Leaves from the Livingtree

New Things for Winter Campers!

2012-01-16T12:53:00.000-08:00

Hard Knock Winter Camp 2012 is coming soon! It's time to pull out your Long Johns, and get ready to play in the snow.

Just in case you don't happen to have Long Johns, Kick the Can at Livingtree has you covered!

There are three separate packages, ranging in price from L$50 to L$200.

The first pack has Long Johns with the camp logo on them, printed in white with blue collar and cuffs. (Seen in the center in the image above.) They come with the tops tucked and untucked, and there are sets for both Boys and Girls in the pack. L$50, copy/mod.

The second has those, and also has a set that uses layers to be fully tintable! In order to use them, you have to have the ability to wear multiple clothing layers. (3 Jackets, 3 pairs of Underpants, etc.) That will depend on your viewer, of course. But if you can, then you can wear a set of plain Tintable Long Johns, Add the Logo layer, and then Add the Cuffs layer, and you can tint each layer individually! So you can have any color combination you want, and the logos will remain exactly as designed. L$100, copy/mod.

The third pack has the Long Johns from the first and second packs, and also includes Cold Weather Tattoos! They go on the tattoo layer, and allow you to get progressively redder as you stay outside longer and longer. There are four levels, from chilly (barely pink) to frozen (bright red.) You also get a set that's white, not red, so you can tint them if you have a viewer that lets you tint Tattoo Layers, and a non-red blood color. (Finally! Your Vulcan kid can get bright green cheeks from being out in the cold!) L$200, copy/mod.

All packs include "See my Breath" particle emitters, so it's obvious just how cold it is outside!

If you don't need the Long Johns, the Cold Weather Tattoos are available separately for L$150.

Come take a look! You'll also find things from Mari and Pygar, including an award-winning cork board from Mari!

New stuff at Pygar's Stuff!

2011-09-08T12:20:00.001-07:00

Hi there!

Acouple weeks ago, at one of the summer fireworks shows, there was a girl with a Deadwood tag looking for vintage toys for their role-play community. She was not having any success, so I told her I'd start working on some. So, now I've got a papier-mache style doll in my store:

I think she turned out pretty nicely, and in only 7 prims! I used Robin's cuddle script for a hold, included three sizes with dresses in five colors (pink, yellow and blue in that piccie, peach and green are the others).

Now I'm working on cast-iron pull toys and bell toys. I made a good horse figure I can use, and then got distracted LOL!

This carousel horse is also seven prims, but just sits there and looks nice. :-D

Well, that's all the news I have. I'm going to be helping Mari build Inner Child Camp on the virtual Playa for Burn2 for the next couple weeks. Then back to cast-iron toyland!

Enjoy! :-D

Pygar Bu

Party, Sale & Gatcha Festival at The Nest!

2011-09-02T15:59:00.001-07:00

Okay, it's not really Livingtree; but I have a store in The Nest, and this week we're doing a special Labor Day/End of Summer/Sim Opening parts and celebration!

The parts kicks off at 4 PM SL time, with a couple of DJs, and lots of other festivities.

The Gatcha festival starts then, too. I made a little white wicker occasional table for it, with a quilted cloth that's finished with lace and satin in the border on top. There's a pile of 3 books on the table shelf, and a flowerpot full of blooms on top of the table. The table, books, and plant are 3 different objects, so you can use them together, or separately.

It comes in 9 varieties, with 9 different quilts, and 9 kinds of flowers.

The flowers are from the Arctic Greenhouse; but all the rest of it is my own original sculpts and textures. There's a lot of detail here. The shadows of the lace are burned into the table top, there's a raised design on the flowerpot, and the books are real books that I actually own.

Here's a closeup of one with White Flag Iris, so you can get a better idea of what a single table looks like.

Just L$65 for a try. Come visit my Gatcha machine at The Nest

Also, as part of the promotion and sale, I have set my picnic table, and all the snack coolers and ground quilts for sale at 50% off the normal price! Yep, half off, but only at my Home & Garden Store at The Nest. They're still full price in my main store, and the Marketplace, because we're trying to encourage people to come see The Nest.

And really, it's well worth seeing! It's right next door to Cheeky Pea (you can see my shop from the Cheeky Pea main store) and most of your favorite furniture, home and garden stores are right there on one of the two sims.

So come by and check it out!

Tuesday Photoshop Tutorial - Brushes 10 - Organizing Brushes!

2011-08-30T07:53:00.000-07:00

Another Tuesday, another Photoshop Tutorial!

This time, we finish up the series about brushes in Photoshop CS4 and earlier with a discussion about how to make a brush from a color image, using either a Black & White Adjustment Layer, or Lab color, to get the values you want for your brush.

I'll also show you how to easily copy the settings from one brush preset to another one.

Finally, we'll talk about how to organize your brushes, save them so they show up in the Brushes menu, and save them so they won't; but you can find them easily.

Next time, I'm going to do something else, because I feel like all I've talked about for months and months is brushes! (Mostly because that's all I've talked about for months and months.) I'll get back to them, and do brushes in CS5, later.

If there's anything you're really curious about in Photoshop, let me know!

Mesh Exploration Plant Stand

2011-08-30T07:45:00.000-07:00

Mesh came to SL™ last week. For those not familiar with it, that means that, for the first time, we can now upload models that we make in other 3D applications directly to SL, with their UV Maps and everything else intact.

It's a huge change, and like all other changes in SL, it's not without controversy and confusion. To help alleviate some of that, I've made a mesh object for people to experiment with, and 3 videos to help explain how to work with it.

The first one talks about what mesh is, what Prim Equivalency is, what LOD is (and how to adjust the LOD you see using renderVolumeLODfactor,) what UV Maps are, and how to save a texture from SL onto your own hard drive.

The second one explains how to use the UV Map to easily put a texture on the plant stand.

The third one shows how to bring your finished textures back into SL, and put them back on the model.

If you are an SL resident, and you want to try playing with the plant stand yourself, you can get it at the SL Marketplace.

Enjoy!

Robin has a New Store!

2011-08-16T11:11:00.001-07:00

This isn't happening at Livingtree; it's happening at a brand new sim called "The Nest" which is attached to the Cheeky Pea sim. But if you are interested in shopping for your Home and Garden, and interested in Robin's Home and Garden store, then you'll want to know this!

The Nest is a home and garden shopping paradise, with all your favorite Home and Garden stores. (Places like the Loft, LISP Bazaar, Theosophy, Clutter, Mud Honey, Thistle Homes, north west, Second Spaces, and many, many more.)

The sim is beautiful, with a main street, some cottages, and a farm and "shacktown" on the wrong side of the rails. I wasn't early enough to get a store on the main street, but I did manage to get one of the shacks! So Robin's Home and Garden Store is right there on the same sim as the Big Names!

I'm very excited about this, and am already starting to get more home and garden stuff done. You can see the "Rail Quilt" I did just for this shop in the picture. (The shack really needed something to brighten it up!)

So come on down to Robin's Home and Garden at the Nest and take a look at my new digs!

New Coolers!

2011-08-16T10:28:00.001-07:00

Labor Day is almost upon us; time for cookouts, tail gate parties, outdoor concerts, and one last picnic on the beach!

Take along all the snacks and drinks you want, for just 2 prims, with my brand new Large Snack Cooler!

It's packed 14 different snacks, and 21 beverages, in 5 categories (Healthy Snacks, Sweet Snacks, Soda Pop, Juice, and Milk.)

Just touch the cooler to get a menu that lets you choose the category, and then click the button for the category you want to get a random snack from that group! So you can see if you really do get the peanut butter and jelly sammich, or if you're given a raw carrot instead.

You get unlimited servings, so if you don't like sugar cookies, you can feed it to the ducks, and try again for the choklit cupcake!

There are no alcoholic drinks, so it's safe for families with kids and teenagers.

When you're tired of standing around eating muffins, you can have a seat right on the cooler! Just right click and Sit Here to sit on top of it. Then touch the handle to choose from 9 different seat poses; 3 on the cooler, 3 sitting on the ground, and 3 lying down.

All the poses are adjustable, and the cooler will remember the adjustments for people who sit there frequently.

The cooler, and most of the food, are original sculpts and textures; and there's one pose specifically for watching fireworks or clouds that's also original. Available in 5 colors, that match the colors for the Water Coolers.

Transfer Only, L$300. Available now at the Home and Garden Store on Livingtree at Robin's new Home and Garden store at the Nest and on the Marketplace.

Photoshop Tutorial on YouTube

2011-08-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

It's occurred to me that some of the people who join Livingtree Island do so because of the tutorial materials there, and that those people might be interested in tutorials I have on YouTube as well!

So, for those of you who are, I posted a new one today, about Making and Saving Brushes in Photoshop. It's actually a continuation of a series I've been doing. (The rest are on my channel.)

We start with a short discussion about setting up the workspace to make a new brush, and capturing a brush tip shape. Then we'll explore how to save your new brush as both a Brush Preset and a Tool Preset. Finally, we look at the differences between the two types of preset, and talk about how to choose which one to use.

Next week, we'll finish up this series with a lesson about organizing your growing brush collection, and how (and where) to save Brush Sets.

Until then, I hope you enjoy this tutorial!

Small People Farm Playset now available!

2011-06-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

I made another addition to the Small People line of playsets: a farm! It's got a buncha low-prim and high-detail sculpted pieces, all copy/modify, so you can have a farm toy however big you have room for!

All of the animals are clickable for sound and chat too. Many of the noises are from Lorin Tone's vast library of audible fun, but the kitty meows just like my RL kitty. :-D

Have fun playing!

Pygar Bu

Wicker Furniture

2011-06-17T11:21:00.001-07:00

It's summer! Time for outdoor living. To make your outdoors as elegant and comfortable as indoors, I have a new Wicker Patio Set.

It's available in either white wicker with rose cushions and pillows, and a Rose Garden teapot, (shown above), or in espresso dark brown wicker, with green cushions and pillows with a leaf motif, and a Green Willow teapot (shown below.)

Either way, you get two chairs with multiple seats in the cushions and arms (so each chair seats 2 people, and it doesn't matter if one has a tail or long, trailing wings.)

You also get an interactive teapot that gives unlimited cups of tea and plates of petit fours. If the owner (or anyone in the owner's group) touches the handle, the teapot will start to steam gently. Touch it again, and the steam vanishes.

There are two cups, and two sets of spoons and napkins on the table. The cups have a group touch that will fill them with the tea of your choice. The napkins have one that lets you change the embroidery.

(The tea things are all original sculpts from my popular tea sets.)

The teapot, cup and saucers, and napkins and spoons are all separate items, so you can control your prims by Taking them into Inventory, or leaving them out. The baked on shadows in the embroidered cutwork doily change via a menu so you have the right ones for what you choose to have on the table.

The table itself is an original sculpt that gives you tons of detail in only 3 prims. Like the chairs, its shadow prim is a separate piece, so you can choose to have it, or not.

On the bottom shelf of the table is a book of Fairy Tales. Touch the book to get an original sculpted book that attaches to your left hand. It doesn't have an animation in it, because it's meant to read while using the "reading" animation in the chair. But it does have an original retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" by Robin Wood.

All together, a lot of grace and beauty for only 34 prims! No Mod/No Copy/ Transfer only. L$650. On sale now on the SL Marketplace or at the overflow for the Home and Garden Show on Livingtree. If you want to see the Espresso in world, I have a set out at the Pergola on Livingtree. Come take a look!

It's June! Time for Flip Flops!

2011-06-01T15:56:00.001-07:00

And Robin has made a bunch of beautiful new ones, using brand new, all original sculpts.

The sole has been remade so it has no pinch points. This means that it looks perfect from any angle, and that the texture isn't distorted, and doesn't "shatter" anywhere.

The strap has been remade so that it's exactly like the straps on cheap flip flops in Real Life. The sides curve around under the foot, and all three places where it attaches to the sole end in "buttons" that show on the bottom.

Shadows have been baked on, so they will always look great.

And best of all, they are only 2 prims, so you can leave them lying around as decorations! (And wear them too; they're copyable!)

There are two kinds; the Basic flip flops, like the Plain ones shown above, are designed for tinting. The only colors used are black and white, so the colors you make them are pure and clean, and as bright as you like! Since the "buttons" really are part of the strap, when you tint the straps the buttons turn that color too. They will always look authentic on the bottom of the sandal.

All the flip flops are copy/mod, you can tint them to your heart's desire, or add decorations (as long as you have copy/mod perms on the prims you want to add,) make the straps partially transparent, resize them, and keep all the variations. You can make a whole wardrobe of different colored flip flops to match all your summer outfits.

They come in six different designs (so far!) including plain, white polka dots on black, checkerboard, horizontal stripes, a fun footprint design and a graphic of the Vitruvian Man that stretches across both flip flops.

The second type, shown above, already have colorful designs on them. Robin is really enjoying making these, and has six done and lots more planned. So far, you can have Water's Edge (shown above,) Pride (vertical rainbow stripes), Fiesta (festive, multicolored horizontal stripes), Denim Swirls (soft blue grunge, with a delicate white pattern of swirls and flowers that cover both flip flops, with a butterfly on the right one,) Chocolate Labels (antique chocolate labels,) and Picnic (a red and white checked picnic tablecloth pattern.)

They all come in adult sizes, good for men and women with realistically sized feet, and in kid sizes ready for size 0 feet. (The kid size Basic Footprints are shown above.) There are no scripts, but they are very easy to resize. Also included is a base shoe (although you probably won't need it; they work fine on bare feet) and instructions for tinting, resizing, etc. (although you probably don't need those, either.)

L$65, 2 prims, copy/mod; on sale now at Kick the Can and the AV Store and also from the Marketplace.

Come and take a look!

Small People Growing Bigger!

2011-05-24T05:02:00.000-07:00

Hi there! Just wanted to give an update on the new line of toys I've got... :-)

There are now four Small People playsets out, and I am working on the next four. \o/

Each playset is modify/copy (any textures are copy/transfer so you can use them with the dolls and stuff) and has a notecard explaining how to put everything together so you can get to playing with it! They are also very low prim - make a whole village of these guys. :-D

So far there are two types of houses - a conventional one and a treehouse, an art studio with a buncha original drawings and paintings by me (go ahead and add your own!!) and a remote-controlled school bus. I had a lot of fun play-testing the bus. :-)

In the works are a farm, castle, boat, airplane and the Blinging Disco! Gotta have a dance club, this is Second Life!

Stop by and take a look -

Pygar Bu

Robin is in the Shoe Fair!

2011-05-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Second Life® Shoe Fair opens today (May 14) at noon Pacific time, and runs through May 27th. It's one of the Big Events in SL™, with 4 sims full of stores (over 60 shoe designers.)

And I'm one of them!

The build this year is minimalist; with a clean, white, low-lag mall which really makes it easy to get to all the booths.

I set my booth up with some stunning photos taken by my friend Marianne McCann, some shoe stands, and a sort of path running down the middle...

One of the requirements of the Fair is that you make a new shoe, and that it be exclusive to the fair for the duration. That was a bit of a challenge for me, since I only found out that I was (probably) going to be in the fair on May 2! (I was confirmed some days later.) Mari and several other young friends had been begging for saddle shoes, so that's what I decided to make.

Eight days of intensive work later, I achieved saddle shoes!

While the fair lasts you can buy them there, and only there, in nine different color combinations, for L$150 a pair. (Or get the FatPack, for L$1000 during the show only. The price of the FatPack will go up after the show.)

Since I had so little time to get it all together, I haven't made boxes to put the saddle shoes in yet. I'll be doing that in the next couple of weeks, so they'll be in boxes when they get into the stores.

Instead, I just took photos of them, and put the photos on a prim. But, since I'm me, I also took a photo of the back of the shoes, and put that on the back of the prim! So when you go, be sure to cam around and look at them from the back. :D

The other requirement is that all vendors at the Fair donate some portion of the proceeds of sales to Soles 4 Souls, a charity that sends shoes (new and used) to people in need around the globe. I've chosen to donate 75% of the sales of the black and white saddle shoes, and 10% of the sales of the Fat Pack, to the charity.

So come on down! See (and try on) the new saddle shoes, and give to a worthy cause! See you at the Kick the Can booth at the 2011 Shoe Fair!

(For more info about the fair, including a list of the vendors, check out the Official Shoe Fair Blog.)

Spring Gatcha Festival!

2011-04-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

Marianne and Robin are both in the Spring Gatcha Festival in Albero!

Robin has two machines up, filled with socks in bright spring colors.

One has four colors of argyle socks, and some rare tie-dye socks.

The second has four pairs of socks in different spring color gradients, and some rare polka-dot socks.

Each color is in the machine as tights, over-the-knee socks, and knee socks. That's 15 different packs in each machine. Each pack has its pair as both regular socks (or socks and underpants for the tights) and a Tattoo layer for people using V2 compatible browsers.

They are all mod/transfer, in keeping with the nature of Gatcha machines. So you can trade them with your friends if you got the one they were dying for, or vice versa.

All this for just L$25 a try! You can find them in the Event Area in Hyssop.

After the Festival is over, the price will revert to L$150 for a pack with all the lengths, and copy/mod permissions. So if you want to see how gorgeous and seamless these socks are, this is your chance to get a pair for less!

Hope to see you at the festival!

Easter Baskets!

2011-04-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Robin has Easter Baskets!

These beautiful baskets are only 12 prims, so you can put them out to decorate your home. Or you can hold them in your right hand (there are two carry poses built in; toggle the basket to toggle between them.)

Inside the basted are 4 dyed eggs, a foil egg, a chocolate egg, and a chocolate bunny, all lovingly nestled into a soft bed of Eastro-Turf.

Touch them for treats and surprises! (Hint, one of the eggs plays a music box version of Little Bunny Foo Foo, and the treats range from cup cakes and muffins to chocolate and a hard boiled egg!)

If you're not familiar with the story of Little Bunny Foo Foo, it's in there, on a notecard. Find out what happens when you insist on scooping up the field mice!

Available in six color combinations; with violet, pink, or blue binding and handles, and with green or matching Eastro-Turf.

All this spring goodness and interactivity for only L$150! No mod, no copy, but they are transferrable, and make perfect gifts!

Come see the basket now at Kick the Can or at The Home & Garden Store. Also available for sale from The Marketplace.

Special for March 6!

2011-03-06T10:55:00.001-08:00

Robin just finished a beautifully detailed wooden shelf, with curved brackets and a stunning backboard that boasts 2 pegs and a heart shaped cut out between them. It also has baked on shadows that are continued on the accurate shadow prim. All this, in only 3 prims! (One for the shelf, one for the pegs, and one for the shadow.)

To celebrate the shelf, the coming of spring, and the successful renovation of her new store, Robin in Bay City, she has paired the shelf with a ceramic pitcher with a lovely blue-speckled glaze that's filled with a bouquet of seven bright spring tulips, and is selling the group for L$120 for Sunday, March 6, only!

Or you can purchase the shelf for L$75, and the pitcher full of tulips for L$100, if you only want one of them. :D

Come and see, at The Home & Garden Store or Robin in Bay City. Or just come and see the new store!

Afterword; the special is long over now, of course, but the shelf is still available!

New Gingham Chucks

2011-02-24T11:03:00.000-08:00

Spring is just around the corner! Get ready with a delightful new pair of gingham chucks from Robin!

These beautifully made chucks come in 7 fresh colors, and are perfect for those bright spring days. They all have tiny hearts on both the laces and the lining, and the bumper stripes match the gingham to give your feet a beautifully coordinated look. Notice that the fabric doesn't "pinch" anywhere, and the stitching is perfect! These are shoes that you'll be proud to wear.

Transfer only, so they are perfect for gift giving.

Touch them to activate the low-lag resize script, so you can easily get a perfect fit. (There's only a single script in each shoe, 2 scripts total, and you can remove them after you have used them, if you want to, and reduce your script load even farther!)

Included with the shoes are base shoes, so they'll fit your feet more easily, and a V2 Compatible Alpha Layer (courtesy of Marianne McCann) so that there's no chance of "peak through."

Just L$150 per pair. Available in black, blue, green, yellow, red, pink and purple.

Come try on a demo at Kick the Can Kid's store or at Robin (Sojourner) Wood's AV Store. You can buy them at either one, or get several of the colors on the Marketplace.

See you there!

New Worktable from Robin!

2011-02-15T18:02:00.001-08:00

Tired of a drab, dull, boring workroom? Spruce it up with a new worktable from Robin, for only 2 prims!

It's a shabby chic table, in the Arts and Crafts style. The bottom part is a single sculpty prim, with four sturdy legs and a shelf that's perfect for storing the things you need to keep rezzed in world. The top work surface is a normal prim, so it never looks like a sphere, never vanishes as part of the rezzing process, and has no bounding box issues at all.

Touch it, and the top changes from chipped paint to a handy builder's grid for working on. Touch it again, and it reverts to the chipped paint for off hours (or to use as a display in your store!)

At its default size it's 2.5m x 5m, which makes a nice, generous working surface for small to medium sized objects.

But if that's not the size you like, you can change it, since the table is copy/mod. You can also change the rest, of course, and keep a copy for backup.

Available in Blue (shown,) Cream, or Green. $L150, Copy/Mod/NO Transfer.

On sale now at the SL Marketplace at Robin's Store in Bay City and at the Home and Garden Store in Livingtree. Come take a look!

Robin's Making Furniture!

2011-02-05T11:57:00.000-08:00

Robin Sojourner has started to make furniture, and her first set is available now!

It's an Art Deco conversation/reading corner, with two chairs, an occasional table with a vase of plumeria, a fashion magazine, and a pulp murder mystery, and an oval rug.

The chairs have been totally remapped, so that the stunning vintage Art Deco fabric isn't distorted anywhere. There are two comfortable pillows, one with a plain yellow case, and one in green damask that echos the pattern on the chairs. Each has seven poses for adults, and 10 for kids and smaller avatars, in the chair cushions. These range from poses for conversations, to reading, to meditation. (Kids get more because of the relatively larger chair size compared to their bodies.) In addition there are four poses in the arms, for perching. Because there are poses in both cushion and arm, 2 avatars can use the chair at the same time! Each chair has six prims total, including the shadow prims below them.

The table is an original sculpt, based on a gorgeous asymmetrical Art Deco table found in RL. It has maple curves that repeat the curves in the chair upholstery, balanced with chrome pillars and a black glass top. It was all made in modo, and shadows, highlights, and reflections have been baked in for an amazingly realistic feel. All of it comes to only 5 prims, including the shadow.

On the table is an original stepped and twisted vase, once again modeled from a RL Art Deco vase, with a lovely sunset glaze. It's filled with Arctic Greenhouse plumeria in soft shades of yellow. The vase with flowers adds up to 12 prims.

Also on the table is a copy of Vague magazine (because you need humor) and a pulp mystery titled Murder in Bay City. Touch the book, and you'll get a readable copy that is an original sculpt as well. You can even read the open pages, if you can figure out where to look for them! (The resolution doesn't allow you to read them from the book, but they are ... somewhere.) Each book is a single prim.

Finally, it's all pulled together and complemented with an oval rug, also a single original sculpt with no alpha, that reprises the design in the green pillows, bordered with the sunset colors from the vase.

Total prim count for the whole set, including the wearable book, comes to just 33. Transfer only.

You can see the set, and buy individual pieces, at Robin's store in world or buy it from the Second Life Marketplace. The whole set is L$550 for a limited time. Prices on individual pieces vary, and range from L$200 for a chair to L$50 for the rug. Come take a look! You'll be glad you did.

Bow Top Mary Janes!

2011-01-19T12:46:00.000-08:00

Out now at Kick the Can, Mary Jane shoes with classic grosgrain ribbon bows on the toe top!

These are Robin's original sculpt; it's been copied, but never equaled. (And no one has even tried to copy the sumptuous polished leather texture.) Now it comes with a gorgeous bow, also an original sculpt, to make it even dressier.

Touch the knot on the bow to get a series of menus that let you choose from among 25 colors for the bow, and either silver tone or brass for the buckle.

Touch anywhere else on the shoe to get a very low-lag resize script that lets you easily get a perfect fit.

The shoe also comes with a Base shoe, so that your foot will look great in it, and an Alpha Layer (V2 compatible client needed) that will hide any part of your foot not covered by the shoe. No more poke outs!

There are eight colors of shoe; Black Licorice, Chocolate (rich brown), Chocolate Cherry (oxblood), Red Licorice, Navy, Forest Green, Cotton Candy (pink), and White Sugar. The bow colors range from soft to bright, dark to light, and include a range of warm and cool colors, as well as white, gray, and black.

Come try on a demo at Kick the Can (upstairs, right in front of the railing for now) or see them on the SL Marketplace (link goes to the Black Licorice.)

Valentine's Day Chucks!

2011-01-09T11:38:00.000-08:00

Robin just released five new pairs of Chucks shoes, specially designed for Valentine's Day (although you can wear them any time, of course!)

They all have pink hearts on the laces, and they come in Candy Hearts (shown), Gingham Pink, Hearts & Roses, Simple Hearts, and Vintage Rose designs.

As always, they've been made so that the fabric isn't distorted on the uppers, for a beautiful shoe!

There's an alpha layer (courtesy of Marianne McCann) for V2 compatible browsers, so you don't have to worry about your feet peeking through the shoe, and a very low lag resize script in one prim from each shoe, so you can easily get a perfect fit. L$150, Transfer only. (They make great gifts!)

Come take a look and try the free demos now at Kick the Can Kid's Store and at The Robin Wood AV Store on Livingtree.

You can also get them at the Second Life Marketplace. (Link is to the Candy Hearts pair, but you'll be able to find the rest once you're there.)

Argyle Socks!

2011-01-02T20:48:00.000-08:00

Add some pizzaz to your wardrobe, and razzle-dazzle 'em with these stunning argyle socks!

Made with remapped UVs, which were then burned onto the SL UVs, so there are no seams! No seams on the sides, no seams on the foot, no seams around the ankle (although it is a bit rough, because of the way the Avatar is made, this isn't noticable from normal viewing distances.)

There are a dozen different color packs, with 5 sock lengths in each pack. So you can choose to wear short socks, knee socks, over knee, thigh high, or tights! Each one also comes on both the Tattoo layer (for people using V2 compatible viewers) and the sock layer, for maximum layering versatility.

You can buy one pack (that's five pair, remember) for $L125, or you can get the fat pack with all 12 pair for $1250. That's 12 pair for the price of 10! Come and see them at the Robin Wood AV Store on Livingtree, at Kick the Can kid's store (on the second floor, near the shoes) or get the Fat Pack from the Marketplace. You'll love them!

Small People, Big ideas!

2011-01-02T15:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

I have a new thing in my store: Small People.

These lil guys are copy/mod, so you can put the accessories I made for em on their heads, or make your own stuff to add, or whatever you like! They are made to be played with in playsets, dollhouses or just on their own, and they are two prims each (without the one-prim hats or hairs I made). So you can have a bunch out all over. :-D

I'll be making some playsets just for these guys too. Lessee, they'll need a house, a boat, a plane, maybe a car garage.....hmmm :-)

Pygar Bu

Winter Newness from You Know, For Kids!

2010-12-22T23:59:00.000-08:00

Four new goodies from You Know For Kids, perfect for the holidays or any time!

First an update on my Ballerina Music Box!

This new edition has a more robust mechanism, playing swan lake. Click it to open the lid, watch the fully sculpted ballerina and key turn, and listen to the music. Wind again to hear more, or to close the box back up!

Also, say "howdy" to the Buckaroo BB Gun! Kinda sorta like what a legandary Wild West hero like Red Ryder might us

It is an actual scripted weapon, so I suggest using it with adult supervision. It shoots tiny BB pellets that can cause (minor) damage in damage-enabled areas. Don't shoot your eye out, kid.

It includes aiming and holding poses, of course. :-)

Next up: The Glow Bug!

This lovable, huggable, worm-like plush doll is the perfect nighttime friend! Comes with a hold pose, and clicking on Glow Bug's head produces a soft night light!

Prims are modify for that perfect fit, and Glow Bug is transferrable, making it the perfect gift for any kid -- or kid at heart!

Finally, introducing Little World Doll

Little World Dolls, representing four nationalities, these dolls are "goodwill ambassadors" from a simpler time. Designed as dolls and decanters, they are at home in the bath, in the bedroom, or even as a kitschy decoration in your living room! Perfect for playtime, too!

This is a pack of all four dolls! Modifiable and transferrable, great for gifts or just for fun!

All of the above are available at You Know, For Kids in Livingtree and on the marketplace!

More cheek art in the gatcha machines!

2010-12-02T15:15:00.000-08:00

New cheek art out today at You Know, For Kids in Livingtree and Bay City! Better quality art plus more designs!

With Second Life's viewer 2.0 came a new tattoo layer, allowing for this new goodie! Since then, it has been picked up by many popular third-party browsers, too! Although you can only wear them on a viewer that supports tattoo layers, people can see them on you no matter what version of the Second Life browser they're using!

I recently updated the designs, hand-drawing them and getting a little help from my friend Robin Sojourner to provide better quality cheek art. Also have a couple new ones in the package: 21 designs available, including rainbows, suns, hearts, butterflies and even spiders, skull & crossbones, and snakes!

Sold in a gatcha machine (You know, those capsule machines like you see at the mall or supermarket), so you can randomly win one of the designs every time you buy. Transferrable too, so you can trade with friends!

Available at You Know, For Kids in Livingtree!

* Livingtree

Hope you all enjoy!

Busy Times at Livingtree!

2010-11-07T23:28:00.000-08:00

This has been a busy week!

Redd Columbia is sponsering a ThanksGIVING Food Market in Salchicha Harbor which benefits the World Food Programme.

She's built a beautiful barn, all strung with lights, and put tables, benches, and things inside like a farmer's market. Then she invited everyone who wants to participate to put out food related items. Anything, really, just so long as it is connected to food in some way. Everyone is also giving a percentage from their sales to WFP.

I made a new Harvest tea set, some red Mary Jane shoes with a bow and a peppermint, and some Holiday Candy Chucks. I'm also selling seven other things that I already had that happen to have food on them, or actually be food!

While I was at it, I made the Mary Janes in a few other colors, too. I hope to get them up on the Marketplace after I'm finished recording the Tutorial tomorrow.

Then, while unpacking a box of stuff in First Life (yes, we're still doing that most days) I came across Michael's old propeller baseball cap, and just had to bring that into SL™! I already had the cap, so all I had to do was the propeller, and a few other details. Those should be coming out sometime this week.

Which gives me more stuff than I can fit in the Kick the Can store as it stands now, so I'm going to be adding another floor to it! I designed it to do that, way back when, so it's not going to affect the outside. But it'll almost double the room that I have to work with inside. Tomorrow I'll get some shelves done for all the shoe boxes, and then I'll be making the changes live in world!

So... lots done, and lots still to do! But at least it's all fun. :D

Hallowe'en is this weekend! Got your costume together?

2010-10-27T21:10:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I recently upgraded my viewer, and have made costume facepaints for Hallowe'en! There are ten designs to choose from, and all are worn on the tattoo layer. Here's a couple of pictures:

The spots on the Navi face do glow - they're on a prim attachment (to your nose, so you can still eat all your treats!).

The facepaints can be found on a table in my store, along with some other costuming ideas.

Be safe this Hallowe'en!

Pygar

New Polished Leather Mary Janes!

2010-10-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

Robin's fascination with shoes continues. This week, she's come out with a new finish for her popular Mary Jane shoes; Classic polished leather.

The polish has been baked on, and appears to glow on the glove-soft leather. (Not SL "Glow".) There is a cut design of hearts and dots that follows the curve at the top opening of the toe, and the buckles are brass. The sole is textured, to provide firm footing for active feet.

Available in 7 colors (Black Licorice, Navy, Chocolate, Caramel, Red Licorice, Cotton Candy, and White Sugar) for L$150 a pair, or in a Fat Pack that contains all 7 for L$925; a 12% savings over buying them individually.

There's a resize script, so you can get a perfect fit, but it's not an evil one. It exists in only one prim per shoe, so it won't cause a lot of lag, and you can delete it once the shoe fits perfectly if you're sure your feet are not going to be growing.

You'll find a Base shoe, to shape your foot so it looks best, and an Alpha Layer to hide the bottom if you're using V2 in the pack, as well as instructions about using the script and so on.

Demos available, so you can see how nice they look in world before you spend your money! All the colors are for sale now at Kick the Can main store, or in the Robin (Sojourner) Wood store on the Marketplace.

Autumn Newness at You Know, For Kids!

2010-10-08T17:54:00.000-07:00

Three new releases at You Know, For Kids!

First, it's Hallowe'en time, and you can't get candy without the right gear!

This sculpted candy bucket is scripted with a hold. Clicking it will cause you to raise it up for candy, and "say" (in chat) the ol' "Trick Or Treat, Smell my feet" rhyme! Your hand will go down automatically after a couple seconds, too!

Adding to the fun, it's two special pinwheels! One for Hallowe'en and another for autumn!

These features seasonal colors as well as a particle surprise in each! The autumn one can emit falling leaves on command, while the Hallowe'en one can produce particle bats!

Pinwheel spins in the Second Life wind, and animated you as well!

Available at You Know, For Kids

Livingtree

New Halloween Jack 'O Lantern Tea Set

2010-10-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot! I've been making so much the last few days, that I nearly forgot to post the new tea set!

It's one of my Interactive Tea Sets, which serves or cleans up tea with a touch of the tray, and gives unlimited cups of tea, saucers to hold while you sip the tea, and plates of petit fours.

You can also change the linens by touching the napkin. This time, you can set each napkin and the mat individually, so you can have any kind of color combination you like!

All this for only L$450! No Mod, No Copy, Transfer Only. Get it now at the Home and Garden Store in SL

New White Jeans!

2010-10-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

Several people have been asking for my jeans in White, so I've done them. I mean, sure, it's after Labor Day here in the Northern Hemisphere, but Spring is just starting for our neighbors in the Southern Hemisphere!

You can have Good Jeans, Plain Pocket, or Worn Jeans (shown) in white, with a choice of six different thread colors. Available individually for L$50, or in Fat Packs with all of that type of jean in every thread color for L$225. Mod, Copy, no Transfer; so if you get the white ones, you can make them any color you can imagine!

If you want a different thread color, IM me. (Robin Sojourner, of course.)

Get them now at the Robin Wood AV Store, in the same area as the other jeans.

See you there!

Halloween Chucks!

2010-10-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

New chucks for Halloween!

Lots of new chucks just for Halloween!

Designs range from piles of Halloween candy, to candy corn, to Black Jack the Halloween cat (shown) and on to spiderwebs in four colors with a realistic orange and black spider on the heel. (Not for arachnophobes, but nice and spooky for everyone else!) L$150 a pair, Transfer Only. There's a 1 prim resize script included so you can get a perfect fit.

Come check them out, and try a free demo!

All the Halloween stuff from last year (hats, shirts, etc) is out again, too; and more is coming!

You can find all the spooky goodness at Kick the Can Main Store, and at Robin Wood AV Store. See you there!

Mary Janes for SL Girls!

2010-09-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

If you're a girl who likes dresses, then you need dress shoes! And what kind of shoes say "dressy" like good, old fashioned Mary Janes?

Now you can have beautiful, realistic, Patent Leather Mary Janes to go with all your outfits in world!

These highly detailed sculpted shoes are only 8 prims each; but have all the detail you've come to expect from Robin Sojourner. The soles are textured, there are stitches and silver buckles, an eyelet patterned border, and inside the lining is sprinkled with hearts!

Plus, since they are patent leather, they're shiny! :D

Available individually in 8 colors or as a Fat Pack if you want them all (8 pair for the price of 7.) Shoe base and Alpha Layer for v2 are included. Transfer only, so they are perfect for gift giving, but there's a low-lag resize script that lets you get a perfect fit with ease. (Script is in only one prim per shoe.)

Come try a demo now, in the Girl's section of the Kick the Can Main Store!

Pirate Chucks! Arrgh!

2010-09-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

Ahoy, Matey! In honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, there are 3 kinds of Pirate Chucks available at Kick the Can and the AV Store!

They come in Black (shown), Pink, and Purple!

L$150 for a pair of shoes. No copy, No mod, but there's a really nice, low-lag resize script that lets you easily get a perfect fit. When you're done, you can delete it, so your shoes won't even have that one little script in them.

Come try on a demo now, at the Kick the Can store or the AV Store in Livingtree. Avast ye!

Cutest Chucks Ever!

2010-09-12T15:20:00.001-07:00

Robin has been working on new Chucks for kids! They're Chuck Pets, and are just like bunny slippers. Only they're not bunnies, and not slippers. :D The first batch are kitties!

You can choose White, Calico, Siamese or Black (which is perfect for Halloween.)

All of them are slip ons, which means that they don't have bows, and the laces are arranged in a ladder pattern.

L$150 for a pair of shoes. No copy, No mod, but there's a really nice, low-lag resize script that lets you easily get a perfect fit. When you're done, you can delete it, so your shoes won't even have that one little script in them.

Come try on a demo now, at the Kick the Can store in Livingtree.

Candy Bracelets!

2010-08-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

The candy necklaces for SL™ were so much fun that I made candy bracelets too!

These are just like the necklaces, but bracelets (which makes them considerably harder to "catch"!)

Bite a piece off by touching it, and the bracelet will announce who took it, what color it was, and whose bracelet it was from, so you can keep track when having "bracelet wars". When the candy is gone, and just the "elastic" string is left, simply detatch and re-wear to have a whole new bracelet, with a new arrangement of candy! Never the same twice.

Mod/Transfer (no Copy). L$100 for the bracelet, or L$200 for the set with both the necklace and bracelet.

Available now from all Kick the Can stores and places, and from XStreet. Enjoy!

New Flip Flops!

2010-08-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

Nothing says "Summer" like kicking around in cheap flip flops. Now you can do it in SL™!

These beautifully sculpted 3 Prim flip flops are made to be colored in whatever dazzling hues you can imagine, and decorated with whatever fun (and modifiable) prims you want to have dangling from your sandals. (Instructions for resizing, coloring, and decorating are included.)

They come in 13 designs, ranging from plain through checkers, stripes, swirls, and polka-dots, and into footprints and the Vitruvian Man!

You can buy one design, or a Fat Pack with all 13. You can also get them for adults, or already sized down to 0 for kid feet.

Copy/Mod/No Transfer. 1 pair for L$65, or all 13 for L$650 (it's like getting 3 pair for free!) On sale now at the Robin Wood AV Store and all Kick the Can stores.

Eatable Candy Necklaces!

2010-07-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

Remember those candy necklaces? When you wanted a nibble, you'd just bite a piece off. They weren't very sanitary, but they were lots of fun!

Now you can have one in SL!

This highly realistic necklace has seven different candy colors, arranged randomly on a sculpted "elastic" string.

If anyone touches a candy, it will vanish, and the necklace will announce who took what color from whose necklace, so you can chase each other around filching candy!

When it's all gone, just take it off and wear it again to have a new one, with a totally new arrangement of colors! No two necklaces are ever the same.

On sale now at Kick the Can main store (in front, where the fireworks are tonight, and then inside the store.) L$150. Mod/Transfer, no Copy.

Candy bracelet coming soon!

New playground slide... you know, for kids!

2010-06-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

if there's one thing I've always wanted in Second Life, it's a decent playground slide. One that looks like those big, all-metal slides of my youth. One that I and climb up the ladder and slide down. Now I am proud to say I've finally managed to put together the slide I've wanted in SL since 2006.

Your avatar will go up and over! It's light on the scripts (only one sit script that is shorter than most pose balls) and light on the prims (only siz sculpted prims). Unlike my old slides, too, this one requires *no* special setup: simply rez it and sit!

It's perfect for playgrounds (especially ones with a slight tinger of retro nostalgia) and great in the backyard. Sold transferrable, and perfect for a gift! I think it will bring you lots of amusement!

You'll find it at You Know, For Kids!

* Livingtree

Also available in the SL Marketplace!-

Water balloons!

2010-05-31T16:35:00.000-07:00

Happy summer! It's been hot here, and I know of few better ways to cool down than a serious water balloon battle!

Fresh in stock, You Know, For Kids water balloons! Just attach and go into mouselook to go after friend or foe! Upon hit, the balloons pop, particle water is released all over your target, and a satisfying splash is heard! The balloons even change color randomly! Buy it for yourself or get a "Golden Ticket" to give water balloons to a friend!

Also in today is the Summer edition of my pinwheels! This time, a new look and sun-shaped particles upon command!

Both the water balloons and the pinwheels are available at You Know, For Kids!

Livingtree

Happy summertime from You Know, For Kids!

New Blue Willow Tea Set!

2010-05-21T08:34:00.000-07:00

There's a new tea set out! It's the Blue Willow china pattern, which is one of the oldest and most recognizable china patterns still in production. I reinterpreted the design from an antique plate, and made cups, the teapot, sugar bowl, creamer, spoons and napkins, all nicely arranged on a tray!

This very special pattern has a legend attached to it. I've retold that, too; a copy is included with the tea set.

Like my other tea sets, you or anyone in your group can serve tea by touching the tray, or clean it up by touching it again. (It's a toggle.) If any of you touch the napkin, you can change the embroidered design. (There are 3 to choose from.)

Anyone who touches the luncheon plate gets their own plate of petit fours to hold. Anyone who touches the teapot gets their own steaming cup of tea to sip, and a saucer to hold in their left hand. (All the animations are built in, of course.)

If you touch the cup while you're drinking tea, you get a menu of tea choices ranging from Earl Gray, through Jasmine, chai, and 9 others.

The pot and plate give endless cups and servings of petit fours; so you can rest assured that all your guests will have as much tea as they care for.

Available in Blue (as shown) Black, Green and Red. (All the traditional colors.) If you want to see all the colors, or all the embroidery patterns on the napkins, please visit the Blue Willow Tea Set page on my website. L$450, transfer only (no copy, no mod.) Available from XStreet or from my Home and Garden Store on Livingtree. (If you go there, you can try out the demo!)

Enjoy!

Misses Microphone... You Know, For Kids!

2010-04-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

Feel like making your voice heard? Try the new You Know, For Kids Misses Microphone!

To use, simply wear from your inventory and preface anything you want amplified with '/88'. Anything you say on channel 88 will be shouted in green text. So if you type in chat "/88 Hey there, good looking, we'll be back to pick you up!", you'll see in chat "(your name) shouts: Hey there, good looking, we'll be back to pick you up!"

Available at You Know, For Kids!

* Livingtree

New newness at You Know, For Kids!

2010-04-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

Two new releases this week!

First, it's the tooting horn!

It's the sort of horn you may recall from parades and ball games!

To toot your horn, simply click it. You'll raise it to your mouth and hear the horn toot" Your hand will go down automatically after a couple seconds.

Available in blue, red, or black, or in a fat pack with all three colors (perfect for parties!). Versions for adult and kid-size avatars included!

Also, a new version of my kids' play table

Replacing my 2006 vintage version, this one still uses sit targets to save you from a few extra scripts while still allowing for a good sit every time. Now featuring sculpted support brackets and better textures for a more realistic appearance!

Both the horns and the table are available at my store in Livingtree.

* Livingtree

Spring has sprung at You Know, For Kids!

2010-03-29T00:52:00.000-07:00

Just in for Spring - The You Know, For Kids Flower Petal Headband!

To use - simply wear! It attaches to your mouth by default (leaving room for most common hair attachment points), but you can adjust as needed. It's mod, so you can resize if you need to, and transferrable, which make it perfect for a gift!

Availble in pink, yellow, green, blue, and purple, or as a fat pack at a discount price!

Available at You Know, For Kids in Livingtree!

* Livingtree

New playset at Pygar's Stuff!

2010-03-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring!

I have some cool dinosaur toys in my store now, in a playset! There's five different ones, some copiable plants and a diorama to play with or display them on. The dinos are all modifiable too, so you can make em as big as you like (or maybe smaller, if you want.)

They're all low-prim, too, so you can have one out in your room all the time! I have the stego on my desk at home! :-D

Enjoy!

Pygar Bu

New Goodies - You Know, For Kids!

2010-03-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

Adding to our selection of fine pinwheel designs comes this one for St Patrick's Day or anyone who wants to show a little "Irish Pride." Features green blades, including a shamrock pattern. Also, while holding say "patrick" for a shower of airborn clover!

Pinwheel spins in the Second Life wind, and animates you as well!

Also new: Cheek Art! Yes, little face paintings for boys, girls, and everybuggy!

16 initial designs available, including rainbows, suns, hearts, butterflies and even spiders, skull & crossbones, and snakes! Designed using the tattoo layer on SL Viewer 2.0, but people on all versions of SL will be able to see them!

Sold in a gatcha-gatcha machine (You know, those capsule machines like you see at the mall or supermarket), so you can randomly win one of the designs every time you buy. Transferrable too, so you can trade with friends!

Also check out my other goodies (Whee-Los, EZ Bake Ovens, Lamps, Music Box, Lemonade Stand, Wax Lips, Pinwheels, and more), an all the other goodies for both kids an adults!

Available at the following You Know, For Kids in Livingtree!
Livingtree

Easter Stuff Out!

2010-03-02T19:16:00.000-08:00

We're starting to put the Easter stuff out, at Livingtree!

The very popular Jewel Egg Wind Chimes are back! Beautiful designs, beautiful sounds, you can't beat it!

The Easter Tea Sets went out yesterday, both the real ones, and the matching Doll sets!

Both let you (or anyone in your group) serve tea to your guests, change the linens, and clean up! Anyone can get a cup of tea, or a plate of petit fours, with a touch. If you touch the teacup, you can choose the kind of tea you'd like to drink. (Or, if you're using a Doll set, you can choose Orange Juice, Water, or Pretend Tea - which is always a different color!)

Come see the demos!

Baby Blocks... You Know, For Kids!

2010-01-01T16:24:00.000-08:00

New from You Know, For Kids - a barrel of baby blocks!

Yes, a barrel of baby blocks! simply rez the barrel and tell it to "dump out blocks" to have a set of sixteen blocks at your disposal. All letters are available, and a couple spares, just in case! They rez out as physical objects, but you can turn that on or off with a simple command. When you're finished, just say "clean up blocks" to tidy your room or sandbox!

It's copyable, and all prims are modifiable (incase you need bigger or smaller blocks). No transfer, but if you need it as a gift, you can buy a "golden ticket" for them at my store for easy gift giving!

Available at You Know, For Kids in Livingtree

Also check out my other goodies (Whee-Los, EZ Bake Ovens, Lamps, Music Box, Lemonade Stand, Wax Lips, Pinwheels, and more), an all the other goodies for both kids an adults!

Also available at XStreetSL!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T01:39:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! Joyous Solstice! Happy Chanukah! Miraculous Festivus! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy New Year! Wonderful Whatever I Missed!

It's that time of year, so all of us at Livingtree have gotten together and put out a box of presents for you! I'm not going to tell you what's in it, because that would spoil the surprise! But you can come and collect yours in the middle of Livingtree Island, next to the Information sign.

Just touch the box to get a folder with all the contents.

Enjoy your Holiday! And be safe and happy in RL and SL. May you have all you need, and more than a little of what you'd like, in the coming year.

New Holly Sweaters for Kids and Adults

2009-12-15T00:39:00.000-08:00

We now have sweaters, based on the knit design used for this year's Holiday Bear, but sized to fit men and women, boys and girls!

The sweater has a sculpted turtleneck collar, included in 3 sizes for your convenience. (It's mod though, and a single prim, so it's very easy to adjust to your own avatar.) There's a Shirt, which makes a very thick, warm sweater, and a skirt that goes with it so that it doesn't look tucked in. Or you can wear the Jacket instead, with or without the shirt, for a sleeker look.

Available in six different colors; Black, Blue, Green, Gold, Red and White. Copy/Mod/NO Transfer (but there's a Gift button on the vendor if you want to give it to someone else.) L$100, everywhere that R(S)W clothing is sold.

Holiday Bear 2009

2009-12-09T02:45:00.000-08:00

The Holiday Bear for 2009 is finished, and available now wherever Kick the Can toys are sold! This is the fourth in the series of Robin Sojourner's Collectable Holiday Bears.

This year, he's a chocolate brown bear with bright green eyes, warmly dressed in a Holly green knitted cap with cheekflaps and a bright red tassel, and matching scarf. The year is on the scarf in gold yarn.

Like all of Robin's bears, this fellow has arms, legs, and head that are carefully sculpted so that they move like the limbs on a real stuffed bear, making him very easy to pose. For your convenience, there are already 5 poses in the pack, including 3 "carry" poses with animaitons, so you can hold him in your right hand, left hand, or cuddled to your chest.

Copy/Mod - NO Transfer. Please use the Gift option on the vendors if you are buying the bear for someone else. 15 prims. L$150. Available now from the Kick the Can main store, and also from XStreet SL.

Come see him, and get him soon if you want him, because on Jan. 1, 2010 he's going to be gone forever!

Strings of Lights!

2009-12-06T23:04:00.000-08:00

My lil sis Mari needed some light strings, and they turned out so well, I thought I'd make em available to everyone!

They come in four colors (white, red, green and blue), and are sold separately or in a pack. You can see em in the window of my store, and get em in the "Yard Stuff" section on the back wall.

These light strings don't actually provide light, they just twinkle merrily and look great on houses, and along walkways.

That's the white colored ones at the Livingtree Outpost at Turtle Dove. They look really nice there, I think. Mari sure likes em.

Happy Holidays!

Pygar Bu

Winter Comes to Livingtree!

2009-11-30T00:56:00.000-08:00

Just in time for the Holidays, it's Winter on Livingtree! The island is covered with snow, the River has frozen over, and the Skating is Good!

The Musical Ice Floes that some of you may remember from last year are back, as well as the Barrel Jump, the Traffic Cones and the Ring O' Fire!

New this year is an Ice Castle for you to rest and relax in after skating the length of the river a few times.

  

The Winter Teasets are back in the shop, refurbished with new, smoother sculpties (including a beautiful new spoon) and a slightly tweaked script that lets anyone in the group serve tea, or clean it up.

The Christmas Gift Boxes are back, too, and there are new Long Johns, so you can stay warm while out skating.

More new stuff (and fondly remembered old stuff) will be appearing over the next few weeks, so stop back often!

See you there!

The Rosebud Flyer Little Red Wagon

2009-11-24T01:02:00.000-08:00

New from You Know, For Kids - the Rosebud Flyer Little Red Wagon!

Rideable as a vehicle by two kid avvies, only 9 prims too, so it's not too much to leave sitting out either. Tons of fun, too!

This is rezzed out onto the ground (or wherever). You can then sit in it to ride it around like a vehicle. It's not too fast an doesn't go up hills much, but it's fun going down then!

It's 9 prims, and sold modify, copy, no transfer. You can modify the prims in case you need to make the wagon a little bigger for you.

It handles sim crossings fairly well, or as well as most vehicles in Second Life. You may snap back a bit when you ride in it. If you lose it on a sim crossing of whatever, just rez another one from your inventory.

Available You Know, For Kids on Livingtree, and also available at XStreetSL!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is 19 September!

2009-09-06T22:44:00.000-07:00

Ahoy there!

We be celebratin' Talk Like a Pirate Day this year with a scavenger hunt! There will be ten doubloons t' locate on t' island, each with a clue t' find t' next.

Each doubloon will have a prize inside! Five o' these prizes be parts o' a craftable Ship's Lantern. (T' last doubloon will be found next t' where you can put t' lantern together.) T' other five doubloons will contain various piratical equipment for you t' wear and use. :-D

T' hunt will begin on Monday 14 September and run until Sunday 20 September. Look for a group announcement closer t' t' start date!

First Mate Pygar Bu

Washtub Full of Drinks

2009-08-11T23:12:00.000-07:00

Before Summer ends, there's time for a few really good picnics and outdoor parties; and everyone needs to have plenty of soft drinks available for those hot August days.

Stay cool and refreshed with a washtub filled with ice and well stocked with 13 different flavors of soft drinks in aluminum cans.

The washtub and ice are 3 prims, (and available separately as well, in a mod/transfer version, in case you want to stock it yourself.) Each can is a single prim. Touch a can to get a drinkable can of that flavor.

Attach (wear) the can, and you'll hear the familiar hiss-pop of a can opening, and start to take sips from it. It will never disappear, so if you want to leave it on as an accessory, you can.

You can also get the tub with a carton of milk in it, in case you want a healthier choice for the kids in your life.

Fully sculpted. Washtub with ice and soft drinks, L$450, Transfer only. Washtub with ice, soft drinks and milk, $L550, Transfer only. Washtub and ice, L$200, mod/transfer.

All available now, from the Home and Garden store in Livingtree. Stop by, see the washtub in "person," take a look at the 13 flavors, and get a refreshing can to drink! (Also available on XStreet.)

New Livingtree Thermos!

2009-07-24T00:05:00.000-07:00

Now available at the Livingtree Campsite, this stylish thermos, available in plaid or metal! Simply click the lid to remove the cup for drinking, and click again to replace it. Also, thanks to sculpties, this thermos is only two prims!

Come by the Livingtree Campsite today and get a thermos of your own!

7Seas Custom Salvage \o/

2009-07-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

Hi! :-D

I'm very excited to announce a salvageable item at Cheep Cheep Landing for you 7Seas fisherers: the Wonder Soak'em 10. Use the blueprint and four salvage pieces to assemble it and go find someone to drench! :-)

(If you see my lil sis, she helped make this one. Thanks, Mari!)

Pygar Bu, Livingtree Fishmaster

P.S. We have resumed the weekly contests too, they're about an hour and a half before the fireworks show. See you there!

Happy Fourth of July!

2009-06-29T21:46:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Just letting everyone know that our fishing contest is cancelled for this Saturday, due to the U. S. holiday and your Fishmaster being from the U. S. :-)

Also, Mari asked me to tell you all that she'll be blowing up the sim with her fireworks at 4 p.m. SLT this weekend. She will make a group announcement inworld as well.

Enjoy the weekend!

Pygar Bu, Livingtree Fishmaster

Livingtree Firework Show - 5/30 at 8:00p.m. SLT

2009-05-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

Summer is upon us, and that means the start of my Summertime firework shows! Come down to Livingtree this Saturday, May 30th at 8:00 p.m. SLT and join in the fun!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Livingtree/137/129/24/

Refreshments will be provided for all. Event is free of charge. All are welcome, so come on down an enjoy. Come early, too, because the sim can fill up pretty quick!

Shows will be every Saturday at 8, though Labor Day!

While there, feel free to check out the island. All of Robin Sojourner's stores (The AV store featuring her skin and clothing work, The Broom Closet, and Kick The Can for child avatars) are located there, as well as her texture tutorial, library, and Wiccan learning center. You'll also find You Know... For Kids and Pygar's Stuff That He Made main stores, as well as Marianne McCann's herbs and plants.

Also, there are rentable (free) kayaks for exploring the island, a big playground, a swimming hole, drum circle, as fishing area (offering both Neo-Realms and 7 Seas fishing), and other goodies to explore. There's even a few hidden surprises here and there!

New 3D Texture Set from Robin

2009-04-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

If you like Victorian millwork, you'll love the texture set I just finished!

I designed it to use as a porch for my Wheel Cottage textures, but it makes great free-standing buildings, like gazebos, as well.

There are 30 textures here, including millwork railings, spanderels, and two kinds of brackets, both single brackets and double brackets (which work great as the inside of a box, so you can save prims on your builds.)

There's a seamless banister texture that matches the railings, beadboard for the ceiling (in two colors,) and a porch edge with either vertical siding or lattice below the facing. You also get stair edges to match, with seamless siding or lattice. And, because lattice is good, you'll also get two seamless lattice textures, one diagonal and one square, to make arbors, trellis, and windbreaks.

And of course there's gingerbread for the gable roof, both "painted on" and freestanding (with a matching shadow texture for the gable,) and a mask so you can recolor it easily in your graphics program, if you choose to do that. Or, if there's a limit to the amount of millwork you want, you can use the gable with no gingerbread decoration.

Best of all, you get sculpts to make a beautiful turned porch pillar and newel post, with shaded textures to match them, so you can have a lovely porch with surprisingly few prims. (The porch in the picture, for instance, is only 15 prims!)

All of this goodness comes with railings, banisters, spandrels, siding and lattice in either white or green. (There were too many things to put both in the same package.) If you want to recolor it, I strongly suggest buying the green, because it will give Hue and Saturation something to work with!

L$950 for the package, in either color (or splurge and get both; they look fantastic mixed!) 30 seamless, full permission textures. TRU license applies. (You're buying a license to use the textures, not the textures themselves, so you cannot resell them or give them away as textures, or on a single prim. They must be part of a build, consisting of at least two prims.)

On sale now, at TRU, and at the Texture Library in Livingtree (113, 97, 25). Come check it out!

A new playset at Pygar's Stuff!

2009-04-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I have put a new playset out in my store. It's for the Turtles of Mighty Nasty Temperament and includes four turtle guys and their specialty weapons, their sensei who's a rat, and their arch-nemesis who has some very sharp things for hands. :-D They also have a two-levelled play table for staging battles or just hanging out and eating pizza.

Enjoy! :-D

Pygar Bu

More new goodies!

2009-04-06T01:51:00.000-07:00

It's springtime, and with that in mind, I've got some brand new products to announce on Livingtree!

First, at the plant stand are two brand new plant varieties! Available now is Peppermint and a Yellow Wildflower! These are only three prims and use scipted prim to make them look that much closer to the real thing! Here's a couple piccies

These are availble from the Plant Stand between the Wiccan Learning Center and Kick the Can

With the improved weather, there's also some new stuff at the campsite, including a camping table to go with the chairs, and the dutch oven both on and off the stand!

Look for those at the Livingtree campsite!

Ready to rock? Get a stone pet!

2009-04-06T01:26:00.000-07:00

Envy your friends and their amazing AI critters from a handful of select manufacturers, but your Linden balance is not that of a Rockefeller or Chung? Finally, a solution to fit your budget!

The Stone Pet!

This loveable pet rock will sit merrily on your shoulder or in your hand, or carry him or her around in a handy pet carrier! Includes both stone versions, as well as both a carryable and low-prim display box!

What's more, these rocks are not mute! Click on 'em for a selection of fun, friendly sayings!

Available at You Know, For Kids in Livingtree!

New Art Glass Textures for making Stained Glass!

2009-03-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

I have a new set of textures for making stained glass in Second Life®.

This set of 15 seamless textures is based on the Art Glass that Tiffany popularized at the turn of the last century. If you have my Stained Glass for SL book, you know how to use this.

At the moment, the license will only get you usage within SL; but if you love them, contact me if you want to use them somewhere else, and I'll see what we can do.

They are available now from TRU (search for 'glass') and at the Texture Library at Livingtree (105,90,20). L$350 for the set of 15 seamless textures. Come check them out!

Windchime Easter Eggs

2009-03-28T23:48:00.001-07:00

For spring, wind chimes in large eggs with delicate, ornate kaleidoscope patterns on them, in a dozen different colors and patterns, each more beautiful than the last.

Pick your favorite, or collect all twelve!

They all play a totally random series of six pure sampled chime notes. There are no repeating loops to drive you crazy here, just wonderful, relaxing chimes.

Touch the egg, and the owner can change the volume, or turn the chimes off or on. When you have turned them off, you can choose to start playing again at a new volume, or Resume at the volume you were using, so you don't have to remember what that was.

You really have to hear these to appreciate them! So come and play with the demo, in the Home and Garden store at Livingtree (85,128,24). L$125, Transfer Only, so they make perfect Easter gifts. Tuck one in a basket for someone you love.

See you in world!

New 3D Texture Set from Robin

2009-03-27T01:48:00.000-07:00

As I may have mentioned, I'm now designing textures for TRU (Textures R Us).

The first 3D set is now done, and available both at the TRU store and website (look under 3D Build - New Sets) and in the Texture Library at Livingtree (105, 90, 20).

It comes in two sets, for the interior and exterior of a little Victorian style cottage, with gingerbread featuring a wheel in the gable. Which is why it's called Wheel Cottage. (It doesn't have to be this tiny, of course. This is just to show the textures. Anything not included in the two packs is black.)

I tried to make the texture flexible, and easy to recolor. So, along with the gingerbread that's part of the texture, there's a gingerbread "stand alone" and a texture with just a shadow on it, so you can put the gingerbread on a separate prim, if you want. I also included a mask for Photoshop, so you can easily recolor the siding without touching the gingerbread, if you'd like to.

The windows are included with Alphas, so you can see through them, and without, so you won't have any alpha sorting issues. They also come with shutters, with curtains, with a flower box full of purple petunias, with any combination of the three of them, or just plain with nothing; and masks are included to make it simple to change the colors of anything very easily (except the petunias.) There are instructions, too, in case you're not sure what to do in Photoshop. (That's all I use, so if you use something else, I'm afraid you're on your own.)

On the inside, the windows have curtains, flowers from the flower boxes outside, both, or neither; and once again the alpha and no-alpha versions are included. All the interior textures are also included with molding that runs along the ceiling, or without. So if you want to have the wallpaper extend up the inside of the gable, you can; or, if you prefer a flat ceiling, you can have that, too! Most of the inside textures you can mask yourself with just a rectangle. But there's a mask for the door, because it's slightly more involved.

All together, there are 30 exterior textures and 23 interior textures, to make a very charming little cottage. L$750 each pack.

Check them out! I think you'll like them.

Hot off the Presses - Stained Glass Book!

2009-03-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

I just finished the latest book in the Livingtree Lecture series, based on the weekly lectures that I give behind the Texture Tutorial.

This one is a 76 page THiNC Book called Stained Glass for SL™. Like all the other books in the series, there's more here than I could cover in the one-hour lecture.

It starts with a discussion of how to make your own stunningly realistic stained glass panel in Photoshop.

Next, you'll learn how to painlessly make an Alpha Channel that has opaque leading and semi-transparent glass with varying levels of opacity. Techniques for doing this with a separate "leading" layer in your layer stack, with a separate "glass transparency" layer, or with nothing but a flat image of your stained glass are all covered; and you'll be delighted to know that the only selection needed for any of them is the super-easy "Command/ctrl click the thumbnail" trick.

Finally, you'll discover how to make four different kinds of Art Glass to use in the windows. (One more than was covered in the half-hour bonus session after the lecture.) When you finish you'll have Textured Glass (with any texture you want pressed into the glass,) Ripple Glass, Wispy Glass and Seedy Glass, in any color your heart desires, to use in your own windows.

(In case you don't want to take the time to make your own glass, I also have a few vendors up with various seamless glass textures in the Texture Library.)

All of this is available now, for the introductory price of L$100, in the Texture Library at Livingtree 113, 97, 25. (Book prices will all be going up in the middle of April, because there is a tremendous amount of work in one of these books.)

Come read the book for free, and buy a copy if you think you can use it!

See you there!

Fishing Tournaments!

2009-03-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Your Fishmaster here, to tell you about some of the stuff going on at Cheep Cheep Landing.

We've started creating custom fishes and other stuff for the 7Seas fishing game. We are also holding tournaments on Saturdays at 6:30pm SLT, hosted by yours truly! :-D Prizes are custom trophies by Mari and Gift Certificates to Robin's stores for the first through third place winners.

The customs are being made by all three of us, and we are planning a lot of them! Mari has been making cute toy fish, and she has a topiary fish that must be seen to be believed! I have made a balloonfish (be surprised there) and am working on a custom rod with my own animations - usable with the invisible rod without the standard animations. And Robin has a nice shirt in there, with her standard three different clothing layers (undershirt, shirt and jacket layers). We are also thinking about making a craftable thing, but so far that's just a thought. :-)

We also have set up the bounty hunting minigame. It's set to randomly select any rarity of catch right now, and I set it to randomly select Common fish during the tourneys so fishers of all skill levels can catch something!

I am also exploring the idea of holding Neo-Realms tourneys on our dock. Feel free to tell me what you think in IM or notecard. :-)

Come on down and fish anytime!

Pygar Bu, Livingtree Fishmaster

New Balloon Hats!

2009-03-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

Hi!

I made some new balloon hats and they are now on the rack with the others! There is also a bulk hat vendor on the wall behind the rack. All of the different hats are in there, either sold in groups of 5 or 10 at a discount, or the all-in-one bag which has one of every hat!

The hats are modify/transfer and attach at the mouth. :-)

Enjoy! :-D

Pygar Bu

Introducing the Wonder Soak'em!

2009-02-26T20:35:00.000-08:00

Need to cool off and have fun at the same time? Want to show someone you mean business? Just want to have some good, clean sun? You need the Wonder Soak'em!

The Wonder Soak'Em shoots water-like particles, and a lot of them! Just fire it like any other weapon, and "drench" both friend and foe in its spray!

Transferrable, and makes the perfect gift!

Available at You Know, For Kids in Livingtree!

The ol' arrow through the head!

2009-02-07T23:17:00.000-08:00

Feeling a little wild and crazy? Why not show all your friends just how wild and crazy you are with an Arrow Through The Head from You Know, For Kids!

Modifiable and transferrable: makes a great gift -- and by "great," I mean "silly!"

Available in You Know, For Kids in Livingtree!

Season's Change

2009-02-05T23:26:00.000-08:00

There's no real shadows in Second Life, so what could our groundhog be afraid of?

Those who have visited Livingtree the last few days have noticed a metamorphosis on the island: the ice is gone from Livingtree's waterways, and the snow has slowly been melting off. Beneath the snows, the bright green color of fresh plant growth is taking hold. It's highly likely that Livingtree will be starting into spring in no time.

At the plant stand, you'll find a fresh updating of all the plants, using a brand new sculpt map to deliver the highest quality plants we've ever had. All the plants, herb beds, and individual plants are now taking advantage of this new sculpt map. Take a look at the below image -- or visit the plant stand in Livingtree for an idea of how good they look.

I mentioned the new Toy Flying Fish in the waters around Cheep Cheep Landing. I should also mention that some special prizes can be found in our Neo Realms fishing distributor as well. We added these when we became one of Neo Realms few Gold level fishing camps. For those who use the 7 Seas system, I should also mention our weekly fishing Tournament, just after 6:30 p.m. SLT on Saturday at Cheep Cheep Landing, and hosted by Phate Shepherd and Krystal Wrigglesworth.

One more thing: if you weren't quite done with winter, our Livingtree Outpost, located in the Dasher sim, is still available. We're slowly moving in some of our Valentine's Day stock before the area goes away: please feel free to stop by and check out this little bit of Livingtree-outside-Livingtree.

Enjoy the coming of Spring in our neck of the virtual world!

Wax Lips!

2009-02-05T17:17:00.000-08:00

Guaranteed to make you and your friends smile! These lips fit on your mouth and will give you long, long lasting lip color!

These are available in three varieties, including "Vampire Fangs," "Pretty Lips," and "Buck Teeth" varieties.

Transferrable, so you can share, and availale in You Know, For Kids in Livingtree!

Valentine's Scripted Gift Boxes

2009-02-05T12:24:00.000-08:00

Present presents to your Valentine in style!

Fully scripted gift boxes use a menu system to allow you to choose from 11 different wrapping papers, 11 different color choices for ribbons, bows, or lace (depending on the box style), and 11 different colors for floating text (or none at all, if you don't like it.)

Put your own sound file and particle in the box, or use the default of a honky-tonk piano playing "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" and valentine heart particles.

The scripts step you through setting the name of the SL Resident who can open the box, along with a message that will appear in the floating text, and another one that will show up in Chat when the box is opened. You can also set the date, and keep the recipient from opening the present early! (No one but the recipient (and you) can open it at all, ever.)

Pack the box with presents. They don't have to be copyable, although they do have to be transferable, of course.

On the specified day, your Valentine can open the box, and when they do your message will appear in Chat, the sound file will play, and particles will shoot out in every direction. All the contents of the box will also be delivered, and your Valentine will get his or her present(s.)

Then you can choose to give them the box, as well, or pick it back up to use again and again!

Yes, this means that they don't have to Own the box to open it; they just have to be the person whose name you've set.

Available in two styles; a Heart shaped box, with color-changing lace around the bottom,(shown above) or a traditional box shape with a bow and ribbon,(shown below.) Both are Mod/Transfer (NO copy) L$100, available now from the "Gift Box and Card" vendors in Robin's Home and Garden Store, Livingtree (85, 128, 24), and in all Kick the Can stores, including the main store in Livingtree.

Come play with the demos! See you there!

Catch something special!

2009-02-04T19:55:00.000-08:00

Spotted in the waters off Cheep Cheep Landing: the Toy Flying Fish!

A 7 Seas Community Creation, the Toy Flying Fish works like any other 7 Seas style fish, but is only available in Livingtree. The fish, marked as an UltraRare, just entered our waters today!

Best of luck catching this elusive fish for your own!

Deely Boppers!

2009-01-24T11:24:00.000-08:00

Feeling a little spacey, a little out there? Maybe you're a star and want the world to know? Or maybe you just want to have a little silly fun? If so, then the You Know, For Kids deely boppers are for you!

What can I say? They attach to your head, and the springs and stars wiggle around when you move! It's fun on a bun -- assuming your hair is in a bun, of course!

Only five prims, Transferrable as a gift, and a steal at the price!

Available in You Know, For Kids, at in Livingtree!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Livingtree/162/119/24

Also check out my other goodies (Whee-Los, EZ Bake Ovens, Lamps, Music Box, Lemonade Stand, Pinwheels, and more), an all the other goodies for both kids an adults!

New Playset @ Pygar's Stuff!

2009-01-18T16:45:00.000-08:00

Hi!

I have a new playset in my store - a dollhouse for my HowdyKat and DarlingDanny dolls! There's furnishings for it and there are two different variations of the dolls, one is standing and the other is sitting. Both sets of dolls are also modifyable, so you can design clothes for em, or add animations for playing or carrying, whatever you like!

The nightstand has a working lamp, too, that uses Robin's configurable light script. Touch the lamp shade to set it. It will light the whole dollhouse, but not much farther than that. ;-D

Enjoy!

Pygar Bu

Yes... the invisible dog!

2009-01-18T10:11:00.000-08:00

Tired of seeing all your friends running around with amazing AI puppies? Want to run with the pack but a dog you lack? Want to amaze and amuse your friends? Well, now you can!

You Know, For Kids announces the amazing, incredible Invisible Dog!

Available for both kids and adults in one slim package, this wonder pup will stay by your side in his finely crafted leash. Just attach the leash to yourself and go for a walk: it's all you need to do! 100% housebroken, obedient, and never one to bark at strangers (or anything else!)

Available at You Know, For Kids in Livingtree!

Sold No Mod / No Copy / Transfer, with both adult and child avatar sizes in one box - keep one and give the other as a gift, if you want. Some AOs may override the holding animation.

Get an invisible dog today!

Clothing 101 Book Ready Now!

2009-01-16T21:26:00.000-08:00

The Clothing 101 book, from the Lectures that I gave last November, is finished and ready to read at the Texture Library on Livingtree.

You can sit there and read it for free, or you can pick up a copy to take home for only L$100.

It explains everything that I think you should know before you start to make clothing in SL.

I start by explaining the difference between texture clothing and prim clothing. Then I explain how to make clothes using the Appearance dialog, in case you don't know that.

Next, I explain what a 3D mesh, such as the one that makes all our Avatars, really is, and what a UV Map is. I talk about the 3 UV Maps that are used on our avatars, and why we only have one arm, and one foot, for texturing purposes.

After that, I discuss Clothing Layers - what goes on top of which, and how much of the AV each covers.

Then we get into the meat of the topic, as I explain how to wear a "UV Suit" (which is included in the book, using a Notecard) to design clothing. How to test for errors before you've put much work into a garment, how to get onto the Beta (Preview) Grid, so you can save Lindens as you test your work, and how to fix things when you find glitches.

Finally I show you the common problem areas on the Avatar - things that always stretch, and how to deal with them.

As a bonus, at the end, I talk about how to use repeating patterns as fabric for your clothing, by making Patterns in Photoshop®.

All of this is presented in a 42 page THiNC book, fully illustrated, with a link to my Website (so you can get the Subdivided UV "Templates" to use in your own work) a Notecard full of textures and UV/Test clothing, and landmarks to the Texture Tutorial and Texture Library where you can find other books. (Assuming you're not sitting there reading this one.)

If you're not familiar with THiNC books, they are as close to real books as I've seen in SL, with turning pages and everything. You can read them by zooming in, or, if you own the book, you can wear it as an HUD. I think it's the perfect way to publish a reference book for you to use in SL.

But come see for yourself! You'll find the book at the Texture Library on Livingtree.

See you there!

Yule Log!

2008-12-19T14:02:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-12-17T09:32:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-12-13T01:49:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-10T14:00:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-06T14:40:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-11-18T15:11:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-16T22:43:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-09T23:46:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-07T18:25:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-11-05T23:30:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-10-09T23:46:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-11T00:17:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-06T16:07:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-05T18:00:00.001-07:00

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!

2008-08-22T05:46:00.000-07:00

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!