Tattoo You

SA STREETER, who is from Belgium, is probably one of the strangest-looking avatars you will meet, but he sees this strangeness as a perfect vehicle to express his artistic nature.

When his previous work as a designer of clothes failed to excite him any more, Sa said that he decided to make tattoos to personal design because he loves seeing avatars who are different from the others. In only four weeks, he now has people coming back for repeat orders of his individual designs.

This is enhanced by him having two avatars out as he said, "Doing an excellent job in promoting his work."

"... it is strange, but some people don't even ask to see my work," he observed when we spoke at his beachfront tattoo stall. "They just trust me. They come from all over the world - some Asian customers, a lot from the U.S.A and also Europe."

One customer has come back 17 times for more tattoos.

Most popular designs, according to Sa, are for the upper body, the breast or the back and include a name.

"People want the name of their lover with a picture of something - either to wear or to give away. Tribals are also very popular."

Another of his specialties are "full permission tattoos" which can be used by nightclubs or businesses to promote themselves by giving away tattoos of their logo for customers to wear on their bodies.

He explained that people can send him designs of their own choosing, maybe something they have got from the internet and he turns it into a tattoo.

Further negotiations are undertaken in regard to colour, size, place on body, price and delivery date.

"Prices start at 150L and can go up to a maximum of 1,000L for a special design," he stated, "and that's a lot cheaper than what other designers ask for a custom tattoo."

Some people have very specific requirements.

"Some days ago, someone ordered a tattoo for the ass," said Sa. "On the right part he wanted a couple having sex, doggy style and the girl had to have brown hair and cup size B or C."

It is obvious that Sa is as interested in creating himself as an artist, as he is in his work as a tattooist. He referred to himself as "my player" and "the one that handles me in real life."

All through our interview I had tried to ignore the 'strangeness' of his appearance because it was obvious that he loved being creative. Finally my curiosity got the better of me and I had to ask the tactless question. "What on earth was he thinking when he designed himself that way?"

Except I asked a little more delicately:

"Because you are a designer, I am interested in the design you have chosen for your avatar."

"Most people say my avatar looks strange," he admitted, "and I must say that is the truth. I have searched for something that looked strange because I am an artist, and artists look strange."

"I wanted to look different. That is my mission in second life - to make people look different from others."

Sa balances the creativity of his second life, with his work in real life as a social worker, working with families of children with behavioural problems.

To promote his business, Sa will be running a competition over the next ten days where people send in their pics of their favourite tattoos - either on themselves or somebody else. Two winners will be chosen and give a free tattoo each - everyone will be notified of the results by Sa. To enter, just send your pic and the name of the avatar to: sa_streeter@yahoo.com



http://slurl.com/secondlife/(unknown%20region)/11/136/22

Featured Designer of the week.......

Click image to visit K.O. Designs

Introducing K.O Designs and kallyfaith Rolland

I wandered along to ASpiRE Isle to take a look around and found a fashion show in progress for K.O Designs and since it was a name I had heard in the fashion circles I stopped to watch.

Well a wondrous array of designs from fun to funky to formal passed before me, I was amazed at the diversity of this designer. From a sexy little taxi drivers outfit to the full delicate wedding dress this designer had it all.

The formal gowns were delicate and well balanced with a beautiful array of textures and colors dazzling in their detailing, plus most outfits came with a selection of accessories such as shoes, hats and even a parasol with one.

I spoke to kallyfaith Rolland after the show:

dana Vanmoer: how long have you been designing and selling your outfits?kallyfaith Rolland: About a year and a half. I would say I started making gowns maybe 3 or 4 months after starting SL, but of course it takes time to learn and improve.

dana Vanmoer: does your partner also design?

kallyfaith Rolland: Yes, our logo is K.O., For Kallyfaith Rolland and Omega Naumova. He has as much of a selection as I do, but his is very different. He has alot of sci fi stuff, alot of mens clothing, vehicles. Very different than mine.

dana Vanmoer: do you find it hard to keep up with SL's diversity?kallyfaith Rolland: I do try to be very diverse with my designs, making some stuff for every genre that I can in SL, when I learn of a new type of a community I try to make some items for them as well.

dana Vanmoer: is there anything in particular you would like our readers to know?

kallyfaith Rolland: For beginning designers, I would like to say dont give up, its hard but dont, and always keep learning. Everyone else I would have to say thank you for making SL such a fun place to work. :)

If you would like to visit K.O.Designs click the logo above and enjoy this designers talent.

DanaXxX

P.s Have a favourite designer you would like to see featured? let me know D

In Memoriam; Stick Bellman

Stick Bellman

Most of us knew her, most of us loved her.
She will be a great loss both in second life and in real life.

Lynn Ryan passed away on Saturday 12th May taking her SL avatar
Stick Bellman with her.

I know she will be dearly missed by us all.
We will be arranging a service at her Church on our land so people can say bye properly in their own way.
IM me (Trinity Dechou) if you want to know where and when.

Night night Stickie wicket, I love you, sweet dreams, love and hugs miss you xxx

Love your

Trinnie Doll

Animal and monster avatars

While exploring SL with a monster event coming up, I discovered a wonderful place full of the most amazing avatars i had ever seen.
The place was called Grendels Children and when asked the creator had this to say about it;
---In lore, Grendel's children are of many races considered 'monsters'. They hail from a far away isle, where Grendel, god of the monsters, lives and sleeps beneath. His children are his chosen monsters who have lived, still live or have lived there, under his watch.In Second Life, it's a slice of history from us, and mostly our rather strange shop name, since we do things that aren't like alot of places! Could say we have a monsterous technique....

There are about 290 avatars available in all shapes and sizes the largest being the elder dragons (I have one of these and its fabulous and HUGE, sure takes some getting used to) and the smallest the insects and bugs, like the tarantula you see below or Psyra's tinies.
Before i tried these avatars I personally couldn't see the appeal

but now I realise they are great fun and very different, not all the avatars I tried out came from Grendel's children and if you want to try some out have a shop around this little gizmo avatar is extremely cute and sings when its tummy is touched.

I think one of the main reasons for going to Grendels children, apart from the huge choice, are the prices in fact as the owner said they would charge nothing if they could and as a group have decided to only charge enough to cover their costs.
The animals and mosters and of course pets that i saw there are of the highest quality and brought home to me the variation in styles in SL - you can be or look like anything you want with a little imagination and skill in scripting :)
DanaXxX

The Looks

I know most malls in SL are pretty empty, so I wasnt hoping for a lot of people to be here. This time i went to have a look at the way malls are build and what feeling they gave me when entering the mall or the SIM.

Must say I was pretty amazed by the looks of this mall and its great fountain in the center. Even without a lot of people visiting malls, this is how I think malls should look like :)

JamesT Juno

How to 2.....

Last time we covered the basics of prim hair

This time i would like to cover the basics of making clothing and coloring existing items (those that allow you too)

Firstly lets find a nice secluded spot where you don't mind being naked because thats how you need to start out.

We need to go to edit appearance - there are two ways of doing this either by clicking the button at the top of your screen 'edit' then going down to 'appearance'

or by right clicking on your avatar and selecting appearance.

We wont worry with underwear as it is much the same as pants and shirt and once you have the idea those should come easily.

start by clicking pants, and then create new pants and do the same with shirt, you should then look something like this:

Congratulations you made clothing :)

but i hear you say it just looks like i am wearing a space suit!

well we need to edit a little more

click on shirt and locate the 'fabric square' - click the square and a menu will pop up which you should recognise as your inventory.

go down to the 'library' and locate 'textures' then 'fabric' here you can chose a fabric you would like your shirt to be made from ;

I have chosen blue and white gingham, don't forget to click 'select' once you have chosen.

you can then change the color if you wish by clicking the 'color' square I made mine red just to show you

now play around with the sliders to get the look you want; long sleeves

or no sleeves

long or short, tight or loose just play about until its how you want it, you can always change it again

Click pants again and do exactly the same chose a fabric then a colour - if you don't want to change the color or want to go back to the original color click white.

Once again play with the sliders to get the look you want long trousers or short, tight or loose and there you have your first home made outfit

There are hundreds of textures available in SL both free and bought and this is a good way to start your SL wardrobe without spending too much.

More complex clothing is harder to make and involves tutorials in paintshop which i couldn't possibly begin to cover here but a good place to learn is robin woods tutorials he also has great downloadable plug ins and templates that are much better than any i have found.

So have fun with creating clothes my next tutorial will be on basic building

Dana XxX

Merovingi Clothing Fair Winner

Julia Soothsayer of Awesome Designs:

Well it's been a few days since the fair finished and now we've all had time to catch our breath and sort out our very full invents, I thought it was time to catch up with the fairs Top designer.

Dana: You have been in sl for quite a long time have you always been a designer?

Julia: I actually never played until January 2006 on my birthday on a sleepless night:

I had worked night shift as a Registered Nurse in Medical oncology for a while and was on a medical leave after a car accident the previous year.

Immediately I found a love for Secondlife fashion, I have no designing experience and had no photoshop experience either, I read in the forum about alpha channels and have practiced full time since July of 2006

Dana: You are an inspiration to a lot of designers

Julia : oh well that is a compliment! I am learning new things everyday and still consider myself an amateur. Thank you, I still find it hard to believe that I won the other day. There are so many talented artist who I admire that were at the fair and many who were not there. I am amazed by their work and hope to get there someday.

I built the store in a day or two :) I'm on my third one and this is the best build by far, I love that it can continue to grow upward as I add new things I'm still a work in progress, I think we all are.

This is the best job I could ever have.

Dana: what did you think of the fair and working with so many people?

Julia: first I was so glad that someone did a clothing fair!

Ive been to the hair fair last year and this year and was hoping there would be one someday, also I was so impressed with the professional staff for the fair.

I of course wanted in as soon as I got the invite from Hannah Liberty.

Then when I went over, I was amazed at the whole design of the land and the great organization of the whole event.

I never thought I'd win, especially at the last moment because I had not asked my update group to vote :), I would have dressed up and not been LATE! I was picking my son up from school :)

What a great surprise that I owe to my awesome fans, There are so many girls that i have known since the beginning when my designs were not as good and many new girls I meet all the time I continue to be surprised by the success

Dana: It must have taken a lot of hard work and dedication to get where you are now, how do you fit that in with RL?

Julia: Well I had taken the medical leave after the accident, So When I found this, it was the perfect thing to save my spirit and keep me busy with something I love.

I have 4 children from 4-13 too and they love that I am home now

Julia: I think everything in life can prepare you for the next thing, and in disguise something sad in life may just be the thing to get you prepared for something good, that's how I feel about what I do here in Secondlife. I mean everything I say, Secondlife is wonderful and its such an important part of my life, it just maybe that I wont be going back to nursing for a while and when I do it will be per Diem so that I still have time for designing.

An amazing lady with awesome designs and a great spirit.

A well deserved winner (even if she doesn't think so )

DanaXxX