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

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 put your environment to midnight at the entrance. I did a blog about Bentham Forest a while back, 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 the sim blog and a group invitation. Please come and enjoy!

Bewitching Bentham Hollow

Bewitching, beautiful, whimsical, magical and colorful are just a few words that describe Bentham Hollow, one of Lauren Bentham and Andrek Lowell's newer forest creations. Lauren already owns a store selling products that can be found on her sims called Bentham Manor. She also owns the wonderful Enchanted Wonderland Forest and Bentham Forest (both also created in collaboration with Andrek Lowell), all part of Bentham Isles. Bentham Hollow is a sparkling, vibrant, and simply gorgeous forest full of fun and wonder.

I landed,was welcomed, and then given information about Bentham Hollow and also, the other Bentham sims. I was in awe of the magic and richness of color around me, including the bright bluish "sparkles" falling from above all over the sim. I walked toward a large gate in front of me, which was the entrance to a forest full of giant, chromatic flowers and mushrooms in abundance! Everywhere I turned the forest was full of foliage, trees, vines, large flora and especially MUSHROOMS. Not just any old mushroom, but HUGE mushrooms of every shape and color. Some even had faces that gazed as I walked by. As I went deeper into the woods, I realized this land was reminiscent of Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland. There were tree trunks with staring faces, polka-dotted mushrooms, mushrooms that glowed, large ponds, babbling creeks, caves, and lovely, shining crystals. Once you land, and then if you turn around and go toward the back rather than forward, you will run across an area full of burning trees. Everything is bright and cheerful, then all of a sudden you enter a dark, gloomy area that looks like it has some kind of flashing lights ahead. When you get closer, you realize it's the tree trunks with faces on fire! As you walk through, ashes and soot fall from the trees and land on the ground making it black to add to the overall effect of this eerie part of the forest.

If you want to enjoy viewing a magical, fantasy sim full of beauty and whimsy, Bentham Hollow is a place you need to see! Bewitchingly beautiful!

Forest gate entrance and a view of some of the flowers and mushrooms of the sim

Some of the glowing mushrooms and sparkling crystals

Red and white polkadots along with faces on mushrooms can be found

The burning trees of Bentham Hollow

Giant colorful flowers, pools of water, green foliage and caves of the Hollow

Clothes: Honor by Evangeline Miles of Evie's Closet
Boots: ED Gryphon in bronze by Bryce Randt
Skin: Jadis in Natural #3 with Makeup Layer #16 by Aida Ewing
Elf Ears: by the Plastik
Hair: Wanda in Gold by KateForster Akin of Tukinowaguma
Pearl Drop tiara by Vivienne Daguene

Elven Realm's Enchanted

On bridge from the light to dark forest

Mushroom forest

Wow, I didn't realize it had been that long between posts! Alot of the reason for this is because I've been working on a new and exciting project :) I thought it was about time I share with everyone the fact I've recently acquired a new sim of my own in Second Life as it's something I've wanted to do for years. I've had all these ideas running around in my mind about what I want to do with it and have finally done it! I knew Andrek Lowell, a very talented environmental designer who also created Chakryn and Bentham Forest, was who I needed to make my ideas a reality (well a virtual reality). He just finished his part of the work and now I'm adding things here and there that need done. The new area is called Enchanted, and it's in the sim, Elven Realm. It's a beautiful, magical fantasy world incorporating realism with a touch of whimsy. The "purpose" of the region is to provide a refuge or sanctuary of sorts for the rare unicorn and other woodland animals. Also, a percentage of all donations to the sim will be given to the national animal rights advocacy group, Friends of Animals, so it's all about the forest fauna. I plan to have events and contests now and then, plus there is a Flickr page where people can post pictures taken in the sim. I've always had a love for fantasy art and am amazed daily by the talent of so many artists within Second Life. I'd like to make this the focus of alot of contests and recognition I plan to have within the sim.

The unicorn pasture right outside the cottage

A view of the castle tower

Sitting on a mushroom at the gathering spot

There are quite a few "can't miss" areas of the forest, but I want them to be a surprise as they are hidden all over the sim. The best way to explore is definitely on foot, or you are bound to miss something. Also, set your environment to midnight when you enter the dark forest. That's right, we have a dark forest, just in time for Halloween! There's also a mushroom forest, flower field, fae gathering spot, unicorn pasture, mermaid inlet, and candy cove plus MANY other fun places to discover.

Entrance to the dark forest

Colorful mermaid inlet

I don't want to tell you too much, because I think you need to discover it for yourself! I've added a few pictures to this post so you can get an idea of what the forest is like. I hope you'll come visit soon! Fae, fairy, elf, wizard, drow or human, I think you'll enjoy Enchanted to the fullest!

Clothes: Lianna by Kira Lavendel of MysticHope Designs

Skin: June 2 Raccoon 2 by Gala Phoenix of Curio

Elf Ears: Wilted Star Elf Ears by Kioko Kumaki of Panda Express

Hair: Tara Swedish Streaked by Truth Hawks of Truth

Our Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/enchantedelvenrealm/

Our blog site:
http://enchantedelvenrealm.blogspot.com/

Bentham Forest: Spooky and Fun!

Red eyes glowing at every turn!

Spooky, eerie, dark, scary...there are alot of words I could use to describe Lauren Bentham's haunted Bentham Forest. It's all these things, yet fun and whimsical! When you first arrive, you land in a small, wooden house with its own kind of charm. Inside is the opportunity to join the group or purchase some of the items displayed within the region. You also have the option to begin one of the quests the Forest offers. Once you get all the way through and complete the quest/quests, you receive a reward.


I think my favorite thing about the forest is the way everything glows at every turn, yet it's dark enough to achieve its goal of complete spookiness, hehe. Yes, environment designer extraordinaire Andrek Lowell has done it again! He is also the creator responsible for much of the beauty found in Chakryn Forest, which I wrote about in a past blog. The glowing effect covering the whole forest reminds me of the night scenes in Avatar's Pandora, it's truly beautiful. Not only do alot of the plants have a glowing effect (especially the mushrooms), but there are also colorful lights here and there all over the area, along with "moonbeams" filtering through the abundant trees. Another thing that glows are the bright red, evil eyes that stare at you from among the dark trees. I have not seen so many mushrooms in my life, and I don't mean just mushrooms, but MUSHROOMS of all shapes and sizes. I also found a pretty cave with brightly lit and colored crystals aglow. The entire sim was full of dead, dark trees and ruins either lying in the creek or partially standing. As I said before, the forest did have some fun and whimsical features and those include the dark trees with faces, the big mushrooms with witch faces, and many other things. Make sure you set your environment on midnight (try it on sunrise too...to see alot of the details) and go explore this wonderful haunted forest if you haven't already, there's nothing like it in all of Second Life!

I took all the pictures within this post (except the last one) with my environment on midnight so you could see the glowing effects. Be sure to click the pictures to enlarge them.

The little, wooden house which is the landing point. Notice the red eyes underneath.

Gorgeous glowing effect surrounding the creek waters.

Mushrooms of all shapes and sized cover the sim. Notice the GIANT ones!

These are the crystals I found in the cave I explored.

Who is that with the big, pointy nose? lol

This is what the sim looks like when the environment is set to sunrise.

Lauren Bentham also owns Enchanted Wonderland Forest within Fae Fantasy Forest. I did an earlier post that showed quite a bit of this region. Here is the link: http://nataliemontagne.blogspot.com/2010/07/designer-focus-kira-lavendel-of.html. All these areas are within Bentham Isles.

Clothes: Anfaela by Kira Lavendel of MysticHope Designs

Boots: Amazon Boot in brown by Elvina Ewing of Caverna Obscura

Elf Ears: ICED Elf Ears with diamond piercings by Scarlet Chandrayaan

Skin: Lyla in Pale Floral by Emilia Redgrave of Redgrave

Hair: DrLife Healthy Hair in Yi-bang Platinum by Leena Ying

Chakryn Forest: Romantic Beauty

I think the forests and woods of Second Life are my absolute favorite when it comes to exploration. I've already blogged about two of my favorites, Elven Forest and Tol Narwa Vire. I discovered another one not long ago that's absolutely beautiful and it's called Chakryn Forest, owned by Bettina Tizzy and created by Andrek Lowell. I found it listed as a pick on someone's profile.

A creature visiting the Forest, while looking very regal indeed.

Elemental waters dancing below one of the many statues in the Forest and the volcano high above

As soon as I landed in the Forest, I was surrounded by huge, lush trees that seemed to glitter in the sunlight. Small blossoms, leaves, and magic dust fell from above, while sounds of the forest could be heard in every direction. As I began to walk, I could see a flowing creek in front of me with two very tall waterfalls to the left. A lovely statue floated among the waterfalls and I was in awe of this magical place. I ran across a tree stump with instructions of some kind, then I realized it was an ongoing quest using orbs set up throughout the forest. I continued to walk through the woods and ran across quite a few unique oddities including a giant snowglobe, a large teddy bear standing by the creek, big eyes and faces following you as you walk by, a floating moon with a bed to relax, an opaque blue camel, a hobo vardo, and a heavyset nude woman lounging by the creek *giggles*.

One of the "eyes" of the forest that follow your every move as you pass o.O

A BIG, but friendly teddy bear

One thing I love about Chakryn Forest is the gorgeous sunbeams that filter through the trees and into the forest giving it a glowing and colorful prism effect. I noticed in about two to three spots on the edge of the sim right over the water, there were dancing effects using abstract art, which added to the overall magic of the sim. There are also hidden places within the Forest. I found a body of water high at the top of a rocky mountain and when I went into the water, I ended up in a little room with candles, planets, and other interesting items. After walking past stone "faces" built into the rock surrounding me and following my every move, I found a dark cave that also lead to this underwater area. There's also a volcano at the highest point of the sim. Little coves and resting places are scattered all about the forest, making it that much more inviting. Inside another cave is the actual trees and other forest objects for sale by the creator, Andrek Lowell.

Relaxing on the floating moon :)

The hobo vardo full of "important" junk...wait, can junk be important? Of course it can!

Chakryn Forest is another must-see in Second Life I can't say enough about. There is no nudity, weapons or vampire bites allowed as it's a peaceful region especially created for relaxation and discovery. Beauty, magic, and "character" abounds in this original!


Clothes: Mirelle by Selina Forder of Elvenbreath
Shoes: Maitreya Gold in IXkin Black by Beauvoir Rousselot
Skin: June 2/Raccoon 2 in Sundust light by Gala Phoenix of Curio
Elf Ears: ++Panda Express++ Wilted Elf Ears with Stars by Kioko Kumaki
Hair: Bella II in Chocolate with light brown by Mcgeeb Gupte of JolieFemme Designs

Location: Chakryn Forest - owned by Bettina Tizzy and created by Andrek Lowell