Snuggle Christmas Store

 

By Gemma Cleanslate

When I go to another favorite Christmas shopping site I plan on spending time. I go there after Dench because I love the name... Snuggle.

 

The Christmas shopping area is set on several regions. Walking to check out all the outside décor takes a while. There are so many items I would love to put on my property but no room sadly! It is good that there is a teleport board showing all the different types of décor areas to help the shoppers.

The Santa barn has all kinds of Santas. Some are climbing, some collapsed, some sitting or walking about ready to grace your region or home. There are cute skaters if you have a pond. Of course you can find trees and more.

I love the gift shop. Racks of cards for relatives, sweethearts, friends and more line the wall.

I love the gift shop. Racks of cards for relatives, sweethearts, friends and more line the wall. There are pop up cards that are amazing and directions for passing them along. Great gift boxes are available for you to fill with your gifts. I fell in love with the hanging balls that spin slowly .

Of course I left my wallet at home because the gift shop has the most gorgeous snowglobes and I am addicted!! Many are transfer or copy so you can choose. They make wonderful gifts!

Have fun while you are there !

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snuggles%20Holidays/25/160/27

Gemma Cleanslate

 

Design

Dench Christmas Shop

 

By Gemma Cleanslate

As usual one of my first shopping stops for Christmas is Dench Christmas shop. Not only can one get the greatest freebies and group gifts and Advent Calendar but Amanda Dench always has such lovely gifts. Her decorations are charming and low priced.

The outside décor will enhance a region or a front yard. If you want a Santa wandering around the region look here. Her Santas range from small to huge ! They skate , roam ,wave and ride bikes and some say Merry Christmas. Watch out for the bucking reindeer! Look all around! Trees and trucks to carry them dot the snow with cute winter creatures, and snowmen scattered about. One item I wanted but have no place to put it is a gorgeous fountain with a hud that rezzes partridge, sparrow , snowdrop flowers and other cute décor as you wish. I could not believe the low price!

I love going in and up the stairs to check the freebies and the bargains in the corner . There is always something I missed before and can grab now . Amanda has such great gifts every month and at holidays for group members. This year there are 5L specials also . Check out the walls .

If you love companion dancers with super huds check them out . Just sit on each to try them and see how you look. When I bring one to a party there are always compliments on how cute they are. The huds have a huge choice of dances to fit any music being played . Sometimes there is one for a group gift also. I will be checking out many of the Christmas markets going on starting this weekend. I took a peek at some that were already under construction but showed lots of promise for holiday shopping and this year in SL. It is always a wonderful experience and many locations have all kinds of winter sports and photo opportunities.

This is the Christmas store itself http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Rookery/241/21/21

Gemma Cleanslate

Theater on the Hill

By Gemma Cleanslate

I go to shows at the Theater on the Hill (TOTH) often and enjoy them thoroughly. I usually arrive and enter the theater immediately about 15 minutes before the show begins to get a good seat for viewing and taking pictures for my articles. I rarely have looked outside but I find I should have. There is a lot more to the region than I ever knew.

The theater itself is very beautiful and built in the style of a classic domed temple that gleams in the sunlight. Beneath the Theater lobby there is a cabaret where events are also held.  The main theater overlooks two sims, Pure Luxury and Theater Stage. I saw the outdoor sunken theater and went over to check that out, then saw that the whole region was a beautiful area to walk. Along the paths I found some lovely real life  artwork by Taddeus Adagio set  on easels for sale. There are small buildings along the walkway which circles a large lake. Oliver Lake, with an island, Oliver Island with  an enclosed resting area with a small pond and fountain . As you cross the bridge to begin your walk you will find a hydrobike to take you out to the island.

I climbed a tower to get an over view of all. The foliage and trees are in late spring glory which adds to the experience of walking. Continuing along the walk way I came up a brick walled garden with another art piece fountain that is a memorial garden to some of those members of the TOTH that have passed. It is a place of serenity and meditation. 

I continued around and back to the theater sim and stopped there at a museum built in the style of the old west pueblo dating back to the original inhabitants of that area. It is named the Great Light Gallery and holds the photographic works of Immerdar Fredriksson where he reflects, “If one is patient with Grand Canyon; if one spends the time, eventually visual rewards--supreme moments for the landscape photographer--will surely present themselves. "Grand Canyon:  The Great Light" are these moments.” There are three floors of photographic images that are utterly marvelous. Walking through you will experience the feeling of being at the rim, in the canyon, and on the Colorado River. I went through three times I think just to get the feeling  over again.

In the area below the theater there is a shop with dashing clothes for gentlemen and formal gowns for women. Very lovely and I was tempted but resisted .. for now.

Next to that is a gallery called “Kids Art”  and behind it a workshop for those who wish to create works at scheduled workshops and who take field trips for inspiration and themes . It is run by Jeppe Violet. You can find out more about this gallery by visiting. Don’t miss the Scaled Orrery featuring the sun and planets.

All this I missed by just going into the theater! It pays to look around. Be sure to visit and take a walk. Some people fly everywhere in sl. I think they don’t know what they are missing. I have learned to take a long walk or a horse ride if the sim calls forthat. This slurl will take you outside the Theater and you can make your way from there. There is a lot to see. s

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pure%20Luxury/193/101/22

Gemma Cleanslate

Yareach and Farshore Mercantile

By Bixyl Shuftan

Shockwave Yareach and Cynthia Farshore are noted for their activities and builds in the Sunweaver Estates. Recently, the two have teamed up to run a store in the Caledon Steampunk community: "Yareach and Farshore Mercantile" at Caledon SouthEnd. I met up with them to discuss their new venue.

Cynthia, whom already has a location at the Sunweaver  community, "The Puddle Jumper" at the Pacific Waters sim, explained she was "expanding my stores." Just after I had gotten there, a train chugged by. "We have a whistle stop right in front of us," Cynthia mused with a smile. Shockwave then walked over, "I can never catch that thing." Both were dressed in the Victorian style of the location, Shockwave explaining with a grin, "Gotta look good on my lady's arm."

Cynthia explained how the store came to be, "Well, I wanted to have a residence in Caledon and when I found this building, it became clear I could make it a shopkeeper residence, as it is an 19th century building with a living flat above. ... Since I already had steampunk vendors, it was a cinch to set up a store in Caledon. Shocky and I are adding in our own goods to sell as they are ready." Taking a look inside, there was already a variety of wares. The items being offered for sale, Cynthia explained, were, "Victorian, Steampunk, and Western wear and goods. Vendors include Doc Wrangler Men's Wear, Swank Brothers, Golden Oriole, and others. ... I will be constantly looking for new products to sell and in work on many items of my own. ... I have some items that will be updated to a sculpted object so as to reduce prims."

Shockwave added, "The infamous innertube system is for sale here - first time ever and only in her shops." Amused, I asked, "How is it infamous?" He answered, "I'd put some out, see what was good and bad, improve it when I was bored. ... You know how frequently I'm bored in SL? Rarely. I'm delighted to have a patient partner like Cynthia." I then asked, "Was this the inner tube system at the original Angels Beach Club?" Shockwave answered it was, which brought to mind some incidents in the past of "accidental furpiles" caused by groups of people using the inner tubes at once, and instead of the tubes fading away when reaching the shore at the end of the ride, they'd stay on those using it, and if no one got up, the result was a pile of inner tubes with the people still in them. "I see why it's infamous now," I commented with a grin.

Cynthia went on about her building, "I am learning to use Blender, one item I made using it is on the table, an Iron frying pan." Shockwave commented, "I can't use blender.  Can't wrap my head around it." Cynthia spoke, "Now I am limiting what I sell here to what fits the theme of Caledon so more modern things will be at the Puddle Jumper."

Shockwave continued, "And the lady has an iron-clad warranty on parrots purchased here." I then pointed to one that was "sleeping" on the counter, "Like that one?" Cynthia looked over, "Umm, Oh yeah. We had a problem with a customer claiming we sold him a dead parrot." I chuckled, "What's the story there?" Shockwave stated it wasn't entirely unsimilar to what happened in a pet shop in "Monty Python." Chuckling, I asked, "so how many parrots has the store sold?" Shockwave answered, "10,000! ... Well, 100 ... 2 actually ... including that one." He looked to Cynthia, "And um, love, did we decide to count the one that flew away as a sale?" Cynthia answered, "Uh noo hun I counted the fly away as a lose for income tax purpose." Shockwave responded, "Ah. One parrot." I chuckled, "Sounds like your customers have given you the bird. ... So I guess the parrots haven't done so well?" Cynthia told, "I think we'll no longer carry them, hate changing the newspaper in the cages. NOT yours of course!" I chuckled, "Old editions of the 'Herald?' " Shockwave mused, "The only newspaper that smells fishy before you wrap fish in it." Cynthia remarked, "problem is getting the fish to stay wrapped, it doesn't want to be wrapped in it."

After some more chuckles, I asked, "So besides the inner tubes, what else looks especially promising?" Cynthia answered, "I have been working on home items such as this kerosene lamp." She then placed on on the counter, "This is almost ready but it needs to make light." Shockwave commented, "Hurricane lamps I've heard them called." Cynthia turned it on, "It shows the flame but it needs to cast light yet. ...Now I will also have it set so you can say light or light out and a number of lamps in your house will all go on or off together. Or you can touch each and only one will light." She went ahead and tried it out, though my saying the key words did nothing, "... it already has a secure script. Anyway you see how that will work."

Asking her what else has she been working on, Cynthia answered, " Well I'm looking at expanding to airship parts, even including boilers like what the Cutlass club has." They also directed their attention to a "Wheel of Fortune," Cynthia saying, "The wheel of fortune is sold in the Golden Oriole vendor. But you will provide the cash prize so you have to grant money transfer." She had set the one in her shop set to giving out one or two Lindens. It was at this point a shopper entered the store, whom Cynthia invited to give a spin. She won a boxed avatar "ruler." Others continued to enter, "Congratulations on your new store, Miss Farshore!"

Cynthia again explained that the story's inventory would continue to grow. As for plans for expansion, "This store will be a humble little store in keeping with the neighbor hood. But I am looking at the concept of a skybox above to house large items like airship parts, like a storefront with a hidden warehouse. You can all see such that Shocky and I have made in the airship (Club) Cutlass. It has functioning aircraft elevators."

It was about this time Shockwave had to head out, so it was this time we parted ways. But with customers continuing to drop in, no doubt word has been getting around about the store.

So for quality items for a Victorian/Steampunk themed place, check out "Yareach and Farshore Mercantile."

Caledon SouthEnd (128/91/24)

Bixyl Shuftan

Gacha Market and The Arcade

By Wesley Regenbogen

Imagine a shop where you get items from so-named "fruitmachines" of which you make a purchase, and you're not a hundred percent sure what you might get. But if you're not truly happy with what you got, you can trade it with someone else who made a purchase whom had gotten something you like. This is "Gacha," a concept that's apparently been in Second Life for a while, but it's new and innovative to me as I haven't seen it around yet.

I took a look at two Gacha shopping locations. The newer one was the Gacha Market. The owners of the Market and its residential area are Erick Miles and Marc Bing, both are Dutch residents. You can also rent a home and a shop basement there too. They made the homes first, and then built everything around it. The decorations at the sim were done by both as well.

The older, better known Gacha area is The Arcade. It was co-founded by Octagons Yazimoto, Katharine McGinnis, and Emery Milneaux. The idea behind it started as a joke, but eventually the owners decided to put the project in action. The Arcade sim was created five years ago. You can buy items from the “fruitmachines” for L$ 50 or L$ 75 and you don’t quite know what you will get. It’s possible you get an item that you don't really care for, but it can also be that you get a rare item. So, it’s basically a “I buy something, but I don’t know what I will get” thing, which is quite original in my opinion. Different creators make stuff and they put it in the "fruitmachines," which can be totally different with every creator. If you don’t like the item that you bought, you can resell it on the “Gacha Market.” 

Of the team behind The Arcade, some might know Katharine McGinnis for her work on the "Fennux" breedable pet. Marianne McCann, listed as a chat moderator, is noted for helping organize events at Bay City and other places.

On the Arcade location there is a radio station that is played, with different styles of music. It has events four times a year at March, June, September, and December.

The music which is played in the Gacha Dream location is from the 1950's and 60's. There are no events planned in the near future yet, because the sim has just recently opened. But they promise that they will give an “extra twist” to things down the road. 

The Gacha Market shops and sim is a realistically designed place with homes and shops that you can rent. The homes are photorealistic and very well made.

The Arcade is a circle path where the shops are at both sides of the path. The path is formed by a brick pattern and it’s beautifully made. It's website describes it as "set in a seaside build that evokes the whimsical feel of the penny arcades of early 1900’s Coney Island and Brighton Pier."

More information about Gacha Shop and Sim can be found at this website :

http://www.gachadream.com/

More information about The Arcade can be found here :

http://thearcadesl.com/

You can find the Gacha Shops and Sim at this location :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dreaming/104/127/24

The Arcade can be found here :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Acerbus%20Silva/57/80/52 

image credit: thearcadesl.com

Addition: Scratch the part about Gacha Market being part residential, they don't do it any more.

Wesley Regenbogen

The Steampunk Meets Flowerpower Hunt

By DrFran Babcock

 Admit it, you love hunts. For me, a hunt is a way to chill out from a hard day in the non-digital world, or when things get drama-laden here. Which never happens, right?

 
Well, if you are like me, the lure of freebies, meeting people, and finding just that special treasure keep me searching. The Peace on Earth Hunt, over for now, is my favorite, but the name of this hunt grabbed me. I love Steampunk, and I am a hippie. What could go wrong?

 DrFran was a little busy with real news, so she sent her alt: Mai Waffle out to do the hunting. Below are the things she found. The hunt item you are looking for is a gear that is pink.

There are 25 items in the grid-wide hunt, and Mai was able to find all but one. She enlisted the help of Oakesy Ogg to help her show off the items that had both male and female items.

IMPORTANT: The Newser is usually not on the Hunt trail. If you are interested in seeing more hunt reports, please let Editor Bixyl Shuftan know. Thanks.
 

The Steampunk Meets Flowerpower Hunt runs from January 1^st – January 31^st. The blog for the hunt, with hints and teleports is here:
http://insidethepeapod.tumblr.com/post/39071952659/steam-punk-meets-flower-power-hunt-212

 DrFran Babcock

Editor's note, Luminous Designs has informed the Newser it will soon be joining the  hunt.

Steelhead Participates in the Hunt Steam 5

The steampunk hunt, Steam 5, began September 1 and continues throughout the month. It has with over 200 residents officially signed up to participate. Since the Hunt is free and doesn’t require any special gear to play, there are probably more residents who are hunting informally. Approximately 190 stores are participating.

Since I had recently visited Steelhead and liked it, I decided to visit the shops that are located there. The first shop I went to was Peterman Ltd Dry Goods, located at Steelhead (88, 214, 25). Peterman’s are “purveyors of 19th century clothing, hats, and objects d'art.” Like all great general stores, they carry a little bit of everything. In this case that includes oil paintings by Pacific Northwest artists, Victorian, Edwardian, Western, and of course Steampunk clothing and items. This cog was easy to find, and the gift was a unique outfit.

Next I strolled around Port Harbor to find Cedar Bay Home Furnishings. This store is located at Steelhead Harborside (159, 15, 25). Many of the stores in the Hunt, especially the larger ones, leave a hint near the sign. The hint at Cedar Bay was great. It read, “Avast ye scurvy dogs! Hoist th' mizzen, fire th' guns an' prepare for plunder!” As you can see in the picture, the clue was as good as a treasure map. The treasure at Cedar Bay is a tea set that tells fortunes. I hope it predicts that I’ll find all the hidden cogs.

The third shop on Steelhead that I visited was Luminous Designs. This shop advertises that it carries “clothing for the elegant brat.” The store, located at Steelhead Shanghai (68, 13, 56) is a tall cylinder shaped building. An easy-to-use teleport system zips you quickly from area to area, or you can use the ladders to go at a more leisurely pace. Luminous Designs (LD) carries everything from elegant evening gowns to historically accurate outfits. This cog was harder to find, but probably because I was window shopping as much as hunting. They gave out both a men’s gift and one for women. Foxettes, I decided, were allowed one of each. I can’t wait to wear them.

The last two shops were smaller, but they gave out very unique prizes. Froobert’s Furthest West is the smallest of the participating Steelhead stores. It is located at Froobert's Furthest West , Steelhead Shanghai (153, 32, 49). Their gift included AOs for both gents and ladies, a pose stand and more. St Helens Dry Goods, located at Steelhead St Helens (73, 146, 39), gave out a revolving dance gear.

If you are a Steampunk fan or like the challenge of a hunt, Steam 5 is a great way to visit new sites and have fun in Second Life.

Grey Lupindo