Twas the night before Christmas....

...and all through SL
Many creatures were stirring
Non-creatures as well.

And I as a diligent shopkeeper do
Some clean up, some stock up,
some straighten up too.

Through the hunt hints I go
through SL type snow
Friendly help waiting
to keep me a go.


To the top of my house
to the bottom of my stash
Victorian christmas dress hunting
and off in a flash.


To a Mieville fun party
Thanks Perryn, it was marvy!
We dance and we laugh
Then I must go get tiny!


Back to the stash
For my new w00tmas flash
then up to Raglan
for the fun w00tmas bash.


White reindeer have taken
the stage it is clear
It must be a conspiracy
to start the new year!

So I'll say Merry Christmas, happy w00tmas to all
Happy holidays to you all!

Riendra

Never a dull moment....

Or this could be called 'a diamond in the middens.'

It started when I decided to take another SL marketng class, this time at Builder's Brewery. The class was taught by Heavenly Villa. After class she answered a few questions for me, then sort of 'adopted' me and took a look at my store. I received some brutal honesty about my choice of merchandise. It was hard to hear, but rang true. She also visited  my store along with Thaddeus (can't recall last name!) and suggested some ways to make it more customer friendly.

As in anything, some suggestions I like, some I didn't.  But I am working with Vian Magic, the chief architect for the Mieville sims, to update my store. With Vian's own knowledge of what fits into Victorian London and addtional research from Jaime Parfort, I think we have a good handle on what we're doing. It looks much more posh than it did. Since the stores location is the beginning of the posh section, it's working right in....

Hopefully it will be done soon. In the meantime, the hunts continue - Renaissance Hunt and Quarantine Hunt (Human Path) this month, and Trick or Treat (Farewell to Winter) and Poppin' Penguins for January. My hunt gifts are improving as I go along!!

There are also gifts in the Christmas exchanges at Happy Hippo Building School and at Builder's Brewery. So catch the holiday wave!!!

The group gift will be going out soon - hehe!!

A learning experience for sure.....

Since opening this store,  I have learned more about SL and the creative tools than I would have ever thought.

With all the people I've meet doing these hunts, I am learning even more. I know lots of merchants now and they all seem to be very willing to help. Strider (ariana.farstrider) and I were talking of partnering up on a Renaissance Faire stall. As it turns out, we didn't but she has been very helpful to me for bouncing ideas off and asking sillly questions. LadyKay Gable helped make my hunt hints doable by reading them over and comparing them with where I have them hidden - invaluable information!!! And of course, Perryn Peterson is absolutely fabulous to work with! In fact, I took one of his ideas and made it a reality.

The marotte you see below, or jester stick as many people call it, was one of Perryn's ideas. It took me quite a while to get this to look as I wished, and I still consider this marotte 1.0, but it's cute!!!

This would not have been possible without Swith (cyneswith.luik). She created the animation that goes along with it so it isn't just a stick. Add the jingle bell effect when it moves and it turned out pretty cool!!! And just like everything else, it's 20% off! I'm also offering to make ones with custom faces for an extra fee. Put someone's face on that you'd like to shake!!!

I'm getting my hunts lined up for January. So far I'm in the Trick or Treat (Farewell to Winter) hunt. I'm debating about a few others....

I'm also contributing items to the Builder's Brewery Christmas Exchange and the Happy Hippo Christmas Exchange. Talk about being on a major building spree!!! Whee!!!

A few new items in the store also....and the major rearranging continues.....

The hunts begin December 1st - and I'm ready!

The store is all decorated and updated - new merchandise out - hunt items are ready to go - whew!

And I'm still in creation mode....making more Renaissance things, and throwing in some Victorian to go with it, some holiday....wow.

Time to update the product catalog again, although most of it is there.

I've been helping a bit with the RenFaire making signage on demand - you'd never believe how many signs one faire needs!!!

In all this, I have decided I am a better jewelry maker than just about anything else.....which is a shame as I have fun making other stuff. I guess we'll see what sells and see what works. With my booth at the RenFaire start and my store, I'm crossing my fingers! In the meantime....

A Hunting We Will Go....

Whew! Busy, busy!

Along with the Renaissance Hunt, I got a stall at the Rensaissance Fair that is the start of the hunt. Now I am creating madly.....

I have some nice new jewelry with a medieval flair - I'll post the pics sometime soon. Plus some holiday furniture! Just thought of that one today....

So the booth may look sparse, but every bit of it is good stuff. I refuse to put out junk! Come visit me there during December!

Classicism Necklace and Earrings are out!

Using the lovely twisted rope necklace as a base, I reproduced a classic Victorian necklace and made earrings to match. The Classicism set is very elegant, lending a long, sleek look to the neckline.

 I wore this the other day with a long, golden gown - the look was so elegant, it was marvelous! In fact, you can see it if you go to Happy Hippo Building School now as I used a picture with that outfit on a sign for them.

I've also put out several fall and Thanksgiving themed pumpkins - definitely cute! And I'll continue to have the Steampunk Gear pumpkin out....

More to come!

Twisted Rope Jewelry is Here!!!

At long last, I have my Twisted Rope chains in my shop and in the SL Marketplace. I've created a product album with all my current product listings - see the link above for the Current Product page. I'll do my best to keep it up to date - but do check out the new jewelry - nice!! Here's a photo in case you want a quick peak...

Real life does like to get  in the way!!!

I won't complain too much though, as one if the first things I discovered after logging in is my partner, Ms India Umia, and I placed in the Dreams Spooky Forest build contest!!! We received third place in the popular vote and in the judges vote! A nice surprise!!! I'll put a picture or two up...

I am also in the final stages of completing, at long last, my twisted rope chains! These will be a mainstay of my jewelry line. I hope to have the basic ropes out within a few days! Yea!

Come December, Always Eclectic will be in two hunts - The Renaissance Hunt and the Quarantine Hunt! I have some nifty things planned for the hunt giveaways so be sure to stop by.

I'll also be continuing my 'vegetable stencil' line for fall and Thanksgiving! Just some fun things for you!

New experiences all the time....

Last night, I worked on a short machinima piece for Rodeo Drive Modeling Agency & Training Center.  It was both boring and interesting. I think part of that feeling stems from the lack of equipment. I think 'shoot' and think there should be something to shoot with. Not so in SL! It's just a little spooky... Hopefully it comes out nicely.

In the meant time, I'm continuing my Blender learning quest and have purchased Sculpt Studio and am learning that as well. I need to get merchandise out for Christmas by Thanksgiving in order to hit the whole season. Working on it!

It's raining pumpkins!!!!

As I learn more and more about this virtual commerce world, I decided to make something quick, cute and easy for Halloween. And - voila! Carved look pumpkins!

I have several at the store, and even have SL Marketplace listings now! Plus there is a special pumpkin in the Builder's Brewery Graveyard Hunt.....made especially for BB!

I hope to get some more things out soon....creeping up on a few and need to work on my items for the Renaissance Hunt in December. I may be in another for Race for the Cure too - depends on how my Renaissance Hunt items go. Lots of ideas in my head.....getting them into something in SL is a whole 'nother issue!

I'm currently thinking of how I can advertise inexpensively, until I get going a bit. I'm listing with a few free directories.....and I may go ahead and get an SL group just to get into the search listings. I just have to make it until the December hunts start......I think....

So sorry - there is SL then RL...and sometimes RL rules

So sorry - I've had a lot of 'things' happen in real life lately...

Anyway, I had my first real modeling show on October 2nd at the Second Life Cheerleading Team stadium. It was a blast despite the difficulties: 3 models were scheduled and 1 did not show up, so lots of last minute switcheroos. But we pulled it off! I got paid AND got about 8 outfits of much higher quality than I would buy! Sweet! Also, see my new profile pick on my Picasa album - thanks to Dhyanna Writer, owner of Rodeo Drive Agency and Training School.

I now have a gadget of Wat Dinzel's manufacture up in my shop. It's a Radar HUD that you can track whether specific people are online or not amongst other things. It very nifty and very reasonably priced.

For my own things, I'm still in a texture battle with my creations. I don't want to settle for average - I want my things to be GOOD. Very good if possible. I guess quality takes time....lots of it. I'm working with Photoshop 3D for texturing and am hoping that may help a bit. We shall see!

Always Eclectic is also signed up for a hunt in December - the Renaissance Hunt! Nothing like a deadline! I WILL have something very cool in there - it's in my head all ready to go.....

I also submitted an entry into the VMA Trophy Contest. The idea was to design a trophy that looked art deco. I think I achieved that; winning is another story.... It was fun learning about what art deco really was and all. I had no idea there was so much about town.

Slowly getting inventory....and learning a LOT in the process..

First, about the store. I have some of my original items out now - a couple of lamps I made. They're cute gas lamps that have the flame that turns on and off.

I have several items that are lacking only one thing - a believable metal texture! I have the sculpts done and ready to go. In fact, if I ever get a metal texture for my chain, I'll be able to get out several things very quickly....alas it seems I have to learn a whole new area of Blender in order to be able to do this. I may finally be pushed to 2.57 as it seems these things are easier in that version. We shall see. Nothing amazing will happen in SL for a bit as RL will be hectic this week. I think I may put out a couple more lamps. I'm working on some additional inlaid designs for my tables.

I also have decided I'm going to participate in the Renaissance Hunt. Perryn Peterson sent many merchants a link about it and after reading the requirements, and that the start date isn't until December 1st, I think I can have some nice items ready. And no, I'm not going to say what! You'll just have to wait and see like everyone else on the hunt.

Modeling is, um, good and bad. In the advanced class, you learn advanced things that are much harder to do. I may not do very well at this part of the modeling, but we shall see. I just need to keep practicing! And it does take practice like anything else.

Stop by and see the store if you get a chance. Not much in it yet but it is SO pretty!

Store is open....a little bare...but open!!!!

Yea! I have the basics in place! And some things for sale! And actually sold one thing! w00t!!!

Okay, party's over - back to work. I'm going to finish up some nearly done jewelry first, then move on to tables.

I've been introduced by Victoria Paule, owner of the Happy Hippo Building School, to a very nice person, Ms. India. She is an excellent furniture maker....one never knows what may happen......

And I start advanced modeling tomorrow at Rodeo Drive Modeling Agency and Training School. Busy busy.....

Now that I have a shiny new store, made to order (how cool is that! Thank you Vian Magic of Mieville Wells!), I have lots to do to get it going.

I purchased a Bejambled Sales Monitor system from Cory Hancock. It does many cool things - more than I really need right now. Planning ahead though - and it has one feature coming I really like! The ability to temp rez items! I'll just have to figure out which I want temp rez and which demo. I'm a touchy-feely person and would like the customers to SEE things in world before they buy if at all possible.

For now just getting a few things up to take advantage of the Steampunk Hunt hunters is my goal. Working on it! I just don't want to throw things up without due consideration, such as:

Returns and Exchange Policy

Separate email address - got that today!

Customer account kiosk - working on that

oh, and so many things!!! I'll get there - just not in 5 minutes as I'd like to!

On a side note, I finished beginning modeling school Wednesday! Yea!!!! Now to get a job! And of course.....take the advanced modeling class! Why do anything halfway! That's what my dad always taught me - so here I go!

I look at it this way. My modeling career can help support my store as I start, so any modeling gigs come first and foremost - so anyone reviewing my blog - please note that!!! It doesn't mean I'm not working on the store, but I will schedule my time to make modeling appointments without doubt and without fail.

Whew! Got that off my chest! Now if I could just get rid of this darn cold!

Always Eclectic Exists in Second Life!!!!

Thanks to the generosity of the Steampunk people during SteamHunt month, I have a new, beautiful store rent free through September! Such a deal! The SURL is http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mieville%20Wells/107/149/31. I am so excited! Great location! Nice neighbors! Wonderful management!

Now, back to the inventory......time to kick it up a notch.....my beautiful store is going to be a tad sparse for a while. I'm sure everyone starts that way.....come over and take a look! Even empty, it is way too cool for words!

On the modeling front, one more class!  We were told the graduation requirements today and I think I'm pretty good. We shall find out....

Me...in a machinima...awesome!!

Part of our training at Rodeo Drive Modeling Agency & Training school is experiencing runways under realistic conditions. Lights in your face, cameras for machinima rolling, the whole bit. What a difference a few lights make! Those turns are harder to make out, the spots  on the floor are a bit tougher to hit exactly.....but it does make you feel more that an audience is waiting just beyond where you can see. Add in costume changes in rapid fire succession and the unpredictability of other models and you have a pretty realistic scenario. As far as I know, I only made one bit bobble - kinda stepped off the runway - oops! Rather than fret over it, I just stepped back on and kept going. Hair changes, shoe changes, the only thing I didn't try was nail polish changes. Nobody went on stage with the wrong outfit or anything. Pretty amazing all in all.

One more week left until graduation! Can't imagine what we'll cover in the last two classes...I will bet getting a new profile pic shortly. The new me deserves one!

As for the HHBS build contests, the week long build is in progress. We had a low turnout for the speed build, and more than before for the long build. I'm trying to advertise it more in the groups and on the SL events. Maybe that will make a difference? I hope so.

RL has gotten in the way of my doing too much with my wanna be business. That just happens. The next few weeks are kind of 'hang on to your hat' weeks in real life and hope I come out the other end okay. I'll do what I can; that's all we can ever do.

Who'd'a thunk it...me paying attention to clothes and hair????

Anyone that knew me in RL would just crack up at how much time I've spent 'reinventing' myself for modeling. I think that's why I am liking it. It's something I would never do in real life (okay, a brief flirt with a finishing school at 18) and something I could never spend that much money on either..

Today, I purchased....

new skin
new shape
new hair

Over the last week or so, I also purchased new, lag free shoes.

I never would have thought about any of this prior to this course. I honestly think many of the things I'm learning in modeling school will apply to my building or to my eventual business. One of my favorites from Dhyana at Rodeo Drive Modeling Agency and Training Center....

"Don't say yes when you are thinking maybe. Say no."

I may not have the quote exactly right, but the idea is there. Don't promise anything you aren't absolutely prepared to deliver. Makes sense in a lot of contexts....

In the meantime, I'm plugging along with Blender and Photoshop. And ran another building contest for Happy Hippo Building School. w00t!!!

Halfway done with modeling school!!!

I've officially attended half the sessions for my modeling class. It's more challenging that I would have thought. Remembering to keep the lag down. Dress well for auditions but not too well. Be on time. Follow directions. Walk, pause, walk. Follow directions. Behave professionally. Follow directions. Do you see a theme here? Not following directions seems to be a big problem.

On the store front (pun intended!), I'm finishing up some things to sell that look pretty good if I do say so myself. I have that minimum of 25 things in mind...

I also have some leads on some good store locations. I'm still debating between hard store and store front....I will probably debate until I hit the button to rent or buy something. The debate now is prims - how many do I need? I really like the idea of temp rezzing products for people to see the merchandise before they buy it. Even if they decide no now, they will know they will be able to see things for themselves. I've gotten a lot of junk that I couldn't see before hand so to me this is a big thing.

Still learning lots about Blender and Photoshop and all the rest as I discover something else I want to do with merchandise or signage. Fun stuff!

Trying something new and completely different....

I've decided to go to modeling school; yes, that's right; fashion modeling. Why would I do that when I want to start a store?

First, it will give me a chance to see what good photography and modeling produce so that I can more closely produce that level when I start my business.

Second, the people in the fashion industry in SL are serious about what they are doing. I get to learn about the industry from the inside.

Third, I can gain a lot of contacts in other stores, areas, etc. You never know when you need something or what you will need.

Fourth, it just sounded different and something I'd like to try. Fashion is such a big part of SL that not experiencing it seemed that I was missing something.

I've had two classes at the Rodeo Drive Modeling School so far. 8 to go....

When Real Life Gets in the way of Second Life....

It's been a bit since I posted as I was sent overseas on a business trip for two weeks. It's not that I didn't have internet access. I was working very, very long hours. After that I had some other personal things that were time bound....so things got pushed back.

I did work on my Blender skills. I took a couple of classes from Eleanora Newell, owner of Tama products (SL address). I tend to take notes and do the class later when I can take my time. I have such trouble with some of the things...miss one little command and nothing works. Drives me absolutely nuts sometimes.

I am entering another long build contest at Dreams. This one has a theme of Camping...I won't give away my entry just yet...I usually do something a bit off the wall so I'll just leave it at that for the moment. These are my fun things to do. Sometimes it seems SL has become work.....and I don't want that.

I'm still looking at land on and off. I'm not going to hurry in buying any unless I see the perfect piece of land. At the moment, I'm just getting my list of criteria straight in my head. Also, a friend recommended I have at least 25 products before opening a store. That may be a while.....

Land or mall....store or storage....now or later....

I'm trying very hard to do this whole business thing the right way. Now the question is what is the right way?

My thought is to develop inventory first, then worry about a store front. Small hitch in that plan; I currently have a Linden home. That means limited prims - 40 to be exact. I can't do a durn thing with my shiny, new Beadrez in that space. So I end up taking my stuff over to a sandbox and working on it. It's so easy to leave things behind that way. It would be really nice to be able to leave things out.

Should I get some auction land now, just a 512 plot, and use it for storage without spending a lot of money? Should I wait and buy a bigger plot for store and storage? Or use space for storage and get a mall location and possible mall traffic? And what about all the rip offs with renting mall space and land I hear about? How do I know who to trust?

On paper things look simple; in reality it seems to be anything but. It really is the same as opening a real life store with less investment. Hopefully I figure something out - or I keep delaying which seems to be my tactic at the moment. Delay a decision and keep learning about Beadrez and Blender and whatever else.

My brain hurts.....

A Giant Leap Forward....with a lot of help...

Somedays things just work out well. When I was in SL on Saturday, I ran into Rita Munro. She hangs out at Happy Hippo. In this case, she teleported me to a great free dress - if I figure out where it was, I'll post the link. Anyway, we started chatting and I got to ask a number of questions about her business, Rita Munro's Touch It. She was very helpful with advice.

Another surprise came from Patty Pavlova. I had purchased some Byzantine jewelry sculpts from her store, Logo & Kin. She was very helpful and very kind. She offered to show me how Beadrez, a product of Xoph, worked as I've been considering buying one. It seemed to work quite well and she showed me quite a few things that could be done with it. She also gave me other merchant names for other aspects of business. Very nice, and very helpful.

Thanks to these two lovely ladies, I feel further along than I was by quite a bit. Now if I could find the perfect gold texture......

A New Day....A New Crisis

I seem to have a way with losing things in my inventory. I started, with serious partnership with Wat Denzil, building contests at Happy Hippo. We were closing out a weeklong contest and I was retrieving something for it and realized my entire contest folder was gone.....*&(*&((!!!! I still haven't found it and support doesn't give me much hope.

So today, I spent time backing up my most important things. Sadly SL doesn't have a good way of creating backups, or at least none that I am aware of. I'm just duplicating my important stuff in other folders. My inventory is quickly doubling.

I suppose on one of my sleepy nights, I must have accidentally deleted it. I just have trouble believing that. Regardless, time to recreate everything. Sigh....

A Concept...An Idea...A Purpose

I never thought I would blog. But here I am. Getting involved with Second Life has really expanded my horizons.

I've tried starting real life businesses - Tupperware, Quixtar, desktop publishing. I'm just not the live sales type.

But this place, this Second Life, it's different. I can DO things I could never do in real life. I can make things, nice things, things other people think are nice.

Maybe I can make a business here successful. I don't mean 'rolling in real money' successful. I mean 'break even in Lindens' successful. Maybe I can...I can try anyway.

What should I make? Wow, I find so many things already in SL. What could I possibly contribute? Wait, this is a virtual world. I'm not trying to save the world. I'm trying to have fun and, in all honesty, prove to myself that I can do this.

This week was an important step. I made my first sales in SL. I created a course for the Happy Hippo Building School (or here's the SL link). And people have bought it. The only bad thing about selling a take away tutorial is you don't know if people liked it or not. My test 'guinea pig' did so I'm hopeful.

At any rate, now I have more than two Lindens to rub together. I want to do this without putting in 'real' money. So I have a start. Wonder what happens now....