Woohoo FabFree! It’s Cozyfest time! I’ve been waiting patiently here on this floating cloud, ready to drop down into this pile of awesomeness… ok fine, maybe I haven’t been, but I HAVE been waiting anxiously. Come on, let’s get to it!
So Cozy
This amazing event organized by the people behind Fifty Linden Fridays is bursting with freegifts and 50L deals. Today I’m showing off some of the 50 Linden finds that are just too good to pass up. Here’s what I’ve got on:
50L dress by Entice sized for Freya, Hourglass, Kupra, Maitreya, Legacy and Maitreya Petite
50L glasses by Duckie available in several colours
50L pose, cloud and balloons by Lyrium
Oh man…there’s so much more to see and grab. You’ll love it! Cozyfest is running until February 4th, so you’ve got plenty of time. And if it’s full, don’t worry, it just opened.
I’ve been doing a lot of Marketplacefreebiehunting lately… mostly because I’m just too tired to come online lately and go shopping. Sad, I know. But one of the perks of this recent trend is that I’ve found so many cool sales as well as somefreebies on the MP!
Glow!
Glow has a load offree poses on the Marketplace. There’s a tonne, as everything on their MP store is completely free! These are great gifts for bloggers and photo lovers alike! I’m not sure how long these will be available, so scoop them up now.
Can you spare 10 Lindens?
Going back to those sales I mentioned, I have two items I found today for sale on the Marketplace for only 10L each:
This amazing ice crown is currently on sale for 10 L at Pure Poison, available only on the Marketplace. This item is amazing with how detailed it is! It comes with a colour hud to change the flowers and other parts of the crown.
My lovely lipstick is from another 10L sale item, which is a fatpack of lipsticks by Synnergy. You can purchase it on the MP here. It’s a lovely set! This lipstick applier works with Lelutka Evolution & EvoX heads only.
Winter Feels
Finally, my striking eyeshadow is the latest group gift at Pout! This comes from an eyeshadow set in different colours with unique patterns on them. You can grab this freebieat the Pout! mainstore when you join their free group gift. These shadows come in an HD makeup applier that only works on Lelutka EvoX heads.
See you soon, FabFree!
xx
-Caroline
Caroline is Wearing…
Clothes & Accessories
Bodysuit, Belt & Skirt – Beyond Milenia Fatpack (Available @ the BigGirl Event) Crown – Pure Poison IceCrown (10L on the Marketplace) Socks – Tastic Unicorn Leggings
Body
Hair – TRUTH Lullaby (VIP Group Gift/ Group Costs 350L to Join) Previously blogged by Aline here Mesh Body – The Shops Legacy Mesh Head – Lelutka Lake – EvoX Skin – 7 Deadly S[K]ins Mercy – Oak Eyes – Euphoric Hope Eyes (Free Group Gift/Group is Free to Join) Previously blogged here Nails – Belleza Freya V6
Eyebrows – Tutti Belli Adore Eyebrows
Eyeshadow – Pout!Angel Cake HD Liners & Shadows (Free Group Gift/Group is Free to Join) Lipstick – Synergy HD Lipstick Cordoba (10L on the Marketplace) Pose – Glow Vintage (Free on the Marketplace) Photo Location – Luane’s World- Le Monde Perdue
HeyHey Fab Free! It’s Monday so that means it’s more of “The Big Make Over”. Today I’m focusing on Alistar and our Fabulous Guys. I do want to note that all of these pictures are totally untouched and unedited. This is goning to be a looong post so let’s not dither about and jump right in.
So, I I first said I was going to do a male make over avatar I had NO idea how much different it would be from doing the female. But dang, it’s so much more difficult and frustrating. With the girls, I had loads of choices of heads and bodies but the guys really don’t have that much in free choices. I almost threw in the towel and said I’d have to do a limited Lindens make over for the guys. And granted…. using Lindens would be much easier. But I wanted to do free.
So, let’s remember where we started. This is the Second Life starter, “Greg” in his birthday suit. Not all together awful but certainly more ‘human-like’ than human. Why the designers for LL didn’t spend more time and care and artistry for the male population is beyond me.
And Greg close up.
I added this next pic because I wanted to show that the Greg skin is not horrible. In fact it’s not bad at all. It’s just the clunky shape that makes it bad.
The first and only free body I could find was the “Robert” body from Altamura located at the London City Freebie Center. The good and frankly, bad thing about Altamura is that the head comes attached to the body. While this means you don’t have to track down a mesh head. It also means you can’t use a different head if you already have one or find one you like better. Altamura does offer headless bodies and bodiless heads but only as paid items. The other quirk for the free Altamura bodies is they are not Omega or BoM friendly. With the return of BoM I find this rather frustrating. I can only assume that this is because these are all older versions.
This is the Robert right out of the box. Not my favorite look. He looks angry… like axe murderer angry.
“But me back in the box”
So knowing I couldn’t change the head I focused on the shape. A note here, I did change the shape of the body and head using the System sliders to suit my own taste, your mileage may vary. However, I couldn’t get it just right. So I took to the MarketPlace for shapes. Where I found Sweet’s. Several free shapes for Robert and others. Loads of 1Ls skins, some free hair, and even their own Bento Bom mesh body for just one Linden. I would have likely picked this based on the quality of their other products but I was set on absolutely free. There are several other Mesh Bento and BoM ready bodies on the Marketplace and the Grid that are under 10L each. And the minimum amount of Lindens you can buy is 2.50$ USD which will net you about 600L. So it’s not like you’d break the bank.
At any rate, I picked “Sweet’s Free! Shape for ROBERT by Altamura” and ran with it. I was able to adjust with the System sliders and got it pretty close to exactly what I wanted. The Sweet’s shape even came with mesh eyes. Alistar is getting closer!
Look’it them cheek bones!
One note, none of the free or 1L male bodies I found came with genitalia. Another drawback for the guys. You can find free male genitals on the Marketplace. However I can’t review them here as we are ‘family friendly’.
So, let’s talk briefly about AOs (Animation Overrides) for both the new kids. There are some basic AOs on the Marketplace for free and one, Bright’s Spunky Girl was the one I used for Julianna for a loong time. It’s basic but really all you need starting out. The female walk cycle is a bit exaggerated in the hip sway but not horrible. And at least the idle poses aren’t like a cat in heat. It’s not on their MarketPlace, you can only grab it in world -> Here.
There are also two basic AOs (Among others) at Free Dove Listed as “AX oo2 Basically a Boy and Basically a Girl” that I tried. I found them… ok. I liked a lot of the stand animations and they worked well. I found the idles to be too restless and hyper. In fact, that was my issue with a ton of AOs free and paid. You can find all types for free and just need to try them to find one you like. Just pay attention… lots of free AOs are NOT bento rigged. Which means they work… but your hands are going to stick out stiffly and not move well.
Ultimately, I chose the AOs “Daily sLife Free Male Bento” and “Lucky Girl” from Tuty’s for both of our new kids. It’s got Bento right there in the name, the hands move well, the walks are not overly ‘cartoony’ and best the idles are smoothly animated and move from one stand to the next very realistically. This choice didn’t surprise me as I use Tuty AOs for both Juli and Gabe.
SO there we have it for the new kids. We have Mesh Bento rigged bodies and Mesh heads, good skins and they walk less like ducks and more like Egyptians. (2 internet point for you if you get the reference )
Next week… HAIR! Maybe some clothes and we’ll talk about how to set up your Inventory so it doesn’t catch fire.
Also… if you have questions or comments, please let me hear ’em! There was a great question last week about making Lindens in world and I am still checking out my research on that and hope to have something to say about it next week.
Hey there Fab Free. Did y’all know that back in November of last year 55,000 people were actively playing Second Life at one time? 55,000! Each time I log on, I see anywhere from 40 to 50,000 people on the Grid. That’s a LOT of people. I couldn’t find any hard numbers as to how many of that might be new accounts but at least some are to be certain. And I wondered… how hard is it to get started now days. Back in 2009 it wasn’t really hard to get started but it wasn’t terribly intuitive either. Happily, I had a couple of good friends who also played and they helped me out tremendously. In fact, they brought me to “this great place with a ton of freebies called FabFree”!
Then right on the heels of all this musing of time past, another dear friend started modifying a new Alt avatar for himself and asked for a bit of input since he was designing a female avatar. Plus he, hadn’t really ever gotten into the mesh bodies or head before. As we worked he suggested a cool idea: what if Fab Free had a couple of posts about starting totally new in Second Life from the ground up. Sort of a No0b to Knock out in a few easy steps and for FREE.
So where are you going with all this, Juli? You may ask yourself. I’m glad you asked! I will be writing a series of posts taking us right from the beginning of starting an avatar and how you can start to fill your inventory and take the avatar from free beginning Linden Labs starter kit to a personalized maxed out Second Life Star.
So hang on… here we go!
FabFree meet Kerydwyn. I went ahead and started with a female avatar first simply because I am so much more familiar with female goods on the Grid. But I am also going to gender bend a bit here. So also meet Alistar. Just… wow. Second Life… why do you hurt me when I love you so much?
You can see there is a huge difference between the starter male and female. At least the female avi isn’t… embarrassing. It’s clear that way more effort has been put into the female side of things. Even the AO included with the starter girl was better. And yes, I hear you guys out there saying, “As usual.” Frustratingly, that trend has played out the entire time I was running around trying to find freebie starter items for poor Alistar.
So lets start with Kerydwyn. And bodies first. I knew I wanted a mesh body because of the bento rigging. Bento rigging basically adds more joints to the basic skeleton of the avatar so it can move more realistically. If you want to go dancing in SL… you want a bento rig. Some bodies are older and don’t have it so be careful to read the description of what you’re getting and try a demo if possible. But at 0L you can collect a bunch, try them out and pick your favorite.
I went with the Ruth body. It’s extremely basic in as far as mesh bodies go. The feet aren’t changeable so the body comes with three styles of detachable feet. But it’s a good starter mesh body. I also picked up the eBody curvy completely free on the Marketplace. It’s not Omega ready and it doesn’t have Bento rigged hands. But again, for free it’s not bad at all. The eBody full version is Omega ready and has all the bells and whistles… like finger nails… Since the body is not Omega ready, I couldn’t wear my skins that came with the starter avatar. But I found a skin color included that sorta matches. And though I searched… I couldn’t find an Omega System kit for the eBody. Even though it’s listed on the Omega website.
On a personal note, I found the eBody Curvy to still be too bubble butt for my taste. Even though I used the slider controls to make it as small as possible. I also didn’t like the way the vaginal area was sculpted. But that would change with the skin worn or other appliers added. So you’re mileage may vary.
Ruth Body on the left – eBody on the right – both with the “Leah” head from Kalhene.
I had already picked up the free Lelutka heads before Christmas, but I thought that might be kind of cheating. So I grabbed the lovely free head from Kalhene – “Leah”. I was also able to pick up a few free group[p gifts for later. And I will point you over to the list of Mesh bodies and heads right here on FabFree.
I really like this head even though it’s rather basic. It does come with a small HUD for eyelash length, 24 colors for the lips, a glossiness meter, a blink switch and a switch to hide the eyelashes. It also has a switch to “hide” the lips but all it did was take off any color I had put on.
The other “bad” thing… I couldn’t just use the Leah shape for the head. It’s a full body shape. And no amount of sliders could make that booty look smaller. So I ended up wearing the full body shape that came with the eBody. But the original face shape that comes with Leah is so much prettier. I may mess around with it more and see if I can slider it back.
Okay… so that’s it for today. Next Monday we’ll take a look at this same process for poor suffering Alistar. And we’ll talk about AOs plus hair!
I hope someone out there reads this and says “Just what I needed!” If you have any questions, comments, corrections or raspberries, feel free to holler at me here on the blog!
Hiya more shopping & hopping. With the holidays and so many events, advents, sales, and gifts to pick up. I am sure you are like me and just rushed off your feet. So will try to be brief 🙂
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Jacx is a silly girl today running around outside in the falling snow without a coat on. But the snow was just so perfect, the wet kind that makes snow angels and snowballs the best. And to prove just how awesome snowballs are, getting in a snowball fight and just daring the other person to hit her square in the face. Oh my! LOL. Every time I look at this picture reminds me of that Pat Benatar song “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” And I crack up laughing. However, I digress. Jacx is modeling the Neve Merry dress free from Shop&Hop, cute as a bug, 1 piece outfit that looks like a turtleneck sweater with 3/4 sleeves, plaid jumper set in a rich warm reddish-brown color, included is a 4 color hud to change the turtleneck, 8 colors to change the metals. You can acquire this lovely free outfit by popping over to Neve at Shop & Hop. Keeping with the spirit of the season Jacx has topped the outfit with MOoH Christmas Hat from day 9 of the advent calendar. Color choices with the hat hud are red, green, white, and blue. MOoH’s group is required for the advent, the joining fee is 100L, or you can pick up this past gift for 25L.
Sizes
Freya
Legacy
Legacy Perky
Maitreya
Maitreya Petite
Pose It Up
While you are hopping around Shop&Hop do stop by Fashiowl, to pick up the wonderful free Wintertide Pose Set. Included in the set is 9 Bento Poses with prop snowballs pose stand, adjustable via the menu, scene, individual poses separately.
That’s a wrap for today. See you all soon 🙂
Jacx
Jacx Is Modeling
Dress – Neve Merry Dress (Free @Shop&Hop/No Group Required)
Boots – Essenz Vermont Boots Fatpack
Hat – MOoH! Christmas Hat Advent Day 9 (Free/Group Required/Group Join Fee 100L) Or Available To Purchase for 25L
Body
Mesh Body – Maitreya Lara Mesh Head – Catwa HDPRO Queen Skin – Reed Luna Skin Tone 4 Catwa Hair – Sintiklia Isla Hair w/hat -hat Eyebrows – Izzie’s BOM Layers Thin Eyes – Edie’s Poppet Eyes Catwa HD PRO Applier, Marketplace Tattoo – Carol G Smile Tattoo, Heart Backside. Flowers Leg Tattoo, Bridah Foot Tattoo, Tattoo – HORL Faith Tattoo, Arm Orn Tattoo, Do It With Love Tattoo, Triangle Flower Tattoo, Underline Boob Tattoo Tattoo – Letis Tattoo Salabhas Lower Back Modesty Cover – iPeench Lace Modesty Cover Set, Marketplace Ears – Swallow Charm Ears Showing Earrings Eyeshadow – Cazimi Refresh Eyeshadow BOM Catwa Mint Green #1 75% Lipstick – Cazimi Shimmer Lipstick BOM Catwa #10 Rings – Ysoral Luxe Wedding Ring Sabine Rings2 – Vibing Corina Rings, Destiny Rings Nails – Alme Mesh Stiletto Nails The Reds
Hey FabFree! I have to say this is an exciting week with our own FabFree Fallen Leaves and Frost Hunt starting up and November truly settling in around us. Add to that it 25L Tuesday and I’m a happy girl! So here we go!
First is this gorgeous new medieval style gown from Kitty Creations. I always count on Kitty Creations to have wonderful items, especially for the RP and Fantasy fans like me. This is the “Medieval Passion” dress in blue and t’s on the 25L Tuesday sales board. The details make this gown. Just look at the beautiful black embroidery all over the outer skirt. You even get the sweet crown of blue roses. Of course, the gown comes in several more colors but the blue is for the sale today.
Sizes Included
Fitmesh – S – L
Maitreya
I was so happy to pickup this next item for my growing Role Play collection. The “Old Books” from Lorien are a great prop for those scholarly types. The books and scrolls are adjustable to fit most any avatar and look great in a library.
The 25L Tuesday sale goes until midnight SLT though some designers leave the sale boards up all week. I suggest you don’t chance it and go grab these bargains today!
~~ ♥ ~~
Juli’s Stylin’
Mesh Head – LeLutka (Spencer- w/ my own edited shape)
FabFree - Fabulously Free in SL 
