Yule Log!

With the Holidays fast approaching, it's time to light the Yule Log in SL™!

And I have just the log for you to light. :D



The log is Blue Spruce, with 3 candles in black cups inserted into it, decorated with the traditional plaid bow with a round shiny red Christmas ball in it, and greens and white branches (with red and gold glitter) fixed behind the bow.

Each candle is scripted individually, so you can touch each one and get the menu that allows you to choose the color you want, light or extinguish it (Full Bright or Local Lights) or set it to Auto so that it will light itself at dusk, and extinguish itself at Dawn.

This means that you can have 3 different colors, or one candle that uses Local Lights, and 2 that are full bright, or only light the one in the middle, or any other combination you want!

All this, for only 12 prims!

No mod, no copy, but they are Transferable, and make great gifts.

Available now, from the Home and Garden Store on Livingtree (85, 128, 24). L$125, 12 Prims, NO Copy/No Mod/Yes Transfer

See you there!

New Playset at Pygar's Stuff!

Hi!

I have a new playset available in my store. It's for making a town with roads and cars and buildings. The pieces are all low-prim, so you can drive your toy cars all over the place if you have the space! :-D

Enjoy!

Pygar Bu

P.S. I added a small ice rink to the skate park on the roof of the school, just for while it's snowy and cold here. Have fun!

Scripted Christmas Gift Boxes!

The scripted gift box with Christmas paper is finished!



Like the other two scripted Gift Boxes I have, you have a choice of 11 wrapping paper designs, 11 bow colors, and 11 floating text colors, so you can wrap the present to your taste!

You can also set it so that it will open only for a specific person, on a specific day (or later) and you can set one message that is displayed in the floating text above the box, and another that the box will "say" when it opens and gives the person you specified all the presents that you've stored in its Contents.

When the day comes, and they click the gift, and choose to open it, the top flies off, the ribbon falls to the side, and the box plays a sound, while particles come shooting out of it. (The default sound is chimes playing "We wish you a Merry Christmas", and the default particles are snowflakes, but you can use your own sound and particles, simply by removing the Defaults from the Object Contents, and putting yours in there.)

You don't have to give the box to the person in order for them to open it, so you can keep it and reuse it for the next gift, or you can give it to them after the celebration, when it won't interfere with role playing.

The important thing is that you can put it under the tree, have your loved one open it, and not have the scary moment when you set it for sale for L$0, and hope the person it's meant for buys it before a swooper shows up and steals it all!

With this box, gift giving is fun, and secure; and it will give both copy and non-copy items, as long as they are Transferable.

The box is Mod/No Copy/Transfer, so you can put your own paper on it, too, if you like; or tint the paper that's there, as well as using the scripts. And, of course, you can add things to the Contents, which you kind of have to be able to do, in order to use it.

You cannot resize it, though, or it will break the box. I'm planning to have a larger box, and a smaller one, available soon.

For sale now, L$100, Mod/Transfer/No Copy from Kick the Can and the Home and Garden Store in Livingtree.

See you there!

Limited Edition Holiday Bear from Robin!

For the last couple of years, I've made a Limited Sales Days Holiday Bear, and I've made another one this year!



It's actually been out for a couple of days now, but I've been so busy making things that I haven't had time to blog about making them!

This year, the bear is a Polar Bear.

Polar Bear habitat is shrinking so drastically due to global climate change that they were put on the "Threatened Species" list last May, which should give them some protection under the US Endangered Species Act. If you're interested in learning more, or helping the Polar Bears, you can go to the WWF site, or to Polar Bears International, both of which have a lot of information.

He's wearing a scarf with the year on it, and a border and design that I used for the mitts I knitted for Santa in Real Life. He also has a sculpted hat, with the same border, but on solid blue. There are flaps on the sides of the hat, to protect his cheeks, and they have snowflakes on them.

The bear himself is one of my Sculpted bears, and like the others, he's made so that you can easily pose his arms, legs, and head (just enable Local rotation, in the Build dialog; detailed instructions are on a Notecard packed with the Bear.)

Even though he's easy to pose, there are five bears in the pack, with poses that I've already made for you. One is sitting, one is standing, and there are three with Carry animations, so you can drag him along with you held in either your right or left hand, or you can cuddle him to your chest, and give him a squeeze every now and then.

The bears are copy/mod, so you can change the size, pose them, make them huge and put pose balls on them, put them in your bike basket and Link them to the bike, tint them, or generally play with them as much as you want, and not have to worry about accidentally ruining them.

However, they aren't Transfer, so you can't buy them, and then give them to someone else, or loan a friend your bear. (If you want to give them as a present, please use the Gift button on the vendors.)

They are available from now until the end of the year only; on Jan 1, 2009, they will be gone forever.

L$150, Copy/Mod/NO Transfer. Vendors are up in all Kick the Can stores, including the main Kick the Can store in Livingtree, and in the Robin (Sojourner) Wood AV Store also on Livingtree.

See you there!

New Yuletime Tea Sets!

I've gotten 3 new tea sets done, with Yuletide themes, for your holiday decorating!



The new designs include a Christmas Tree, a Christmas Sleigh (with Sanata, kids, and presents) and Snow Children (a Victorian boy and girl, dressed all in white and holding seasonal plants, against a backdrop of seasonal greens.)

These are like my other tea sets, but with different designs on the virtual china. And this time, if you touch the napkin, you'll get a menu that gives you your choice of 3 full linen sets (not just a recoloring) that have different embroidery on the napkin, and different place mats under the china.

If you, or anyone in the group the Tea Set is Set to, touches the tray, you can serve steaming hot tea, or clean all the dishes in a flash!

If anyone at all touches the plate of petit fours, they'll get their own plate, with 3 petit fours on it, and an animation so they can hold it.

Touch the Pot, and anyone will get an empty saucer to wear in their left hand, and a cup to wear in their right. Touch the cup, and a menu will appear with 12 varieties of tea to choose from. So you can sit or stand, and gracefully hold your saucer and sip tea.

All of them are on sale now, from the Vendor in the Home and Garden Store, or in the igloos set up on the River, while Livingtree has its Winter Festival!

Which, by the way, is going on now! I'll have more about that later.

Finally, if you've heard that the Lindens slapped me with a "Warning or Suspension of Service" notice last Sunday at 1 AM SL time, because they suddenly found the Kid Skin vendors which have been up for more than 2 years now, and which they approved a year ago, unacceptable, it is true.

The rule, when I was growing up, was "If it's flat, you don't have to cover it." But it seems that this is no longer true in SL™.

I'm appealing the "Warning or Suspension," not so I can put those vendor images back, but so I can get the Black Mark off my record. I'll have more about that when I know more.

In the meantime, the vendors are back, in the same places, but showing only the faces of the models. If you'd like to see a skin, please get a free demo from the pictures above the vendor, and examine it yourself, in a private place.

At the moment, I am planning to remain in SL. I have too many obligations to too many people there not to.

And for all those who have written or IMd me to show your support, I deeply appreciate it. Thanks.

Alpha Channel Basics book in the Texture Library!

If you have ever wondered about Alpha Channels in Photoshop®, I finally have all the answers in a handy book form, in the Texture Library next to the Texture Tutorial in Livingtree.



The book is based on the lectures that I gave in October about Alpha Channel Basics, but it's expanded a bit, because I wasn't limited to an hour. :D

Inside, you'll find 36 pages of information explaining what an Alpha Channel is, why an RGBA image is 32 bits, how to make Alpha Channels in Adobe® Photoshop®, how to eliminate all trace of the dreaded "white halo", information about using .png instead, and when you might want to use .tga with a full alpha, instead of .png.

There are 40 colored images, and it was all laid out in Adobe® InDesign®, so it's like a real live book. Except, of course, you can have it in Second Life, where it's easy to refer to while you're working.

Come check it out! You can read it for free, and if you want to have a copy of your own to take away with you, it's only L$100. So you really can't lose!

Once again, you'll find it (along with the book about Making Gradients in Photoshop, and placing textures accurately Inside Hollow Prims) at the Texture Library.

See you there!

Moon Boots for the Snow!

Hi!

It's starting to cool down at Livingtree, and that means snow!

I have some moon boots out in my store now that are modifyable and transferrable. They are specially designed to keep the snow out and your feet in so you can outlast anyone on the snowball battlefields.

;-D

Come take a look!

Pygar Bu

New Prize in the Kick the Can Lucky Chair!

If you haven't encountered a Lucky Chair yet, you should know that it's a chair that will give you a prize if the first letter of your first name matches the letter the chair has randomly generated, and you sit down in the chair.

They are lots of fun, and you can find them scattered around the world, here and there.

I have one at Kick the Can Main Store right inside the door.

From time to time, I change the prize in the chair, and I just changed it.



From now until I change it again, if you sit in the chair when it's showing your letter, you'll receive a Treasure Chest. It's not big, and it's not bitsy. It's just the right size to hold a kid's treasures!

It's made of rough wood, with ornate iron corner protectors on all the corners, and iron banding, held in place with rivets. On the top is a Celtic knot design, burned into the wood. On the front is a plain brass latch, with a loop to put your lock into.

When you touch the chest, it opens to reveal a green interior with gold stars; but only if you are the Owner. Otherwise, it does nothing.

It's Modifiable, so you can put your treasures inside as actual prims. If you have mod/transfer privileges on them, you can even link them, so you can carry your box around, or move it from one shelf in your room to another, or tuck it under your bed, or take it into your Inventory, or whatever you like. When you pull it out and open it, your treasures will be intact. (There are full instructions in the Chest Contents, that tell you how to do this and other things.)

It's also Transferable, so you can tuck something special inside, in the contents, or as Prims, or both, and give it to someone you love.

However, you can't buy it. I hope to have other treasure chests; but this one will never be for sale. You can only get it from this Lucky Chair, and only until I replace it with something else.

So come soon, and try your luck!

New All Season Maple Saplings!

Do you want to change your land as the seasons change in the Real World, but you're tired of having to take up all the trees for one season, and put down new trees for the next?

Then my new All-Season Trees are for you!



Put one of them out, touch it, and choose the season you want from the blue Menu. You can choose Bare, Bare branches covered with white lights, Snow covered branches with white lights, Snow covered branches, Early Spring, Spring, Summer, or Autumn.

Once you've chosen, Select the tree, go to Tools > Set scripts to not running in selection, and the scripts will become dormant, so they won't contribute at all to your sim overhead.

When the season changes, Select again, set the script to running, change the season, and turn it off.

Since these are Maple trees, in the spring they will drop "helicopters" and in the Autumn, they will drop colorful leaves.

The trees with lights are FullBright, but not actual Local Lights. However, since they are all Mod, you can set them to be Local Lights if you choose, and even set how much light they are giving.

At the moment, there are 5 Maple Saplings available, simply called Maple Sapling 1, Maple Sapling 2, Maple Sapling 3, Maple Sapling 4, and Maple Sapling 5. Each one has its own unique coloring for Early Spring, Spring, and Autumn, and each also has its own shape, so even in Summer, or when the trees are bare, they won't look identical.

They are available now from the Robin Wood Home and Garden Store at Livingtree (85, 128, 24), behind the AV store. They come in several different packs, ranging from single trees at L$150, to packs of three (yellow or red) for L$375, a pack with all five colors for L$500, or the Estate Pack, with 3 of each (15 trees) for L$1250.

Since each one is really 8 trees in one, that's like getting a single tree for L$19 or less!

Come and check them out! Full size demos are at the store.

See you there!

Clothing 101 Lectures Start!

The first of the Clothing 101 lectures tonight was a great success!

We had about 25 people in attendance, which was far more than I anticipated, as I showed people how to make clothing using the Appearance Dialog, explained what the Avatar UV Map is and how to use it to design clothing, and showed people about the problem areas.



I also gave out 3 handouts; one with a t-shirt, in tucked and untucked styles, in the section on making textures into clothing, the UV Map Suit, and a Test Suit.

It was a great audience; but I had only scheduled the class to run for an hour, and the first part, with the Appearance Dialog, took longer than I expected. So, sadly, there wasn't time to go into how to make wrinkles on clothing.

I explained this to everyone, offered to stay late and give that section, since it was in the listing, if anyone was interested in it. Several were, and seemed to enjoy it. But since there wasn't really time for it, I'm going to expand it a bit, and give that as its own lecture. At the moment, that series is planned for February 2009. (January is going to be Seamless Textures.)

So, next week, when I give the same lecture, I'll be skipping the part about Wrinkles, and instead briefly touching on the various Clothing Layers, and which ones overlap which. (Something which Immy reminded me that not everyone is familiar with. Thanks, Immy!)

If you missed it, and you'd like to attend, I'm going to be giving this one every Wednesday at 6 PM SL time, in the lecture area behind the Texture Tutorials.

New Stuff for Halloween!

I'm a bit behind on this blog, but I'm catching up now!

First off, the new Limited Edition 2008 Halloween Bear is ready!



This year, the bear is built on the same easy to pose Sculpties as my other bears. He has black fur, with bright purple eyes, an orange muzzle and orange paddy paws. On his head is a sculpty Witches Hat with "Samhain 2008" in gold letters on the band.

Like the other bears, you get five bears in the pack. One sitting, one standing, one to cuddle to your chest, one you can hold in your right hand, and one to hold in your left. The last three have built-in animations. (In SL, we need animations to hold things, or do much of anything, really.)

Because it's Halloween, he's also holding a cute little Pumpkin Pail filled with Candy Corn. Trick or Treat!

His ribbon has a menu-driven color change script, like my other bears, but this one has special Halloween colors, not the usual set.

He's for sale now through Nov. 1, in the main Kick the Can Store and the Robin (Sojourner) Wood AV store on Livingtree. L$150. Mod/Copy/NO Transfer (but there's a gift button on the vendor.) Those two stores have demos you can play with. You can also buy the bear from any Kick the Can Store in world. You'll find it in the big Halloween Vendor, along with the other clothes and special things I have for Halloween.

I've also finished a slew of new t-shirts for the Holiday.



There are five designs, on four different shirt colors (Black, Navy, Orange or Purple.) As always, they come as tucked in shirts on the Undershirt and Shirt layer, and untucked on the Jacket Layer.

On marbled fabric, with no seams on the arms, or other places there wouldn't be seams in a real shirt.

Only L$50, Mod/Copy/NO Transfer. Also in the Robin (Sojourner) Wood AV store, and in the Halloween Vendors in all Kick the Can Stores.

There's more coming out in the next few days, too; so check back soon!

Happy Halloween!

Hallowe'en Stuff!

Boo!

I have some Hallowe'en items out in my store: paper masks (modify, transfer and they attach @ mouth) and the Hallowe'en HowdyKat Doll.

The masks are only 5L$ each, and I have a couple that are themed after some of my toys this year: a HowdyKat mask with a cute bow and a One-Eyed Alien from my Space Explorer's Playset are available.

The Hallowe'en HowdyKat Doll has a light feature for those really dark scary places while you trick-or-treat. And she gives out caramel apples to all! :-D

These items will be available until 1 November.

Enjoy!

Pygar Bu

Girls Overalls - Now in Green!

The overall outfit is now available in green, with embroidered bears!



If you're a girl kid, this is one of the most flexible outfits you're going to find, with 17 different pieces in the pack!

You get overalls with prim straps that have 3 different pant lengths (shorts, long pants, and rolled pants with prim cuffs) and a cute flexi skirt. The pant lengths are really different, not just slider adjustments. The shorts have stitching along the hem, the rolled pants have tucked wrinkles around the knees, and the skirt has its own pair of Glitch Pants that have a fabric ribbon to match the skirt panels.

You also get two different shirts; a long sleeved striped t-shirt, and a blue short sleeved t-top with teddy bear fabric binding around the neck, and a keyhole and teddy-bear button in the back. Both shirts come "tucked in" on the Undershirt and Shirt layer, and "untucked" on the Jacket layer, so you can mix and match and layer them with other pants and skirts.

Finally, you get a pair of striped tights that match the long-sleeved T-shirt. Like the shirt, the stripes have no seams (although they do distort when you move, of course, since this is SL.) You'll find that the stripes run the way they would on real tights, too; they don't suddenly become vertical on the foot, like some striped stockings you'll find in world.

All the pieces are copy/mod, so you can tint them, shorten the sleeves on the T-shirt, turn the tights into knee socks or anklets, or do whatever else you like, while still keeping a copy intact. You can also set up your favorite combinations, and save them as outfits.

With these pieces, you can mix and match and wear a different combination every day for weeks! Not even counting what will happen when you mix and match with other outfits you already own. :D

All of this for only L$250. Available now from all Kick the Can stores, in the vendor with the other overalls.

NOTE: The Khaki Overalls and Halloween Overalls now have skirts as well! If you bought either of them, and would like the skirt, IM me, (Robin Sojourner,) and I'll drop one on you.

See you in Livingtree!

New Playset at Pygar's Stuff!

Ahoy!

There is a new playset available in my store: a Pirate Ship!

The fine vessel has working cannon and is modifiable. She also comes with a Pirate Captain who is modifiable, and a modifiable and copyable Pirate crew guy, so that you may make your crew as big as you like! The crew guy is only two prims, so making a whole raiding party won't fill your house. :-)

Enjoy! :-D

Pygar

Lecture Tonight - Seamless Textures & Alpha Channels

Robin Sojourner is going to be giving another lecture tonight, at 6 PM SL time, in the Lecture Area behind the Texture Tutorials.



This week, she's going to be starting with a discussion explaining how to make Seamless Textures in Photoshop. (This was requested last week, which is why it's first. People who know all about Alpha Channels can see that part, and don't have to sit through stuff they could probably teach themselves! :D )

After that, she's going to explain what Alpha Channels are, what makes a 32 bit Targa 32 bits, what White Halos are, and how to avoid them.

Then, if the audience would like to see it, she'll show how to make a stained glass window in Photoshop. (This is the same bit that was shown in the "bonus" time last week, in case you had to leave early, and missed it.)

Finally, there will be a time for questions and answers, although that's likely to run over the allotted hour for the lecture.

It promises to be an informative hour and a bit! If you are interested in learning any of these things, I'll see you there!

New! Purple Overall Outfit for Girls!

The weather is getting cooler in the northern hemisphere, and it's time for warmer outfits!

I've just finished a really cute set of overalls for little girls.



They are purple, and feature ice cream embroidery on the bib pocket, back pocket, and leg fronts; because what little girl doesn't like ice cream?

The overalls come in 3 lengths; long pants, shorts, and pants that are rolled to mid-calf with prim cuffs that show the ice-cream print fabric lining.

There's also an overall skirt, with matching glitch pants, for days when a little girl just feels like wearing a skirt. It hugs the body to just below the hips, and then widens out into a flexi-prim flare that swings when you walk.

Also included with the outfit is a matching long-sleeved T-shirt and tights, in ice-cream colors stripes. The stripes all match perfectly, with no visible seams at all (although, given the nature of the Avatar mesh, they do stretch and deform as you move.) Even the feet and ankles are made the way striped socks are made in RL, with cherry colored toes and heels, and stripes that match flawlessly all around the foot.

But wait! There's more! You also get a T-top; a shirt made from t-shirt material with a bias tape collar that buttons with an ice-cream-cone button in the back, above a key-hole opening.

Both tops are included on 3 different layers - tucked in for the shirt and undershirt layer, and untucked on the jacket layer, so you can wear the T-top over the T-shirt with the overalls, or wear either one alone, or mix and match them with your other outfits.

And, since everything in the package is Copy/Mod (no transfer) you can shorten the sleeves on the long-sleeved shirt, or make the tights into ankle socks, or tint any and all parts of it, and make dozens and dozens of outfits from just this one set!

Truly, one of the most versatile and fun outfits you're going to find, for little girls on a budget, and for little girls who just like mixing it up!

On sale now, at all Kick the Can locations, including the main store in Livingtree (149, 130, 24.) L$250 for all the pieces (six shirts, four pairs of pants, bib overall "jacket", tights top and bottom, prim overall straps, prim rolled cuffs and flexi-prim skirt.) Mod/Copy/NO Transfer.

See you there!

Question and Answer Session!

The Texture Question and Answer session is over, and I think it went reasonably well.

Of course, I wasn't expecting the first two questions that were asked at all, and most of the ones I did expect weren't asked, but that's what happens in sessions like this!

I used about 1/3 of the material I had prepared, and wound up going over time by almost half an hour. Some people had to go, of course, but those who stayed seemed to enjoy it, and most said that they had learned things.

I learned things too, of course. So there are going to be some changes for the next time.

For one thing, there's going to be a tp gadget in front of the Texture Tutorials, that will take you behind them to the Lecture Area. It's not very far, but you can't see it past the tutorials, and there was some confusion.

I'm also planning to have a planned lesson for the beginning of the Lecture, and then open it to questions for the last 15 minutes or so.

At the moment, I'm thinking about doing a lesson every Wednesday, so I'll probably repeat the same one for a month, two weeks in the evening, and two in the early afternoon, so the people from the States and the ones from Europe can both attend. That should give everyone who wants to see that lesson a chance to do so.

And then I'll retire that one, possibly putting it into a book or something, and do another one. That should give me plenty of time to prepare, and keep things from getting too boring and repetitive.

So, if you were there and noticed something you think I should know, or if you weren't, but you would like to have a lesson about a particular thing, do please comment, and let me know! Thanks!

Texture Q&A with Robin Sojourner

Next Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 6 PM SL Time, Robin is going to be in the Lecture Area behind the Texture Tutorial for an hour, answering whatever Texture Questions people care to ask.

She's planning to use Text Chat, so that there's an Instant Transcript for people to save. Depending on the question asked, there might also be handouts or images put up on the walls there.

So whatever your question is, feel free to ask, and Robin will answer! (She doesn't know everything, of course, so the answer might be "I haven't a clue." But it's still worth asking!)

Questions about things other than Textures, Building, or Sculpts, as used in SL, will be deferred until after the session.

If this goes well, there will be weekly session, at different times, to catch people in various time zones. But first, let's see how this one goes. :D

IM Robin, or check her Picks, for a TP to the Texture Tutorial.

Bring your Questions, and we'll see you there!

Vigil Candles

If you have a candlelight vigil planned, I have just the candles for you!

These are beautiful, realistic candles with animations that allow you to hold them in either your right or your left hand.



If you are familiar with my candles, these have the same color changing menus, for both the candles and the Bobeche (paper collar). They also have the same menu choices for On, Off, Full Bright, Auto, or Auto Bright. However, they feature new, more realistic flames and just enough Glow to make them really stunning.

Transfer Only. (No Mod, No Copy.) Sold in packs, so you can distribute them, or as a single pair to wear yourself. Prices range from L$560 for a pack of 20 pairs (that's 40 candles, so it comes to L$14 apiece) to L$35 for a single pair.

You can pick a pack of 20, 10, 5 or 1 pair, or if you know exactly how many you are going to need and don't want extras, you can IM me for custom packs, at a sliding discount.

Demo and candles are available now in the Broom Closet at Livingtree (132, 160, 24), or check my Picks for a TP.

See you there!

Juice Tray for Kids!

Kids play hard, and never more so than at Summer's End. This can work up a big thirst, so I've made a tray with four bottles of Old Tyme juice (pure prims, nothing added) to quench it!



Perfect for parties, play-dates, school events, or anywhere that thirsty kids gather!

There are four bottles of juice on the tray; Apple, Apple-Cherry, Grape and Tomato. They are all sculpts, so the bottles are only a single prim each! When you touch one, you get an open bottle with a straw.

Wear it from your inventory, and you'll be able to drink out of it! (The animations are kid sized, so although adults (or bigger kids) can hold the bottle, the straw won't come to their mouths.)

If you touch the bottle while drinking, you'll hear the delightful sound made by blowing bubbles with your straw! Tons of fun for everyone!

The tray is 8 prims, No Mod, No Copy, Transfer Only. L$100. On sale now, from the main Kick the Can store, in Livingtree.

Come take a look, try a bottle of juice, and squeeze the last drop out of summer!

Light Script Updated, and New Things Coming!

It's been a while since I posted, but that's because things have been so busy around here.

There's not much new stock out yet (just a script update, really) but there are lots of things in the pipeline, so with any luck, there will be several new posts this week!

First up, there are new updated light scripts.



This is an update of my script from last year. I've added several important features.

First and foremost, you can now set Glow for both the light bulb and the shades. (They are set independently, of course. They can even vary between bulbs and shades on the same lamp.)

The Menu that the end users gets has also been changed, with Full Bright and Auto Bright now added to the former "On, Off, and Auto" group. This will allow your users to have lamps that appear to be lit, but don't actually add to server load, or affect Local Lights.

The scripts are also more efficient "under the hood", so they should run more quickly and cause even less lag.

They are still just as easy to use, though. The Beta Testers were really surprised how quickly and simply they could build whatever lamps they could dream up!

For a full description, see the SL Forum Post that I wrote about them.

If you have a copy of the Copyable or Transfer/Copy 1.0 scripts, this is a free update. IM me (Robin Sojourner) to get yours.

There's other stuff coming for SL as well. Vigil candles (that you can hold) should be out sometime this week, and I've decided to make ready-made Kid AVs, for those people who just want to be able to buy a box, and turn into a kid! More about that later. (But I will say that, if all goes well, I'll be making some things that people have been begging me for for years. :D )

I've also finished a set of Juice Bottles for kids. Those are done, so I should be able to post about them tomorrow.

I'm also working on low-prim tea sets, more kids clothing, and some other surprise things. So, if I can just stay well, and pull the time together, it should get fairly exciting around here, pretty soon!

Stay tuned!

Fall Edition HowdyKat and DarlingDanny dolls!

Hi!

Fall is here and the new school sessions are starting!

HowdyKat and Darling Danny want to go too! I have the Special Edition dolls out, and matching backpacks!

They are wearing their school uniforms, and have apples ready to give to Teacher!

They are also modifiable and transferrable.

Enjoy! :-D

Pygar

Toy Tea Sets for Kids!

If you're a kid who likes tea parties, you're going to love the newest release from Kick the Can!

It's a toy Tea Set to use with your dolls and teddy bears! (You can also get just the Teapot, if you don't have the budget or prims for the whole set. See below.)



This beautiful set is exactly like the one for grown-ups, down to the elegant sculpted handles, and the Garden Rose pattern on the pieces. The only difference is that it's scaled down, for kids to play with.

There are 16 pieces in the set, but only 30 prims. If the owner touches the tray, the teapot will begin to steam gently, the teacups will fill with steaming tea, cream will materialize in the creamer, 3 full-size petit fours will magically appear on the luncheon plate, and the set will announce "Tea is Served." Touch it again, and all the food will vanish, leaving sparkling clean dishes.

Anyone can touch the teapot, and they'll be given a cup of tea to wear in their right hand, and an empty saucer to wear in their left.

Touching the cup will cause a menu to appear, giving a choice of 12 different "teas", including a water (very weak tea,) Orange Juice (since this is for kids, after all) an empty cup (traditional for doll's tea parties) and Pretend tea, which is a different color and transparency every time, because imagination is like that.

Anyone who touches the luncheon plate will get a plate of petit fours to hold in their left hand.

The whole set costs L$375 (less than the adult set, because it's just a toy, after all.)

For kids without the budget or prims for the whole set, the teapot is now available on its own!

It's a mere 3 prims, and only L$100. You can serve tea with it by touching the handle. When you do, it starts to steam. To stop it, touch the handle again. You can get the same cup and saucer by touching the belly of the pot, and the petit fours by touching the spout. So, really, it has all the functionality of the set, with one tenth the prims used!

Both are available now from the Kick the Can main store, and from all the other Kick the Can stores throughout the grid. (The Demo for the whole set is only at the Main Store in Livingtree.) See you there!

New HowdyKat and DarlingDanny Backpacks!

Hi!

School is starting back up again very soon, and that means it's time to get new school supplies. I have two backpacks for sale in my store, based on my HowdyKat and DarlingDanny dolls. They are wearing their school uniforms, and each have apples for their teacher to enjoy (HowdyKat is wearing hers over her ear of course). They are modifiable, so you can adjust the straps for your avatar. :-)

Enjoy! :-D

Pygar Bu

New Colors for Picnic Tables!

Not everyone likes a redwood picnic table, and not all picnic tables are new; so I've made a couple of alternate versions of the Redwood table I made some time ago.

One has been painted bright, shining white,



and the other one has weathered to a soft gray.



(The kids shown in the pictures are Krystal Wrigglesworth, and Pygar Bu, by the way. In game, Krystal is one of my nieces, and Pygar is my nephew.)

The new tables, like the original redwood one, have changeable tablecloths. When the owner, or anyone in the group the tablecloth is set to, touches the cloth, a menu appears allowing them to choose one of 11 "Picnic Fun" designs, including one with six quilted placemats and a table runner, or no cloth at all.

Each bench seats 3, and men, women, kids, furries ... any human sized avatar at all can use the Sit targets that are right in the bench. (No pose balls!) Just click to sit, and then choose which of the built-in animations you'd like to use by holding down the Shift key, and tapping the left and right arrow keys.

There are five animations in the center section; eating with a knife and fork, eating with a spoon, sitting around for either men or women, or sitting with your back to the table, and your elbows resting on it. The end seats have two additional animations, straddling the bench facing either left or right, so you can sit on the bench, and talk to people who aren't sitting at the table at all! (The last three animations are custom, and can't be found in any other furniture in SL.)

No food is included, but it's easy to rez any food you happen to have, and dig in!

The tables are available now, from the Garden Accessories vendor (that's the same one with the Luminaria and Windchimes) in the Home and Garden Store, Livingtree (85, 128, 24). L$150. No Mod/No Copy/Transfer.

Come and play with the demo! See you there!

The Skatepark!

New Lil Builder's Kit now available!

Hi!

I have a new Lil Builder's Kit available in my store!

This one is for making bubbles using a particle set. It comes with an animated wand, a freebie script by Jopsy Pendragon and the long notecard of detailed instructions to make it all work!

Stop on by! :-)

Pygar

Summer Luminaria!

Ahhh... Summertime. Time for long, lazy days that end with parties on the beach lasting far into the warm evenings. Well, at least it in a fantasy land, like Second Life®, where it never rains, and beaches are much more accessible. (At least for me.)



Luminaria, those paper bags with candles in them, make beautiful party decorations, softly lighting a path from one area to another. In Real Life, you can get the bags with cutouts for various "occasions."

I made a set with Winter cutouts last December, and now I have a set with Summer Designs, for summertime parties!

They are copyable, so you can Shift-Drag as many as you need to line your walks. They are also either 1 or 2 prims (your choice; both are in the pack) so you can line your walks without breaking your Prim Budget.

When the owner touches them, a menu appears that gives a choice of Design, Bag Color, Light Color, or State. Most of them lead to other menus that allow you to customize the bag to look just the way you'd like it to look.

There are 10 different Summertime designs, including 4 Tiki Designs, Sun, Moon, or more delicate cutouts with a Flamingo, Atoll, Spinnaker, or Seagulls. Or you can choose to have no design at all, if you prefer.

There are 25 bag colors, and 10 light colors (or you can choose to have the light color simply match the bag, which means that there are really more than 25 colors of light!)

For States, you can choose Fullbright, (which makes the bag glow as if the candle is lit, but doesn't actually affect Local Lighting,) Light (which does,) Auto Bright or Auto Light (which automatically switch to Fullbright or Light state at dusk, and off at dawn,) or Off (which not only turns off any lights or fullbright, but also changes the texture, so the bag looks like a plain paper bag, with a gray shadow of the design on it.)

All of this has been carefully scripted so that you can change the bag color without losing the design, or change the design without losing the bag color. It will even change the light color automatically as you change the bag color, of course, if that choice has been enabled. And it will keep the Light, Bright, or Off states through all of this. (You do have to reset the Auto state, since that one is the most processor-intensive, and it's easy to forget you have it running.)

This makes for a very flexible, lovely accent for your property. I think you'll enjoy them!

For sale now, from the Garden Accessories vendor in the Home and Garden Store, Livingtree (85, 128, 24). L$100. No Mod/Copy/No Transfer (but you can use the Gift Button on the vendor to buy them for someone else.)

Come and play with the demo, anyway, and see the designs! See you there!

Frozen Milkshakes on Sticks!

(Because "Fudgesicle" is taken.)

Today marks the first day of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and to celebrate I've come out with the Creamy Fudge version of the Primsicles.




Like the Primsicles, these drip and slowly vanish, while an set of random animations allows you to eat them.

But, of course, they are a different shape, and so you eat them differently. When you eat a Primsicle Shake Pop, you take a bit first out of one side, then out of the other, and then from the middle, after which you eat it from all sides, so that it vanishes evenly after the first couple of bites.

And, naturally, they are different flavors. Since they are frozen milkshakes on a stick, when you touch the box you'll be served either Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, White Chocolate, Swirl (chocolate & white chocolate), Chocolate Malt, or Strawberry. Which one you get is random; but since there's an endless number in the box, you can keep trying until you get the flavor you really want.

The box is only one prim, so these are perfect to put out for all your summer parties!

L$150, from the Ice Cream freezer in the Party Tent, at Livingtree (209, 87, 24). (You'll find the Primsicles there too!)

See you there!

New Picnic Tables!

I actually got this done last week, and entered it in the Show & Tell last Sunday, (where it took third place. :D ) But I'm just blogging about it now because I've been running behind all week.



It's shaped like a traditional Picnic Table, with a tablecloth on it. But since this is SL, all you have to do is click the cloth, and you'll get a menu that lets you choose from 11 different designs that range from traditional picnic checks to stripes, lace, or a quilted table runner and six place mats. Or, if you'd prefer, you can choose not to have any tablecloth at all!

Since we can't control our own arms and legs in SL, I've also put six "sit targets" into the benches, three on each side. (That means that when you click on the bench, you'll find yourself sitting at the table, facing the way you should.) Each one has multiple animations built in, so you can eat with a knife and fork, or eat with a spoon. Or, if you're not hungry, you can sit and chat facing the table, straddling the bench, or sitting backwards and using the table as a backrest, so you can talk with people who aren't sharing the table with you.

All told, there are seven poses in each of the four end seats, and five in the center places. (They don't have the Straddle poses, since they don't work well in the middle.)

The benches are free-standing, so you can use the table without them, if you'd like to.

The 3 pieces (table and two benches) are all No Copy/No Mod/Yes Transfer, and you can buy the set for L$150. It's on sale now in the Home and Garden store at Livingtree (85, 128, 24). Look for it in the same vendor with the Luminaria and Windchimes.

Livingtree Firework Show - 6/14 at 8:00p.m. SLT

Summertime fireworks have returned to Livingtree! Come down to Livingtree this Saturday, June 14th at 8:00 p.m. SLT and celebrate!

Livingtree (137, 129, 24)

Refreshments will be provided for all. Event is free of charge. All are welcome, so come on down an enjoy!

Beat the SL® Heat with Primsicles!

Fun, cool, yummy frozen treats for those steamy days in SL! Perfect for eating on the beach, or snacking while watching the Summer Fireworks! (Don't forget, fireworks every Saturday evening, at Livingtree!)



The Primsicle itself is made from a Sculpted prim, with normal prims for the stick. They come in a delightful box, (All Virtual!) with all the things you'd expect on a box of real Popsicles®, but of course the design is totally original.

To get one, you touch the box. It'll give you a random, realistically textured Primsicle from the six flavors that are included (Berry, Cherry, Grape, Lemon, Lime, or Orange.) You can see the frost on them, and the colors are really "right."

To "eat" it, just Wear it from your inventory. Animations are included that randomly choose one of several ways to eat it, at random time intervals, so you look more like someone eating a Popsicle, and less like a wind-up toy going through mechanical motions. (How well the animations work will depend on the length of your avatar's arms. They were designed for kids, although everyone can enjoy them, of course.)

As you eat, the Primsicle will drip, and slowly vanish, until there is nothing left but a stained stick. (The color of the stain depends on the color of the Primsicle, just as it should.) The animations will release when it's gone, of course. No sense chewing on an empty stick!

Put the empty stick back in your inventory, and when it re-rezzes, it'll be new, and ready to eat again! If you put a half-eaten one away, and when you wear it again, it'll be half-eaten, so you won't miss a single delicious fruit-flavored bit.

You can get an unlimited number from the box, so you should be set for Primsicles for the whole summer!

On sale now, L$150, from the Party Tent behind Kick the Can, Livingtree (212, 85, 24).

See you there!

Teaset Re-Named

Since I made the "Mother's Day" china pattern tea set, I've been getting scattered requests from people asking me if they couldn't have it named something else, and I've been filling those as they came up.

But yesterday, when I got another one from someone who found it hard to kvetch with her girlfriends while the teacups chattering about her mother and saying "I told you so", I decided to go ahead and re-name it. (The teacups, of course, never said "I told you so" really. But they do tell you what kind of tea you'd chosen, as confirmation that it's all working, and when an object in Second Life® says something, it's listed by name. Which did include the phrase "Mother's Day". Which was enough. :D )

So, the tea set is now called "Garden Rose" in all vendors and demos, both at Livingtree and Del Sol.

If you find one that still has the old name, and you're the first to tell me about it, I'll give you a copy of the tea set to show you how grateful I am that you caught it.

And now everyone can buy one, without guilt. (Sorry, mothers of the world.)

Make-Your-Own Greeting Card

Father's Day is coming up, Kids. Do you wish you could make your Dad a card, but you don't know how to make it open, or play a sound, or poof out a bunch of particles?

Well, now any kid can make a card with all that stuff, without needing to know how to write a single line of code!



You color the card, in your own Graphics program. (Or color it in Real Life, and scan it in.) You write the text, also in your graphics program. You add your own Sound Clip (or not, if you don't want one.) You find or make a texture for the particles that poof (or don't have any, if you're not a big particle fan.)

The card will be whatever you want it to be, made by your own hands, so you know that it'll be precious to the person you're giving it to, just like those hand-made cards are to Real Life family.

The texture Template is included, so putting it on the card in SL is a one-step process (instructions are included.) You don't have to worry about putting a different texture on each face, because the whole card uses just one Texture Sheet.



Delete the freebie bubble sound that's in the card for testing, and put any sound clip you want in there! Want to use a rude sound for your brother's birthday card, to make him laugh? You can do it! Want to use that "Apple of my Eye" sound clip that means so much to your Dad in his father's Day Card? You can do it!

Delete the freebie Dag's Bubble texture that's in the card, and put any texture you want in there, and it'll be used for the particles! Want the card to fill the air with pictures of your face, when it's opened? You can do it! Want to shower someone with their favorite cookie? You can do it!

This is your card, and you can make it be anything you want it to be!

Mod/No Copy/Transfer (so you can actually give it to the person it's for) L$75. On sale at Kick the Can, Livingtree (149, 130, 24) in the vendor with the Gift Boxes.

New Balloon Hats at Pygar's Stuff!

Hi!

I've been feeling a lil twisty lately, so I conjured up a couple of new balloon hats! One is a fishy (suggested by DeltaDharmaDawn Aubret for fishing!) and the other is, well, abstract. :-D

Enjoy!

Pygar

New Doll at Pygar's Stuff!

Hi!

I have a new doll available in my store - a cuddly penguin!

Enjoy! :-D

Pygar

Eight New Hawaiian Shirts!

It's Memorial Day weekend in the States, and that means that it's officially Summertime!

In honor of the occasion, I've made eight new Hawaiian shirts.



Seven of them use the stunningly beautiful fabrics from Kona Bay (with permission, of course) so they are just gorgeous. The other one is a Piratey Shirt, and is just fun.)

The Lotus Black design is shown above. The other new designs are; Leaping Koi Black, Peony Pink, Oak Leaf Green, and Peacock Feathers in Blue, Green, and Pink. (I confess that I made up the Green colorway. But the Blue and Pink are real fabrics.)

As always, the shirts come with six different styles in the pack. Two tucked in (as Shirt and Undershirt, for maximum layering flexibility) and four untucked (as Jacket) both open and buttoned up, in two lengths each.

You won't find any seams on these, on the back of the arms, or between the jacket top and bottom, because I've remapped the AV and burned the textures onto the Linden maps. (Which means that they are perfect.) The only seams are where seams would be in real clothing.

These shirts have four buttons, open collars, yokes, short sleeves, and a patch pocket on the left front.

Copy/Mod/No Transfer, so you can tint them and style them as you like, without fear of ruining them (just pull out a new one.) If you'd like to buy one for someone else, please use the Gift button on the Vendor.

On sale now, L$50 for the pack with six shirts of the same design, from the Robin (Sojourner) Wood AV Store, Livingtree (104, 128, 24). See you there!

New Playset at Pygar's Stuff!

Hi!

There is now a neat lil Space Explorers Playset available in my store. It's got a ship, two astronauts, and all their equipment! There's an instructional notecard for using the smaller "handheld" stuff. I don't know who the green guy is though... :-D

Enjoy!

Pygar Bu

New Teddy Bears!

I just finished three new teddy bears! You can see them in the main Kick the Can store now.



Here's the new Panda bear. I also made a Moon Bear* and an American Black Bear.

These are Sculpty Bears, and like the ones that have been out for some time they come with five bears in the pack. Two of them are for display (one is standing, and one is sitting) and three are for carrying around with you. (One for your right hand, one for your left, and one to cuddle to your chest and squeeze now and then.) The Carry bears all have animations built in, so all you have to do is Wear them.

All the bears have menus that let you pick from 12 colors for their bows, and all are Modifiable, and have been carefully made so they're easy to pose. You can also resize them, tint them, or do anything else you want to them. They're Copy, so if you mess one up, you can just rez another.

They aren't Transferable, though, so if you want to get one as a gift for someone, you'll have to use the Gift button on the vendor.

Available now, from the main Kick the Can store, Livingtree (149, 130, 24). Copy/Mod/NO Transfer. L$100.

(There's also a new Purple Panda in the Lucky Chair there! :D )

* 20% of the sale price for the Moon Bear goes to Moon Bear Rescue.

New Special Edition Dolls from Pygar's Stuff!

Hi!

The Summer Edition HowdyKat and DarlingDanny Dollies are out! They can be gotten individually or as a set (from the bag on the display table). The set includes a matching flower for you to wear, and it's neko and fur friendly - it attaches to the mouth. :-)

They are available through 31 July, so stop on by!

:-D

Pygar Bu

DarlingDanny Dolly!

Hi!

DarlingDanny has joined his special friend HowdyKat in my store! He's available in the doll bin either separately - he's sitting on top - or with HowdyKat as a set from the bin itself. Also, the Spring Editions of HowdyKat and DarlingDanny are still available for another two weeks! Summer's coming!

:-D

Pygar

New from You Know, For Kids -- the Hi-Bounce Playground Ball!

Yes, the red rubber playground ball, perfect for all sorts of fun and games. Rolls and bounces. high bounces on touch. Copyable (no transfer) so you'll never lose it and can use as many as you want!



It also makes "that sound." You know the one.

Anyway, check it out at You Know For Kids in Livingtree, or in my loctions in Inner Child Depot and Tiny Tykes!

Some spring goodies in the plant shack!

Fresh new plants are now available at the Plant stand in Livingtree!



Look for the new California Poppies, Woodruff, and Lupine at Livingtree (160, 166, 25)

Affordably priced, and only five prims. Can be modified and transferred, making it great for a gift.

While there, check out the other plants, including amaranth, basil, black-eyed susan, corn cockle, dandelion, geranium, hawkweed, lavender, mallow, mugwort, mustard, oregano, orchid, parsely, white poppies, rosemary, sage, and yarrow. Most are available in potted and unpotted varities. A deluxe, pre-made herb garden is also available.

Stuff at the Kick the Can Playground!

Hi!

I just finished a new play structure and put it up for use behind the big tent on the SE corner of the island.

There are a few parts to it, set for sale individually so you can create your own structure as big or small as you like. The slide has an animation in it (it does not work for tinies, or other avies requiring an A/O). And I put a sign in my store that will teleport you over to the playground!

Have fun! :-D

Pygar

New Plain Pocket Jeans

Due to popular demand, I've made some Plain Pocket Jeans; like my Good Jeans, but without the heavy embroidery on the back pocket.


While I was at it, I changed the Permissions on the Good Jeans to Modify/Copy/No Transfer, and put together Fat Packs with seven pairs of jeans in them for the price of five. The Fat Packs are the Blue, Black, or Light Blue jeans in all the thread colors, or seven different colors of jeans all with the Gold or White thread.

As always, the Jeans have no seams except where seams would be on real jeans, so you'll look as good from the side as you do from the front or back. Each pair of Jeans has both Pants and Underpants with the Jeans texture on it, so you can wear them tucked into boots, or layered with other clothing, with ease.

There's a new display, too.

I still need to put out the sign that says that you can have any combination of thread and jean color you'd like for L$150; but if you're reading this and you want a combo that isn't out, feel free to IM me and ask for it.

And, as an added bonus, because it's not really possible to try on clothing in Second Life™, I've put up an Almost Free pair of Jeans that go along with the Almost Free Hawaiian shirt. They are very blue, and have lime green stitching. You can buy them for L$1, and try them out to see if you like my Jeans.

The Jeans fit both adults and kids. I'll be putting some vendors out in the various kid stores next week; but there will always be more choices in the main store, so check it out!

All of this goodness is available now, from my store in Livingtree. Jeans are L$50 for a pair, L$250 for a Fat Pack with seven pairs. Modify/Copy/NO Transfer.

New Playset at Pygar's Stuff!

Hi!

I have a new playset available in my store. It's a School Doll House that you use with your own dolls! It fits my dolls, and a couple of the other dolls you can find in SL, like the freebie Cootie. (Cooties have to learn who to infect after all...)

The school desk and chair are copyable and modifyable, so you can have as many students in your classroom as you wish, and you can make them whatever color you like. I've included a notecard with instructions for how to do this. :-)

See you on the island! :-D

Pygar

20 New Nail Polish Colors for Spring/Summer!

I just put out vendors with 20 fresh new colors of nail polish! The polish is for your toenails (socks) and fingernails (gloves) and, due to popular demand, includes a set of the toenail polish For Pants, that incorporates a dark gray shaded pant bottom (like my free Barefoot Socks) so your pants don't end in a flare the color of your ankles!



All previous Nail Polish colors that are still for sale have been upgraded with this feature too; so you can buy any colors and not worry about your pant legs. (If you have already purchased some colors, IM me (Robin Sojourner) to get the For Pants version if you'd like it.)

I'm also implementing a program that I've been intending to get going for some time, that allows you to collect seven Proofs of Purchase, and turn them in for any Nail Polish color you'd like! Yep, you heard right! Buy 7, and get the eighth one absolutely free!

The Proofs of Purchase look like bottles of Nail Polish, too, so you can display them while you're waiting to collect enough for your freebie. (There are 11 colors, and the bottles are only 2 prims each.)

Redemption details are in the sign under the vendor. Just touch it to get a copy.

The polish is copy/mod/no transfer (but the vendors have a gift button, if you'd like to get it for someone else.) L$75 for fingernail polish, and toenail polish for wearing with and without pants. Available now from the AV store. Livingtree (104/128/24). See you there!

New Lil Builder's Kit now available!

Hi!

I have a third Lil Builder's Kit now available in my store "Pygar's Stuff". This one is an architecture block set with an instructional notecard giving details on rotation, copying and placement. It also has a series of pattern exercises to try out and a challenge to use the blocks to make objects using a certain number of prims!

Enjoy! :-D

Pygar Bu

Free Presents for Boys and Girls!

I put two gift boxes in the Kick the Can store today; one is for boys, and one for girls. You'll find them in the Girls and Boys sections, near the Skins. It's a wrapped package; you can't miss it. Just Buy it for L$0.

Since it's a present, I'm not going to tell you all the things I put in the box, and ruin the surprise. But I will say that all the stuff is new, and none of it is for sale anywhere. I'll also tell you that it's clothing and goodies. :D

So, if you are a kid, or if you want to try being a kid for the weekend, come on down to Kick the Can, and get your prezzie!

See you there!

Hilarity ensued!

Our Easter/Ostara/Springtime festival was a blast!

We had a good crowd of avatars in attendance for the gathering, held on a Sunday Afternoon in Second Life. Unlike most Sundays, SL was pretty stable, too! We decided to take some real-world activities and bring them to second life but, unlike everyone else, not do an easter egg hunt.

We started with egg coloring: Pygar and I set up a set of eggs and textures, with some basic instructions on texturing one with the other. In our new tent -- graciously recolored into bright spring tones by Robin -- we put these eggs as well as a large selection of refreshments.



Everyone had great fun coloring their eggs, going far beyond the textures we provided into tie-dye, windlight glow, shiny, and even attaching the bunny ears my brother was handing out to the crowd.

After everyone finished eating and dyeing, Pygar led folks on a nature hike of the island describing the local wildlife to the crowd. There really are a lot of birds, fishies, an other animals to be found on the island, especially with spring in full swing.



The hike ended near Cheep Cheep Landing, where I'd set up our egg roll. Much like a real-world egg and spoon race, contestants had to push an oversides egg down a path and into the goal. After a couple heats, we had a winner: a young neko boy named Oahu took home the Golden Egg for 2008!



Finally, to end the day, we awarded the best easter outfit. This was hard with so many pretty outfits, but a girl named Bella took the prize with her darling spring chick costume.

All in all, folks seemed to have a lot of fun doing events a bit different from the norm in Second Life. Look for moe fun stuff in the future!