, there are lots of free clothes too. You will be spoilt for choices here.

The Shelter

2007-01-29T08:15:00.000-08:00

This is definitely a newbie place. Here, newbies can get freebies, and they can use the dance floor to dance, the bar to get a drink and meet people. It is a great place to start, I made some friends here.

GNUbie Store

2007-01-29T08:13:00.000-08:00

Free stuff here too, with some of them costing L$1. The layout is a bit confusing, though, since they are arranged by designers rather than by types (skins, hair, clothes, etc).

Sarah Nerd's Newbies Paradise

2007-01-29T08:11:00.000-08:00

This place is full of freebies, and is a good place for a newbie to start acquiring much needed fashion. There is also a money tree, where newbies can try to get L$ off the tree (yes, money does grow on trees). But like The Free Dove, most of the people here are here for the stuff they can get, so there is little interaction.

New Citizens Plaza

2007-01-29T08:08:00.000-08:00

This place is great! Not only are there lots of people around, there are lots of freebies too. There is also a ball in a corner of the building which gives out L$ to newbies. There is even a small plot of land here that you can "own" by joining one of the groups here (NCI Home Owners), after which you can set that piece of land as home. A public sandbox is here too for those who want to build, or learn to build. There are quite a few people here willing to teach newbies. Definitely newbie-friendly.

The Free Dove

2007-01-29T08:04:00.000-08:00

This was the first newbie store that I visited, and I didn't regret it. There are tons of stuff here, from clothes to shoes to hair and skin. They are organised into sections, and there are even some items for guys, so it is not just an exclusive ladies' thing. But most of the people here are here with a purpose: to shop. And thus there wasn't much learnt here. Just pick up the freebies and move on.

Recent fashion

2007-01-29T07:54:00.000-08:00

I made some sunglasses recently, the squarish type. It is a bit too squarish for me, but then, some may prefer this style. Do let me know if you are interested.
For a while, I was walking around in my red top and this pinkish wraparound, quite nice, not too casual, not too formal.
These few days, I have been walking around in this red dress, the style was made famous by Marilyn Monroe, just that she wore white and mine is red.

Entering the "Real" World

2007-01-23T07:45:00.000-08:00

Well, today, I took the big step and entered the "Real" world. No more hanging around Help Island. And was I amazed. The main grid is huge. There are so many places, and so many people. In fact, I was overwhelmed. I don't know what I should do. Heeding the advice of someone else, I decided to visit The Free Dove for some freebies, and did a search and found Nat's freebie area too. There was also a newcomers' plaza with some great clothes. Fully armed with a full wardrobe, I am now ready to go out and meet people!

So erm, any suggestions on where to go, what to do?

My recent creations

2007-01-09T07:01:00.000-08:00

I have been trying my hands at making objects in Second Life. So far, I haven't any luck with great products, since I am using only the default templates available in the standard library. Playing around with the shapes and such, I managed to create a line of spectacles (aka glasses) with colours like black, red, blue, brown and white. Here is an example of a pair of black glasses.

Using these glasses as a template, I created a line of sunglasses too, simply by colouring the lens black and making them less transparent.

And using the standard library, I found a plaid template, which I used to create this skirt.

Welcome

2007-01-08T08:16:00.000-08:00

I came across this great place known as Second Life when I was searching the Internet for a MMORPG. Well, Second Life (aka SL) not only offers RPG, but it is able to offer me a chance to lead a whole new virtual life! Be sure to check it out! I will be posting my experiences in Second Life here on this blog.