Ashraya, which means shelter in sanskrit, is an organization based in India which operates with the purpose of providing aid to Indian children in need and abused women through the implementation of various projects. The Ashraya Project in SL opens tomorrow, May 5th, and the proceeds will go towards this wonderful organization.

There are many events planned for this project, including fashion shows and parties, check out the Schedule of Events page for all the details. The Ashraya Project will run from May 5th till June 4th.

I’m wearing a mesh sari from Bilo that will be available tomorrow at this event in many bright and beautiful colors. The proceeds from the purple one I’m wearing in the second picture will go towards the charity. What I love most about this sari is, it can be worn with or without the dupatta.

Bilo is a new brand to me which I noticed on plurk a few weeks ago. You’ll find lots of gorgeous mesh dresses here. Check out Bilo on Marketplace for more of their designs.

Remember, all of the festivities start May 5th at 10am slt. Check out Editorial Clarity’s blog for event details and slurls.

Credits:
Skin: League Jen Dark Feline (Cleavage C) by Nena Janus
Hair: [elikatira] Abbey – Black 04 by Elikapeka Tiramisu
*Sari: Bilo Chandramukhi Sari by Mayaa Thistle (Available on May 5th @ The Ashraya Project)
*Henna tattoos: Huz Tats and Bilo
*Jewels: Zaara Nizam colored by Zaara Kohime
*Poses: Long Awkward Pose and oOo Studio

Rebel Hope has done it again by releasing yet another exquisite mesh gown. I love the intricate work along the neckline. She has also released some gorgeous earrings that match perfectly with the jeweled collar. The earrings and cuff are both available in gold and platinum.

The skin I’m wearing is new to me. It was recently dropped on me by designer Ydreece Forster of Mirror’s Enigma and I found it quite interesting. I’m wearing the Invidia skinline in tan. You can pick up a demo on the marketplace.

Credits:
*Skin: [:Mirror's Enigma:] Invidia Tan Skintone (Malice w/ HB) by Ydreece Forster
Hair: [elikatira] Shine – Black 02 by Elikapeka Tiramisu
*Gown: Rebel Hope Lalani Mesh Gown Silver by Rebel Hope
*Jewels: Rebel Hope Lalani Earrings and Bracelet by Rebel Hope
*Pose: Diesel Works by Rogan Diesel

From March 5th to March 8th Linden Lab is holding a special spring fashion event on the SL™ Community Fashion Forum and blogs. For my contribution to this event, I focused on mesh. You can check out my blog post at this link: Spring Mesh.

I’ve asked a few questions in the Fashion Forum as well. Login to the forum using your SL username and password and participate if you can:

1. What are your favorite jewelry stores?
2. Location Scouting: How do you discover new places to explore inworld? What’s one of your favorite places that you have recently discovered?
3. Mesh Avatars: Would you feel comfortable wearing a mesh avatar?

I will probably add more discussions later today so keep checking out the fashion forum and participate in some of the other discussions that the other participants have started.

Please feel free to IM, email or leave a comment in my blog post or on the forums if you have any questions or topics that you would like me to discuss!

All of my style credits along with location slurls can be found in my post here: Spring Mesh.

Or as I really wanted to call this post, “This Christmas – Give a Shit!” Hello; I’m the vampire Lord Winter Jefferson. The fabulous Barry Singe is allowing me to take over her blog (again) because… lets face it, she can be pretty slack at times. Can’t style herself either, takes second rate pictures and carries a whiff of curried mangos with her wherever she goes. I’ll admit to being somewhat fond of her, but only very occasionally and after a helluva lot to drink. This post does come out from both of us though, and it comes from some place pretty sincere. In Strawberry’s case it would be her heart but with me I’m not entirely sure as mine stopped beating a good 248 years ago. Self preservation perhaps; I like to maintain my food source in good working order.

This time of year… for most of us, we are so lucky. Sure everyone is doing it a lot harder, I won’t deny. But there’s usually enough to eat, we don’t have to boil our water before drinking it and we are mostly free to live our lives in a safe way. If you have the freedom to be online and read this post then you are doing relatively well. No one begrudges you this and it’s wonderful to see. We’d just like to invite you to take one extra step outside, as Second Lifers have proven themselves to be such a generous community on both local and global levels in this quite frankly crappiest of years.

What we would love is to open up comments to things that you do for others, share and provide inspiration for small acts that can provide cheer where it is least expected – and most needed. As an example, I give my family chickens in a card each year. It’s kind of hard stuffing them in and neither of us seems to enjoy the experience much, but I saw it as an idea on the Oxfam site  and I didn’t really bother reading it closely so I just put my own spin on it… no, really. What happens is you buy the card, and the cost goes towards giving a family in places like Laos a brood of chickens. You can give a friend crabs  (or as I call it “every other Friday night”) and you genuinely can give a shit. I personally recommend sending this one to your boss.

There are lots more ways that can be used to add some extra sparkle. That lonely old widow on the end of your street? Invite him around for some festive nog. That really ugly patch of weeds at the park? Pull an eco ninja and plant some flower seeds there so that everyone gets a Spring surprise. Leave a comment on the blog of someone you do not know. Throw in toll fare for the car behind you. Babysit for your harried friend. Write a letter instead of a text. Compliment a stranger on their style. Pat that strange cat winding its way around your ankles. Create little origami animals and leave them on park benches to delight small children. Reassure Berry that she doesn’t smell like rotten mangos… which means totally lie through your fangs.

I know that we don’t all believe in the same things. It doesn’t matter, beauty is non  denominational. Share with us what you do to make this season special. That’s the first step right there.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” Plato.

What Berry Is Wearing and She Obviously Took This Picture Too And Was Quite Upset That I Didn’t Let Her Get An Ass Shot Into This Post:
Skin: Glam Affair Linn by Aida Ewing
Hair: Elikatira Early Black by Elikapeka Tiramisu
Boots: Slink Tall Leather Thigh Boots Curvy Red by Siddean Munro
Outfit: B@R Rolled Up Santa Girl Red by June Dion

What Winter Is Wearing:

Lap Warmer: Strawberry Singh by… well presumably Mr and Mrs Singh
Hair: LeLutKa Olja in Arctic by Thora Charron
Antlers: Illusions Florissinae by Siyu Sien
Skin: Tableau Vivant Vincent in January by M4r1lyn Magic
Eyes: Fashism in Pale Silver by Ikon Innovia

Chair + Pose: {.:exposeur:.} Cozy Santa Chair by RubyStarlight Writer

Today I plan on rambling a little bit (what else is new?) about my reasons for blogging. The reason I blog is because it gives me great pleasure to actually take a picture, play with it in photoshop and have the ability to share it with all of you here with a few words. It gives me a sense of fulfillment and I want to make sure I do it right. I try to be very open and professional about everything I do inworld and on this blog. This includes full disclosure on my photography rates and policies, my advertising rates and policies, my review policy as well as what it is I do and whom I work for inworld, all listed on my about page.

In my Disclosure Policy I’ve stated that I’m not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. I also do my best to disclose everything that is given to me and not purchased with my own lindens to abide by the FTC Guidelines listed on my review policy page. When I blog something I do it purely because first: I’ve actually had the time to acquire, try it on, style it and take pictures in it. And second: only because I feel inspired by it, (as I’m sure all fashion bloggers do). However, I do this purely because I eventually have plans to take this blog to another level. It’s already less about fashion and more about my social media presence in which I am hoping to eventually take it to a RL/SL vlog in a few years. Therefore to protect myself, I want to make sure everything I do here is completely transparent and I hope I have been accomplishing that.

All that being said, I’d like to go right into announcing a new partnership I have formed with koinup.com. Koinup is a social network, online community and web portal dedicated to virtual worlds users. It’s a great place to share your photos and videos. The audience will be all virtual world users so, unlike flickr, it’s really targeting users that have the same interests as you. I’ve been sharing my images on koinup for a while now and get a great response and lots of hits to my blog from there. You can check out my koinup profile here.

I’ll be using the koinup places project to take my exploration of SL to another level. So hopefully that will result in a lot more on location shots on my blog in the upcoming months. I hope you take a look at koinup places and explore along with me.

Finally, let’s talk about mesh, shall we? Maitreya has joined the mesh revolution with a bang! This past week three phenomenal mesh items were released. What surprised me the most about all this was, this is was my first time trying on the standard sizing that these items are available in and I turned out to be a small! Totally didn’t expect that especially since my ass seems to have a bad reputation of being on the big side. I swear, I have no idea where that rumor originated from.

Maitreya has also jumped on the social media train with us all so here’s a few links you guys can use for stalking purposes.
Maitreya’s blog – http://sl-maitreya.blogspot.com
Maitreya on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maitreya/148415371925910
Maitreya on Plurk – http://www.plurk.com/onyxx
Maitreya on Twitter – http://twitter.com/OnyxLeShelle
Maitreya on Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/23320078@N03
Maitreya Flickr Group – http://www.flickr.com/groups/maitreya

Credits:
*Skin: -Glam Affair- Linn Tan – D 01 by Aida Ewing
*Eyes: FASHISM ‘Sunrise’ Eyes – Pale Warm Silver (M) by Ikon Innovia
Hair: [elikatira] Early – Black 06 by Elikapeka Tiramisu
*Dress: Maitreya MESH Nolita Dress * ColorBlock 8 S by Onyx LeShelle
*Boots: Maitreya MESH Radical Boots * Black S by Onyx LeShelle
*Bag: Maitreya MESH Leather Satchel * Black (shoulder) by Onyx LeShelle
*Scarf: !Ohmai for Collabor88 – A Lil’ Foxy (Black Fox) by Anya Ohmai (Available at Collabor88)
Ring: Donna Flora ANEMONE ring by Squinternet Larnia
Nails: Candy Nail #P024 Magic of Witch Black by peche Bury
*Bracelet: Zaara : Prata silver cuff *onyx* by Zaara Kohime
*Poses: aDORKable Poses: Bag Lady by Adorkable Peapod
*Promotional copies

Location: Death Row (Found on Koinup Places)