Tag: Cole’s Corner

UPDATED! Another Fifteen-Minute Second Life Avatar Makeover: You Must Be an Angel

No one on earth could feel like this
I’m thrown and overflown with bliss
There must be an angel
Playing with my heart

—There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart), by the Eurythmics

Time for another one of my patented 15-minute Second Life avatar makeovers! I hope that you enjoy these transformation as much as I do 🙂

This time, I have selected an alt which I have styled as a heavenly angel (her actual, Second Life legacy name is Prayerful Vigil, quite fitting!). Here is a before shot from 2018, a classic avatar with a system-layers-and-flexiprims outfit, outfitted with the free Bento wings and sword from the Marcus starter SL avatar:

And here is the after shot. This avatar is a perfect example of one of Ryan’s top ten tips for freebie hunting:

Be patient: Freebies can come and go; freebie stores like The Free Dove and Ajuda SL Brasil rotate their freebies regularly, so it’s worthwhile to visit every couple of months, just to see what’s new. It can take some time to pull together a complete look from various components picked up as freebies at different times from different stores and events.

In this case, the complete look was pulled together by patiently picking up freebies at various times throughout the past two years. I also took full advantage of the then-free Kalhene Ariadna mesh body when it was avialable! The wings and hale were the final two bits I picked up in the past week (please see the style credits below the picture for details).

This avatar is wearing:

  • Mesh Head: the Strong Face Bento mesh head by The Genus Project (free group gift; group is free to join)
  • Mesh Body: the Kalhene Ariadna mesh body (I was lucky enough to pick up the free predecessor of the current Kalhene Anya mesh body, which is now for sale for L$1,695 here; this body is compatible with Maitreya Lara apparel and footwear, and includes a Bento mesh head, not used here)
  • Bakes on Mesh Skin: White Queen skin gift by A&A (free on the SL Marketplace)
  • Hair: I picked this Jessi hair in goth white up from Sn@tch as a free prize in a previous year’s Trick or Treat Lane hunt
  • Necklace: This was a free hunt prize by Dreaming Thicket, in the Spring 2019 edition of the Twisted Hunt (which had a colour theme of gold and white, perfect for this angel avatar!)
  • Gown: This was also a free hunt prize in the Spring 2019 Twisted Hunt, from Appliqué Chic
  • Shoes (not shown): Amy flats from Hilly Haalan (free group gift; group is free to join)
  • Wings: golden Icon angel wings from Blueberry (I was able to pick up the Gold Pack of these wings last weekend, using the L$500 in free store credit which was in the group notices, and taking advantage of their four-day 50% Off Sale; the Blueberry group costs only L$20 to join)
  • Halo: Aether halo by Cubic Cherry (free gift at the current Engine Room shopping event; the event group is free to join; the halo is resizable and I made it smaller)
  • Sword: from the free Marcus starter Second Life avatar
  • Particle Effects: This is the only thing I bought at full retail price! The Valkyrie particle aura is from Cole’s Corner: animated halo, hands, and body particles in either silver or gold! (L$300; more information here, including an animated GIF)

TOTAL COST FOR THIS AVATAR LOOK: Only L$320! (L$20 to join the Blueberry group, and L$300 for the Valkyrie aura particle effects; if you need to purchase the Kalhene Anya mesh body, the cost is L$2,015)

UPDATE Sept. 30th, 2020: I just found the perfect finishing touch for this avatar! It’s a gold wing necklace, the free gift from the MINDS booth at the 5th anniversary round of the SanaRae shopping event (here’s the exact SLURL; it also comes in a silver version). It’s beautiful, and very fitting indeed for an angel!

“After” pictures taken at the Engine Room shopping event.

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Twisted Spring Hunt

The Twisted series of hunts in Second Life are renowned for being the hardest hunts on the grid, and giving you absolutely no clues to work from, unlike other SL hunts. You’d think a spinning golden cube would be easy to find, right? Wrong. And every time around, I always land up tearing my hair out, searching for those goddamn little cubes anyways! This round has a gold-and-white divine god/goddess theme, so I diligently went hunting in a few stores, and I got lucky this time! Here are Twisted main hunt and side hunt items from three stores:

  • Appliqué Chic (a main hunt and 6 items in a side hunt)
  • Dreaming Thicket (a main hunt and 7 items in a side hunt)
  • Roped Passions (a main hunt and 5 items in a side hunt)

Our first look is the Divine gown (the Twisted Hunt gift for women by Appliqué Chic), paired with the Celestial Necklace and gold Laurel Crown by Dreaming Thicket (two side hunt gifts):

This stunning gown can be worn both for fantasy and formal outings. This avatar is wearing:

  • Mesh Head: Giselle Bento head by Altamura (no longer available for free; this was an Altamura gift from Christmas 2017 at the eBENTO event, and you had to join the Altamura group for L$50 to get it).
  • Mesh Body: Jenny Bento body by Altamura (this was a free gift from the 2017 Women Only Hunt, and on this version, you can remove the head and replace it with any other mesh head, as I did here. Note that this free mesh body is now available at the Freebie Megastore at London City (more information here), but you cannot remove the head on the newer free version.
  • Hair: Jessi hair from Sn@tch (free gift at a past event; no longer available)
  • Wings: white Icon angel wings by Blueberry (Bento enabled; I bought these at the Christmas 2017 Shop and Hop event using the free L$500 giftcard, which is no longer available; however, you can pick these up at the Blueberry mainstore)
  • Gown: Divine gown (main Twisted Hunt prize by Appliqué Chic)
  • Necklace: gold Celestial Necklace (side hunt prize at Dreaming Thicket)
  • Laurel: gold Laurel Crown (side hunt prize at Dreaming Thicket)
  • Shoes (not shown): white flats by Garbaggio (part of the free sample pack for Slink feet; available on the SL Marketplace). Altamura mesh avatar bodies have Slink-compatible feet.
  • Halo and hand and body particle effects: Valkyrie silver halo, aura, and hand effects by Cole’s Corner
  • Sword: from the Marcus avatar (one of the Second Life fantasy starter avatars)

Here’s a second look, featuring several more hunt gifts:

This avatar is wearing:

  • Mesh Head and Body: Giselle Bento head and Jenny body by Altamura (same as above)
  • Hair: Jessi hair from Sn@tch (same as above)
  • Headdress: Divine Warrior headdress (side hunt gift from Roped Passions)
  • Wings: white Icon angel wings by Blueberry (same as above)
  • Dress: Asphodel Chiton dress (main Twisted Hunt women’s gift at Dreaming Thicket)
  • Necklace: gold Celestial Necklace (side hunt prize at Dreaming Thicket)
  • Boots: Thorn boots (side hunt prize at Dreaming Thicket)
  • Shield: Hoplite shield (comes with a defensive pose; side hunt prize at Dreaming Thicket)
  • Spear: Hoplite spear (comes with several poses; side hunt prize at Dreaming Thicket)