Monday, July 28, 2008

Assorted tidbits


Survey Wrap-up
I want to thank everyone who took part in the Blowpop Customer Survey. I got an excellent response and a lot of very thoughtful feedback, which will be very helpful in improving my stores. I have sent out the Daisy survey gifts to all of the survey respondents, though its quite possible I've missed some folks, so if you've turned in a survey and have yet to recieve your gift, contact me by IM or notecard and I'll take care of it pronto.

Blowpop Army August Flickr Photo Contest:
I'm really happy with the response to so far to my photo contest. There are even a couple of entries already! I just want to remind everyone, that in order to have a picture considered, you need to both add it to the Blowpop Army flickr group AND tag it with " BlowpopAugustContest ". Otherwise, I won't know which pictures are part of the contest.

What I'm Working On:
Its been a while since my last release, but I AM actually working on a bunch of stuff.
  • Shapes! I'm finally going to be offering shapes. I've made 6 different shapes all designed to look great in Blowpop skins. Its been taking me forever to get them packaged though. I think I'm being far too picky about my displays. I know that the display is a really big part of an appealing product, but it does no good if you can't get it onto the wall. So I'm kicking that project into high gear and should have them for sale very very soon.
  • Listing my items on SLX and Onrez. About 8 months overdue, and not very much of fun at all, but I think it'll be worth it once I'm finally done.
  • Planning a new layout for my shops to make them easier and more appealing to shop in.
  • Repackaging my Mellie2 skins. Its funny, I was seriously going to mothball the Mellie2s when I created the Mellie3s, but they've been consistently solid sellers. At first I thought this was because they were priced so affordably, but after talking to a few people, and looking through the sales patterns, it seems that, completely by accident, Mellie2 has turned into a pretty decent Asian skin. Its not like I was trying for a specific style, but I guess it has a soft animeish kinda style that's still appealing to some folks. Go figure. So I've been redoing the displays for them so they don't look like stale donuts anymore.
  • New Makeups for Tuesday. OK, maybe I haven't actually been "working" on these, in the sense of putting color on skin, but I have been preparing myself for it, doing some research, collecting fashion pictures and stuff. Where the first collection was primarily neutrals, the next collection will be a lot of vibrant colors. Hopefully there'll still be some summer when theyre done.
That's about it for the now. But since I since I hate posting without a picture, I'm going to start a new series:

Artists I Love #1: Audrey Kawasaki




Ethereal, delicate, tragically beautiful and a bit disturbing. I absolutely love her stuff. If I could capture the essence of this in an SL skin, my work here would be complete.

www.audrey-kawasaki.com
Live-Journal

Friday, July 25, 2008

Blowpop Army August Flickr Contest!

Blowpop Army August Flickr Contest

I am remodeling the Blowpop stores, and I'll have space now to show off some of my beautiful customers! With that in mind, I'm looking for your most spectacular photos, in your favourite Blowpop skin.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR:
The Blowpop woman is playful and fun. The Blowpop woman is stylish and beautiful. The Blowpop woman is sexy and smart. The Blowpop woman is whoever you choose to be. I am looking for the most striking images that celebrate the beauty of the Blowpop woman in all her many guises.

PRIZES:
  • One (1) Grand Prize of L$5,000 in cold, hard Lindens, plus the winning picture will be displayed prominently on the wall of my mainstore.

  • Four (4) Runners-Up will win $L2,000 in cold hard Lindens, plus their pictures will be featured in a cycling display on the wall of my mainstore.

DEADLINE: 9 p.m. SL Time, Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Judging will be done by me, and winners will be announced on or about the following Saturday.

RULES:
  • You may enter up to 5 images. Images can be swapped out at any time before the deadline
  • New images only.
  • Post-processing your pictures in an image editor is fine.
  • Tasteful nudes or a little naughty suggestiveness is acceptable, but please do not submit any explicit or pornographic images.

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Upload digital images to your Flickr stream and add them to the "Blowpop Army" Flickr group.
  • You will need to login with a Flickr ID or sign up for free.
  • Once logged in, join the “Blowpop Army” group by clicking on “Join this Group?” on the group’s homepage.
  • Use the “Send to Group” link located above each uploaded image to submit the image to the Blowpop Army group.

2. Once added to the group, tag each photo with the word "BlowpopAugustContest".
***IMPORTANT: If you do not upload your photo to Blowpop Army group, or do not tag your photo with the appropriate tag, it will not be considered for the competition.****

3. Enter a description, listing:
  • Avatar Name (especially if you're Flickr ID is different from your SL avatar name)
  • Photographer (if someone else took the picture) and any other model(s) in the image
  • Make and Model of Blowpop skin worn in image.
    (any other useful info like location and clothing/prop credits are always much appreciated also)


LEGALESE:
You retain all rights and ownership to any images you submit, but by entering the Contest, all entrants grant nonexclusive license to Blowpop Skins to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works of the entries (along with a name credit) in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known.


A special shout-out goes to Dove Swanson of Long Awkward Poses, who came through and created the pose in the above picture on a moment's notice. That's exactly the kind of go-gettem attitude and bravery under fire that the Blowpop Army is all about. I hereby promote Dove to the rank of Colonel of the Blowpop Army!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

A penny (and a super special exclusive giftie) for your thoughts!

Daisy2

I'm looking for you thoughts! Starting tonight I'm asking for your feedback on Blowpop!

But that's not the best part! I created a special exclusive makeup and I'm giving it away entirely free when you turn in the completed survey!

Daisy3

Here's what you need to do:
  • Already a Blowpop group member - You received the notice! If you didn't get it, go to group notices and retrieve the survey!

  • Not a Blowpop member already? - It's simple! Sign up! The Survey is in the notice
    (to sign up search for Blowpop in groups - select Blowpop Update Group) Then check Group Notices and pick up the survey.

Not So Fine Print: Please read the entire rules and instructions included in the survey. Incomplete surveys may delay your gift or if you don't include your name you will be ineligible! How will we know who you are?! Please allow up to 5 days to receive your free gift after delivering the survey... these things take time!

Thank you and I look forward to some great responses!

<3<3<3
Annyka

Friday, July 11, 2008