Get Off My Lawn, Sassenach!

Annthrasite channels Braveheart in the
Folklorica group gift for Real Men.

Don't mess with the redheads! Especially when they're in drag. Folklorica's new group gift is this fab MacKenzie clan kilt ensemble (as well as a steampunk leather kilt with armor and, Oh! the mixing and matching!).

Stay off Annthrasite's lawn! Important safety tip.

[Best part of this for me is that I'm related to MacKenzies by my aunt's marriage. Go, MacKenzieeeees!]

Pose: Hero pose from Lludmila's Marketplace shop. Free!

The Ball Is In Your ...

Renaissance Man Cal buckles his swash
in this White Armory Courtier's Tunic.

The White Armory, while putting out a gorgeous gown every Sunday as a group gift, has put out a fabulous Courtier's Tunic outfit for men as well this week! What's more, it comes with the hat, the boots, and the (non-combat) sword! Group membership is free, but you have to ask for it. Drop them a notecard. You have all week.

Happy Evil Holidays

Free gift for anyone at [Kusshon]: logs with many anims
to add to your own fireplace or campfire. No flames.
No wonder Lludmila's freezing and sneezing.

Candy Cane Hunt prize at Never Totally Dead.
Boyfriend and girlfriend last Christmas. Imagine my surprise!

Serving elf Candy Cane Hunt prize and helper elf
group gift at Sweet Revolutions - both animated.

Group gift of reindeer trophy - just in time for the hols! -
at Never Totally Dead.

There was just a note from Beolas at [Kusshon] that he had a new freebie out, so Lludmila logged on for some fire logs - haha! See what I did there? There is a whole Christmas Shop inside the store with Advent wreaths and more.

While she was online, she might as well pick up a new group gift from  Never Totally Dead. Take the middle teleport board from the landing place, which is a lovely snow scene. There was also a Candy Cane Hunt sign, so Lludmila decided to take a chance on finding the hunt prize this time. She's not sure she found the prize from the last hunt there. The prizes on the Candy Cane hunt are 1L.

Of course, she also has to pick up the weekly group gift at Sweet Revolutions and look at the 30L specials. Sweet Revolutions is also participating in the Candy Cane Hunt, so she picked up two elves for the price of one ... one Linden that is.

Lludmila's surprised pose from her Marketplace Shop. It's free!

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous

Group Gift from Purple Moon

Just because. Because there's everything in SL and that's what we love.

Why there isn't a stampede to get the latest group gift from Purple Moon is beyond me, unless everyone is still battling each other for larger computer monitors at some Black Friday RL event. Annthrasite will stay cozy warm in this, wait for it, faux fur coat. Yes, it's faux fur. This will keep the People for the Ethical Treatment of Pixels off Annthrasite's case. No pixels were harmed in the making of this coat. And, oh, but it's gorgeous. Annthrasite really values her Purple Moon group membership.

Now, on to the ridiculous. The Free*Style blog is having a Silly Seven anniversary celebration based on the number 7 with a cart sale from many, many shops. So, things are 7L or 77L or 777L (although I didn't see one of the last), but all of them are silly.

Exhibit A - from Duh!
Sunglasses, brain buddy, and lunchbox for 7L.

It says "Brains - It's what's for lunch."
Lludmila needs this, doncha think?

Scout around because there are also some free things, plus clothes, very silly poses - even sillier than Lludmila's in her marketplace shop (see link at right), and silly skins.


Annthrasite is also wearing:

A&A Leeanne hair (her new favorite)
The Secret Store coat-dress and faux fur collar
Baby Monkey Dacha boots
Aeva Lumi skin in tone 2 (because her tan has faded already).

Addendum - Lludmila says she emphatically does not need this lunchbox. It is quite the wrong shade of green and will clash with her skin. And stop with the "Braaaaainz!" thing already.

Say "Boo!"

Lumae group gift skin: Lady Death.

little bone group gift: feline (comes in all colors)

Timely group gifts from Lumae and little bone, Halloween skin and hair. Well, maybe the hair wasn't meant to be spooky - but it goes great with the outfit for some cute trick or treating at the Zombie Bayou hunt. There is also a Dark Chapel hair group gift at little bone in pastels. Both hairs come with additional streak colors and scalp colors for the part! Not sure if that will work on actual zombies, like Lludmila.

Eyes: Fallen Eyes from Style Box (which may no longer exist - check your inventory to see if you picked it up)
Dress and bat tights: G Field 2012 Halloween gift, no longer available [Update! It is available again and FREE! Hurry on down!], which is a shame because it is just adorable and fits all shapes I've put it on beautifully. Always try a demo, but I have a lot of faith in G Field's wares. Oh, just look at the texture on it! Gorgeous!

Cart Sale Joy

Very cute long sundress from Snatch.
Free Ultra lippy from Lumae.

You can't beat the Cart Sales at The Wash. An av can be outfitted cheaply and chic for 10L each item. Lludmila loves a bargain. Use the Lumae landmark as a starting point.

Cute "enough" sundress from B!asta.

Lumae skin: Evie, tone 4 Honey / Sizzle.

Lumae has three skins out for 10L each - all of them stuffed with extras such as eyelash options, cleavages, and freckles. [I used to have that lip color in RL many decades ago, when I wore that stuff.]

Also pictured on Annthrasite: one of four group gifts of hair from little bones, called Apple, which comes with a HUD with 6 fun hair colorings.

June - Off to a Good Start

Cardinal bobbed unrigged mesh hair from d.l.s. at the Gacha Garden. Short Bob Hair in five colors - 50L per play:
Cardinal, Raven, Hombre Cardinal to Raven (hombre fade from red to black), The Cardinal & The Raven (mixed red and black), Dove - RARE.

Starry night blazer June group gift from Paisley Daisy - really nice!

Lumae has put this really lovely skin, Evie in  Honey / Electron, as a freebie at the Fab Free HQ.

Stranded Offline

Has nothing to do with the sale,
 except that they are Baby Monkey shoes.

This is so sad - my internet is so bad that I can't stay in SL long enough to get to this sale at Baby Monkey.

Everything in the outlet upstairs is 10L for the next couple of weeks, and then they get cleaned out. It's just killing Annthrasite that she can't get there. I would have to pilfer the Baby Monkey slurl off of another blogpost, but it will probably be safer if you just use Search for the shop or get the most recent slurl off of Pixieplumb Flanagan's Picks tab.

Lludmila made about a dozen forays into The Chapter Four to pick up the group gifts there, and can't stay on long enough to show them to you. There are a lot of gifts! Lludmila loves the ionic shop for its furniture and buildings, so she also played the gacha for that shop and won a raft with a bed on it! She knows this because it was on the picture over the gacha machine. She won something else as well, but the lag was so ferocious that it didn't arrive. She almost wrote it off as a "tip" to the shop but it was in her inventory the next day. Well, phew!

Flickrstream for Ionic at The Chapter Four


Updated 10 May upstairs at Baby Monkey:

Nooooooo!

Group Membership Sale!

Paisley Daisy February group gift.
Shoes and butterflies not included.

It will be only 10L to join the Paisley Daisy Group for the rest of the summer! Then it goes back to 100L. This is a great time to join. Old group gifts have been set out for you to scoop up. It's worth it just to get that cute Valentine's outfit [an old photo it took 40 minutes to find in my inventory].
Now, I'd love to show you more group gifts - Annthrasite picked up two today (May and Cinco de Mayo gifts), but as you can see, she's having a bit of trouble. We're giving up on SL today. It's probably not SL's fault - all the internet on my end is running slowly.

May group gifts and Sunday laaaag.

Paisley Daisy

Once In A ...

Lovely Victorian dress with boots and choker is the group gift now at BlueMoon Enterprise. The skirt is mesh and there are several pieces that can be worn or not to give the ensemble a different look. Very feminine!
Group membership is very worthwhile. The gifts are splendid and the clothing for sale is nothing less than beautiful!

This Weekend

This 60 Linden Weekend offering from Sweet Lies  is a gorgeous medieval-y dress with beautiful accessories. The dress is mesh and the sleeve puff embellishments are extra prims. It comes with the belt, necklace, earrings (peer through the hair, they're in there), and the circlet. There is an additional modesty top for those who don't want to show off the tatas.

The Poised new group gift is ever so cute. The group is free to join. The outfit came with Slink platform pumps, but no alpha layer for the pumps. Not sure if you need the Slink feet for that or if it's just an omission. Annthrasite substituted some Baby Monkey platform pumps.

As beautiful as mesh clothing is, there are always little glitches, especially if you're planning on your avatar doing any moving. Mine are out dancing at least twice a week. For the blog I sometimes have to find a pose that shows off the mesh at its best, long hair will cover a multitude of pecadillos, or in some extreme cases a teeny bit of Photoshop is required. Worst case scenario: I throw the outfit away and it doesn't get blogged. The two outfits above had their little problems, but are so gorgeous I had to share them. Perhaps a more standard shaped av (which I refuse to succumb to) wouldn't have those problems. [Is it just my avs or does everyone's av have a right shoulder that's higher than the left??!!]

There is also a cheating workaround where I make an underlayer to cover bits of skin that show that the alpha layer doesn't cover. Fingerless gloves in a matching shade will patch bits of elbow and forearm that stick out. I saved one of my favorite outfits with this. I can't express how disappointed I was that a bit of arm showed, but sticking on a pair of black gloves that only cover from just below the elbow to above saved that top from the ignominy of the trash file.

Do you have any workarounds you use to "save" a favored outfit that falls just slightly short of being perfection?

Newness

Black Mirror hair in Nightingale
Off shoulder peasant top and corset
Persefone skin

Annthrasite recently took in a load of goodies. Several hunts are going on at FashioNatic, little bones is relentlessly sending out group gifts, and YS & YS has a new skin as a group gift.

Again, it's really worthwhile to stick with a shop's group, even if they're free to join. 

Pink Slim Wrap dress
Black Mirror hair in Mousse

YourSkin & YourShape group gift, Persefone skin in earth tone.

little bones group gift, Black Mirror hair in Mousse and in  new color: Nightingale. Two other colors included.

FashioNatic Forbidden Apple Hunt gift, off the shoulder peasant top with corset (1L) and pink wrap dress from the Dark Lady hunt (1L).

Fat strap sandals, not free, from Baby Monkey. I think they were discontinued, but be sure to check out the fat packs upstairs. Bargains galore! Fat packs for 50L! Annthrasite is still standing in the middle of them, having a nervous breakdown!

Time For a Change

Great outfit for guys in the 2014 Metamorphosis Hunt at LC Designs. It comes with the scarf and hiking boots (which are really nicely detailed). Football not included. Heh!

If you need more sparkle, there's the New Year's Tux Lamu group gift from the ALB men's department.

Annthrasite insists these
look great on gals, too.

Comes with spangly bowler. Heels from the COCO discontinued clearance.

Sweet Treats

Lludmila looks darling in these Halloween group gifts from G. Field.  This year's offering is the cute striped dress on the left with the optional cat's tail and ears. Last year's gift (on the right) is available again and comes with the bat-bow and the batty stockings. Lludmila loves G. Field clothes because they fit perfectly - not easy when you have a non-standard avatar (some particulars here).

Hair by Clawtooth, flats by dirty.little.secret, glasses by poetic colors/kusshon.

Say Arrr!

See next post for erratum.

Costume for ladies and gents from The Renaissance Hunt.

A note from Brain Circuit, Inc. reminded us that it's time for the Medieval Fantasy Hunt ... and it looks to be fabulous! Medieval Fantasy Hunt pix here. Above is a sample from Brain Circuit, Inc. - and being piratical has never looked better!

I'd have more, but the internet is intermittent chez nous and I was barely able to provide this picture and the link! Fortunately, the hunt goes on for a month and Lludmila will have a crack at the 3 houses, the church, the furniture, the knife-throwing wheel (for that other blog) ... ohhhhh, it's just killing us that we can't get in and that we had to go to the local library just to upload this much!

sigh.

Update: Here's why I wanted to do but the interwebs weren't cooperating.

Annthrasite's skin courtesy of the YourSkin & YourShape group gift.

In the Group Loop

Mermaid outfit comes with Mer-AO in case you don't already have one.

AnaLee Balut at ALB Dream Fashion has put out fresh group gifts - one for the mermaid in you and the other ...

This full outfit is available for men -
earrings and all.

... for the more colorful masculine in you? The Lamu Group is free to join. [Men's suit here.]

Vero Modero announced a fresh round of group gifts, but their old ones are still available. The pink poppy dress is last month's.

This is such a pretty little dress - with or without the shoulder flowers.

This cool colors triangle dress with feather hair accessory might work for any 60s parties coming up in your future.

Annthrasite looks all cross for being put in a yet another dress.

The Vero Modero group is also free to join and they have gifts for men as well as women. Why Annthrasite didn't want the men's gift is anyone's guess.

I don't want to get preachy ... but I will anyway. Lludmila doesn't join groups for just the gift (okay, maybe the first time she was lured in by the gift). She sticks with her groups, even though she capped out at 42. After all, if they offer one gift, maybe they will offer another some day! Or maybe she wants to get notices of new items and sales because she liked the gift and the merchandise in the shop. We know that there are some avatars out there who jump on and off groups like fleas. Stick with your group for a while and see if the information you get is worthwhile. Lludmila did leave a group just this week because the group chat (which she had turned off but was still pouring in) was driving her nuts. [Ev'ryday, ev'rygoshdarnday someone would post something in group chat and the next thing you knew, ev'ryone was responding.] But that was an exception. Other groups might be left because she never heard anything from them. You just can't please some avs.

Okay, the particulars:

Truth - short hair (subscriber gift)

Analog Dog freeball - long curly hair

Aeva - Faith in shade 2 (sale skin) and Devotion Redux shade 2 (group* gift skin)

Yogi's Shoes - feet with pink sandals - Shop seems to be missing. Check back later.

J's MainShop - those fab feet with flip-flops Annthrasite can't get enough of (group gift)

*But you have to go to the shop to click the sign.

Group Gifts Galore!

Summer monochromatic outfit. Prim feet and thongs included.

Above: group gift sandals.
Below: Secret Wednesday bargain sandals.

Annthrasite was happy to discover Hollyhood through the Secret Wednesday list. She only went for the bargain sandals and found a passel of group gifts as well! Group membership is free!

Free to Join Today Only

Do not delay. Hustle down to Baby Monkey Shoes because group membership is now free. There's a new group gift (1L) for men and you get to spend hours waiting for your letter to come up on the group only lucky chairs. Comfy seating is available and 7 chairs each with something different, usually in the same color scheme.

This is a limited time offer (group membership is usually 250L) - it ends at midnight (today is Sunday, July 7) and doesn't happen very often! Get all your alts down there!

Baby Monkey also has a couple of Midnight Mania boards that are for anyone and for 1L more you can join the Lucky Monkeys group that has its own set of lucky chairs. But definitely join the regular group today.

Am I Blue?

Jilly with prim feet & flipflops.

Remember those fabulous flip-flops from a previous post? Ann found the perfect sundress to go with them. She's all ready for Caneel Bay in this group gift from Leri Mills Designs at Acid Lily Gallery.

Evolution dress in jade.

For those of you green with envy - there's more. There was another group gift available (must be another one of those happy accidents) at Acid Lily Gallery, this time a green cocktail dress from even.flow.  The Acid Lily Gallery is free to join and if you pay attention, you can get some great gifts!

Luckily, Ann has some color change heels from Es Styles that will go with almost anything.
Hair: Former subscribo gift from Truth.
Skin: Jaci, Autumn Kiss from Aeva. Gosh! This may actually have been paid for! But I bet it was on sale, if I know Ann.
Eyes: Clear Pond, former freebie from Poetic Colors - I think he has a new one out, but these go with the dress, now don't they?

Rag Dollz Mania

Dobins in green from Rag Dollz.

Currently in the Daytime Mania board in the Men's section of Rag Dollz is a great western outfit with hat. The board is set for 50 and should be easy to attain over the weekend.

Puppy not pictured.  That photo wouldn't load properly.
It's a shoulder pet.

Also at Rag Dollz on the open Midnight Mania board is a cute puppy-themed outfit ... complete with puppy.

Totally unedited (other than cropping) photo.
I don't know when I've seen a  match this good.

I had just intended to point up the mania boards at Rag Dolls, but Cal had those fabulous boots and I wondered if they were still available, so I went to look. They were originally from J's Mainshop, which still exists and still has the western boots (sadly, no longer free) as well as some other really gorgeous shoes. They have a group gift (the group is free to join) of these mesh flip-flops with feet and color-change toenails. The skin HUD was one Ann had never used before and after actually reading the directions the above photo shows the result. I look in vain to find the join. The notecard that came with the flip-flops was scary, but the directions are found through a button on the HUD and are pictorial.

Update:

Just a reminder that these outfits look just as good on gals!