What's New???

I have been hard at work! Na...I just like to say that! I love building, so it's not really work. *smiles*
At Dreamscapes Gallery:

The Grande Mahogany Throne



Filigree in sculpted primwork in honey colored mahogany, accents this truly royal throne. Avalaible as a limited edition, each throne is numbered 1-5. Soft, sensual lines grace deep rich woods. The nightstands open and close by touch. The vanity has an opening drawer with sleek, gold lipstick and compact.

At Elements in Design:

The Ahava Bedroom Set

Soft, sensual lines grace deep rich woods. The nightstands open and close by touch. The vanity has an opening drawer with sleek, gold lipstick and compact. I will be adding a dresser, armoir, lingerie chest and blanket chest.

A special new item...."My Snuggle Sleep Pillow"These body pillows are sculpted and textured to look like feather pillows. They aren't sort of like pillows...they ARE pillows! Best part? They are sold separately and have a snuggly pose by Craig Altman!

At Elemental Muse:

Dark Dreams Necklace & Earrings

A romantic cascade of deep, rich, blood red pyrope garnets in aged silver, flowing to just above the decolletage. A dream as dark as midnight and as sensual as a rose.
A special thanks you to sachi Vixen of Adam & Eve, for the lovely dress and hair! ...sach, your timing couldn't have been better! lol

Midnight Fire


Necklace , Earrings & Bracelets



Midnight Fire combines the radiance of Flame Aura Crystal and Aqua Aura Crystal with the soft glow of Copper.


Primmy? You could say that, at 253 prims on the necklace alone! LOL- I love it though and I hope you will too!

CCA Statement

I am content creator. I create things that others can use in Second Life to enhance their "in world" experience. In my case, I make furniture, jewelry and art. There are many content creators in Second Life, all filling a niche. Some of us work in Second Life full time. This is how we provide for our families. We love what we do and take pride in our hard work. We also enjoy the pleasure that other Second Life users get when using what we have created. This is the art of content creation.

Like any other art, a creation surfaces in the mind of the creator prior to manifestation in world. Once that creation is manifested it is the same as if it were made in real life. It is part of the creator and always will be. According to copyright law, a creator owns this creation from the moment it is made, regardless of whether a copyright was registered. This addition to copyright law was included in 1971, and is called "intent to copyright". therefore, taking a creator's texture or other creation without the permission of that creator is considered a criminal act.

Due to recent events, such as piracy of our creations, many creators have chosen to tighten security. We have also formed an organization called the CCA (Content Creators Association). No amount of security will prevent theft of our work. We know this. We are asking that residents recognize the hard work that goes into each creation and respect our ownership of our creations. We need your help. Please do not buy goods from vendors without checking to make sure that the vendor is the legitimate owner of what he or she is selling. Many places in Second Life have "deals" that seem to good to be true. This is because many of these "deals" result from stolen creations. It will be helpful to you, the consumer as well, since a vendor that sells stolen merchandise can't or won't service it. If the product breaks, you are out of luck. I do not want to encourage paranoia or accuse unjustly. My aim is to help with awareness on this subject. Creators and consumers are a team. It wouldn't be as much fun to create something if no one enjoyed it.

Even though Second Life is a virtual world, the laws that pertain to copyrights are very real. The growth of pirated content in Second Life has forced many creators to consider stronger measures to insure protection of our work, including filing a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and if necessary filing a law suit. Many thieves believe that they are immune...anonymous. This is not the case. If a resident steals and a creator files a DMCA, that resident will have to provide real life contact information in order to contest the charge. That contact information is then provided to the creator that filed, for use in any legal actions he or she may take.

This may sound harsh to you. You may be thinking, "it's only a game!" Real life laws apply in virtual worlds too. Help us stop piracy, by supporting and respecting creator rights. Avoid purchasing stolen goods. We, in turn will work hard for you, to insure you get the best of us!

Content Creators Association

Well, I just got back from an amazing vacation (first in a long time) to find that my store was hit by texture and design thieves. What a welcome home. *sigh* I couldn't believe my eyes. There, in a stranger's store on Deneb, I saw my stolen textures on badly copied furnishings. I was in shock. I was fuming! How could someone do this? Geez Louise-Why would they? Can't they use their own imaginations? Don't they know that it's theft? As these thoughts stormed through my mind, I realized that I didn't know the first thing about protecting myself from thieves beyond the "where's my lawyer?!" reaction. The first thing I did was to contact friends who were also content creators to let them know. I didn't want this happening to them as well. Then I got busy doing research. My friend Craig Altman, owner of Bits and Bobs, is not only a positive influence in my life but also a very well organized wellspring of information! He took me through the step by step process of filing a DMCA. Thank you, Craig! I also contacted my friend Robin Sojourner, who in real life, is the professional artist Robin Wood. She gave me lots of good advice and information on what to do and what not to do. Through it all, I was in constant IM with my friend Arwen Eusebio, owner of AE Industries. Arwen was also a victim of IP (Intellectual Property) theft in Second Life. Her original Tree House design was stolen -textures and all! Arwen's ordeal is still ongoing without resolution. As I shared the information I had gleaned from Craig and Robin with Arwen, we both realized that many creators do not know that their original content is protected by copyright though the 1971 addition of copyright law of "intent to copyright". Your creation is yours from the moment it is made. Many are unsure of the legal route to take and are intimidated by the process. Many creators also do not realize that they may be entitled to civil damages. It also became more clear to Arwen and me, that content creators needed to do more to protect our work from theft. That's when we decided to form the CCA (Content Creators Association). Only through the united support of others and the sharing of information could we make a dent in IP crime. We need to join together and support one another. We need to share anti theft techniques. We need to help guide others through the legal process and encourage them not to give up and give in. All competition aside, we need to help ourselves by helping each other.

The CCA has been picking up steam as more content creators pick up the banner. We are not limiting membership to those who sell content. Any who create original content are in need of support and protection from IP theft. I will be posting helpful info links in the next few days as I weed through the information I have gathered.

To learn more about CCA, please contact Arwen Eusebio or me. We do not have to be victims. We have rights to our work. Stay positive by helping one another. If you have experienced IP theft, don't give up creating or let frustration get the better of you. File a DMCA and follow up on it. Stay proactive. If it's worth creating , it's worth protecting!

Sculpted Furniture

OK, I got on the stick and started working more with sculpted prims. I'll admit I was resistant. (The damn programs are intimidating and they never seem to have a good guide.) I gave it another go this past week and I'm glad I did. I am here to tell you that once I got started sculpting prims I couldn't stop! It's so much fun! The best part about sculpties is, I can streamline my builds and create with more freedom. The lower prim count is an added bonus. My plan is to remake much of my store inventory, replacing some of the regular prims with sculpties.



Although I am creating quite a bit of "Real Life" styled furnishings, I will also continue to create the fantasy pieces that EID is known for. I believe there is room for both.


I'll be in and out of world over the Thanksgiving holiday. For those of you that celebrate Thanksgiving, have a wonderful day and be well!

Breath

Imagine a wisp of air...ethereal, insubstantial and fleeting. Imagine glass...fragile and crystalline. When life is challenging, we can sometimes feel disconnected from those we love and even from the world around us. We feel fragile...as insubstantial as breath. So fragile that we could blow away if we don't make a concerted effort to hang on to ourselves.

Over the past week or two, I have felt disconnected. My anchors...my touch stones don't seem reachable. I am pealed back to my fragile core and exposed. The slightest breeze can sweep me of the edge, so I hang on to myself. I tell myself that I can stand. I tell myself that I can hold. Who knows...maybe I can?

The choices we make in life build the structure that we stand on. The people we include in our lives are always a part of that structure. The problem is...weak choices can weaken that structure and cause it to collapse under its own weight or tip over for lack of balance. We seek balance in our selves. We seek balance in our work. Maybe we should seek balance in love. Maybe it's not "OK" to always be the one who opens...reaches out. Maybe by doing so, it takes too much from us. Maybe it doesn't encourage others to step up. In any case, I need to stop overspending myself. I haven't reached any momentous decisions on this topic or resolved anything within myself. I'm still here...still standing. But...I now understand that balance is applicable in relationships too. I don't know why I didn't see that before. Its not OK to expect to put myself last. Its not "OK"to always be OK with everything. I am not giving up on love. I am not giving up on friendships. I am drawing boundaries between what I can be "OK" with and what I can't. I have some really amazing friends and family. I love my friends and family dearly. I hope that they will understand. I hope that they will see this as an opportunity reach out. I know that right now I am over extended and I can't hold my hand out any farther without falling.

Breath....delicate....insubstantial...fragile, it exists in the in betweens of moments. And I am in between one breath and the next.

Souls' Dance

Connected beyond skin, we touch. Souls woven together in a timeless dance, we meet and become one.

For T always...
and dedicated with love to Jordan & Via ...two who are one.

Sometimes miracles happen and we get to see a story unfold in the most astonishing way. This was the case with Souls' Dance. It is the aftermath of magic.

This story continues...

To begin at the beginning, I was in turmoil regarding current events in my love life, (See Previous post "Fire Dance") when I received an instant message from my old friend, Jordan, in Second Life. He apologized for being out of touch, but circumstances had kept him off line. We spoke frequently over the next three days. He had been upset over his home situation. Then came the message from Jordan that the love of his life, his wife Via was leaving. She needed space to figure things out. That day, with shaking hands he signed the separation papers. He loved her enough to want her to be happy, so resigned himself to letting her go. At this point , Jordan and I were both hanging on to our respective sanity by a thread. I was waiting to see if I still had a relationship with T. Jordan was going through legal separation. I had wished there was something I could say to help him, but no words would make any difference to someone who was losing the one person they love above all others. In an effort to clear my head, I decided I needed new shoes. (Hey! I'm female ..ok? I shop. Therefore, I am) After teleporting into a couple of stores with disappointing results, I deciding to go back to my tried and true favorite shoe store , Minx. This is where it gets interesting , so stick with me ....

I teleported into Minx and landed on...Jordan's wife, Via. Yes. Out of the 35,000 people logged into Second Life, I landed on Via. We'd never met. She recognized my name as one that Jordan had mentioned and introduced herself to me. As we chatted she mentioned their immanent separation. (Still we cammed and shopped...We are female after all.) Via mentioned the sculptures that I'd recently done, that are on their Second Life estate. Universe of Two and Fire Dance - Danze del Fuego are two of Jordan's favorites. Via told me that she connected with Universe of Two, because it reminded her of when she met Jordan. She said that time stood still and all she could see were his eyes...his face. Interestingly enough , Jordan had expressed the same thought to me in almost exactly the same words, when he first viewed Universe of Two, and I told her as much. Shocked by this, she told me she thought he'd forgotten. I told Via that Jordan said he could never forget the way time stopped and their eyes met across the room. Via told me at this point through tears, that she was incomplete without him, but she needed space. She wished that she could erase the past year and start fresh, but he was so distant. I told her how much Jordan loved her and suggested that she talk to him. Really talk....openly and without reservation, pride or walls. I explained what I'd recently gone through, and how I risked being completely vulnerable to hurt in order to reach out in my own relationship. We talked about dancing in the flames. Wasn't true love worth the risk?

That night Jordan and Via talked and reconnected. Jordan told me he stayed up much of the night watching Via as she slept. When he finally slept, Jordan dreamed of dancing with Via in a lovely garden. He said they had no corporeal forms. They were pure essence weaving in, out and through one another as if they were one. Jordan stopped at that point and said" It's hard to describe". I reassured him that I understood. I remembered all the times I felt that way with T. The intimacy of that soul deep connection is the most beautiful experience I've ever had. So , without thinking I told Jordan, "It's like a Souls' Dance". There was an Oh My God moment in IM, when I realized that I had just named my next sculpture. I could see the weave of prims and colors forming in my head. I couldn't wait to get to work on it.

So I ask you...Was I really shopping for shoes? (Laughing) We are all so connected to each other, that great need can produce miracles. I know the four of us experienced a miracle this past week. Jordan and Via are back together and working things out. The separation papers were ripped up and in the trash. True love won the day. As for my own Fire Dance...? Well, I didn't crash and burn. In fact, I found a wellspring of strength I never knew existed. I was able to share this with T and it went a long way toward healing our relationship. Magic exists, fed by love and connecting us all, to create miracles.

I have since completed Souls' Dance and dedicated it to T, Jordan and Via. The story will unfold further and time will add detail and flavor to this dance. We will undoubtedly get back to our lives, but for the briefest of times, we were each part of the miracle. We will never forget.

I pass that magic on to you. Continue the story for me. : )

-Gwen

Fire Dance - Danze del Fuego

There are times in our lives that are cross overs...nexus points. We make a choice to either play it safe or take the ultimate risk of crash and burn. But when we want something enough, we may choose to risk failure, rejection and even pain to gain it. That's when we find ourselves dancing in the flames. It's not a fire walk....that's for wimps! No. It's a fire dance. The goal is not merely to survive, but to summon all of our courage and despite fear, risk all for love. Love can be the ultimate motivation for growth, if we allow it. So many times we have stopped ourselves from enjoying love because the risk of hurt was too great. We don't want to feel vulnerable. Excessive pride is fear's shield, preventing love and growth. I asked myself "Isn't love worth any risk?" The answer was plain. Yes. Staying safe gained me nothing. Love is always worth the risk, so I chose to dance in the flames. Once I made the decision to conquer fear of hurt and rejection and openly express my feelings, an amazing thing happened. I didn't feel weaker, I felt stronger...empowered! I realized that fear of hurt and failure can stop us from experiencing so many good things in life. Just the act of making that choice was empowering. Yes...I may crash and burn. I left myself with no out and no shield of pride to hide behind. But, I cannot let that stop me from doing all I can to experience love. So I acknowledged my fears and with a last look at the safety zone, tossed myself into the flames with three words on my lips. "I love you."

Allowing myself to be vulnerable has strengthened me in a very integral way. I chose love over fear. Whatever the outcome of this ultimate risk of self, I will not regret my choice to dance in the flames.