More Christmas Shops

 

By Gemma Cleanslate

I have been doing some of the Advent Calendars this year but since I am almost out of groups I decided to stick with those where no group is necessary. While I was at a region I took a good look around at some and saw the nice arrangement of items they had in Kiosks or all over the property. I picked some that had really nice or unusual décor for sale and am passing the along to you in case you are a late shopper or are looking for that special gift.

“Santa Claus dropped his presents through the Christmas Wonderland event. There are free gifts in the large calendar and EXCLUSIVE very cheap Christmas outfits in front of it. Don’t miss them and grab them all – Date: Dec 1 to Dec 24 – Contact Person: Rani Rosenhauch “

Rani said it well. Santa has left some great items all over the region. There are many boxes in front of the calendar for sale really low prices! Then take a walk around to see the nice items for sale at the stands.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forgotten%20Mountains/21/118/27

LouChara sells Furniture and decorations and has weekend sales right at the entrance . Her furniture is divided in to the various types in each building there which makes it easier to shop. The Christmas area had terrific items on display.

I really enjoyed looking at the variety of styles and ended up buying one new holiday bench.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tropical%20Bay/137/171/4001

Another wonderful furniture venue with a calendar is C.M.D. Christmas store. All sorts of Christmas décor is scattered over the region. 

 

What caught my eye was a cute little fairy pushing huge snowballs. Maybe it is not unique but I have never seen it before. There is another one throwing snowballs too.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Thee%20Enchanted%20Forest/203/183/21

 

One more super area to visit for those last minute decorations inside or out is Christmas Delights. Again this is a marvelous place filled with sweet décor. I am happy to see a nice selection of flat décor that is only one prim and looks great . It is good if you need to watch your prim count.

Santa’s Closet is a whole wall filled with all sorts of Christmas clothing with a choice of elegant or cute.There is also a rezz area for greeter bots , AI bots and animesh bots so you can try them out before buying. Stop over there to check them out. RAGDOLL/183/193/1801

I hope you are finished shopping now and can begin enjoying all the winter fun areas that I will be writing about for you.

Gemma Cleanslate

 

Christmas Shopping at Dench Designs and Snuggles Holidays

 

By Gemma Cleanslate

 

It is that time again! Christmas shopping time. No sooner did the orange and black disappear than out came the green and red at and bright lights many shops . One of my very favorites opened the Christmas shop the very next day after Halloween and I was so happy to see it.

Amanda Dench has such a fun Christmas shopping area I love getting there to look at everything and pick up all the freebies offered to members of her group and check out the bargain corner where past goodies are offered for only 5 or 10L. You find all these gifts and items on the second floor, always my first destination.

Outside the Christmas store at Dench Designs are charming little winter scenes that fit any parcel or region. I love to see Santa riding a bike in the snow. There is a giant Santa dancing at the door of the shop.

Inside are the wonderful fireplaces, trees, and so many fun animesh dancers. Jump on a dancer and see how you look with that partner for dancing! There are wonderful new full avatars this year too and wearable dancers from penguins to Santa himself. They are great fun to bring to a party. I had to buy one. I always say I am not going to buy things while doing these articles but guess what. The prices are right too!! And, if you join the group there is a 50% discount on many items. 

 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Rookery/21/36

Another favorite place to visit because it is so organized so you can find your favorite types of décor easily is at Snuggles Holidays, The Christmas at Snuggles . I also love the name of the regions. Gnomes, trees, animals and so much more.

Inside the huge shop there are décorations for your home interior and more. Looking for Christmas cards? There is a generous collection of various cards for loved ones, family and friends.

If you have a friend who loves and collects bears and want to make a gift of one a really good choice is found here too. Look for the teleport to and from inside and outside décor. The place is large so plan some time to look around. I joined the group to get an avatar for Christmas gatherings at a really low price. I will be searching for more good shopping for you in the next days.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snuggles%20Holidays/163/220/25

 

Gemma Cleanslate

 

The Winter Burn 2022

 *
By Bixyl Shuftan

From Friday January 28 to Sunday January 30, the Winter Burn took place in Second Life. While the main Burn, or the "Octoburn" as it's sometimes called is held in October, there are a few spinoff events at other times in the year. They are based on the real-life "Burning Man" festival held every summer in Black Rock Nevada.

The theme this year was a new and unusual one: Gingerbread Houses. 

Mia Wallace messaged me some days before the event. She was in a gingerbread man avatar.

She showed me around the Winter Burn grounds around Deep Hole.

 This mutant vehicle had a nice large seat.

On Sunday January 30, I dropped in. There was a music concert going on at the event area.

BGSinger Hermit was the performer for this particular hour. 

The audience had a variety of avatars.

Also in the audience were builder Nance Clowes, and artist Moya Patrick.

 Golan Eddie, noted for leading the team of volunteers during the resident-run Second Life Birthday events.

At one point, fireworks went off.

Someone was taking one of the mutant vehicles, a sleigh pulled by a gingerbread man on fig newton feet, out for a stroll. 

Changing my viewer to show a night sky, "The Man" was showing icicles. 

I spent a little time exploring some of the grounds.

Moya's gingerbread house exhibit.

With the theme and the snow, some of the exhibits would have fit right in with a Christmas event.

"Do you wanna build a snowman?"

Gemma Cleanslate was there, and submitted a couple pictures of exhibits as well.

From tires, to dough, to haunted marshmallow to robot.

There was plenty of fun. But we won't have to wait until October for more Burn2 fun. With Spring comes the Burnal Equinox, and another spinoff. Stay tuned for details.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Macy's Christmas Parade and The Christmas Expo

 
By Gemma  Cleanslate

So the shopping goes on. There are still many places to visit if you are looking for more trees, wreaths , scenery, or outfits. I will never get to all of them and I am pretty sure you won’t either. I still have a few recommendations though. Here are some reminders first.

Frannie DJ has put away all her Thanksgiving day parade floats and now has her Christmas Parade out. It will stay open until Christmas Day . Santa is still there at Macy’s store and there is still ice skating going on. I stopped over to see some of the floats which are as beautiful as ever. Don’t miss it! There is snow on the ground and the trees are glistening with ice formations on the limbs.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Steamy%20Shores/72/206/700

Remember to visit The Christmas Expo. This event is raising money for research for the American Cancer Society and has so much going on!

There are parties and raffles and Breedables, sales and auctions, and so many shops with goodies to continue your search for décor and outfits.

If you get there before the ninth, you can enter the snowman (and snowwoman) making contest. The regions are beautifully decorated just for exploring.  

The Expo website at https://slchristmasexpo.com/  will tell you everything you need to know. This SURL will get you there : https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Christmas%20Expo/55/128/23

Also, the Shop and Hop event opens Wednesday at 9am . Get ready for so many shops in one place on 12 regions with 240 merchants. Extreme lag in the early days, but it will be open until January 2 of the new year. I am sure there will be gifts at most shops.

Gemma Cleanslate
 

Burn2: "Seasonal Perceptions" Brings Snow and Dust Storms to January

By Klaus Bereznyak

The Playa at Deep Hole lit up again last weekend, bringing warming sparks of creativity to our virtual world and proving there are still great artists out there doing amazing things with prims and particles.

The theme for this year's Winter Burn was 'Seasonal Perceptions'. Builders' imaginations were challenged by the brief:

Our perceptions are a driving force in how we interact with the world around us. But imagination is also a strong influencer. Given all that, how would you perceive the seasons? Would you reflect the environment around you... or imagine something completely off the wall and different? Show us your "Seasonal Perceptions!"

The burn kicked off with a weekend full of performances starting from the moment the lamplighters walked onto the Playa early Friday evening, and continuing through Sunday night. Events included a fashion show by the Burn2Fashionistas, a collective of non-professional virtual models lead by Vickie Maidstone. The builds are still up this week to be explored and enjoyed.

Arriving at Deep Hole, visitors could choose to go left towards Summer or right towards Winter and to follow a wide circle around the builds showing the responses of some twenty different artists to the theme. Though much smaller than the main Burn, and only occupying one sim, a good hour or two could agreeably be passed delving into the builds. Whether made from scratch or by clever use of prefabricated components, the builds displayed a generous array of imaginative interpretations.

Providing a walk through the seasons of the year, there was a good balance of 'warm' and 'cold' from installations like Serra Quendra's surreal and summery beach hangout through to the mythological magic of Andrea Jones' ice-bound viking longship and the snow globe by ღ Dreams ღ.

Other installations sought to capture the experience of multiple seasons.

At the core of the sim, an interactive Weather Machine, created by iSkye Silverweb dominated the atmospheric conditions. Many of the builds featured interactive elements, including Suzie's melting snowmen and rideable snow bunnies and Leroy Horten's Sun Man popping out from the ground.

For added interest, visitors could participate in a scavenger hunt to find 10 prizes dotted about the installations. The variety of responses to the theme was impressive. Some, such as Melodie Heart and Erico Lecker's Wonderful World and Marcel Mosswood's Back Ton nature installations, not surprisingly sounded a warning about global warming.

True to form, Burn2 has provided us with yet another memorable feast of radical self expression and been a beacon of grassroots virtual artistry. Well done, everybody!

Slurl: https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Deep%20Hole/224/92/25

Klaus Bereznyak