Greetings everybody

It is celebration time on the Costa Rica Sims and what are we celebrating?  Our fourth anniversary that is what!!  As part of the celebrations we are running The Most Beautiful Parcel contest.

Everyone knows that the Costa Rica Sims is the most beautiful private estate in all Second Life. This accomplishment has been made by the love, time, and dedication, residents devote to their properties. So just like last year, this year we will be rewarding the resident with the most beautiful parcel with L$7,500 in prizes. Our sponsors are renowned builders /content creators Pamela Galli of La Galleria and Eve Elfenbeim of Lived In.  The most beautiful parcel will be chosen by Eve.

Some background on Eve:

Eve was freelancing in RL at the time she found Second Life.  She was asked to write up a review of virtual worlds for a technical blog and Second Life came up first in the search results.  And as SL is won’t to do it pulled her in a million different directions, but she says it was all fun.  In the long run she found that her favourite way to spend time in world is to treat SL as a giant blank canvas for her creative outlet.  Once she heard mesh was coming to the grid Eve got a lot more serious about content creation and went to school to learn the Autodesk Maya software program.  She says Furniture was an easy choice, “I’m hopeless when it comes to high fashion and I admire the creators here who can do it well.  My Maya classes ended last year so I have been creating furniture ever since... and obsessing about it just as often.  Ha!”

I managed to catch up with the lovely Eve to find out a little more about her brand 'Lived In' and how she will be approaching the judging for the contest.

Eve, thank you for giving up some of your precious time to chat to me.  Tell me about your brand ‘Lived In’, I see your main designs reflect the ‘shabby chic’ look. Where do you get your inspiration from?

My real life home is very casual and country so I just went with what I personally enjoy. You can get on the mailing lists for major furniture companies in real life like Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, IKEA, etc. I just use the sales magazines they send to me as a starting point for inspiration and then generate my own theme from there. The end collection never looks anything like the photo I started from but it gets the ball rolling at least.  And then sometimes I might get a funky idea from a non-furniture related blog and think hey.. we need that in SL.

What would you classify your design style as?

Relaxed.  My style encourages the impression of sandy feet on a kitchen floor, scattered pillows as if someone was just there and messy bedding that invites lounging around on.  But it also includes a coordinated kind of chaos.  I like colours that complement each other and the idea that you can grab a sofa from me and then pair it up with another decor piece you found elsewhere. That is the point: Mix and match and don't worry about perfection.

Do you have any RL design influences?

Oh absolutely. My grandmother's house was always my favourite place to visit when I was a child and it still is. It is inviting, it always smells wonderful and she is really fond of extra pillows and throw blankets that can be plopped down anywhere you wish to curl up. My own RL home is the same idea and I take a lot of that thought process into the Second Life designs.

What is your opinion of the ‘economy’ within Second Life?

I don't think it is as terrible as some on the rumour mill would have us believe.  Sure it is hard to see a popular place go off the grid and that stirs up all kinds of speculation but I just keep in mind that behind that location is a person who, for whatever reason, decided to bow out.  And that is okay.  There is still a lot of activity and plenty of new areas cropping up. I'm here for the long haul.”

How do you attract customers to your business?

Social networking.  Paying for Second Life adds on a real life platform makes no sense.  People outside of our little community here still don't get what SL even is.  So why spend the money on that?  I stick with the social networks that the community is using.  For a while it was Facebook.  Twitter is still very popular and now I see a lot of residents over on Plurk as well.  It doesn't matter to me.  I'll go where the right people are.

I was reading your blog the other day and saw an article about Mesh ,  a lot of people are loving the idea of mesh for furniture and homes but not so much when it comes for clothes for your avatar, what are your thoughts about this?

Mesh is still brand new and needs time to cultivate throughout the community.  Content creators need a whole lot of time here - 6 months at least.  A year would be better.  3D programs are not at all intuitive because they cannot be compared to the run of the mill retail graphics program.  Clothing, in particular, will be an area of learning.  It doesn't work like a sculpty that you can just edit and adjust the size on. Instead the builder has to solve for different avatar heights, sizes, shapes, etc.  They have to do that before you buy the clothing, too. So if you like the look then chances are you had a shape that was similar to what the builder used. Otherwise it can look a little off right now.  Give them time.  I promise in one year from now you will wonder how fashion in Second Life ever existed without mesh.

So Eve let’s get down to the nitty gritty of the Most Beautiful Parcel contest.  You are this year's judge of the most beautiful parcel within our estate, what will you be looking for?

Lots and lots of personality!  I don't care if my style does not match yours.  I want to be able to get an idea of the kind of person you are just by looking at your parcel. If that means you are a fan of modern design and very clean lines because you are a meticulous person by nature then so be it.  But don't be afraid to personalize your space:  SL family photos, real life family photos, hobbies, etc.  However you decide to do it just make sure it reflects you. I'll get a feel for it from there. I will also be looking for creativity and even some humour won’t hurt.  This kind of contest should be fun.. so have a lot of it!”

On an estate such as ours with so many residents and different interpretations of style, how difficult do you think it will be for you to just pick one winner?

Pretty much impossible and I told Giancarlo that when he asked me to judge.   It is a good problem to have, though, and I am honoured to be able to do it.

Should contestants participating in the Most Beautiful Parcel contest be worried about you leaning towards a look that is closer to your own personal style?

Oh man no, not at all.  I am expressing myself to you with my personal style.  I am telling you a little about who I am. But I don't expect you to be -just like me-.   Everyone has their own thing.  I am much more interested in what the space says about the owner, regardless of what I would choose for my personal surroundings.”

Well once again Eve thank you for your time, is there any you wish to comment on in conclusion?

Yes, one final thing:  I am honoured to be a judge for The Most Beautiful Parcel in Costa Rica Sims competition and, by extension, be invited to enter the homes of my own neighbours.  I may linger a little because I am caming around but I will try not to entre if I see someone there. That way no one is interrupted.  Also please remember to add me to the white list for your security system if you use them. I can't form an opinion if I can't enter your land.

Learn about Eve and "Lived In" by clicking the links below:

Lived In Store
Flickr
Marketplace
Blog

Closing date for entries is 13 September 2011 and your contact is Southern Riptide.

Good luck to all our entrants.

Please note the pictures in the article are not linked to the contest but are examples of what residents have done with their land in the past.