PANDORA'S WINTER WONDERLAND

Pandora Phillip, whose remodding and decorating of the Rose Cottage is on this blog, has the use of a whole sim for the winter, and has turned it into a Winter Wonderland! Outside, more to see and do than I can include here -- inside, EVERYTHING Christmas! It is fabulous!

Moon Allard

Moon owns a beautiful island with furnished beach cottages, and activities for residents. Strolling around the island, residents can find many interesting things like this romantic Lover's Grotto, featuring the Lover's Table, all dressed up for the holidays.

Ginger Cyberschreiber

No Designer of the Month this month, as I would like to post a variety of pics from anyone who would like to share their work here with others -- I would especially like to see what you have done for the holidays -- so send me a pic or two! I noticed someone new making a lot of trips to La Galleria over a couple of days, picking up some very nice things. When I talked to Ginger, she said her house was gorgeous, so I asked for some pics -- and indeed, she has done a fabulous job! I especially like the way Ginger uses colors and tones. They are subtle, and all complement one another so well.

LA GALLERIA DINNER PARTY ON TV!

This is my second appearance on the Second Life TV show Designing Worlds -- this time featuring cooking a Thanksgiving dinner in one of my kitchens, followed by a Thanksgiving dinner party. It was such fun! (The dinner party segment starts about halfway through.)

Designer of the Month: Yshmael Zapatero

The November Designer of the Month is Yshmael Zapatero, who is decorating two very different homes, one of which is a La Galleria house. By masterfully mixing contemporary, antique, and traditional styles with Asian accents Yshamel has created homes that are understated but dramatic, sophisticated yet inviting, as you can see in the pics below (and it was hard selecting the dozen best ones!). Here is part of an interview with Yshmael:

How do you create a room? Do you mostly have an idea of what you want it to look like, or do you mostly see things and develop an idea as you shop?

When doing a room, I go for what my mentor, Ray Hoffman, always tells me, the wow factor - I want to walk in to a room and go "Wow, I want that."

I never have an idea of what I want a room to look like, and it's funny the room can come from a rug, or an art piece or a color, but it's never the furnishing.

How would you describe your style?

I dont have a style, that would be restricting; I love Oriental decor, but I never do anything totally Oriental -- I find that mixing things makes it more interesting. That's why I liked La Galleria from the beginning: there was the Louis XV chair next to the Chinese screen.

I love color and texture, well made furniture with details, that is all I need, and prims I tend to forget those.

One of my new dining sets...

I really do love this one! I have made several other things out of the same wood -- coffee tables, writing tables, and some other chairs with the rush seats, to go with other tables.

New Kitchens & Updates

If you are a kitchen owner, IM me for the newest update package, which includes a hanging pot rack that rezzes 4 or 8 pots, 6 potted herbs, and a very cool shadow to slip under the kitchen!

I have some great new kitchens, too, among which are the ones you see here.

Concerns about Theft

Yes, I am concerned. For the convenience of customers, I keep everything but houses rezzed, even though it costs me a lot of prims to do so. However, that makes me even more vulnerable to theft, as thieves can copy anything that is rezzed. That's not to say that clothes, skins, shoes, etc. are not vulnerable, because they can be stolen literally off your avi's back.

Thieves justify their thievery in a number of ways, but it boils down to creators not being entitled to reap the rewards of their labor -- somehow, the thieves are entitled to those rewards. Sometimes people ask me if I really made everything in my store. Yes, I made every stick, all by myself, plus a whole lot more in inventory that I don't have room for. I do all the customer support, advertising, etc. You can imagine how many thousands of hours that has taken, and how it must feel to see someone else reap the rewards for those hours.

There are a number of things that can be done to reduce theft by making it more inconvenient, but nothing that can prevent it. Nothing. What we all can do, however, is be on the lookout for stolen merchandise, because SL and Xstreet are full of it (and now, so are websites outside of SL). There are whole stores, even whole sims, that are nothing but stolen merchandise.

When you see something that does not look right, notify the original creator, or whomever you think the original creator might be. Think carefully before buying that super-cheap (or free) item from someone that seems to sell ONLY this sort of thing. For example, the Xstreet listing for 12 very nice FULL PERM hairs for 295L? All stolen, of course, from easily recognized creators.

Designer of the Month: Pandora Philipp

I love Pandora's decorating because she thinks outside the box, as you can see in the pictures below of the Rose Cottage -- she has not only decorated it with an exciting sense of eclectic style and bold color, but she remodeled the cottage to suit her needs. She has added two baths, a nursery, an art room, and yes, a room for her dogs! Her property has a boat house and tree house and interesting things to interact with everywhere. It looks fabulous! She says:

"I buy what I like and then build around it ... I like unique, lots of people just buy what they see out and leave it, you need to make it comfortable for yourself. I just put out what I like, not what others think I should, I have to live here.... lol!"

Pandora always has a clear vision of what she wants, and I love working with her to modify things to match that vision. That's a lot of fun for me, and very rewarding also to see the final creation. I supply the artist with the tools and materials, but it is the artist who makes the final art work, and I love seeing that.

Pandora welcomes anyone to come see her home here. If she is home, just IM her to let her know you want to take a peek. She also has several shops -- clothes, flower arrangements, and contemporary furnishings-- which can be found at her mall here.

My new 18c English cottage! Below are pics and a description from the notecard.












It has:

* detachable 4 linked columns,
* a detachable patio with pool and pool water,
* a detachable front walk with planters.

Also rezzed along with the house are copyable and modifiable:

* ceiling fans,
* hanging light fixture,
* planters with rose bushes,
* rose bushes,
* sculpted open-close curtains (lace pattern and solid
* open-close privacy shutters.
* security orb