we're...back??

So, I've been restructuring. Right now, it's an issue of getting Lindens, but I actually have ideas again, after a spurt of activity during December. I've reduced the prices on two old items (until I get the chance to poke them and see about rebuilding them), and I've kept the prices low on the holiday horns. It's a very minimal store, but it is a store.

Though I need to redo the logo.

and then, depression set in

Listen--as much as I am capable of deluding myself for decades, there comes a time when stark reality slaps me across the face and I have to admit that it's just not working.

This is one of those times.

In conversation earlier with the lady who has generously donated space to both Autogenic Alchemy and Lady Disdain, we decided jointly that her continuing to fund at least the Lady Disdain part of the equation was madness--I haven't sold one thing, not one thing in six months. And before that? I sold two dollarbie mirrors. And that was it for the last six months before that.

(I don't count the charity efforts; they do sell, but as they don't make anything I can donate towards rent...)

So today, I've taken down everything I had for sale in the store, the store itself, and killed Lady Disdain Creations, the store group. There is more than a touch of sadness to this, but let's be honest--I wasn't putting out new things even on a monthly basis, and my heart really hasn't been in it for the last year.

So...end of store project. I fail as a merchant.

I will be putting up one or two items on the Marketplace, but I don't expect sales there either. That's just the last sputtering stubborn intent of my merchanting ability, which, as I have regretted learning, is pretty much nil.

It's been...I won't say fun, but it's been something. And now, it's all over but the actual funeral.

Y'all excuse me, I'm going to go kill things on City of Heroes for a while, where I at least feel somewhat less ineffectual.

The Ottoman Empire arises!

Well. It's a small Empire at present. Only six, really.

But still! It's a start! Soon, the grid will be...actually, no, I don't want to take over the grid. But I do want to get better at the occasional furniture build, and to that end...well, here, pictures:



Yes, I did snap these on the fly, and I'm sorry for that; but these are about as simple and functional as I could make them, and I wanted to tell people. They're six prims each, and I may work on a few additional variations, or trade them in and out seasonally. I'm also pondering more animations, but that takes scripting.

On the left, the Lavender Tufted-Leather Ottoman; on the right, the Red Tufted-Leather variant.



From left to right: Green Crushed Velvet Ottoman; then a muted Blue Leather Ottoman; then an Embroidered Velvet Green Ottoman.

I'm contemplating adding a shadow, but that would bring the whole thing to seven prims. Still, I may go in tomorrow and toss a shadow that can be positioned separately into the contents off the Ottomans, so people have the choice of shadowed, or not.



Finally, on the left, the Blue Velvet Ottoman; on the right the Green Velvet. The Blue has silver sphere legs, the Green has copper sphere legs.

While we're on the topic of the Blue, it's currently in the Midnight Mania, so come down and tap that if you want to get one for free. And if you don't quite have fifty Lindens to spare (my asking price), but don't want to wait for the ottoman in the Midnight board to lock, if you hunt around, there's a single-Linden version somewhere on the premises.

Pictures of what started all this--my participation in the Twisted Christmas Hunt, and the three holiday-themed Ottomans for it--will follow in a day or so.

Just hop to the main store to check everything out. Cheers!

(Skin is from Adam & Eve, a group gift some while back; hair was a limited edition offering from Little Heaven, but they sell the style in other colors. Eyes are SN@TCH's "Gloss Eyes" in Blue/Brown. The outfit is Sweet Poison/IMPulse's "Winter Wooly Blue", purchased on one of the 25LT runs, this month or last month.)

all things must pass

I'm leaving the haunted house up until November 3rd; so if you haven't seen it, and want to, go through it before November 2nd! There's around eight hundred prims of haunt, there, that the land owner would like to have back at some point. (My gracious thanks to the lady in question, and to Solace Beach in general, for hosting the haunt.)

In the meantime, I'm contemplating new designs for frocks, but I've decided my first priority is to track down the store texture sets I was plotting out, and finish them. Woefully past the season of spooking, but I will be putting them out. Look for the finished sets in November, on the second floor of the Treehouse of Doom.

And that's all for now. Ta!

the slow, steady, infinitesimal sense...of progress

SO...I was slated to be in two hunts and another charity event. One of the hunts booked up the day I applied, so that was that (and likely a good thing, considering). But I'm still in the Unknown Hunt and the Wear Gray for a Day charity event.

The Unknown Hunt I am telling myself is not a large worry; they don't officially start for hunting until October, so I have time. Wear Gray, on the other hand, starts September 12th, which is--now--eight days hence.

I'm worried because first, my hard drive died, and it took too months to get a new drive. Now, I had been working on designs, but three days before we procured a new drive, something ate itself on my machine--I lost access to EVERYTHING I'd stored on the desktop, but also on internal folders. The only folder that remained clear was something I'd extended off from C: and...frankly, that was a lot of work lost.

We installed the new drive, I started transferring files over (both that I'd burned off from that one available folder, and files saved from before the first drive died), and then two days ago, I injured my leg (SOMEhow), and was stuck away from the comp, elevating the leg, applying ice to lower the swelling.

Now, I have a netbook, and it is a peachy-keen netbook, and I love it and I cuddle it and it is wonderful--for what it is. It will run Second Life, it won't do major graphics. And up until recently, photography was laughable.

So...I'm stuck. I've contacted one of the organizers behind Wear Gray with questions, but I'm not hearing anything back. I will likely send another notecard, along with an IM, in a couple days. But in the meantime, I'm having to face it--if I can't use the main keys, I can't finish the projects I'm planning for the events.

The Unknown Hunt has more lead time. I think my leg will feel better in a few weeks, no problem, and I'll be able to get back to pixilating bandages on dead skin. But Wear Gray? I just don't have it done. I was at the point where I had mocked-out patterns, and started to do template work without aging--but all I've really gotten accomplished? A half-aged pair of gloves.

Yeah. Really.

So yes, I'm worried. If I don't get the mummy skins done, hey, I'll do them for the store. Not a problem. I'm working on two store texture sets, and one--or the other--would also work as a gift. SOMEthing will be done in time for Unknown.

But the 12th...that's very nearly just a week from now. A week from now will I be able to sit at my desk without elevating the leg? I just don't know.

I'll keep you posted.

On the plus side--and this is good news--I finally have everything fixed and running in the main store lobby. By that, I mean, I have:

• the Virtual Haiti relief kiosk for donations
• the Thrifty Goth group join board
• the Unknown hunt board
• a Midnight Mania board up and running (with one of the Darkest Carni outfits in it, bloodspattered stripes, pretty sure it's still the only way to get that particular dress for the moment)
• the Wear Gray donation jar
• the Lady Disdain subscribe-o-matic board
• the notecard-giving logo board
• and two vendors for two different vodoun veves sets, both sending all proceeds to Haitian earthquake relief

Not bad. Next up: getting non-charity products up for sale!

[Also, yes, I am amused at my brain. I can just barely manage to vaguely hint at something going wrong on the main blog, but here and on Twitter? I can give all the RL details I think are meaningful and relevant.

[My brain is weird. But then, this is nothing new for anyone who knows me.]

a tree grows in Twilight Tears

Yes, friends and neighbors, I discovered I do still have the haunted treehouse from my art-sim glory days. So, in defiance of protocol (but after checking with the lass what owns my sims), I am popping it up as the main store. I'm going to keep the yard sale going for a bit longer, but everything will slowly be coming down and either going into my inventory, or going up on the walls.

If you port in and think things are in a bit of disarray, this is why. I am making great sweeping changes on the business end of things, and this is all part of that.

I still haven't decided yet if I'm changing the name. But if I do, this blog will still stay as the shop blog. Therefore.

Give me a week or two, I'll have more things out. In the meantime, the only thing new I've added is changing the Midnight Madness board to the Dark Carni demi-Victorian gown, and adding a second set of veves for the Virtual Haiti Relief campaign. I've also reduced the cost on both sets, so now, you can get either set for L$120, for six different veves (for a total of thirty textures in all, five per lwa) in each set, or both for L$240, which is still over half off what I had them priced before.

And all proceeds from those vendors go, as stated, to Virtual Haiti Relief.

Coming up: If I ever get it done, two mummified skins for the Unknown Hunt; at least one dress, if not several outfits, for Wear Grey for a Day; a voudon doll skin for the Voodoo Hunt; and whatever I think of for the Hunt for Roleplay hunt. (Though those last two may fall apart, I haven't yet applied.)

Check back if you're curious! And slowly, things will start to make more sense in the big empty tree.