Wrapping up Relay for Life

Relay for Life wraps up this weekend, and it's been a pleasure to be a part of it this year! We were just setting up our first shop when the RFL efforts were drawing to a close last year. Someone happened to wander into our little skybox shop and tell us about the Relay for Life, and that they were relaying across several sims. It sounded amazing and at the time I thought, "What a fantastic idea!" I've been really glad to be a part of it all this year.

We're part of a fabulous team, Shopaholics for a Cure, headed up by Shai Delacroix and Grazia Horwitz. Our team, as of this moment, has raised $L 1,358,555 - which is more than $ 4,500 USD!!!

As you all know, we've had styles out in the limited edition Relay for Life colors for a while.

But now, for the final hoorah, we've done some more. These are available for ONE DAY only at the Shopaholics for a Cure Relay for Life location:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/RelayForLife28/49/45/25/

There are some fabulous other "One Day Only" items there, and 100% of the proceeds, as always, go to the American Cancer Society. Please, drop some L (or some cash!) for a good cause as the fund raising draws to a close in SL for this year.

Here are the One Day Only items from us:







(This hat is actually the RFL purple, but it looks a little off in this ad. Trust me though, it's darker.)

Don't forget, there's lots going on this weekend across many sims (I saw 32!) and it's all for a good cause, so please come out and support the people who have put so much into making this a fantastic event as well as the American Cancer Society.

To fork or not to fork

[17:13] Tigerlily Koi shares warm brownies
[17:13] Haedon Quine loves you long time
[17:19] Tigerlily Koi: stupid question of the day.
[17:19] Tigerlily Koi: do you eat a brownie with a fork?
[17:19] Haedon Quine: no I try to shove as much of it in my mouth as possible and hope to catch the crumbs AS I pick up another one to save time
[17:19] Tigerlily Koi: lmao
[17:20] Tigerlily Koi: omg lmao
[17:20] Haedon Quine: :D
[17:20] Tigerlily Koi: omg I love you
[17:20] Haedon Quine: lol <3!!!
[17:21] Tigerlily Koi: no, really, like you cut a brownie, do you get a fork, or just a plate?
[17:21] Haedon Quine: your brownie has time to touch a plate?
[17:21] Haedon Quine: like seriously?
[17:21] Tigerlily Koi: (hubby) brought me a brownie, on a plate, with a fork
[17:21] Tigerlily Koi: omg dying lmao
[17:21] Haedon Quine: >.>
[17:22] Haedon Quine: no I pick it up with my hands like a caveman
[17:22] Tigerlily Koi: thank god, me too
[17:23] Haedon Quine: the only exception I make is when it's warm and gooey and covered with a mound of vanilla ice cream. then a spoon is acceptable. But that is the one and only rule in the brownie rule book.




On a side note, thanks for the comments about Ranger. He was awesome, and it really does help to know that someone else understands. *hugs* girls!

Much <3,
Lily

From 60 to....

I think textures are done. Unless we come up with some wild idea for a new pack. Which....gawd. Don't make me think about it.

We currently have 60 colors that are out, every day. Add in the LTD Edition textures (for holidays and whatnot) and we have ... 60+.

My brain is so, so fried.

Anyway. I counted last night. And, assuming my math is correct (which it rarely is) we'll be going from 60 textures to 145.

Seriously, if there is any color that you're just dying for us to have, you better speak now. 'Cause the thought of having to do all this ever again makes me cry. I'll probably get over it in time for whatever the next holiday is. Maybe. It's been pretty traumatic.

I might uninstall PSP for a while after this.

I took an hour and worked on trying to make a style, and my poor brain is so mushy that it took me a few minutes to remember how to torture the prims into the shape I wanted. That's pretty sad. Thank goodness tomorrow's my day off!

We've got horse riding lessons in the morning for the 4 year old. My lesson is canceled because the horses will all be at a show for the weekend. So I have to skip. But, we're going to the show and I'll get to see the horse I ride do his Western stuff, so I'm excited about that.

WARNING! VERY SAD! DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE HORMONAL, PREGNANT, PMSING, OR OTHERWISE WEEPY!!!

The horse I'd been riding for lessons was awesome. His name was Ranger. He was an older (20-something) horse who was just as hard headed as they come. But he was gentle and he was patient and he was just wonderful. He made me work, and hard. I had to get everything right before he'd do what I asked. If I didn't do things right, he didn't do anything. He'd just stop and wait for me to get my act together. I started to figure things out because he'd make me. Two weeks ago, the stable owner was outside when I was leaving and asked how my ride was. I told him it was great. He said "I didn't think that horse would be worth anything when I bought him, but everyone who rides him loves him." I smiled, because I did love him. I almost offered to buy him, but my husband would have had a heffer right there on the spot. I said "He's hard-headed, but he's sweet." And the stable owner just looked at me, and there was this...I don't know, it's hard to explain. Just this almost unsettling feeling.

I got a call from my riding instructor (who is THE UBERNESS) Friday evening. She called to tell me that Ranger and another horse had been struck by lightning in a bad storm we had Tuesday night (7/10). They'd both died. I was just dumbstruck. I loved that horse, and honestly had every intention of asking them to let me buy him. I asked Saturday when I went to the stables what had happened, and she told me that they'd been standing together and "One fell one way and one fell the other." You just never think about stuff like that. I don't, anyway. It's pretty uncommon for one horse to get struck by lightning, but two? Maybe because they were standing together? I don't know. It's been one of those hard to believe things. :( But I'm glad I got the time with him I did. He taught me a lot in a short time and I'm sure he's running in greener pastures.

Here's a picture of a horse that looks a lot like he did.

Please shoot me now

So, adding some more colors to our existing color packs has turned into "Let's revamp everything!" This is Hae's payback for me adding colors and making her color everything.

Something you guys may have noticed about us: We don't half-do things. It's all or nothing. Haedon's a perfectionist. She also brings out my perfectionist side. Some things I don't care so much about perfection on, but Calla is definitely not one of those things. If it's not good, you guys won't see it. I don't put out anything that I wouldn't be happy to wear myself. (Okay, aside from Extreme Green. Sorry. Just, no.)

We pay a lot of attention to the little things, and believe me, what I miss, Haedon catches. It's a really great system and I truly think we make the best team ever.

In reviewing the results of the color feedback from y'all, Hae says "I don't like those two little dark spots in our textures." Which really translates into "Please redo them and take that out." So, I'm eyeball deep in textures and you guys may not see much of me over the next week. The change is so minor that most of you won't notice the difference, other than it looks a little shinier. And that's not a bad thing, right?

The frosted/burnts and tips are kicking my butt though. So far the score is Textures - 15 (hours) Me - 0.

Please pray that my head doesn't implode.

Oh and as a side note, because we've had a few people ask: Our current colors are not going anywhere.

Who says brown is boring?

I have to confess. I'm a brunette. I fought it for many years because as a kid I was blonde. Until I hit puberty. No way was I gonna go brown! So I dyed it for...well, about 10 years. Ack! I finally gave up and let my brunette shine through, and I kinda liked it.

So, the brunettes in this test batch are anything but boring! There are some beautiful, rich brunettes. Some with a hint of red, some on the "just past blonde" side.

Gimmie a notecard named "Calla Brunettes Tester - YOUR NAME" and I will pass you the brunettes pack. I need your notecard back no later than Friday. I'd love it, like tomorrow but I'm not gonna come beating on your IM window until Friday night.

Much brownie love!

Blondes are ready!

I've done a few more blondes, and added them to the ones that have made it through testing so far.

There are a few that I really like, and I'm not usually a blonde kinda girl. So hopefully there will be something that strikes your fancy.

You know the drill by now, notecard named "CALLA BLONDES TESTER - YOUR NAME HERE" dropped to me and I'll get you the survey pack.

There were an overwhelming number of Reds Testers which was SO exciting! I'm hoping for that many blondes testers.

I'd love to have these back by Wednesday so I can work on the results while the grid is offline. But I won't be bitchy if it takes you till Friday.

I'll be sending out the Brunettes tomorrow, so we'll be overlapping a little bit on these two. But I wanna hurry and get new colors pinned down!

Reds testers!

Another batch of colors to test, this time it's all reds! There are some really close colors this time, some are just slightly different. I think I've narrowed down which way you all lean but I want to be sure.

Some you've seen before but I figured it might be good to be able to compare all the reds at one time.

So, same as before, and I'd *love* these back by Friday if that's not pushing it.

Drop me a notecard with the name "Calla Reds Tester - YOUR NAME" and I'll get the pack right to you.

I'm thinking I'm going to do the same thing with the blondes and brunettes, so I want to make this one a quickie.

Catalogue Entry deadline (and a small RL rant)

Today is the last day to submit your notecards for the Calla Catalogue. Please, please, please drop them in the red ball at the front door! We'll be removing the ball either tonight or first thing in the morning SLT (like 3am or so, or maybe midnight SLT if Hae is still up) and all entries after that point will not be accepted.

All the details are here in case you missed it.

Now on to my little personal rant. If you've ever tried to find a pair of boots in the middle of the summer, you know my pain. If not...then you're way cooler than I am, because I don't even own a pair of boots.

We've started our 4-year old taking horseback riding lessons. She loves it. We have to pry her away and she cries the whole way home. So, being the girly-girl that I am, and never having a horse (which I asked for every single birthday my whole life, btw) I'm going to be taking lessons, too!

However, this necessitates that I have a pair of boots suitable for horse riding, and traipsing through mud and...horsey poo and stuff. I spent hours today going store-to-store trying to find a pair of boots. Any boots. I was even so desperate that I'd settle for a pair of boy boots! I seriously spent about 2 hours in the quest for boots. Which you'd think, in BFE, North Carolina where horses are commonplace, that you'd be able to find boots any time of year. Not so, I say!

I did finally find a tiny little shoe repair shop that had some boots. They were nice boots, too! Hard toes, all leather, good heel, etc etc. And on sale (that's one good thing about shopping out of season, if you can find it, it's cheap!) for less than half price!

I'm cheap, there's no way I'd have ever paid as much for them as they were charging not on sale. A hundred bucks?! For boots to go get muddy and poopy? No way! The man who owns the place has horses (go figure) and he said they'd be good and sturdy. And he even sized my foot and did that "come here let me feel the shoe" thing and got me the right size.

But it never even occurred to me, until I started looking for boots, that I couldn't just go out and get whatever I wanted. In SL, I can get boots all day long, every day. I never for a moment thought "I'm going to have a hard time finding boots" until I started looking.

I don't know what that says about me, and probably don't want to know, but sometimes the virtual world is lots better than the real one!

Hair Color Testers Round 2!

Yay! Round two is ready for your feedback!

We are looking for SERIOUS testers only. We need actual, notecard, written feedback. So, if you're really serious and don't mind taking 15 minutes or so to try on the colors and rate them I need:

- A note card named "Calla Color Tester #2 - YOUR NAME" dropped to me (Tigerlily Koi)

I am going to hound you for your answers if I don't get them by Monday. (July 2.)

Again, this is only if you're really serious about giving written feedback.

I'm doing things a little bit differently this time. This time, the hair style is all the same. There were several "It might just be the style" comments, so hopefully by using the same style (which is all ImSoPreddy v1, btw, because it was easy to color) you can ignore the style and just focus on the color.

I also didn't break them down into "pack colors" as much. I just listed them all in alphabetical order so it'd be easy to go down the list.

Here's the scale system (which is also on the notecard that will come with your Survey Pack #2) in case you lose it, or the notecard won't open, etc etc.

Don't forget to put your name on the notecard. 'Cause I'll come after you if you get your card back to me!

And then there were six....

I was going to blog them all together, but Flowering Reed just needed its own space.

All of the following are my styles, 'cause Hae has been way busy building a top secret (I assume it's top secret, I haven't seen it yet) sim. She's been building furniture, which she is really, really good at. She's one of those people that really irritate me because they can build anything. All I can do is hair. If she starts making clothes, I'm gonna cry...and then fill my wardrobe. Anyway, she's been building some other stuff and I haven't actually seen her pretty little avie face in nearly 2 weeks. I hope she's done soon. Or I'm going to go a little more crazy than I already am.

On with the new stuff!



Cinquefoil - Was a request from one of our customers. She wanted Wild Hyacinth but with braids. So that's exactly what she got. It turned out really cute and I decided to make it available for everyone. The tails are flexi, and the bands and bows are scripted color change.



Coriander - This one was a lot of fun for me, and I actually learned a lot making this style. It was also inspired by Nicky Ree, the Gypsy outfit which you see in the ad. (Which is the Relay for Life version.)



Gloxinia - Here's another one that I learned quite a bit on. I was trying to play with the alpha vs. non-alpha textures to get a really "alpha" look, without all the flicker. I gave this out to a handful of our group members after I'd gotten finished with it to get some feedback on the flicker. It was a big hit, with very little (maybe no) flicker. It's also flexi and has very soft movement. It is by far one of my favorite mid-length styles.



Lunaria - This is what happened when I tried to fix the flicker problem that Yellow Carnation has now thanks to the whole sphere/texture deal. Like I said in the post about how to fix Yellow Carnation, the bangs just have a different look this way. It's one of those either you like it or you don't things. This one is slightly longer and a little more face-framing than Yellow Carnation is, so there are subtle differences. If you own Yellow Carnation and are unable to edit it, or just plain like this one better send me a notecard and I'll replace it for you with the Lunaria in the same color pack as what you purchased the YC in.



Osmunda - This one is really very formal. I didn't intend for it to turn out that way, but it did. It's gorgeous with formal gowns, and especially if you have a pretty tiara to wear with it. It would make a beautiful wedding style, too, it would be perfect for a veil.



Viscaria - I had a lot of fun making this one. It's got a modern look to it that I just enjoyed creating. There are tiny little braids across the front, with curls (or tentacles as Salome would call them) coming out of the top. It's an updo, but it's one of those really great styles that would be great with just about anything.

As promised, batch two of the testing colors will be out soon, likely tomorrow barring anything unforseen. I'll let ya know, though!

Flowering Reed - The Wish Collection

Nicky Ree sent me a message a few days ago and said that she needed hair for a gown she was working on. She sent me a picture of the gown, and nothing we had seemed to really fit with it. She told me the dress was Greek Goddess inspired, and that Random Calliope had made jewelry to go with it (which I don't have a specific picture of at this point but you can see it in the ads) and a corona (which is the tiara). I tried one of the styles that was actually in this release, but it just seemed too casual. So I told her to give me a few days and I'd have something for her.

I saw in my head what it was, pulled up, but falling down, whispy and soft. The pretty pretty princess in me shone right through. I actually built the hair to the tiara so that no adjustment would be needed. These creations by myself, Nicky and Random are all interconnected. It was an honor to be asked to work with something they'd so beautifully done. Random's set is truly magnificent. This is the first piece I've ever had in my hands that he has made and I've spent a lot of time admiring it. Even on my bald head the tiara was amazingly beautiful.



As you can see, I originally did it without bangs. But I know you girls and your bangs, so I added some. I really messed with the bangs longer than the hair itself. Because it just doesn't have bangs when I see it. I tried the bangs from Fennel but that just didn't work for me. (Or Nicky, which was key.) So I kept playing with it and here is the final result:



As some of you know, our hair is all named for flowers. I really spent a lot of time deciding on the name for this style, because I wanted it to be incorporated with the "Wish" gown and jewelry. I finally found the answer: Flowering Reed. It means "confide in heaven." It seemed perfectly suited to a gown inspired by a Goddess and jewelry sent from the heavens.

You can purchase the hair, the gowns, and later today, the jewelry all at our location in Callatropia. You can also purchase all 3 pieces from Nicky's store in Deco.

I hope you get all of the collection, and feel like a Goddess!

Colors - Batch 1 - The results

I've tallied the results, and only a handful of the colors are going onto the next round. (This is like American Idol, but for hair...Hae gets to be Simon.)

We really got some great and very honest feedback, which is exactly what we were looking for. Surely no one can say that any of you sugar-coat things!

Here are some of my favorite comments from the surveys. And sorry, but I didn't have all your names with the results when I pasted them into Word, so these are without credit. If you wanna claim yours, feel free. :)


"Beautiful! Very nice work. It's not something I'd wear everyday, but I do love it."

"not really a fan but hey thats me"

"This one grew on me. At first I was a little meh, but I like the subtle chestnut tips."

"The color isn't horrible, but I so wouldn't call this blonde."

"I thought this one was full bright. Not horrible, but I don't think it's quite ready."

"very rich looking color, love the way it is highlighted"

"This one could be okay but it's very dull looking. The others have a shiny, lighted look to them."

"This color looks flat and kind of blah."

"I wouldn't wear it but I like it."

"still needs work."

"Eh... just not a fan, I really am not so fond of the blondness." (from same person about a different color) "I may actually consider wearing this color blonde! Would be great for sufer style hairs. Especially mens."

"As an avid redhead, I'm kinda disappointed in these two."

"I think the color looks really washed out. I think the color should be brighter."

"omg now i am usually NOT a fan of "off the wall" colors, but this is WOW!!! Definitely one I got noticed and complimented on a lot!"

"I think you're on to something with this, but it just really doesn't stand out to me or appeal to me."

"a keeper in my opinion :) Looked great in all kinds of light and fabulous with my skin! :) Blonde's not my usual shade but i'd definitely consider this one!"

"This one is great... I might even stray from red for this one"

"Absolutely gorgeous!"

"Not horrible, but... something just feels off."

"I am not sure if it is the style or the color but there is something about it that doesn't seem right"

"it sorta looks like there is dirt in the hair with the darker bits"

"what have you done? I actually like a blonde!!"

"the darker shades in this one aren't right somehow. Tehy detract from the overall effect rather than accenting the lighter shades."

"erm.. deff needs more work on the whole honey kinda part of this one"

"could you get any more perfect here?! seriously!"

"My favorite of the blondes. It seemed true to RL shade (was just what I would have expected)

"this seems to be two tone and lacks the complexity that I usually love about your colors."

And my absolute favorite comments:

"Hmmm, wonder if Ms Clairol has this color?"

"OMG! like a milkshake!!!! its fab!"

"OMG OMG OMG OMG YES!"

"Eww. I like the concept, but it's just ugly."

"eww it's just..no"

So you can see we got some very honest and constructive feedback. I really appreciate the "needs more..." and the "too ..." and the "not enough ...." comments.

Batch 2 will be ready soon! Hopefully there are less eww's in this one.

Always watching

This is how those of us who are moms get anything done.

Why must people steal?

There's been a rash of theft going around, especially for hair designers/creators. We had a taste of it a while back with our ImSoPreddy freebie hair. Thanks to Stumbelina Ophelia of CAKE who filed a DMCA quickly, the copier took everything down and it was pretty much a non-issue by the time I even found out about it.

But today. Ugh. Bless Miss Teagan Blackthorne. My morning routine consists of a cup of coffee and my email. I go through there to see what's happened while I've been sleeping. I read email, I drink my coffee, my kids have breakfast, it's fairly quiet. 'Cause I am just not a morning person.

I'm sorting through email and come to one from Teagan, which is usually some great story about how she's watching Lost and some chick is wearing our hair, or something cool like that. Today, it's a location in-world. I just cringed.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/mega%20resort/86/235/501/

Of course, I go, cause Teagan's the hair-theft watch dog and she's always right. Here's what I find.




My men's freebie style, Cougar, is on the right. The stolen copy is on the left.




I threw my ad on a prim next to his. Just cause I could.

Okay, I know. We're not losing any money because this style is free. But it's the principal. You don't steal someone's stuff. You just don't. It's blatantly mine. Cause, and let's be honest, this was the first boy hair I ever made and it's not all that great to begin with. It's one of those "Wow, yeah, that's definitely Cougar" things when you see it.

I've given this guy the benefit of the doubt and asked that he remove it. Which, he did. So yay for him for doing the right thing! I thanked him and told him I appreciated it and offered to put the styles up for his customers for free (just like we have at our own location) if he'd like.

With all that's going on, there's no telling if the "owner" of a stolen item is the one who actually copied/stole/etc. anymore. People seem to have no qualms lately about taking things that aren't theirs and reselling them to every Joe off the street. Poor innocent Joe's have no idea that it belongs to someone else.

I don't understand why people feel it's okay to do this. Maybe I'm more morally strict (that kinda comes with being a prude I guess) than others, I don't know. But that (admittedly not-so-great) boy hair, Cougar, took me seriously about a week to make. I have umpteen copies of inprogress, "eww this sucks," "hmm...maybe if I do this...oops nope that was bad," of this particular style sitting in my inventory. It really was not easy for me to make. I actually had no idea what I was doing at that point. For me to come out with something that I felt okay about selling, and could then offer for free to noobs as I made more (and better) boy hair is something I'm proud of.

And to whomever stole it and sold it/gave it away/etc, I hope you see this, and I hope that it makes you think, and I hope that you'll stop taking things that other people have worked really hard on.

Edited to add: I've also just seen this post on Tami McCoy's blog and I'm feeling a little queasy now knowing this person will take it down, and then put it back up, etc etc.

/me sighs. I don't get people sometimes.

Hair Color Testers!

A while back (a few months now I guess) we set out some Color Surveys. We got a lot of feedback from them and a HUGE thank you to all who gave us your ideas. We're still weeding through all the "dream colors" and seeing what we can realistically do. But we've got batch one ready!

We are looking for SERIOUS testers only. We need actual, notecard, written feedback. By Friday. So, if you're really serious and don't mind taking 15 minutes or so to try on the colors and rate them I need:

- A note card named "Calla Hair Tester - YOUR NAME" dropped to me (Tigerlily Koi)

I am going to hound you for your answers if I don't get them by Friday (June 22).

Again, this is only if you're really serious about giving written feedback.

Here's the scale system (which is also on the notecard that will come with your Survey Pack) in case you lose it, or the notecard won't open because Linden Labs has a consipracy to eat all text on notecards everywhere.

*****~*~*****~*~*****~*~*****

INSTRUCTIONS:
Please rate the hair COLOR (not the style) on a scale of 1 - 5.

1 = Eww, gross. What WERE you thinking?!

2 = Keep working on it, you might be onto something.

3 = Meh, could take it or leave it.

4 = Oooo, I like!

5 = OMG I LOVE IT!

*****~*~*****~*~*****~*~*****

The colors are already listed on the notecard that comes in your survey pack. So it's a fairly simple process of rating each one listed, and adding any additional comments or suggestions you may have.

Once you're done rating all the colors, put your name in the notecard title (where it says YOUR NAME HERE!) and drop that card back on me.

Remember, be sure to add your name so I won't needlessly hound you.

Obviously we aren't going to be adding all these colors, as there are more in the works, and Haedon has threatened bodily harm if she has to box a billion colors for all our existing styles. Okay, she hasn't yet. But she's going to as soon as she sees this.

<3 Wednesday

A picture tells a thousand words.

Feelin' blah, and a sneak peek!

Some of you might have noticed I haven't been in-world much this week. Sunday I started getting really dizzy. I'll pause while everyone makes a joke. ;) Anyway, I ended up in the Dr's office Monday, he wants to follow up tomorrow and do brain scans, etc etc if it's not any better. So far, it's not much different. It comes and goes. If I move, the world spins. If I'm still, it's not so bad. And I have a brain cloud. Twenty L to whoever knows what movie that's from. I just feel kinda foggy and my attention span is worse than my three-year-old's.

But anyway, I'm not feeling so great. If you've sent me a message, please resend. Cause likely I've read it and forgotten it. I've tried to keep an actual physical list, but that's not going so well either.

However, we do have some stuff in the works! Hae's got the cutest ever dreads. To die for. I wish I had a picture (grid's down or I'd go get one) to show you. They are so, so great. Color change beads and the whole shabang.

Here's one I've got for the next release. I've been wearing it a lot, simply because I'm just too foggy to worry about changing. But the outfit is killer and so it's okay.



Oh hair. Yeah, it's flexi, and kinda whispy all over. I was trying something different with this one and it came out pretty cute. Some of the group got it in two blonde shades because the blondes show flicker much worse than any other colors. This one should have been unbelievably flickery due to all the alpha textures in it. Somehow it's not, so yay for that! It looked great on the handful of girls that got to try it, and I didn't see any fitting issues with anyone. So it'll be out with the next release. Which will be....? Hae? I dunno. Whenever we get to it. This weekend maybe.

Oh oh oh! Much uber thanks to Hae for holding the fort. It's really nice to know that I can be all spacey and she's got things covered. Y'all be extra nice to her. I've been forgetting her coffee.

Hopefully I'll be in tippy toppy shape again soon and back to normal.

I hope everyone has a happy Wednesday. Aren't these just the worst sitting around waiting for the grid to come up? Let's all pray they don't bork things too badly.

Say "cheese!"

We have a lot of styles. We have a lot of group members and customers. What better way to combine both than to make a catalogue featuring Calla fans?

There isn't one!

Get your cameras ready. We want a picture of you in your favorite Calla style!

We know we have more customers than styles, but never fear. We may do some group shots, and we'll certainly be adding to the catalogue as time goes on and we add more styles. So if you don't get in this time, there will be more opportunities.

We are not looking for model quality snapshots. We want to see your hair, and your pretty face! We will be reshooting for the catalogue, so this is just to put names to faces, and faces to styles.

We wanna pick your brains, too. (Not your noses, relax.) We would like to know what you think is special about Calla? What does your style say about you? We will be using quotes throughout the catalogue.

Don't forget, we have men's styles, too. So gentlemen out there, (and we know you're out there, we watch you) send us your picture! Guys, in your entry, please be sure to specify if you are single or married. That way we know if we can drool on you safely or not, or hit you up for a date. Kidding, kidding. Really though, we do want some guys in our catalogue. So if you'd like to participate, we strongly (breathlessly) encourage that.

Rules:

- All entries must be submitted on a note card named "Calla Catalogue - YOUR NAME."

- Snapshot images attached to the note card must be full permissions. Only one (1) snapshot/image per person.

- Name the picture and note card the same - "Calla Catalogue - YOUR NAME." This is so we can find it in our bottomless inventories.

- On the note card, please write a few sentences about why you like Calla, and your favorite style(s). For example: What makes a particular style unique to you? Or why does that style fit your personality?

- You must submit your entry to the box at the front of the main Calla location in Callatropia.

- Any entries submitted to our inventories will be discarded. They must be put into the entry box.

- Only one (1) note card entry per person, please.

- Note cards will be accepted until Friday, June 29, 2007.

By submitting the above, you agree to give full rights to images, quotes, etc. and allow Calla to use the information provided for any current or future advertising/marketing. All quotes will be credited to their source, and your name will be published with the image(s) of you in the catalogue.

The fine print:

There is no pay/reward/etc for doing this. You'll get nothing but your pretty face and your name in our catalogue. No one is getting paid. This is not a modeling job. This is strictly voluntary. We will choose people at our discretion, and at whatever whims we're feeling that particular day.

We know there are going to be a lot of great people (just look at how awesome our group is!) and we just can't get you all in. This is just a unique, fun way to get to know some of the wonderful customers we have out there and to give you all some credit for being the great people you are. So, please let's keep this in the spirit it's intended, and everyone have a good time with it.

Get those note cards in!

Much love,
Lily & Hae

Six new!

I should have done this Friday, but life got crazy on me. So here's the new stuff we put out Friday afternoon!



Basil - Originally Hae said I was going to model this one for her. Because I "have that french snooty look." But turns out she does a good job looking snooty, too! I really like this one, and just love the little curls on the side. She did an awesome job on the beret, which is color change. The hat actually has a sculptie prim. So she's the first of us to scuptify a style.



Lady Fern - Fern gets make-over number two! I personally prefer this one better. The shorter braids don't stick through your body so much at funny angles. The braid is much wider. The tail is still flexi, and the bands are color change. It's also considerably less primmy than the original Fern.



Periwinkle - This one didn't turn out the way I thought it would when I started it. It started taking on a flapper feel, but with a more modern, kind of nostalgic look.



Pleniflorus - This is, as requested, Ranunculus without the hat. I tried to keep it with the same feel, so it looked like you'd just taken the hat off. It's got a color change clip in the back, holding the hair loops up.



Tares - This is Haedon's. It has flown out of the shop, so no doubt you'll be seeing this one around the grid. It's really great, and flexi!



Winter Tares - Version 2 of Tares, but with pulled back bangs and a little side clip. The tiny (miniscule) little flowers on the clip are color change! Yay!

If you have Yellow Carnation....

When LL changed the way spheres rendered alpha textures a few publishes back, the bangs on Yellow Carnation got noticably worse.

The "roll" you're seeing is actually a sphere that is behind those bang pieces in front. It just helped keep the flicker down, by having something solid behind the flickery bangs.

I have tried to edit it and fix it, and short of removing it, there isn't a whole lot I can do. Here's a handy dandy guide to walk you through how to get rid of that sphere that's causing so much trouble.

Forgive my drawing, I did this while bouncing a sick babe on my lap.

Before you start this, make a copy of your hair in its original flickery state! You are going to need a pose stand. If you don't have one, check your instruction notecard that came with your hair. There's one on the card that you can copy to your inventory.

You are going to have to rez your hair on the ground at some point. So if you don't have 100 free prims, head over to a sandbox, or hop on a pose stand in the shop.



There's the funky sphere. This is the piece we need to take out.



Right click the hair and choose Edit from the pie menu. When your edit menu comes up, make sure to check Edit Linked Parts!

Hold down Control and click on three bang pieces towards the side. We're going to move these out of the way to get to the sphere. Because the bangs are in front of it, it's easiest just to move them. If you happen to be an expert camera maniuplator, you might be able to catch the sphere.



But, for the rest of us, just move the bangs. After you've selected all three pieces, and they're outlined in the pretty blue, grab the horizontal arrow and slide it to the left. It will move all three pieces at once.



Now you can get the sphere. Just click on it. If you haven't closed your edit box, it will outline blue when you have the sphere selected.




Grab the vertical arrow, and move that straight up over your head.




Go back to the bangs that you moved out of the way. Control + click each one again until you have all of them selected. They should all be outlined in blue. Now, Control + z and it will pop them back into place, just like you'd never moved them at all.




Now you can close your edit box. Right click your hair (which has a funky sphere hanging out over your head) and from the pie menu choose "drop." Typically, hair drops behind you. (At least mine does.)




Right click your hair that is no longer on your head, and select "Edit" again from the pie menu. Be sure to check "Edit linked parts" again. Click just on the sphere that is over your hair. It will highlight with blue again.

At the top of your screen, find the Tools menu. Pull it down, and select "Unlink." (You can also control + shift + L, but the tool menu was easier to snapshot.)




The sphere should now be outlined in yellow instead of blue. Close your edit menu.




Right click on the sphere. It should be the only piece that hightlights with the pie menu. If not, you didn't get it unlinked. If so, yay you! Just chose Delete from the pie menu. Right click the rest of the hair and pick "Wear."




It'll hop back on your head right where it belongs. As you can see from this picture, there is still some flicker, but it's fairly minor in comparison. There's just flicker with alpha textures. If anyone knows a way around it, I'd love to know.

I am working on remaking this style so the bangs aren't flickery. But it does not have the same look to the bangs. So if you really are after this look, you'll have to edit it. Otherwise, hang tight and I'll let you know as soon as I have a "non-flicker" version ready.