The set that should have been (by now)

It's been a bit of a wild ride these past [many] months.

2012 I found myself on a roller coaster of good news followed by equally bad news. Work, life, et cetera. Found jobs, nearly lost jobs due to lack of work. Computer woes . . . car trouble - expensive repairs followed by more troubles. Medical problems . . . dental troubles . . . a dear friend passing away. 2012, in a word, sucked.

This year seemed to start out well - new computer - that lovely interview for SF Magazine. I was even crowned . . . well, dentally speaking of course. I was even amped up to start meshing again. So what happened?

I had this really long post ready for you to read and then I basically felt like no one really cares about that sort of intense and deeply personal introspection. So, I have edited it down to the bits about the set that should have been.

A long time ago, someone requested that I fix the shadow on my flour cabinet. It blinks and I know what the error is - I thought - I need to quickly do that. That was the beginning of some flawed thinking. I can't do anything 'fast' - I opened the file and saw it was a mess - it's not that it would be a problem in game, but I have learned so much since making that item that I felt it needed to be smoothed correctly and mapped better. In attempting to organize the file to smooth I realized it would be easier to start from scratch. The new one is closer in style to the one that sits in my kitchen, but the original mesh has a closer handle and more preset styles to choose from. The new one has more masks for more coloring options. The second one wins by default.

The old style sits center - the new ones in many variations.

This, I thought, would be a great start to some new kitchen pieces.

I have a tall cabinet in my studio that I look at every day and I love it. It used to sit in my kitchen but it's such a small room. The cabinet cost me all of $5 - it's metal. I would have liked to make the handle exactly the same - it has a spring handle sort of like a honey dip (those spiral utensils for honey?) - tha would have pushed the poly count through the roof. My thinking was that the cabinets would be like the World Adventure chests or the Supernatural Cabinet. Sadly - the  SN cabinet base caused routing issues because the original has doors which must be opened by the sim to be used correctly, so WA chests it is. I was on a roll.

A few presets - one with heavy distressing (which looks like my own)

Then things started to dip a bit. I made a washboard wall light. This is something I want to make in real life - it wouldn't be that hard. In fact - I meshed it exactly as I would make it - take the round fluorescent fixture from my kitchen and put it behind the textured glass. The glass being textured would dapple the light which is where the problem started. How to texture glass. I borrowed the texture from the shower glass, but at the moment it's not working very well. Then no matter what I do - the whole fixture glows. I chatted with Heidi about it and I thought we found a solution, but I tried it again in game and it still glows. I have no idea how to make it NOT glow. (If you know - tell me!!) So I started to lose interest a bit in the set because I spent so much time failing at the light. I felt it was probably just better to move along to something new.

This is CASt in a dark color so you can't see the horrible glow. Notice the lack of texture too. UG.

I wanted to make another mug. The mug I did in a very short amount of time - I love it and it looks just like the real one. I even made it stackable. The real mugs belonged to my friend who passed away and while this is a memorial to a dear friend, the manner in which I obtained the mugs left me with a horrible hollow feeling. It was nearly three months after his passing that I saw them in an antique store. It was a moment before I recognized them as his and when I did the math I was left instantly angry as well as grief stricken. I walked away without them at first but called the store to request that they be held for me. It's sadly one of the few things that I have to remember him by.

Five preset colors - can stack . . . finally.

Then I made two books. They started as cookbooks and were made to stack next to each other. Two slots - one for the skinny and one for the wider one (I need to make one that goes on its side as well). They look so cool in game, but they look nothing like a cook book though.

Spines - multiple styles with one CASt capable

The pages . . .

When I stepped back I didn't really know what else to include in a set that would be for the kitchen. I don't want to make counters (though I did find a source image that I would like to attempt at some point) but then I was fixated on the Supernatural cabinet - I wanted to make some sort of sideboard that would work to hold items. I have a number of real life chests that I wouldn't mind making for the game for additional means to hold things. In my inability to make a decision, real life was starting to take a stranglehold on me.

The garden was going to need to be attended to and then my car was making especially loud exhaust noises. What I expected to be a $100 gasket or seal was going to be a $2500 repair and, oh yeah - did I know that the underside of my car was so severely rusted out? Cah-fucking-ching. New car.

So - I have a couple of things that I need to do prior to making this hodge podge release, but I will let these items go soon. My expected March release turn April is going to be a June release. Real life 1, my ass 0.

If you didn't know - I started a Tumblr too. Mostly to show my support for all the amazing creators (whether that is CC, Mods, or simply stunning pictures and stories) in our community by way of the 'like' button . . . yes, a small effort I know - but I want to be able to do it. I had all of a few followers until it was made known that I had a new site and suddenly I have a ton of followers. I am seriously humbled. Check it out if you want. It's nothing you haven't just seen here.

I am also getting my groove back on with some of the fun challenges over at The Sims Daily. They have challenged members to remake some of the classic homes there with a strict budget. I am wildly out of practice - I barely know what is in my now extremely limited CC collection (by comparison to what I used to have). Many members have entered and done some stunning revamps (both inside and out) - these were my three attempts:

Pescadero - the seaside house owned by some grumpy thief of a sim. Outchago! Wendy Darling needed a new home after her many sim years as a hand model:

Moderne for a not so modern lady.

Then there is the home of Agnes Crumplebottom:

Who needs windows?

And this weekend I attempted one of the starter homes called "The Monotone" - I wanted to evoke an Atlanta bungalow feeling.

Rustic garden included! Hope you have your tetanus shot!

Alright bubbies . . . I am off to try my hand at a very secret project. Something I have never attempted before so wish my luck. To keep me fresh I will be finishing off this set shortly. Keep your peepers peeled either here, there, or at Tumblr.