MOODY BLUES

Trying to keep up appearances while you are unhappy has to be the most tiring thing in this world. I am hating it. But I'll grit my teeth and keep chugging on. (I think I can. I can.)



In the meantime, these shoes are fabulous. And very, very pink. The power of positive thinking, and Shopping Therapy? If it helps.



Chair: Atelier Visconti "George Armchair"
Mooskin Rug: Atelier Visconti "George Carpet"
Table: Bauwerk "Gothic End Table"
Drink Set: Bauwerk "Cognac Bottle and Glass"
Shirt: The Secret Store "Luna Preppy Cardigan" (w/texture-change HUD)
Leggings:  Maitreya "Footless Tights"
Shoes: Whatever "Thallium" (w/texture-change HUD)
Hair: Mina "Milou"
Skin: Essences "Illamasqua"
Hands and Feet: by SLink

Love,
Serene

HOLIDAYS GONE GOTHIC

I love red and green and candy canes too, but if you like your holiday season more dark and cold, Gothmas by Gaslight is opening its doors today at Noon SLT!! Gothmas is intended to show a darker holiday, catering more to the goth, Steampunk, diesel and dark Victorian genres. I may need smelling salts.



I styled this Cloak and Gown to look a bit more antique by layering a lace shirt underneath. I couldn't decide whether I liked the Black or the White version better, so I settled on wearing the White cloak over the Black gown.



Some lovely amethyst jewels from a set by NSP, and Beautiful Freak's drippy smeary eyeliner. How tragic. I also need to show you the purple snowflakes on the back of the cloak ...



Read more about Gothmas by Gaslight on their official website.

Cloak: Venomous Rage Designs "Winter Maiden White & Purple" from outfit (at Gothmas)
Dress: Venomous Rage Designs "Winter Maiden Blk" from outfit (at Gothmas)
Shirt: Whippet and Buck "Claven Lace Blouse"
Gloves: Boom "Dame Elbow Gloves"
Jewels: NSP "Gothmas Swagger Accessories" (at Gothmas)
Hair: booN "QPT129"
Skin: Essences "Lady Dyvine" (group gift)
Ears: by Aitui
Eyes: Ikon "Ardent"
Lashes: by LeLutka
Eyeliner: Beautiful Freak "Bitter Winter Eyeliner" (at Gothmas)
Gazebo: Souzou Eien "Garden's Respite Gazebo (Worn Whitewash)" (at Gothmas)
Fountain: Atelier Visconti "Country Fountain"

Love,
Serene

TAKE A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

I suppose it's easier to be adventurous with print in Fantasyland. In real life, I doubt you will see me in a mix of animal print and lace. But maybe I should try it sometime? With antler pauldrons and a crown too, of course.



I really love this luminous new skin from Essences. "Alex" comes in a variety of skintones and cosmetics options in a sweet little gacha machine over at Kustom9. I need to show more, there are some really lovely makeups! Go check it out!



Finishing up with part of Atelier Visconti's newest furnishings available at the Liaison Collaborative. The set includes a chair and a coffee-table too, with texture-change HUDs to help you select from six colors each for the pillows and upholstery. I suggest that you go try out the poses to see if they work well for you. The furniture includes singles and couples poses.

Crown: ieQED "cache.crown.stag.copper" (gacha)
Pauldrons: ieQED "stag pauldrons"
Shirt: Teefy "Sadie" (at Collabor88)
Skirt: Baiastice "Lian Longuette Skirt" (old find at the Dressing Room)
         (perhaps available at the Mainstore now?)
Shoes: Miel "Gladiator Cage"
Hair: Wasabi Pills "Madeleine"
Skin: Essences "Alex" (gacha at Kustom9)
Eyes: Ikon "Ardent"
Lashes: LeLutka "Photoshoot II"
Hands and Feet: by SLink
Fingernails Applier: by Frogstar
Sofa and Carpet: Atelier Visconti "Helena" (at the Liaison Collaborative)
Poses: by Estetica and Flowey

Love,
Serene

WET YOUR WHISTLE

At my place, I definitely put out more cold treats in summertime! Help yourself to some watermelon and drinks!

Watermelon Stand: Atelier Visconti "Watermelons Stand" (at Designer Warehouse)
Drinks Cart: Second Spaces "Poolside Beverage Cart"
Flagstones: Barnesworth Anubis "Flagstone Pavers"
Trees: by Studio Skye

Love,
Serene

ADRIA

If you are as in love with outdoor living as I am in warmer weather, you may fall in love with this sweet little gazebo. I used to have a beautiful one that weighed in at fifty-eight prims, but this new one by Atelier Visconti comes in at a slim 16 prims instead, not including the furnishings of course. I love mesh!



The gazebo is over in the Garden section of the Liaison Collaborative with some matching furnishings and accessories, but I also wanted to set out a few of my favorite things. I do like the comfy sofas and the table though. One of my favorite things about Atelier Visconti sofas is that they almost always come with a HUD to let you change up the appearance of the upholstery. Hmm? ... let's see that.



Gazebo/Dormeuse/Table: Atelier Visconti "Adria" (at the Liaison Collaborative)
Telescope: Lisp "Kepler Telescope"
Cookies: Post "Happy Valentines Day" (gift)
Teacup with Letters: Aisling "Bric-a-Brac Desk" (gacha)
Teapot: Tres Blah "Tea Time - Teapot" (gacha)
Star Lamps: Trompe L'Oeil "Star Duo Ground"
Banner: Second Spaces "Chalk Banner" (you can customize what it says!)
Twinkle Lights: floorplan "string lights"
Mobile: Vespertine "papercrane mobile"
Chimes: Zigana "chime neutral" (gacha)

Love,
Serene

ELVES IN WINTER

Just lately, Atelier Visconti has released several lovely ornaments for winter landscaping. If you have never visited their main store, you may not realize that they have a few components for you to build your own arty ruins. I think these new bits look more like they are "Closed for the Winter Season" than ruined. There are two frozen fountains; looking at this first little one with its icicles made me go put on a sweater. It's also only 1 land impact if your prim budget is tight.



This second set is new over at the Garden section of the Liaison Collaborative. it includes a circle of "Elven" arches, a standing lamp, a stone bench and a cute little fountain. I think the arches could be perfect either on top of a little hill in the elven wood, or as part of the architecture of a larger city. This fountain isn't frozen at all so one of my happy little birds came for a quick drink.



The stone bench and the larger octagonal fountain are of course loaded with single and couples animations. Go and see!

Atelier Visconti "Fountain Clover Snowy"
Atelier Visconti "Aurora Elven Arches" (at the Liaison Collaborative)
Atelier Visconti "Aurora Light" (at the Liaison Collaborative)
Atelier Visconti "Aurora Stone Bench" (at the Liaison Collaborative)
Atelier Visconti "Aurora Fountain" (at the Liaison Collaborative)
Atelier Visconti "Fountain Octagonal Snowy"
Trees: Studio Skye "Enchanted Woods"
Birdie: by Happy Mood

Love,
Serene

MONT BLANC

This season's installment of the Liaison Collaborative was extra fun for me with its holiday feel and because its vendors added gacha to the regular lineup of Home Furnishings. For example, the Mont Blanc owls are in the gacha and the owl clock is one of the rares. The rest of the set is so flexible because yes, you can color it in red and green as I have, but the chair and coat rack come with HUDs to change the upholstery to other colors too. The lamps also come in blue or gold. Don't you love the bent-wood rocker?

Mont Blanc Furniture Set: by Atelier Visconti (at the Liaison Collaborative)
Mont Blanc Owls Gacha: by Atelier Visconti (at the Liaison Collaborative)
Rug: by Kosh

Love,
Serene

ON THE SIDEBOARD

Did you have an old sideboard in your home when you were growing up? You know, the one that did double duty as a buffet when your parents had a party. The one that held the neighbor gifts and that fruitcake. So here is my sideboard with some of my holiday treats. I love pixel food!



A shop called Myrrine (new or new-to-me?) has a cute spot at the Christmas Expo, that's where I picked up the Gingerbread cookie displays and the strings of stars. One string is just wooden stars, but the others are lights that cycle through the color spectrum. I'm also loving these neutral snowflake chairs that are Art Dummy's entry in the Four Walls hunt, and all four are L$20. Can't beat that!

Snowflake: by Atelier Visconti (at Christmas Expo)
Light Marquee: Apple Fall "Sweet Dreams"
Angel Chimes: by LAQ Décor (gift available in store or on Marketplace)
Bundt Cake: Bauwerk "Ring Cake"
Cherry Yummies: Apple Fall "Cherry Voulevants" (at the Arcade Gacha)
Pudding: Apple Fall "Christmas Pudding" (at the Arcade Gacha)
Cabinet: Zigana "Apothecary Cabinet"
Gingerbread Branches: by Myrrine (at Christmas Expo)
Christmas Star Lights: by Myrrine (at Christmas Expo)
Chairs: Art Dummy! "Wintertide. (chairs)" (at the Four Walls Hunt)

Love,
Serene

THE HOUSE OF DESPOND

I figured, if I'm going to spend a ridiculous amount of time decorating my little place for Halloween, I might as well take some pictures and blog it, right? ... Disclaimer: Just because I am blogging it doesn't mean I'm done. I'm still looking for some ground covers I like, and I may set out my skelly flagstones if I have any more prims left.



Come on in! I don't bite ... hard.



I've been collecting Halloweeny bits for years, and this year I finally found a low-land-impact treat bucket to rez. The kicker is, this kitty bucket is a duplicate of one I have in real life :D Instant favorite!



House: Trompe L’Oeil “Frostbite Cottage” (includes snow and trees not shown)
Lamppost: Atelier Visconti “Noir Triple Street Lantern”(new)
Bench: Atelier Visconti “Noir Bench” (new)
Tree: Trompe L’Oeil “Spookytree”
Pumpkins: Rebel Extravaganza “Deco Pumpkins” (only on SL Marketplace)
Cauldron: Rebel Extravaganza “Witch Cauldron” (only on SL Marketplace)
Mailbox: Botanical “Vintage Porch Mailbox” (lots of colors)
Flamingoes: Schadenfreude “Orange Plastic Flamingoes”
Bat Hanging from Eaves: D-Lab “Bat 01-trans”
Music: Contraption “Orchestrion: Haunted Maze” and “Music Box: Sinister” (gacha)
Bookcases: Alouette “Georgia Bookcase” (several woodtones)
Skeleton Doll: Schadenfreude “Voubou: Bones” (gacha)
Skeleton Kitty: Schadenfreude “Chibi Cat: Bones” (gacha)
Potted Mushrooms: New Trails “Mushrooms” (texture change)
Candy Apple Dish: Floorplan “Candy Apples Platter” (tinted)
Candy Bucket: Lark “Candy Bucket – Cat” (Candy Fair)
Potion Bottle: Amala Potions “Lilac’s Laxative” (gacha)
Floor Lamps: Trompe L’Oeil “Star Duo Ground Lamps Gold and Deep Purple”
Kindling Basket: Apple Fall “Woodstock” (gacha)
Candlestick: Post “Humble Candlestick” (gift)
Painting: “Belladonna” by MiaSnow and Trindolyn Beck

Love,
Serene

RED

I feel fall coming on yay! I love the rich tones and textures of this season best of all. Of course I can't help but have Halloween on my mind, and so I'm jumping the gun again with some skull-themed fun. The other day I picked up this little top from the Plastik. You can style it as a mini-dress if you'd rather but I see a cute long shirt :D in the sweet textures that Ms. Rieko always makes. I'm ready for some Grateful Dead tunes!



And the cute little Skully earrings come out of a Gacha at the Balderdash store in a whole bunch of cute colors.



Now this sofa was such a nice surprise. I have no idea how long it's been sitting in my objects folder but this is a lovely review sample. This sofa and a matching ottoman come with texture change HUDs that change the tufted leather to four colors, and the arms to the same four colors or to four animal furs. Lots of poses, and the tufting is three-dimensional, not just a texture to fool your eyes. Thank you!!

Sofa: Atelier Visconti "Vanessa Dormeuse" (w/color change HUD)
Shirt/Dress: the Plastik "Insidious Tee Dress //Damnation"
Pants: Zaara "Jeans *charcoal* (Classic)" (vintage system layer)
Boots: Lassitude and Ennui "Thecla" (partially tinted)
Earrings: Balderdash "SugarSkulls" (gacha)
Cuff: Baiastice "Spike Studs Leather Cuff" (previous Arcade gacha)
Hair: Lamb "Glass Candy" (w/shaved hairbase)
Skin: Essences "Amaterasu 05 *lait* brunette" (Chapter Four gacha)
Lipstick: Essences "Amaterasu Lipstick 03" (Chapter Four gacha)
Eyes: Ikon "Ardent"

Love,
Serene

WEEDING DAY

What, you were expecting a fluffy white dress? No, this is really weeding day. Anything with thorns has got to go. But the sweet wildflowers are staying. I planted these purples I found at the Forest Feast booth at the Expo. The Expo has a few stores that specialize in outdoor landscaping supplies rather than the ubiquitous home furnishings.



My helper is a talented gardener. (Dwarfins are interactive breedables, but this is an Avatar that is their Expo Hunt prize.) But it's a warm day, and after work there is nothing like cool water. The Atelier Visconti fountain has several playful animations for singles, and some couples animations I haven't tried yet. :D



Avatar: Dwarfins "Rigged Mesh Female Gardener" (Expo Hunt Prize)
Tree: Forest Feast "Sweet Memory Tree" (Home and Garden Expo)
Flowers: Forest Feast "Spring Field Grass Purple" (Home and Garden Expo)
Fountain: Atelier Visconti "Fountain Octagonal" (Home and Garden Expo)
Grass: Forest Feast Store Gift
Horses: by Awesome Breed Creations

Love,
Serene