Saturday, August 22, 2009

Skin/Shape Expo '09


Skin/Shape Expo '09, originally uploaded by Zoe Demar.

If you are a skin or shape maker please contact Foxy Innis in-world for more information - Space is limited but still available!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Zoe's Quick Tip from Digit Darkes: Sculpt Rendor Settings

Find yourself taking a pic or generally just scoping what other people are wearing - but for some reason at a slight distance the sculpted object/item seems to look funky?? This happens a lot to shoes and sometimes hair that you or your friend might be wearing. Here is a cool tip that Digit Darkes gave out via note card with her sculpted heels. I've been using it ever since!

1. Enable the "Advanced" menu in your viewer if you haven't already done so by pressing following shortcuts on your keyboard: Ctrl-Alt-D for PCs or Opt-Ctrl-D for MACs

2. Select "Debug Settings" (near the bottom) from the "Advanced" menu.

3. Scroll down to "RenderVolumeLODFactor" (the list will show when you click the arrow next to the blank input field) - or copy and paste RenderVolumeLODFactor directly into the input field.

4. Set the value to 4.00, then simply close the window (DON'T press the "Reset to default" button because this will revert your new setting).

**** Please be aware that making changes to "Object Mesh Detail" in your Graphics Settings AFTER your changes in Debug Settings will make it necessary to repeat the above steps ****

Each time you install a new viewer you will have to change your settings again!




Enjoy!

Love, Zoe

Zoe's Quick Pick: Bijou's Vixen Dress

I'm a big fan of the unique styles from Bijou and this Vixen dress (shown in Navy) is amazing! I love the retro feel with modern cut - esp in the skirt. Feel free to go check it out along with some other awesome new releases by Bijou!

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Credits to Zobovic, Tuli, Zaara, Maitreya, & Curio - AND to to Torridwear for the poses!

Enjoy!

Love, Zoe

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Follow-up to Helping Hands

Back in May I asked for those that could to help out my friend, Voshie, who was going through a bit of a rough time in RL (see my previous blog post Helping Hands). It is now August and Voshie is in a much better situation. Here is a thank-you that Voshie shared today via plurk:
This note has been a long time coming and sorry that this is a 'mass' note....

I first want to say thank you from the very bottom of my heart to everyone who offered words of encouragement and support. It meant and does mean the world to me. It's funny that in a virtual world I found more caring individuals than I had around me during my time of stress. You all have touched my heart with your generous spirit, and kindness to the person behind the avi.

I wanted to get an update out there for you all so that you can hear from the horse's mouth so to speak what has happened in my life. It's hard to connect to everyone to shared similar experiences with me, encouraging me to stay strong and that this storm will pass, those who donated to the yard sale and those who gave freely. I NEVER expected the response I got from the community but am blown away, and quite honestly it makes me speechless.

A brief recap of what happened that caused me to feel like the floor fell out from under me: One day I arrived home with job applications in my hand, to my landlady/roommate standing at the door with an unhappy look. She started yelling at me that I had to pay $600 by the 1st(of june), or I would be kicked out. This was exactly 4 days before the first. Later that day she told me that she wanted me out by the 16th regardless if I had the money or not. Needless to say I was devastated.

A friend suggest putting together a yardsale to raise money to help with the move that I was obviously going to have to make. I was overwhelmed by the response I received with people giving items to me to help me raise money for my impending move. All in all, due to the generosity of people and everyone helping me stay strong, I was able to pay the landlady, and have money left over to help facilitate my move.

I am now in a different state, have found a job and place to live where I'm very happy and it was all because of you. I can't thank you enough for everything you all have done for me and I will be eternally grateful to each and every one of you.

Love, Voshie

It is nice to see how friends help out other friends in times of need. And I hope this encourages everyone to do the same for their friends. Thanks for reading and for helping when you can!

Love, Zoe

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

A Little Bit of Style by Zoe Demar - Early Fall!

With the rainstorm that I experienced on Sunday night, it certainly isn't surprising that I'm pulling out the trusted umbrella and thinking already of the upcoming Fall. On the news it was announced that my area experienced the coolest July of 15 years! So on that note, I present to you an early Fall (or autumn for those of the British tongue) style.

My first major inspiration for this look comes from Bax Coen's brand new release of the Prestige Boots. I have been luckily enough to be one of the first few to try them on and I can't tell you how spectacular they are!! I resisted using them until they were released. There are also a ton of accent color options to play with that they truly can go with any look. They also come in black as you should be able to see on my flickr page, considering I took plenty of pics of them for Bax.

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The other major inspiration is the hair from Tiny Bird - which is the creation of Autumn Hykova. I adore this style called, "Into My Arms," and absolutely love all the bobby pins including one that you can wear in your mouth! One of my earliest college buds would wear her hair in similar styles that I really found remarkably creative - and Autumn did not let me down in SL either.

The jacket from Bijou was my next major piece of the ensemble. An older buy of mine that I have been wanting to do a style with for awhile now and I'm so excited to use it here for fall. Bijou has a wide assortment of creative styles that I love to mix and match into new looks and is a store that I have used previously in my blog post. I thought pulling the jacket from Metro outfit would really tie in the modern classic style that I tend to go for and hope that you think so too!

The "With You" top by Argrace has a really nice sculpted collar that I loved to piece together with the jacket. A lot of jackets have sculpted collars which are nice but sometimes limit what all can be worn underneath - thus I thought this combination worked brilliantly. The top typically comes with a lovely scarf but I decided to leave it out since we're not quite to winter wear yet! Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves!

Yes - a new store on the grid with a good assortment of basics is where I pulled the charcoal trousers from. I think I'm a sucker for gray pants over black because it shows off more of the texture than what you can get in black, at least in my opinion. As you might have guessed they are from Fri.day - already hitting the rumor mill of alt-doom I really don't mind it and won't over think it too much if I enjoy the creations. The store honestly reminds me a bit of Tres Blah mixed with Miabella mixed with Maitreya and a dash of the Armidi collaboration personnel. I'm not trying to help fuel the fire but do have a certain curiosity as I do feel I'm probably one of the few without another active alt - though I'm sure plenty will prove me wrong.

The umbrella from the creamshop was another easy choice. I have yet to take a picture there but I adore the sim build and a lot of the creations found there. I decided to go with the border brown style over the vinyl option due to the colors to bring in some more fall colors of brown and yellow to reflect the green in the jacket and brown in the hat.

And moving onto the hat, I had a few choices of hats that I have also been wanting to blog about but the Kyoot Army's Old Money hat won out due to the pattern, shape, and color. I love how it sits on my head in this shot. I was a bit concerned of overdoing with pattern but I really felt that it does work and that it isn't too overpowering against the metro jacket. But I'll let you decide.

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For skin I ended up going back to Curio to check out more everyday styles of make-up options and decided to go with the beach pack. 6 skins for the price of 3 is a hard bargain for me to pass up but it isn't something I can afford to do on a daily basis. I ended up going with the Sundust in Light tone with the beach collection in Crude 2 make-up due to the eye-shadow. Matched up with the vintage feeling hair, green eyes, and tipped hat really gives me the feeling of mystery and allure. Typically I don't like blogging the same skin brand twice in a row but I couldn't help it and I doubt you can blame me.

I did however pick up the light green eyes from Curio as well. I loved the light green reflecting the color of the jacket to make the overall look pop. I probably will go back to buy another color eventually. Note - I do try to blog about something different that I haven't blogged before - but no guarantees - especially when it comes to eyes. Being a photographer I'm really picky about those I shoot having good eyes. I really think you can have the perfect skin and hair but if you don't have good eyes - it can spoil the shot. So a tid-bit - get a good assortment of eyes if you plan on modelling.

There you have it - my early fall (don't kill me I'm already talking about fall) lil bit of style.

Happy Trails!

Love, Zoe