This is always my favorite time of year. I found it a little difficult to get into the holiday spirit at first, but it arrived just in time. 😀
Everyone had a great time opening up their gifts. Hardware has been installed, games have been downloaded, and I am coloring while I listen to my favorite Christmas songs.
I hope you got to spend your holiday with those you love the most.
Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the Sinners Burlesque Christmas Show.
When I heard that Yummy was going to be onstage, I knew I couldn’t miss it. And I’m glad I didn’t, because it was a great show!
The opening number was an adorable one, with the dancer in a snowglobe and penguins circling her.
So cute. 🙂
The next number was a group routine (I’ve lost my notes, so I don’t know the song, but it was very cute.)
The venue itself was decorated to the nines, including sleighs for the audience to sit in while they enjoyed the show.
And then, the number I’d been waiting for. 😀
Yummy was in a group number and it was spectacular!
Aura did a fabulous job with the choreography and I loved the costumes.
You can’t see him in the photo, but there was also an adorable polar bear who made a surprise appearance. 😛
The next routine was a solo number – a lovely ballet set in front of a Nativity scene.
After the ballerina, Aura took to the stage once again in a very jazzy, burlesque number, which I unfortunately did not get a picture of.
(I was too busy snooping around to see how she was working her magic.)
The final act of the show left everyone in the audience grinning.
Dancing (in reverse drag) to ‘Walkin’ ‘Round in Women’s Underwear’ (one of the vastly under-rated Christmas classics), it was an adorable number and a great end to the show.
If you haven’t been to a Sinners show, be sure to check them out. Join the group to stay updated on their latest news.
A week ago, I was lucky enough to stumble across a post on Plurk from Daeberethwen Arbenlow about a tutorial she had made for removing a green screen in Photoshop.
Though I had watched various tutorials on the same subject and attempted it numerous times, I could never get to work as cleanly as the videos showed.
It may be that I have more experience with Photoshop now, but I’m chalking it up to the terrific job Daeberethwen does of explaining in her tutorials. 😀
Since the green screen video, I have used the method with great success. Just yesterday I cajoled my husband into logging into SL so we could take a holiday photo.
I had set up all my props in front of a green screen so that I could insert a different background later in Photoshop. We could have just gone somewhere winter-y and taken the pic, but I wanted to try out my new skill. 😛
Also, it gave me an excuse to sort through my giant folder of ‘Christmas’ items and purge some of them. (How do I end up with so many no-copy items that are useless to me for sets?!)
This is the edited photo and what I will be using for Christmas cards. 🙂
I used several techniques I learned in videos from Daeberethwen, including the green screen removal and using the ‘screen’ layer style to add effects.
I am still amazed at how quickly and cleanly I can now add effects and fancy bits to my photos with very little effort!
I changed my ‘green screen’ to blue, since so many of the props have green in them. I did have to lower my tolerance a bit with the background eraser, because at 100% it was erasing much of his tuxedo!
I added a background texture (the snowflake background behind the pergola), changed the hue of it a bit, and then used the ‘screen’ layer trick to add some snow as an overlay.
After adding the text, I think the total time to process this photo was maybe 20 minutes. For comparison, here is the original photo:
As you can see, I cropped it (sorry, Frosty!), removed the blue screen, and then added my other effects.
Simple!
I love playing around in Photoshop and learning new techniques. I have a ton of pre-made filters and actions I’ve found in various places, but I get much more enjoyment out of discovering how to do something myself. 😀
If you’ve been looking for some great Photoshop tutorials, I highly recommend Daeberethwen’s videos. You can find the tutorial on using the ‘screen’ layer here.
I can’t wait to try this out with other photos and effects!
It’s Christmas Eve and our tradition is to celebrate with extended family today.
So, while the turkey is cooking and the rolls are waiting for their turn in the oven, I thought I’d take a few moments to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
The holidays can be stressful – remember to focus on what’s important.
Family, friends, loved ones – those who are with us and those who aren’t.
As I said before, Saturday was a full day of show watching.
I managed to make it to one other show – and boy, am I glad I did!
I’d seen a video of this group before, but not an actual performance.
What I saw at the show will definitely have me going back for more!
Lots of creative routines with very well done sets and choreography.
The show opened with some very nice eye candy.
If Santa’s helpers all look like this, I’m gonna have to try harder to stay on the nice list!
I loved this routine – very creative use of ice skating animations.
I’ve seen many different ice skating/ice dancing routines this season, but this one is by far my favorite.
This routine wins the ‘cute’ award – hands down!
I love the hippo song, and this little hippo avi is just too adorable.
The dance animations used were very creative as well.
One of my favorite Christmas songs for the last several years has been ‘The Christmas Can-Can’ by Straight No Chaser. (If you haven’t heard of them, look them up – they are amazing!)
This routine was one of the best choreographed routines I have seen in quite some time.
Great use of a variety of animations, a nice but simple set, and a focus on the performers.
I am a sucker for ballet dances, and this one was truly enchanting.
I loved the ballerina angels descending on the snowflakes.
After they landed, a giant Christmas tree rose up in the background – just amazing.
The last routine of the show was Rudolph and the other reindeer.
I loved how his nose actually blinked. 🙂
Adorable costumes and cute choreography.
If you haven’t seen this show, make sure to catch it!
Last night was a late night for me, because I stayed up to catch the Christmas Extravadanza! show put on by SexyS Quintessa.
And I get to kill two birds with one stone in this post (just an expression, I would never actually kill a bird), because I went back to the sim this morning to capture some pretty pics of the sim using SL Go!
Yesterday SL Go announced they have now added the Firestorm viewer as an option (for PC only right now). So, of course, I had to try it out.
After I did, boy, am I excited!
Because I now have all the fancy schmancy photo tools and windlight settings that come with Firestorm – something I was missing with the LL viewer.
So I spent a little time traveling around the sim and snapping some pics.
I also snapped some pics at the show last night, and I’ll be including those here as well.
The sim is beautifully decorated and there are lots of little areas to explore and take photos.
Taken using SL Go
I love this little area, with a grand staircase and the beautiful carriage.
You almost expect Cinderella to appear around the corner!
This area was the setting for one of the acts in the show.
An amazing setting and costume, very ethereal and beautiful.
I am definitely going to have to get a Flickr account, just to make it easier to upload all the photos I plan to take!
Picture taken using SL Go
The phototools in Firestorm make it really easy to play around with things and be creative. And when the sim is as fun as this one, it’s easy to get carried away.
Just look at this adorable stage!
One of the acts in the show was set in front of this cute little toy shop.
And when you go to the show, Santa himself drives you around in his sleigh from place to place, in true Christmas fashion!
There were many creative acts throughout the show, and not every act is performed each show, so make sure to go more than once to catch them all!
These lovely ice skaters did an amazing routine, complete with lifts and turns!
The whole sim is just absolutely charming.
Even if you can’t make one of the shows, go for a visit and take some pictures yourself.
And, of course, no Christmas would be complete without mention of the Grinch and the Whos down in WhoVille.
I probably had too much fun playing around with the windlights, but there was so much eye candy around!
I have a lot more pictures, so I will hopefully have time in the next few days to get a Flickr account set up so I can share them all more easily.
One of my favorite things on the sim was the Northern Lights.
Be sure to experience the sim at night – it’s beautiful!!
I reported a few weeks ago about Winds of the Sahara Cabaret closing their doors.
I attended their Christmas show last night and it was announced that, though they are closing over the holidays, they will reopen in January 2015 at a new location.
The location hasn’t been announced as yet, so keep an eye out for notices of the new location.
In the meantime, here are a few quick pics from the show last night:
Winnie did a darling number to ‘I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,’ including the adorable little hippos.
There were several very pretty winter scenes, but this one was my favorite. So glittery!