I did a mix of green screen and inworld stuff, so the inworld sunflowers are from Little Branch.
I need to do a massive shout-out to Hayyz Resident today. We were discussing her recent headshots she'd taken using the pose above, and I expressed my absolute love of Sunflowers and she was so freakin' adorable and gifted me the poses to use myself... so thank you, sweetheart!
Check out Hayyz's blog >Here< and her flickr >Here< to see her gorgeous versions!
I am so grateful for Hayyz. I got her pegged entirely wrong when we met and the poor girl now has to listen to me apologizing constantly for my mistake. She's become someone who, despite my shortcomings, will reach out and poke me every now and then to make sure things are going well. Her devotion to her friends makes me want to be better to others too. Thank you for being such an inspiring woman with your actions, beautiful. You mean the world to me. ♥
I have a bunch of info for you again today, so my dear Spoonies (i'm still gonna make that a thing!), read on to find out all the fabulous I'm sporting today!
xoxo
The Xiao Catwa Skin is available at the Revoul Mainstore, and I kinda feel like I'm channeling a bit of Nikita Dragun (I might be slightly delusional here, let me have that one). I've shown the tones available above. My personal favourite for this skin is RE20 shown in the top right, but as you can see, all of the tones are stunniiiinnnnngg (more Mama Dragun?). I'm using the Magy Catwa head, but don't be afraid to give it a go on ANY of your catwa heads, just bear in mind that different heads have different shadings, and as always, your shape may need to be tweaked... be sure to demo first!
Finally I think I may have discovered the secret of showing off eyes & eyelashes! Not sure why it took me quite this long to figure out how to get them all in line, but huzzah for this small hurdle I have jumped over! Above I'm showing the Revoul "Revoulutionized Beauty" Lash styles at Shiny Shabby, and the Go&See Mystery Eyes. also at Shiny Shabby.
In case you want a closer look, click over the image and it'll poof up bigger on your screen! ♥
Hair : DOUX - Audrey hairstyle [Deluxe Pack] - (Note : It seems Doux has changed the way they sell their hair, now you can buy a 'basic pack' which will allow you all the colours in the fatpack hud. If you purchase the DELUXE hud as a add-on, you'll get extra style options along with a tint hud, which i've used here to get the blue tone and the hanging jewels from the cute lil buns.)
Once again, there's no information about the pose or background because you can barely see the pose, and the background was totes greenscreened.
Hi!
Today is a purple kind of day. I'm not entirely sure what that means.. let's google!
-wanders back-
According to this one site "Bourne Creative" the colour purple has a strong connection to Royalty and wealth, along with mystery and magic. So far, I'm kinda loving this. As you read on a little, it does say that too much purple can make you irritable, and too little can lead to apathy... not sure what quantities of either equate to too much or too little, though! Let's hope I'm not becoming arrogant and impatient though!
It seems there are some soothing qualities to the colour purple too, with gemstones in the tone apparently accentuating imagination, and learning new things - both of which I'm always keen to do more of... so that's a plus!
I didn't expect to write about purple, and it's almost become a self-fullfilling prophecy in that I DID learn something new today, just by having a peek at what the colour could mean. How fun!
In other news, have a peek at this gorgeous Go&See skin & shape combo that is currently on promotion at the mainstore. If you're a group member you can get the skin for just 99L, which is an 89% discount, by Kristyna's (of go&see) calculations. The group does cost 150L to join, but with regular promotions such as this, it's well worth the investment.
The skin is for catwa, and available in the tones Albi, Goth, Pale, Witchy, Tan, Tropic, Cola & Choco I haven't done a full review today because Hi, it's Saturday and Pickle is lazy (shh), but you can find a tone comparison for another Go&See skin in this post >Here<
You can grab a fatpack of all skins for 720Ls if you're part of the group, and that'll include the shape shown... if you'd like just the shape, it's sold separately for at a bargain 90L (for group members)!
The skin comes with optional freckles (which I'm sporting!) and a no brow option. Also included is a catwa eye colour too, again, not shown today... sorry!
Somewhere along the way, because I'm stubborn as fuck, we got a little lost.
However, in recent weeks, we've been spending a little more time together as and when circumstances permit, and everything I wrote back then has started to make sense, all over again.
What better way to celebrate our reaffirmed friendship than to re-take one of the pictures that started my revelation, and helped me along my journey?
I'm so glad to be holding hands and walking with this amazing human, once more.
In another bizarre twist of fate, the Somewhere in time sim has now closed, and I can't help but feel like this is a beautiful tribute to a gorgeous sim, despite my little pictures never being able to do it justice. Looking forwards to seeing what the owners of this lovely location pull together in the future!
I have had a long day, in the BEST way, so there's not gonna be a bunch of ramblings here. Instead, have some actual factual information about the items i'm wearing!
xoxo
Go&See has produced this absolutely freakin' stunning Genus applier.
Above is the "Albi" and "Goth" tones.
Here's the Witchy & Tan options.
And this is the Tropic & Choco options!
All of the skin options come brows or no brows, and there's also extra buttons for Genus Eye options, Eyeliner AND the eyelashes shown are also included in the hud! Yay!
I think I've touched briefly on how difficult it can be as a blogger to 'compete' with the other talent out there at the moment, and sometimes while I'm busy complaining and feeling sorry for myself over another rejection, I forget how extraordinarily lucky I am, and how grateful I should be for the creations my 'sponsors' are generous enough to gift me - and all to allow me to continue taking some photographs of myself.
I'm a bit of a stubborn and proud person. Daily, I try and work on that but old habits die hard. I don't apply to stores just because I want free things. I apply to stores because their creativity inspires mine. The "free" things are nice, but in the grand scheme of things, I'm probably only going to wear them/use them once or twice because being a blogger means that at least every day (usually more, because I have far too much free time!) I change my outfit.
This is massive for me, because for the last three years, blogging has been my hobby and that turned into a passion. I absolutely love taking someone else's creative work (with their permission of course!) and twisting that into a story that - although I may be the only one to see it - makes sense to me and despite not being successful with every new application I make, my aspirations for my blog and photography are bigger than they have ever been, and I will continue to strive for better photography, better commentary and a better Pickle to bring them all together.
Thank you to all my beautiful "sponsors" (I really do hate that term!) for coming along with me on my journey... and thank you to everyone who peeks in occasionally reading my dribble. ♥
Taken on my platform with a random-faffed-with windlight, so no other info!
I may have had a slight rant on facebook yesterday because my brain just wouldn't compute as I was constructing the blog.
If you missed it.. here it is!
"I was gonna post this on my blog, but I just couldn't find the words earlier, but I'm struggling pretty hard today, and not in the regular "Omg my anxiety is ridiculous and I want to sleep 5ever" kinda way (although that too).
Today I'm struggling to keep my fucking mouth shut. It's never been a thing I've been good at honestly, and I'm more likely to shout from the rooftops about how shitty a situation is than shut my trap and let people see it for themselves, but that has never done me any good, and although I'd love to keep keeping shtum I am TIRED. I am tired of watching these people who constantly take and take and take, and then take credit being shown as people worthy of some kind of SL fame, or infamy. I'm tired of being one of those people who have given more than my due, and have been left by the wayside or being painted as the villain in removing these vile people from my SL and my life in general. I know more than people know I know, and although I may say a lot to a select few, it's never the entire story. For fucks sake, be good to each other. I can't keep making excuses for my silence if you're continually being a fucktard."
See, I think it might have gotten a bit of a reaction, not because anyone actually knows what I was talking about (it wasn't one person, nor was it a collective of peoples. There were multiple reasons for me feeling like I needed to rant and most of them are selfish), but because so many of us humans feel so completely taken advantage of by others.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm well aware that everyone has toxic traits, myself included. I'm not perfect, I don't claim to be, but I do try extremely hard every day to remain a pleasant person to be around, but situations like the ones I have been forced into recently make that extremely difficult to maintain, as that stubborn angry bitch in me just wants to rear it's ugly head and snap at the stupid.
Continually I have to remind myself that my idea of a terrible person isn't my next door neighbours idea of a terrible person, and everyone is entitled to their opinions. However, when I see the same people pulling the same stunts over and over again, the angry in me bubbles over, and you get a Pickle Rant.
Today's mission is to calm the fuck down. I'm going to attempt (again) to accept the fact I cannot change people to suit MY agenda. Control isn't love, and more than anything I really DO want to shower kindness over people, no matter how successful I am in this. If I fail today, I'll get up and try and be a better version of myself tomorrow... yet, in being what I consider to be a decent person, I will also be taking care of myself and that means putting me first. I'm a very loud, very opinionated introvert, and sometimes people miss the introversion because of the noise I am capable of making, but I need to take care of myself and ensure my energy is good so I'll be collecting my spoons and distributing them far more wisely.
xoxo
Essences - Luisa for Genus in tones Pale 01 & Pale 02
Essences - Luisa for Genus in tones Medium 01 and Medium 02
Essences - Luisa for Genus in tones Dark 01 and Dark 02
As usual, the Essences skin comes with 6 eyebrow options (actually i think the "no brow" option might be new, but yay! New!), black, brown, ginger, blonde, red and no brows, not shown here today because I derped out!
Plato apparently said "Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything."
I have to admit, I kind of agree.
I have never been overly passionate about a particular band or style of music.
At 7 or 8, my next-door neighbour went to a Michael Jackson concert and bought me back a program. Instantly I decided that I was going to marry him, and made it my goal to learn (very basically) the keyboard notes to "Beat it".
At 11, I started to get really interested in learning to make my own music, and eventually was chosen to learn the Viola (instances of that nonsense have been previously spoken about in this blog!).
When I was 16ish (shh), I thought I had a crush on Gary Barlow from Take That - but I didn't really. I just wanted to be accepted by the kids at school who thought Take That were the shit.
It was around the same time I was lucky enough to see The Rolling Stones in concert (admittedly the only concert I have ever been to), and without a doubt it is something I will remember forever, despite not being a superfan. The atmosphere was beyond amazing, all those people of different ages coming together, celebrating the sound of Mick Jaggers impeccable vocals.
Breaking up with my first 'proper' boyfriend at age 18 left me sobbing as I clicked record watching MTV, capturing all the sappy lovesongs I could possibly think of on VHS and then in an act that now leaves me cringing, I passed the video to his friend to give to him. Ugh. I'm pretty sure Britney Spears and BackStreet Boys were prevalent across that awful, embarrassing vid.
When I found out I was pregnant, Pink Floyd's "The Wall" became super important to me - my daughter kicked IN RHYTHM for the entire song when I was in the car... and when she was born Travis' "Flowers in the window" made me cry and Plumbs "In my arms" made my heart explode.
When I broke up with my Fiance, and I thought my world was ending, Leona Lewis and Three Days Grace pulled me through, my bedroom windows open and me singing loud enough to disturb the neighbours #noshame.
More recently, my Daughter performed Adele's "Chasing Pavements" in public, and now I can't listen to that without remembering the pride I felt watching her confidence shine.
What i'm trying to say is that for every important part of your life, there has probably been a song that you can relate to. A memory that is attached, whether good or bad.
I revel in these songs, these moments, and I hope you do, too.
Pose (Edited slightly) : #5 <K&S> Him & I. pose 3 (Gacha)
I'm really not in a very good place today. I'm okay. I'm just sad.
I've always had trouble making and maintaining friendships. A lot of that is due to my being a hard-headed, stubborn and opinionated Pickle, and I know I'm not for everyone... but it makes me crazy when I step back and actually figure out that a lot of the problem is that I'm just incapable of accepting people as-is, rather than looking at them in terms of potential.
Yesterday, I spoke to a woman who reminded me of a very toxic person who was in my life for 2-3 years on and off. She kind of reamed him a new asshole, but the only thing I could think of was how sad I was that I couldn't make him a better man. Trust me - he was horrible. He manipulated me on more than one occasion by pretending to be someone else, cheated on me and told me on Christmas, made me wait for him for 6 hrs on my birthday and was generally just a butthead... but there was a part of me that wanted so desperately to make him good, to have him understand that people need kindness, and I thought that by accepting him, flaws and all, I would be able to do that. I was wrong.
I know this makes me sound like a martyr, but there's been many times where I have pushed the 'right' people away because of a bad situation I was in.. I'm not perfect in the slightest.
I just feel like right now, I've gotten to the point where my little bubble is shrinking rapidly. and as much as I would love to allow every single human into it, I'm incapable. I've become more difficult to please, and while this might seem like a good thing, that i'm picking people who fit me and MY needs right now to stay, it also makes me feel incredibly sad because it's like a part of me wants to give the whole world the benefit of the doubt, and because I'm me, I can't.
Again, not sure where this is going. I suppose I'm just venting, rather than hoping any of this makes sense.
xoxo
I've been watching youtube for a while this morning, and specifically, Gabby Hanna. She's kind of well known for dealing with drama in her personal life, she's pretty blatant and I feel an odd sort of kinship with her, because it really does seem as though she's a little further in her personal self-betterment journey. Anyway, she mentioned something in one of her videos that really struck home with me, and she said :
"Find a way to be grateful for your pain"
At the time, she was discussing her 'art', and was just commenting on how she felt like she'd been through a lot, but was glad for those experiences because it had helped her develop creatively, and had become a source of inspiration to her too.
It's not the first time I've heard stories about that, and it's also well known that artists such as Van Gogh, and more recently Robin Williams and various musical influencers used their mental health issues to create masterpieces too, and while many of these beautifully creative people suffered immensely, and oftentimes have passed before their time, the remnants of them are left in their art - and I think that is an amazing legacy.
I know that mental health is probably something I reference a lot in my rantings, but I can't help but feel like it does need to be spoken about more. It needs to become more widely accepted that we are ALL on a spectrum, and just because you feel like you can't relate right now, it doesn't mean that you won't need help at some point later in life.
Your mind is a fragile thing, and I am discovering more every day that it is incredibly important to treat yourself with respect. You can be the sweetest, kindest person in the entire world - but if you're not capable of treating yourself with the same hand you treat everyone else, you're only going to exhaust yourself.
Think positively today, peeps. After all, if nothing else it's nearly the weekend!
