* Not-so Master Thief

I absolutely love the picture above - this game is in turn frustrating and delightful. You've probably already guessed from the red hair, that it's Claire Ursine from Sunset Valley - though she's almost unrecognisable from the person she was when I (and everyone else) first loaded this neighbourhood.... but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself... back to the beginning for Claire then...

* KABOOM

Jamie and Jared... sitting up a tree.... K.I.S.S.I.N.G... 

* Saucy Sunset Valley!

Jamie Jolina is my current sim of choice... like many Sunset Valley Residents, she has succumbed to the lure of the Ice Cream Truck... which tends to turn up in a sinister *chitty chitty bang bang, child snatcher* type fashion, outside the homes of our playable sims. I figured if I let her have an ice cream, that the truck would move off. It didn't. It sat there for hours. It reached a point where I was afraid to guide the camera past Jamie's front door and out into the open... in case it got me.

* Riviera Pool

Well.... Real Life was fun while it lasted. I'm avoiding painting my bedroom ceiling... and Christmas Shopping. I HATE Christmas Shopping - I'd far rather spend my money on me, than on everyone else. I know what I want, which makes shopping for me very easy... anyhoo... I've been using my game to avoid jobs. I'm re-addicted. Thought I'd take a mooch around Sunset valley with Jamie Jolina and see what cropped up...

* Simply Betty - All the Right Moves - Part 7

A couple of weeks after Fatty and Vad had moved in with her, Betty managed to grab an evening out with Bob. Having her parents at home wasn't exactly a hindrance to romance, as they lived in the apartment above the garage, though there were times when Betty wondered if that were actually the case - Fatty was constantly raiding Betty's fridge and Vad was forever sat at the kitchen table, watching the TV - this particular night, Betty was hoping for a little more than a nice meal and a romantic walk...

* Ivy Hill Library

I've not played my game in what feels like months - certainly since before the beginning of October, and I'm finding it hard to get back into it - not necessarily a bad thing, when you consider that my real life suffers when I can think of nothing but *the game*! I'm still on a one woman mission to completely revamp Twinbrook, before I get stuck in and play it - but my commitment to the project is wavering through sheer boredom. Not playing as I build, takes some of the fun out of it.... so I reckon I may take a break from Twinbrook and see what Betty is up to in Riverview, or have a mooch around Sunset Valley and see what comes up...

In the mean time...

* Sandy's Challenges

We have two brand new challenges in The Sims Daily Forum! Both have been created for us by one of our favourite Simmers and forum members - Around The Sims Sandy. To know her is to love her ;) .

There are two participation prizes for Style My Sim. One for the *Client* - a vanity. And Two for the designer - His and Hers Dressers.

So come along and join in the fun!

* Red Oak Fire Station

I found an image of this (or very similar) when googling firestations for inspiration to help me build one for Twinbrook - I fell completely in love with the romantic architecture and so I built it for the sims. I think it's one of my personal favourites, yet.  Huge thankyou to Soil and Em for playtesting it for me *kiss*.

* Twinbrook and Twallan

Even though I finished this lot some time ago, I hadn't play tested it. Good job I did, as Sims were standing in the midst of a tree trunk to BBQ hotdogs, and there was an orderly queue forming around the one BBQ I'd bothered to add - this has all been rectified and it's now available to download at the bottom of this page.
I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew with Twinbrook - I've decided to rebuild and remodel the entire neighbourhood, including all of the residential lots, some of which are already available at S3M.

* Four New Challenges at The Sims Daily

 

 

 

* River Junction Folly

Twinbrook now has it's very own lighthouse. I couldn't leave the beach in it's original state, with a tiny pavillion/band hut and sod all on the beach but a couple of brollys and picnic blankets - so I built a lighthouse, in the middle of the swamp, on the river bend. It's a bit random, but call something a folly and you can build anything anywhere. There's a spiral staircase through the centre of it, all the way to the top floor, and the viewing platform is completely useable. The lot has been playtested. I've left the interior of the lighthouse bare, save for toilets. You can fill each level with whatever you choose, or nothing at all.

* End Of The Line Boxcar Diner

I asked a question about Rabbit Holes at The Sims Daily , and the response was such that I thought I'd share some of mine. Urged on by Ninoo (Sunset) and her like of downloads that contain very little or no cc, it made me think that some of you might like what I've done with some of mine. If you don't, that's fine, but there's no need to tell me ;0)

* Our brand new forum!

We'd like to cordially invite any and all sim players who love to chat about the game, post pictures, tell stories and generally share absolutely everything they do with their games... to come along to The Sims Daily forum, and join in!

We're an incredibly informal group of people, so you won't find too much in the way of rules and regulations - just somewhere comfy to pull up a chair and share your love of the Sims, with like minded people.

Your hosts/playmates/dogsbodies in this endeavour are Webbymom, Darkshines, Deelightful, Simcastic, Sebausten and ME!

The forum caters to Sims 2, Sims 3 and Sims Medieval... and we even have a pub... The Dog and Duck, where you can chat about your real lives whilst supping a *virtual* glass of wine or pint of Guiness, whatever suits your fancy (of course, we have no clue if you're actually imbibing and typing (or attempting to) at the same time, so dig out !).

We're just starting out, so come join in the fun and help to make our forum, your forum!

Lily xx

PS. The forum is the affiliate forum to Sims 3 Musketeers, just in case you're wondering :)

* Hydrangea House

I'm very slowly rebuilding the whole of Twinbrook, in a similar fashion to the way I'm rebuilding Riverview. But there's more building than revamping going on in this one. My latest offering is a small starter home, only made possible because of the *wandHere* cheat that's part of Awesomemod. It drops the price of all objects etc, to the lowest *used* price, and makes a home more affordable for my/your sims.

I've lots more in the pipeline, but have been incredibly busy just recently, helping to create and organise a brand new sims forum, with five very good friends. You'll have to check back in for more information over the next couple of days, but we should be opening up shop on Tuesday at some point.

* Magnolia Heights

I'm on a roll... having a clear out... sorting my game files... I have cake to eat and no time to eat it.

This one's a bit like the tardis - bigger on the inside. It has 3-4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. It's unfurnished as I haven't built it for any sim in particular, I just built it to fill a gap, and because I could. It's not the prettiest of *lots*, but it fits in perfectly to the somewhat swampy atmosphere in Twinbrook - and you can always change the colours to suit your own game!

* Prudence Place

Unbelievably, this is a new build! Yes - I do build residential lots from scratch too... occasionally. This one was for the Prudence family, from Twinbrook. I really didn't see the point of the lot they were in, big space, small house, bit crabby and dingy. I used the *wandhere* cheat that's a part of awesomemod, to lower the price of the place.

* If I only had a heart...

Meet Jed. You'll never see him again after this image, I deleted him. Jed was purchased by Fatty Simovitch with her reward points for going platinum on her lifetime wish (I forget what it was - a thousand best friends or something). I thought he might add an element of interest to my game. Jed survived long enough for me to build and decorate a room for him... eat some trash... attempt to sleep in Betty's bed... and visit the local junk yard.

* Riverview Chapel

Now that Generations has given us Wedding Arches, there's a gamut of Wedding Chapels out there. I thought I'd join in and build one for Riverview, that sits happily alongside the other Riverview Community Lots that I've built. It took at least five goes to get it functioning properly, as I forgot that when you give a sim more than one option of *purpose* on a lot - he'll pick any thing to do, other than the thing you want him to do.... in this case, at my first wedding, the entire party pissed off below stairs to the bar that I'd built... whilst the unhappy couple got married without an audience....

* Triple Trouble - Round 1

The LivingSims Forum, currently has a contest running to decorate a pre-built home (downloadable for both Sims 2 and 3) and I thought I might have a go. I wouldn't usually, because there's a deadline. I'm a bit crap with deadlines. It's a personality defect that I must aim for just after a deadline, or not aim at all. Don't give me a deadline, and I'll get it done. Go figure...

* Simply Betty - Home Alone! - Part Six

After a while, life began to settle into a pattern for Bob and Betty... an eratic pattern. Betty's unsociable work hours meant that they had very little time together. Bob's Architecture and Interior Design business was slowly taking off, and required a great deal of his attention too. So much so, that Betty abandoned her own home and took to spending more time at Bob's. Which was okay when his parents weren't around, but Betty got the distinct impression that Robert and Mags Newbie didn't think she was good enough for their *Darling Boy*.

* Betty's Kitchen

You wouldn't believe how many photos I've taken of this kitchen. Literally HUNDREDS. For the life of me, I couldn't work out why I didn't really like any of them - turns out, I'd left the walls a plain white colour and had had a major brain fart that thought I'd finished the room when I hadn't. This kind of shit happens to me all the time, only in real life. Which is much more fun... but slightly more costly.

* Sunset Valley Central Park

I've been meaning to revamp this park since day one, and just never got round to it until recently. I think this may be because originally I wanted it to be so very different that you'd hardly recognise it - and yet couldn't find the inspiration to do that.

* Twinbrook Community Gardens

I've never really played Twinbrook. It's always seemed like quite a depressing little neighbourhood with severe architectural issues.... and the resident Sims have never really taken my interest....

* The Riverview Institute of Art

I completed this one a few weeks back, all except for the top floor because I just plain ran out of steam. It's rather larger than I had at first intended, but seeing as I couldn't actually turn it into a tardis (bigger on the inside) - I had to stretch it a bit - to fit everything into it. I've used quite a few paintings from the store, and haven't bothered to list them because it would have taken forever. I figure that if you find an empty space, you can fill it with whatever art you choose - you probably would anyway!

* Riverview Central

Just recently I've neglected Riverview in favour of Sunset Valley and Twinbrooks, not that you'd know that - it's not like I've been inundating you with info or downloads just recently. Anyhoo, this morning I decided it was time to knock a couple of things on the head, so that I can get back to whatever I damn well please without worrying about stuff that ain't finished... coz I do... worry... about stuff.

* Betty's Living Room

I've not loaded my game and played it, for almost a month. I have loaded it... but got no further than the saved games screen before thinking "Ugh, bored now" and turning it off again. Even now, I've only played it long enough for Riverview to hit daylight hours so that I could take a few pictures of Betty's home.

* Project Mojo.

I am trying very hard to lure my mojo back - and not with deep fried doughnuts. I figured I should probably have a go at something I haven't done before and maybe it'd spark my interest in the game again and my real life could go play with the traffic. So I thought I'd have a go at building on a slope. Honestly, I didn't think it would be that hard - but my dyspraxia kicked in big style to a point where I couldn't follow a video tute that I found... at all!

It all went incredibly wrong whilst I leveled this and straightened that and lowered the bit over there and raised the bit over here... if you know me at all.... you know that although I have the attention span of a rabid gnat - I'm also incredibly stubborn and don't understand the meaning of the word "can't".

But I really couldn't...

* Has anyone seen my mojo?

I think I may have lost it (my mojo)... if I ever had it. I'm bored shitless with my game at the moment and have not loaded it since before I purchased Sims Medieval... haven't loaded that either - so it's not a distracted by another game thing... more of an oh f*ck, what now? thing. I don't want to build, don't want to decorate and don't want to play... and yet... I want to do all three.

I've considered going through my custom content files and adding more to my game, just to give me something different to look at whilst playing/building/decorating... but that would require more effort than I currently have in my one remaining brain cell - so that's currently a *no no*.

I even downloaded and installed Mat - Matous - Matouskee??? Mat...bugger... a cc world by the blokey that created Mariner's Reach... that got deleted almost instantly. No reason, other than my mild OCD kicked in and said "Oh My F*cking God... How Many Trees??????"

So... I'm at a complete loss. If anyone should find my mojo (it's pink with purple spots and has a tendency to yell random swear words at passing strangers... yes... my mojo has no colour co-ordination and verbal tourettes) could you please return it to me - here. Oh, and be careful not to put your fingers near it's mouth - the little bastard bites.

* Everybody's Doing It...

...playing Sims Medieval, that is. Me... notsomuch.... then all the time... then notsomuch. I honestly can't decide if I love it or hate it. The graphics are to die for, just looking at the game is a pleasure. The gameplay is very similar to Sims 3, but this one is all about the RPG... and that's where I come unstuck.

* Simply Betty - Moving On! - Part Five

It had taken several weeks and all of her cash - but the builders had finally finished renovating Betty's newly purchased house and had moved on to pastures new. It was time for Betty to leave her childhood home and move on with her own life... she stood staring up at her new home, surrounded by her worldly belongings (two suitcases and a bag of jellybeans) and suddenly felt very alone - a completely unfamiliar feeling... still, she'd made a few decisions whilst on her last adventure in China - and she intended to stick to them...

* Riverview Library

I actually attempted a revamp of the original lot "Wrights Reading Room" (I think that's what it was called???? - never mind, don't actually care). But it was just so boring and I'd already built a fairly modern swimming pool for Riverview a while back - so I figured I may as well carry on in the same vain... traditional and pretty is all well and good, but I do like to build the odd modern lot... I'm a sucker for a few bright colours and straight lines.

* Champs Les Sims Nectary

Finally, after several game implosions and what feels like an endurance test -The Nectary is finished. Never thought I'd revamp this place sooooo many bloody times. Third times the charm... apparently. I was able to use the images from my Original Post to yet again recreate the interior, then it was basically a free for all with the exterior because that's nothing I've ever touched before - the lot is so vast that I had no clue what I could put in it - and have in fact left large spaces as lawn.

* Jardin de Champs Les Sims

This Champs Les Sims Park is a brand new one - brought into existence by the Challenge me to Garden 3.0... Challenge... at Living Sims - Sebausten challenged me to create a garden in the style of  *Jardin à la Française* and using these three gardens and Wikipedia as inspiration - what you see before you, is the end result. I had SO MUCH FUN doing this! It appealed in immeasurable ways to my OCD tendencies, and to how I play my game. I truly hate to build something that I cannot use for my little simmies to visit - and this ticked all the boxes.

* Chyandour

So here it is, as promised - a revamp of my own build from the *Start Somewhere* Challenge at Living Sims. Chyandour may seem an odd name but it's a real one... it's Cornish for House By The Water - Chy an dowr in old language. It seemed fitting because that's where I live, Cornwall... and this house has a pond... and it's built in Riverview.