We’re back!

Feeling spry and ready to get cracking on some new hair!

A few weeks away from the sandbox, and it does take a little time to get back into the SLtride, but once in it?  Gracious, the ideas abound again!

Just a little glimpse at the process —>

This is usually how hair starts.  A few minutes here and there, a pen, some paper (I seem to do the most of my sketching on lined notebook paper, and at work – eep!), and doodles that get turned into other things.  I have tons of these papers stashed in notebooks and journals, and piled on shelves around my desk.  When I stumble across some, I either get fired up or wonder why I haven’t made them all yet, and get overwhelmed!

These few ideas are for the upcoming I<3 Originals fair being sponsored by Artist’s Voice of Second Life ™.

(Yes, there will be some Valentines day items in the new releases.  If you look real close, you might see their beginnings!)

On another note, I’ve decided to add a little something to each hair kit.  Newer ones, that is.  I might get around to the older ones-I might not.  In my own experience, remembering what a kit or outfit looks like when scrolling through inventory is not always easy – and so I will be including in each kit a Reference Image.  It’s a lot easier to open an image than to put on a hair and wait for a rez!

Sorry, we are away!

If there are problems or questions, be sure to put them onto a notecard and drop them in the store Suggestion Box.  Most likely, my account has capped, and chances are I will not receive IM’s (and sometimes Items).

Bungle and I had a very quiet – very sick – New Year, missed a family function, and while he is on the mend, I am still dealing with couch lock, a lot of tissue, and more medicine than should  be necessary for a “common cold”. 

It may be a few more days before I am able to check back into Second Life.

Watching the Theft

It’s discouraging, more so than ever before, really.

I was present in the store to actually see this happen.  Point and click thievery – and while watching it, I felt 1) angry and 2) that it’s pointless to feel angry.  (It struck me as a little silly, as LD customers know that when I am present in the store, everything is free of charge!)

And still, there is nothing in place to combat these problems.  These tools are now so easy to find and use, its becoming common to come across those that use them.  Shopping is now a matter of picking out what object you want to raid.  This particular individual appeared to also send the items on to another account, which is another popular way to avoid consequence.  As Linden Labs only penalizes specific accounts, most thieves have numerous decoys set up. 

I am having to do quite a bit of thinking about the upcoming year in Second Life, and in what direction I want to go.  This includes what I will be doing with the store.  No, I do not want to give up on creating, I do enjoy it.  But I am considering all of the pros and cons in all parts of my SL.  Lately, it seems that every time I do log in, or get nostalgic and return to create, visit, shop-I see content theft as often as I see new things.  I hear it being discussed, I hear of the latest run of steals, I hear what/who/where to avoid, and increasing arguments about “knowing better” and not knowing better.  Nothing changes the fact that this is a huge problem.  And for those like me, who are smaller in the SL “design community”, ripping v/s a sale does have a big impact.  And sure, that makes me think – but overall, it’s the theft itself that bothers me.  It’s the casual manner of it all.

Very discouraging.

It is apparent that there will be no resolution for these sort of problems.  There is still the same sort of “process” for handling these thieves (read as:  ZILCH done).

Bearing in mind this fact that drags down the entire experience, and does make me question my time spent here, I am leaning towards a more negative resolution of my own. 

It no longer seems rational to put so much time and effort into something as flawed as this is turning out to be.