Feature Fantasy Artist: Yasmina Siamendes

Phoenix-Waterstart in Elven Realm

Not long ago I featured a new picture/pictures every week and then put them up in the gallery on Enchanted. Well, now I plan to recognize the artist and a selection of their pictures and also at times, recognize a theme or style of art with several artists. I will announce this in Flickr, here in the blog, and also display the artwork in the Kaleidoscope Gallery at Enchanted.

At this time I'm recognizing Yasmina Siamendes, a wonderful and very talented fantasy artist! For more information, I blogged in detail about she and her artwork on my other blog: http://nataliemontagne.blogspot.com/2011/06/fantasy-art-focus-yasmina-siamendes.html Her Flickr photostream can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yorga-secondlife/ Please stop by the gallery at Enchanted of Elven Realm and enjoy her work up close! She did a variety of pictures from Enchanted and Bewitched, too :) Enjoy!

Sad World (taken at Bewitched)

The Cottage Boutiques of Enchanted

As many of you may already know, we now have four amazing fantasy boutiques within the cottage at Enchanted of Elven Realm now. I plan to add one more, but would like it to be a designer that sells skins/fantasy accessories. Here are the shops we have now:

Caverna Obscura by Elvina Ewing
Deviance by Surreal LeShelle
Elvenbreath by Selina Forder
Studio Sidhe by Faery Sola

All the above focus mainly on fashion. Studio Sidhe focuses more on poses and pose props, although she also designs jewelry and fashions.

All are located at Enchanted of Elven Realm. Once you tp to the landing point, there is a tp door to the cottage right at the entrance :) Hope to see you there!

The Cottage at Enchanted

Deviance by Surreal LeShelle
Surreal specializes in lovely costumes and gorgeous gowns. For example, she carries a Snow White, Rose Red, Tinker Bell and Alice in Wonderland costume...all very well done!

Studio Sidhe by Faery Sola
Faery is the designer who created the wonderful unicorn pose prop you see out on Enchanted. She has several others too...like the Snow White prop, the moon, and many others that are top quality.

Caverna Obscura by Elvina Ewing
Elvina is one of the masters at creating true fantasy style! She has all kinds of designs that are colorful, beautiful and whimsical. You can't appreciate her work until you see it!

Elvenbreath by Selina Forder
Selina is one of my favorite fantasy designers. Her fantasy wear is lovely, classic and sexy all in one!

Each and every designer is wonderful and top notch at what they do! If you come visit the boutiques, I know you won't be able to resist spending a few Lindens while you're there :P I know I can't, and now I'm really going to have some problems, they're too convenient! hehe

And the Winners Are....

The Forest of Light 'n Dark Photo Contest ended Sunday, May 8 and we now have some winners! I was amazed at how many people entered pictures, there were over 100 entries, which made the decision even tougher. Next time I think I will put a limit on how many entries each, but it's so nice to see such wonderful pictures from both sims :) I want to thank each and every one of you for entering the contest and as always, for your gracious support of both Enchanted and Bewitched. Below I've listed the winners all together, and then posted their pictures below that. I will also send a notice in Flickr plus put a sign up on the sims about the winners. Their pictures will be displayed at the entry point of the gallery over Enchanted. Thank you again and CONGRATULATIONS to the winners!

Forest of Light 'n Dark Contest Winners

Best Overall Picture: Faery Portal by Tamzin Xigalia

I was so impressed with Tamzin's picture that I had to make a separate award for it. I thought the way she incorporated both sims into this picture was amazing and wonderful. It showed the significance of a light and dark side in many things, including fairies!

Enchanted Winners

1. The Guard by Shuri Dreamscape

2. Unicorn Protector by Tamzin Xigalia

3. Fairy Entry by Fina Ethaniel

Honorable Mentions

Little Red Riding Hood by Podenga

Golden Cave Entry by Yellow Core

Bewitched Winners

1. Step Into the Unknown by Oephelia1

2. Scarecrow by Podenga

3. Dark Dancer by Ursula Floresby

Honorable Mentions

Shine by Oephelia1

Sorceress Entry by Softpaw Sommer

Special Magical Mention

Lost in Paradise and Angel in the Dark by Maxwelle Gregan

I wanted to give credit to this artist for showing the contrast between light and dark in a very unique way. She placed a dark fairy in Enchanted and an angel in Bewitched, showing that there can be good and bad in both categories.


And here are the other winning pictures...

1st Place Enchanted: The Guard by Shuri Dreamscape

2nd Place Enchanted: Unicorn Protector by Tamzin Xigalia

3rd Place Enchanted: Fairy Entry by Fina Ethaniel

Honorable Mention Enchanted: Little Red Riding Hood by Podenga

Honorable Mention Enchanted: Golden Cave Entry by Yellow Core

1st Place Bewitched: Step Into the Unknown by Oephelia1

2nd Place Bewitched: Scarecrow by Podenga

3rd Place Bewitched: Dark Dancer by Ursula Floresby

Honorable Mention Bewitched: Shine by Oephelia1

Honorable Mention Bewitched: Sorceress Entry by Softpaw Sommer

Special Magical Mention Bewitched: Angel in the Dark by Maxwelle Gregan

Special Magical Mention Enchanted: Lost in Paradise by Maxwelle Gregan

End of Photo Contest

We have some great entries that have been submitted for the Forest of Light 'n Dark Photo Contest! Acceptance of submissions is now officially over and we will be choosing the winners by this Wednesday the 11th of May. It will be a tough decision! If you're interested, I have placed all the entries (in no particular order) by sim in 7 separate Galleries within Flickr. We had a total of 105 entries :D Here is the link to my Flickr galleries:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinkpantherr/galleries

Once the winners are announced, I will give the prizes and also display the winning artwork at the landing point of the Fantasy Kaleidoscope Gallery over Enchanted. Stay tuned!! :)

Enter the Forest of Light 'n Dark Photo Contest!

FOREST OF LIGHT 'N DARK PHOTO CONTEST
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We are celebrating the opening of the new Fantasy Kaleidosope Gallery with a fun photo contest! Please submit a picture you took at either Enchanted (light) or Bewitched (dark), or you can submit one from each! We will be giving away prizes for each sim individually. They are:

FIRST PLACE: 5000L
SECOND PLACE: 3000L
THIRD PLACE: 1000L

Yes, that's right, you have the opportunity to win up to 10,000L if you enter pictures from both sims :) The winners will also be displayed in the gallery entrance for a while, then moved into the gallery as art on exhibit.
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You may submit as many pictures as you'd like. We are not judging based on how well your pictures are edited or processed, because we realize not everyone has the means to do that. We are looking more for originality, most magical, and most interesting.

Please submit the pictures either here in SL in a notecard labelled "Photo Contest Entry" as the title to Natalie Montagne (Nat Enchanted) OR to the Flickr Enchanted and Bewitched group:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/enchantedelvenrealm/

Please be sure and label ALL entries "Photo Contest Entry" as the title either way you submit them. Also, don't forget to list your avie's full name. You may put a title or description with the photo if you'd like.
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We will accept contest submissions from now until Sunday, May 8. We will take a day or two to decide and announce the winners on Wednesday, May 11.

Please let Natalie Montagne know if you have any questions. Otherwise, enjoy!!

Official Fantasy Kaleidoscope Gallery Opening!

ka·lei·do·scope [kuh-lahy-duh-skohp] A continually changing pattern of shapes and colors.  /kəˈlaɪdəˌskoʊp/ Show Spelle

First, I'd like to apologize for being rather quiet for a while! There's been alot of excitement going on at Enchanted and the new sim, Bewitched, as you can imagine. Along with the addition of the new haunted sim, and with the help of Andrek Lowell, I was also working on a gallery exhibiting Second Life artists' work above Enchanted. I had mentioned this in a past blog, but have never officially introduced it as being open. Well, this is the official announcement of the opening of the Fantasy Kaleidoscope Gallery above Enchanted! Andrek has done a beautiful job seeing that it blends well with the forest below, all the way from the scenery to the frames around the pictures. In keeping with its purpose, the gallery is truly its own piece of art! It is something that will always be in the works and continuously updated, as we have new art we want to recognize all the time. That is the main purpose of the gallery, to show off/exhibit fantasy art created within game and to give it the recognition it deserves. For a while I was recognizing a piece of art from Enchanted and a piece from the Finest of Fantasy Art group in Flickr each week. After I left it on the sim for that week, I'd move and place it in the gallery. I still plan to do something similar, but instead of just two pieces of work each time, it will be a variety each time and go along with a particular theme. For example, this week I will recognize art having to do with the theme, "Light and Dark". We are having a photo contest with this theme, so thought it would be perfect. I will display the artwork within the theme at the entrance to the gallery each time and depending on the event or what is going on, it could be displayed for a while, not necessarily just a week. In order to visit the gallery, please use the tp door at the landing point entrance to Enchanted.

There will be a post following this one explaining a photo contest meant to kick off the gallery opening, so please be sure and watch for this and enter the contest! I've posted some pictures from within the gallery in keeping with the light and dark theme, but please come by and visit, you'll be glad you did!

Teleport landing point

Nat standing in front of one of the gallery sections

Closeup of the frames used for this natural setting

Beautiful bridges and walkways to each section of the gallery

One of the four sections of the gallery, each with its own central fantasy statue

Another gallery area

Gallery lit up at night

A New Sim Joins the Enchanted Family!

I have some exciting news! Some of you may already know about the new addition to Enchanted, but I'd like to go ahead and make the announcement official :) We now have a new sim adjoined on the north side of Enchanted where the dark forest is located. The sim itelf is Elven Mist and it contains another wonderful forest built by Andrek Lowell called, Bewitched, formerly known as Bentham Forest. Lauren Bentham, who integrated her creations with Andrek's build, was the original owner of the sim. She decided to sell it and contacted me to see if I might be interested in purchasing it...and here we are :) If you've never visited this sim before, you are truly missing out! It is a haunted, dark forest full of beauty, whimsy, spooks and frights! In order to get the full effect of the sim, you need to set your environment to midnight at the entrance. I did a blog about Bentham Forest in my other blogger, here is the link:

http://nataliemontagne.blogspot.com/2010/09/bentham-forest-spooky-and-fun.html

There is also a great youtube video about the sim:





I hope you all are able to visit soon. When you arrive at the entrance, you'll be offered a landmark, notecard, url to this blog and a group invitation. Please come and enjoy!