Tag: The Free Dove

UPDATED! Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Updates on Two Long-Running Freebie Stores, The Free Dove and Ajuda SL Brasil

The Free Dove freebie store in Second Life is closing after almost 17 years

I’m still taking a break from blogging, but this morning I came across the news on the Pure Eggs & Spam blog, and I wanted to share it with my readers: Palomma Casanova, the owner of The Free Dove (one of Second Life’s most popular and longest-running freebie stores), has sadly passed away after an illness. I’m going to post the complete text of a notecard sent to The Free Dove group by her colleague, Dollen McMillan:

Hello dear friends of Palomma,

It is with great sadness and pain that I have to announce you that Palomma Casanova left us on Saturday, January 14 after a long illness. This is a shock to me and a huge loss. She fought her illness with all the energy she had and endured the pain very bravely. Her passion for her work and for helping others was admirable.

For almost 12 years, this kind, generous and talented woman was by my side day after day. She will be missed by all of us who had the chance to know her. May she rest peacefully with all my love.

About Free Dove

When the subject of her eventual departure was brought up, Palomma’s response was that Free Dove would POOOOF when it was over for her. Free Dove was her baby, the vehicle that allowed her to express her love of people and her willingness to help them, but she didn’t want it to outlive her. She had created Free Dove in 2006 and when she left, her group had reached nearly 150,000 members, a rare achievement. We will remember her as the generous woman who dedicated 17 years of her life to SL citizens.

I have no idea when Free Dove will disappear. In the meantime, I have blocked all payment boxes for Free Dove shops, I am unable to refund your last payments, but your shops can remain in place until the end comes.

Regarding Christmas trees and Christmas gifts, I will be returning them this Wednesday because the holiday season is over. As for last month’s Hunts panels, I will try to change the textures and replace them with an image to pay homage to Palomma.

Concerning The Free Dove group, you will retain the ability to send notices as long as the building exists, but please don’t abuse and follow Palomma’s rules. The day the building disappears, I will remove the ability to send notices to all.

As for creators’ gifts and the prims belonging to other people, they will all be returned the day the land is abandoned.

Thank you for taking the time to read me.

Dollen McMillan

The Free Dove group notices are full of people posting notes and testimonials about Palomma, as word filters out. I do not have further details about Palomma, but I will also miss her and her tireless work in Second Life. I would advise you that, since we do not know when her freebie store will shut down, pay your visit now.

The Free Dove, along with the freebie store at the Ajuda SL Brasil Portuguese-speaking community gateway sim, were my top two picks for the best freebie stores in Second Life (you can see my full list of recommendations here). And, unfortunately, after a recent visit to Ajuda SL Brasil, I must report that this once-excellent freebie store appears to have fallen on hard(er) times.

There are now many empty walls at the once-excellent freebie store at Ajuda SL Brasil, especially on the first floor, and many vendors I remember from before are missing.

I noticed that of the vendors who once offered fashionable free items here have vanished, leaving many empty walls in the freebie store. Much of what remains is the older, system-layers-and-flexiprims clothing which most Second Life avatars don’t want to wear. There are still a few good mesh clothing finds here and there, such as this outfit I was able to cobble together for an alt (see image, right).

The Nia top is one of a collection of gifts for women from Fran Gustav on the main floor, and the patched and worn Bella blue jeans are a freebie from Dreams, located on the third floor. (Please note that some of the freebies in mesh clothing at Ajuda SL Brasil come in standard sizing, instead of sizes to fit Maitreya Lara and other brands of mesh bodies.)

On my return visit today to double-check the locations of the free clothing in this image, I noticed that there seems to be some effort underway to move content and reorganize the third floor of the store, but still, a lot of fabulous freebies I remember from before are no longer there.

So, I regret to report that one well-known SL freebie store is closing soon, and yet another is not what it used to be. This could be a sign that the era of freebie stores in Second Life is coming to an end.

UPDATE Jan. 19th, 2023: A memorial, with books of condolence which you can sign, has been set up for Palomma Casanova (and her alt, Dyannia!) just inside the main entrance of The Free Dove, if you wish to come and pay your respects:

Also, there is a discussion thread about Palomma Casanova’s passing on the official Second Life community forums, here. As with The Free Dove SL group I mentioned above, people are sharing stories and memories of Palomma and The Free Dove.

UPDATE Jan. 23rd, 2023: Tastic (one of the many SL brands who had free items available through The Free Dove) has created tops for both men and women, to commemorate the run of the venerable freebie store. (By their calculations, The Free Dove actually started in 2005, so that would indeed make it 17 years, a remarkable achievement!)

The tops are free, and you do not need to join a group to get them. Just click on the signs inside the entrance, near the stairs. The tops come in a wide variety of sizes to fit most male and female mesh bodies.

P.S. these tops will also be available at The Free Dove, next to the memorial to Palomma Casanova I mentioned above, until the store shuts down. Thanks, Tastic!

UPDATE Jan. 27th, 2023: Shelby Monitor posted an update to The Free Dove group yesterday:

Patch Linden will keep Palomma’s Park as a memorial and will not change. [The] Free Dove has 90 [days] till [it] will be no longer [be around]. The store will remain open and untouched till then, and we receive further notice from Linden Lab.

Her land will go to market, and I hope possibly to purchase the land and be able to make a place for people to get help, and
hopefully I can find designers to put [out] free gifts to help those in need.

Thank You everyone for all your support.
Shelby Monitor

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: the FREE Summer Festival Vibes Hunt at Alaskametro and the Free Dove!

I have a few RyanSchultz.com blogposts simmering on the back burner, but first, a short, snappy post about a great, free Second Life hunt for female avatars, offering a generous variety of clothing, makeup, and skin gifts.

The Summer Festival Vibes hunt is one of the monthly hunts held at the venerable and recently redesigned freebie store, the Free Dove. The hunt prizes are all from Alaskametro, and all you need to do is join the Free Dove group (for free), and hunt diligently for festival passes on purple lanyards which are hidden, five per location.

NEED A LITTLE HELP WITH YOUR HUNTING? Here are Ryan’s top six tips and tricks for a successful Second Life hunt. Read, mark, and digest! 😉

Here’s the hunt legend, so you know what you are getting:

alaskmetro<3 "Summer Festival Vibes" hunt

Below, one of my alts (wearing a Meshbody Legacy body), is wearing the Arwen feather earrings, the Annika lacy top, the Eve distressed Eve jean shorts in faded denim, all covered up by this wonderfully detailed Misty fringed coverup jacket! All clothing comes in Maitreya Lara and Meshbody Legacy sizes only. The metallic body tattoo (Bakes on Mesh) is another one of the Summer Festival Vibes hunt gifts.

And in this picture, my alt (wearing a Maitreya-Lara-compatible Kalhene mesh body) is modeling one of the Karma LeLutka Evo X skins (which comes in three skin tones, including the head, ear, and body skin!), the Annika lingerie top, the Eve jean shorts in black, and the sheer Misty coverup in a black floral tone.

Add some sandals or sneakers and you’re all set for your next virtual folk festival!

Other Summer Festival Vibes hunt prizes include Bakes on Mesh/system skins (three full-body skin tones), BoM/Omega lipsticks and eye shadows, and fingernail textures for Maitreya or Slink mesh hands. Here’s another one of my alts (wearing the Chelsea head by LOGO), wearing the Kismet II Bakes on Mesh skin, along with the Crystal eyeshadow and the Backstage lipstick, along with the HUDs for the latter two items to show you the colour options (the makeup comes in both standard BoM and LeLutka Evo X versions):

The hunt ends on June 30th, 2022, so don’t wait too long to snap up these fabulous freebies.

UPDATED! Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: A Selection of Valentine’s Day Gifts and Hunt Prizes for You!

Here’s a rundown of free gifts and inexpensive hunt prizes for Valentine’s Day, from a number of different locations in Second Life.

Shanti is holding a Valentine’s Day Hunt, where you are looking for the “XO” hugs and kisses symbol hidden somewhere in the store or in the grounds outside. The prizes only cost 2 Linden dollars each! Gift #10 is this lovely strappy dress, and the long-sleeved pink cardigan is gift #8. Total cost for this cute outfit is only L$4!

(The heart earrings are a free gift from Beloved Jewelry at the 2022 Valentine Shop and Hop, which ends Feb. 15th! They come with a HUD with 16 different metal textures and 56 different gemstones, to match literally any outfit! Get the SLURL and see pictures of more Valentine Shop and Hop gifts here.)

Below is the Shanti hunt legend, which unfortunately doesn’t tell you which number is which gift! However, this Low Price Fashion in Second Life blogpost does link the hunt prizes with their gift numbers, which should help you out a little bit. Happy hunting!

NILSY is a store which offers a free gift each week, and this week, the gift is this red party dress, which comes in a variety of sizes to fit most brands of mesh bodies. No group is needed, just teleport to the store and slap this sign! It’s worth popping into NILSY every week to see what their weekly free gift is.

(UPDATE Feb. 12th, 2022: Apparently Saturday is the day that NILSY switches its weekly free gift; I’ve been told that there is a different red dress you can pick up as of today! Below is a picture of the new gift, a strapless ballgown.)

Maai is another Second Life store which offers a variety of free gifts (the Maai group is free to join). The store usually has a new free group gift every month, plus a number of gifts for the various freebie groups, like Maitreya Gifts, Sales & News. Their Valentine’s Day present is this beautiful red ballgown with beaded straps, which comes in sizes to fit Maitreya Lara and Petite; Meshbody Legacy and Perky; INITHIUM Kupra; and eBody Reborn.

If you’re looking for a purse to go with this gown, Mon Cheri has among its selection of free gifts the Roxxy Clutch, a fatpack with three different Bento hand poses! You don’t need to join a group, just come to the Mon Cheri store, look for the gift wall to the right of the front counter, and buy them for L$0 each.

Here’s what the three static Bento hand poses for the Roxxy clutch look like (there’s also a version without a pose); these are high-priority poses which should work with most animation overrides. The fatpack HUD offers 20 colours for the clutch, 20 different decorative gemstones, and 12 metal textures, to match any outfit. It’s the perfect purse for any occasion! Here, my avatar is wearing it with the free gown from Maai I mentioned earlier:

Finally, Palomma Casanova’s long-running Second Life freebie store, The Free Dove, has a table groaning with Valentine’s Day gifts for you! You will have to join the Free Dove group (for free, of course!) to pick up these presents.

Time for a fashion show of five of these Valentine’s Day gifts from The Free Dove! First up we have this complete casual outfit from YDEA, which consists of the red patterned tied top, blue jeans, and high-heeled sneakers:

The present from Pandamomo is this grey knit minidress with a playful cutout!

The Alloma dress fatpack, the Free Dove Valentine’s Day gift from Le’La, comes with a HUD with 15 different textures as shown below:

From VIPs Creations comes this classy Louisa Golden Flowers outfit, consisting of a dress (which comes in two versions, with or without the gold trim), plus a pair of golden high-heeled sandals:

And NILSY has a Free Dove gift for you, too! It’s this strapless red beaded ballgown with the daring side slit (paired again with the Beloved Jewelry heart earrings and the Roxxy clutch from Mon Cheri which I mentioned above):

There are many other Valentine’s Day gifts at The Free Dove, so be sure to pay them a visit if you are looking to find some fabulous freebies!

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Beautiful Free Ballgowns!

I just stumbled across a fabulous fashion freebie for female avatars, and I decided to use it as an excuse to write up an entire blogpost about all the places in Second Life you can pick up a full-length mesh ballgown, for free! Clip and save for when you need something for a formal, black-tie event (or even if you just feel like swanning around SL in a full-blown battleship ballgown; hey, it’s your Second Life, express yourself any way you want!)

The freebie is from the newly-rebranded store, Dead Doll (formerly known as Dead Dollz), which has set up in a brand new location and is offering a gift to celebrate. If you join the SeraphimSL.com group for free and click the panel shown below, you can pick up the simple, elegant Etta strapless gown for free:

The Etta gown comes in a fatpack of sixteen colours as shown. Here, Vanity Fair models it with a black lace bolero from United Colors (not free; I purchased the fatpack of this bolero, waiting for the perfect gown to pair it with). Sheer perfection!

Another place where you can pick up some free gowns is the excellent freebie store at Ajuda SL Brasil. Up on the third floor is a large display by VIPs Creations, where in the top row of panels are three different styles of full-length gowns:

This lovely strapless gown with a subtle pattern is by VIPs Creations, and comes in four colours as shown, and even includes the shoes:

Another place to pick up a simple, classic ballgown is the generous freebie store at Hilly Haalan, where you can find this Nadia gown in fifteen colours (you will need to join the Hilly Haalan store group for free to pick up all the freebies here).

While some gowns are the right length for high heels, the Nadia gown works best with flats. Fortunately, at Hilly Haalan you can also pick up a free set of Amy flats which come in a variety of colours to match this ballgown perfectly!

Another little-known spot where you can pick up ballgowns in orange, red, and blue is !Soul, a store which has set up shop in a skybox high above the newbie orientation centre called New Resident Island (here’s the exact SLURL). If you join the !Soul group for free, you can pick up dozens of free gifts of women’s clothing, hair, footwear, and system/Bakes on Mesh skins. Everything in the store is free!

The apparel at !Soul comes in standard sizes, but ballgowns are the kind of clothing that you can easily alpha out your pelvic area and legs anyway, so they will always fit! (You might have to adjust your bust size slightly, though.)

Here is the blue ballgown from !Soul, with the optional fur stole. Looking elegant for zero Linden dollars!

Of course, you can sometimes pick up free ballgowns at the entrances to many of the finer dance establishments in Second Life, such as this gown from the newly-reopened Frank’s Jazz Club (which appears to have started up again just to try and wrench business away from the upstart Frank’s (more information here):

And, of course, there are several beautiful ballgowns to be had at The Free Dove (remember that you have to join The Free Dove group for free in order to get these freebies). Palomma Casanova, the owner of The Free Dove, has reorganized her venerable freebie store by designer, so you will have to wander around a bit to find all the ballgowns. However, there is still a small women’s formalwear section near the back entrance (SLURL):

Nearby is a display by Lurve, which features two very different gowns:

And close by, the Tiffany Designs display at The Free Dove has a couple of lovely full-length ballgowns, perfect for your next swanky soirée:

In fact, you can also pick up a couple of free ballgowns at Tiffany’s main store location (one is mesh and the other is an applier gown; no group is needed):

Take a look at the shimmering, daringly low-cut Nia ballgown in champagne, one of the free gown gifts at Tiffany Designs!

So there you have it—elegance on (less than) a dime!

Remember that the Etta ballgown fatpack gift at Dead Doll is likely a time-limited offer, and that Palomma Casanova frequently rotates the stock at The Free Dove, so please don’t delay picking up these gowns and stashing them in your inventory for your next major event. Happy freebie shopping!