Category Archives: Opinion

Lessons Learned @ Home and Garden Expo

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As some of you know I was planning to be in this year’s Second Life Home and Garden Expo.

And I was really looking forward to it too. Not just because I like making the kind of things that will be on sale there, but also because it benefits a cause that I am passionate about, since I am a cancer survivor.

To make it short; I won’t be there.

Here’s why:

I had bought some full perm mesh farm animals from a store called Just Animals on the Second Life Marketplace and I had used them in a product which was to be part of the Gatcha @ Expo program to benefit Relay for Life. It turns out that it is possible that the original source of these full perm meshes may be a service called Turbosquid, where full perm meshes are sold for dollars.

The first I heard of Turbosquid, is when a coalesced object of more than 1300 prims was returned to my Lost and Found folder, immediately followed by being ejected and banned from the Expo sims without notice.

I was really upset – who wouldn’t be. But after a sleepless night, I am trying to look on the positive side of this thing. And these are the important points to me arising from the mess.

  1. I am glad that the organizers of the Expo are diligent about potential IP theft. I wish more event organizers were as thorough.
  2. I will be very cautious if I buy full perm meshes on the Second Life Marketplace or at any in-world store.
  3. And last, and most important to me, is that I will buckle down and devote time to learning 3D modelling properly. It’s long overdue.

So I will be taking time off from -Hanaya- to go back to 3D modelling school.

Building in-world and using mesh exporting tools like I have been doing is just not good enough.

So …

The -Hanaya- Subscribe-o-matic group and in-world store groups will be closed at the end of September.  I will be scaling down the in-world store in the next few weeks – likely turn it into a little park with only a handfull of my products that I am really proud of.

-Hanaya- Home and Garden Expo

I took this snap of my store at Home Expo 6 before my stuff got returned.
It was pretty 🙁

 

 

May News + Group Gift from -Hanaya-

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It has been absolutely ages since I have blogged! And no, it does not mean that there is nothing new.

One of the reasons for being quiet is that I have been learning some new techniques in 3-D modeling. And after careful consideration, my team and I have decided to limit our use of meshes made by other creators in -Hanaya- products. Instead, we hope to continue to bring you meticulously crafted and textured  creations (made from prims, sculpts and original meshes) that are not available elsewhere.

And speaking of sculpties …

-Hanaya- Welcome Sign (Daisies with Robin)

The group gift for our VIP Customer group, -Hanaya- Yummy Collectibles, was sent out today.

It is a summery welcome sign embellished with sculpted daisies and hand-drawn textures. The sign is mod/copy, and comes in 2 sizes – a standard avatar size and sized for petites.

If you missed the group inventory offer, the gift will remain available, as always, in the customer information area of our in-world store for the month of May. For those of you not part of our VIP group – I invite you to join us. The one time group-join fee is 250 Lindens.

U P C O M I N G   E V E N T S

  • Culture Shock
    Look for us on Purple Street, starting on Friday, May 4th.
    All products for Culture Shock from -Hanaya- are brand new and are either 100% mesh, or combination of mesh/sculpts.
  • Home & Garden Expo
    More awesome original meshes from -Hanaya- for your home, business and outdoor spaces.
    Look for us on Home Expo 14 starting on May 19th.
  • Keep Calm and Keep Shopping Event
    The event, which starts May 14th, guarantees each participating merchant will be selling a brand new, not-to-be-sold-again product, which will be created specifically for the event.

More information and images of products for these events are coming up. Have a great day!

 

Birdbaths – sing a sweet song to spring

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As I was putting the finishing spring touches to our sim, I came across one of my fave old bird baths from summer 2007. It holds many memories, and is still kind of pretty, but I felt like something new this year.

So here are 2 new birdbaths from -Hanaya-. One for a casual garden or forest clearing look, and the other a bit more formal for those of you that are into that style.

-Hanaya- Driftwood Birdbath

A sparrow perches on the cast concrete of the birdbath, which is cradled by 3 branches of an old driftwood log. A bit of ivy embellishes the log and adds only a few prims to the piece. Gently rippling animated water surface adds realism.

-Hanaya- Stone Birdbath

A traditional pedestal bird bath with water surface ripples spreading out in a pattern from the spot where the sparrow drinks. Only 8 prims, in fact 6 if you remove the 2 prim shadow at the base of the column.

Both birdbaths are, as always, copy/mod for your convenience, so you can adjust as needed. Or remove our birds, if you have your own that you wish to utilize instead. We won’t mind 🙂

The birdbaths are currently rezzed out on the grounds of our in-world store, and are available for purchase in the New Products area of our store, directly inside the front entrance.

A   W O R D   O F   C A U T I O N   A B O U T   T H E   S L   M A R K E T P L A C E

Since the roll out of Direct Delivery on March 21st, the Second Life Marketplace continues to experience severe issues. These range from slowness, to failed deliveries, to customers receiving the wrong goods, customers paying but merchants not receiving the funds, and mixed up listing images/products and pricing. As one reporter on the JIRA said, shopping on the Marketplace right now, is like playing a Gatcha! You have no idea what you will receive.

It is my personal recommendation to my customers that they shop in-world for our products until the Second Life Marketplace issues are resolved and the platform is stabilized. If you are unable to teleport,  or wish to purchase an item as a gift, please do not hesitate to contact me – I am most happy to help you to avoid issues with the Marketplace.

If you would like more specific information about the issues, please contact me for a list of JIRAs that touch on this topic.

Please note, therefore, that the new releases in this post will not be available on the Second Life Marketplace until further notice.

Thank you for your continued support, and have a great weekend.

Z … z.z .. zzz

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I don’t have much to say today – feeling lazy, slightly lethargic, and still stuffed from 4 days of overindulging on food, drink and Christmas treats.

Although some of my fellow merchants seem to have been busy sending out mucho notices about SALES! DISCOUNTS! in the last few days, personally I do not believe in spamming my groups at this time of year with advertizing. Especially not on December 25th – so come on you guys, take a chill pill!

As a matter of fact, I have not visited my store for a few days and it is a kind of nice vacation feeling. Kind of like when you work from home, but you keep the door to your home office padlocked shut, and throw away the key for awhile.

But today, when I logged in to buy a New Year’s prezzie for a favoured SLer of mine, I was pleasantly surprised by a late Christmas gift from one of my favourite full-perm animations merchants – webmistrex Xue of Dyer Maker Animations and Poses. It captured my mood of the moment perfectly – see for yourself 🙂

 Dyer Maker ‘After Christmas Armchair’

Oh and yeah, that is me in the chair. Going back to bed now, with my ebook tucked on the pillow beside me. Z … z.z .. zzz ………