Model Spotlight: Gia

Welcome to the first model spotlight for my blog! This will mainly just be blurbs about my model and pictures(mostly pictures).

Gia is the first Sim I ever used in a modeling comp on The Sims 3 forum. It was a beginners competition that I ended up winning. Over the course of that time, playing Gia and giving her constant makeovers, I found I had created a very versatile sim in terms of looks and personality.

She is Flirty, Dramatic, Clumsy, Ambitious and Artistic.

I found a natural fit for Gia with the Street Couture store set. The style I originally had her in was a gothic school girl type so the clothing just fit the personality.

This is Gia's original everyday outfit and hair(from Peggyzone). But I soon found she could have many different looks depending on the hairstyles and clothing given to her.

I originally created Gia with the glasses, as you can probably tell, because I felt they added some personality to the ensemble... and let's face it, not a lot of model Sims use glasses.

I originally had used a custome skin for Gia(and lots of makeup) but since then have removed the skin and most of her makeup(I only use the Ephemera face overlay now). Her looks stayed almost exactly the same with the change, which I was quite pleased with as I'm not a huge fan of custom skins.

I honestly don't think she can look bad in an outfit... I've had her in more outfits than I can count for modeling and she has looked great in all of them. I really want to start a legacy with her(which I already have a legacy going with two of my other sims, which will be on the model spotlight so I don't want to lose focus). 

Anyway, that's Gia.. Definitely one of my favorite sims I've ever created.  Her look has changed so much since her initial iteration but she always remains the same Sim I first created and id always a blast to play as.

New Dr Pepper EA Promotion Sims 3 Items: Alice in Wonderland

     Here's a  few photo's of the 10 new Alice in Wonderland themed items from the EA Dr Pepper promotion. I know that this is a U.S. only promotion but there are some great sellers on Ebay that will give you codes to get the items(I used the 10 codes for $4.75. Definitely worth it).

     These go great with the Through The Spyglass sets from the Sims 3 Store(which I do not have...otherwise I would have built up a whole cohesive room to show off the new objects).

First up is the Directions Directly Door. Obviously there's not much to say here... it's a door, comes in these three default colors/styles and can easily be recolored and patterned.

Next up is the Hatter-Do and the Not Herself, You See outfit.

I'm not a huge fan of the hairstyle,(I was hoping the little hat would be an accessory but it's a hairstyle with Accessory so you only get the hairstyle shown here) especially in lighter colors since it looks a bit choppy, but it can look great in darker colors.

The dress is nice, fully recolorable and able to be patterned on all sections.

Back View

The hat is fully recolrable and enabled for patterning. The main portion of the hat, the ring around it, the white paper slip with simlish and the accents are all separate sections.

This item is the Arch of Hearts. I did two pictures of it because you can use it in two ways. Without the moveobjects on cheat the Arch has to be connected to a wall of some sort. With the cheat you can place it as a standalone arch or series of arches to create a sort of "arch hallway" if you will. Again this one can be recolored and patterned.

Next up is the Caterpillar's Pad 

I absolutely ADORE these. You'll see why in a minute. They're a lot bigger than I expected but they are just create for making up the scenery for that Alice In Wonderland feel. The greatest thing about these though are that they have four different pattern and color sets!

This leaves them open for so many possibilities with the styling of them(you can just go crazy like I did and go for the weirdest patterning or give them subtle textures and colors/designs). The spots have their own color and pattern set too...  just didn't use them in my pictures.

Next up is We're All Mad At The Table.

The table comes in these three styles on it's own. Again you can go crazy with the colors and sections here since it's all available(even the teapot emblems).

Next up on the list is the Your Majesty Chair.

The chair comes in these three colors and is easily recolorable and patterned. I personally love this char since the cushion part of the seats have such a great velvety texture to them and look great in almost any color.

Next we have the Oh My Ears and Whiskers! Table Lamp

This lamp is really cute. It comes in these four styles(which actually have some great variances...check out the carrot and the monocle). This one can be patterned and colored although it shows up a bit less(because of the size) compared to the other items in the set.

Next up is the Begin at the Beginning Bookshelf.

These are the three colors that come with the item. It's pretty standard fare for a bookshelf. Any parts you can recolor and pattern on other bookshelves are available here.

The last items out of the 10 is the Jabber-Clocky and the Bottle me decor item. This functions as any of the other clocks in the game. It comes with these three colors as defaults. Everything can be recolored and patterned except the clock face. I really just love the look of this thing and the curves and overall feel of it.

The Bottle me item(seen in between the clocks) is the only item that isn't able to be recolored or patterned at all. It's a nice decor item though(I just wish we could have changed the bottle and liquid colors).

Well that's all for this post. I've been working on my review for Generations...been using a family for the pictures so it's been a long trip considering there are two children(one is a child and one is a toddler) so I can't do any of the teenage pranks/prom/graduation yet. But it will all come together eventually.

Happy Simming!

Everyday Hot Summer Days: Store Set Review + Generations Registration Rewards

Ok so this review is of the clothing/hair set Everyday Hot Summer Days store set released today. I went a different direction with the pictures in this review as it was better to not give the models all particular poses so you can see the clothing better.

I think that this set brings some wonderful new clothing items for the men(although 7 items is still too few for them!) and some nice clothing for the females...the hair is pretty hit or miss though...especially compared to the Everyday casual Chic set.

I'll start with the ladies.

The models from left to right are Hannah, Lanthe, Gia and Candice.

      Hannah is wearing the new Aurora Musketeer Shirt and the new Melanie High Waist Pants. She is also wearing the new Bridgette hair from the set. I'll start with the hair...it is most definitely my least favorite from the new hairs and just seems to oddly hang from Hannahs face. It actually looks much better in game than it did in CAS. I can see it working but your sims will have to have a particular face shape to make this hair flattering.

    I love the top and paints(sans the high waist....I'd only use them on shirts like the Aurora because they are long enough to cover up the high waist...with tucked in or short shirts it looks like the pants are actually up to her navel). The top is lovely It has a small ruffle in the back but nothing to bulky/showy. The upper vest is recolorable separately from the bottom ruffles which have their own color/pattern set as does the main shirt portion of the top.

      Next up is Lanthe wearing the Faye hairstyle and the Haylie Hoodie Dress. I LOVE this dress and just think it's adorable. I recolored and patterned it here so you can't see but there are actually pockets on the side of the dress. Those pockets, the main dress, the portion of the hood showing in the front and the drawstrings all have seperate color/pattern set. Her hair is definitely one I can see myself using... it works well with more conservative looks or sims with more "cutesy" features.

       Next up is Gia using the Daisy Country Shirt Dress and the Blake hair. I love the hair...definitely my favorite out of the bunch... you can't really see it too well here because of the angle but the hair frames the face beautifully on close-ups. I also like her dress...definitely a more girl next door look( I really hope they'll release some of this clothing series sets for teens) and will work wonderfully with some of the hair from the Everyday Casual Chic set. The bow, main dress and the bottom frill all have separate color/pattern sets.

        Candice is wearing the Alana hair, a one-sided bang with a short ponytail in the back, that I love and will probably use again. She is also wearing the Deirdre's Explorer Shirt and the Kady Shorts with Button Accents. The Deirdre shirt is pretty much a Daisy Duke shirt but more modest and with two separate color/pattern sets. The shorts, cuffed and with buttons that you can't see here due to the repattern, are nice...the cuffs and buttons look awkward though in lighter colors.

Now for the next set of clothes

Hannah is wearing a hair and top from Sims 3 Generations. Her miniskirt is from the Everyday Hot Summer Days set. It's a cute skirt with visible pockets on the sides.

Lanthe is also wearing a top from Sims 3 Generations but a pair of nice Capri pants from the new Everyday set.

Gia is wearing the new Lulu's Sweet Lil' Jumper outfit... it comes in a variety of colors and is fully recoloable and patternable. I have mixed feelings about this outfit...it's very Farmers Daughter to me so I don't really have any Sims were it "fits" but I could see it as a cute outfit for your outdoorsy Gardener sim.

Candice is wearing the recolored shorts from the new set but she is also wearing one of the registration rewards for Generations. I love this top, it is just so cute and can be fully recolored and patterned(even the flower!). It's a great top for your feminine,  but less edgy, sims.

Now for the boys(and boy do I love the new tops for them!)

The models from left to right are Kris, Robbie and Tony.

Kris is wearing the August Mission Shirt recolored. I love this shirt. It can suit many different styled sims and can be changed a lot with patterns and colors.

Robbie is wearing the Start Up Chich shirt... recolored on all sections. This look is great for your preppy sims or jock sims.

Tony is wearing the Lukaz Layered Tee. This top really surprised me. It's a lot edgier than most of the male clothes out in the store right now...and you don't see asymmetrical tops much on men but I love this. The logo stays always but the rest of the shirt has two separate color and pattern sets.

Robbie is also wearing the new Alex hairstyle for men

To be honest it took me a few minutes to find this hair because it looks so much like a lot of the other short hairs we have in the game already. Not that the texture isn't nice or anything...I'd just rather see something more drastic in terms of male hair to differentiate from the others we already have.

In this picture Kris is wearing the Not That Chilly V-neck with scarf. I really love this top... I'm usually not that into the button down shirts that we have in the Sims but I think the way this one fits on your Sims and just the way it looks with the small scarf makes it a standout item in this set. 

Robbie is wearing the Fresh Prince of Riverview... I really like this vest and tee combo because with patterning you can really get some different looks with it(the above photo has a simple example of this with the vest I patterned.

Tony is wearing the Cardigan Generations registration reward...I really love this top as you can change the look completely just with your use of color to make it either look more formal or more casual.

Last pic has the final two male tops of the set(there was some confusion because the store was wonky and they weren't included in the listing of the set but are actually part of the set and download with it...this issue has since been fixed)

     Kris is wearing V-ery Hip and Tony is wearing Too Cool For Art School Hoodie. I really love the V-ery Hip top... it manages to take the deep V necked shirt and manages to make it look less douchey and more stylish. I am going to have a lot of fun recoloring and patterning this top as I feel you can go in a lot of different directions with it stylistically. The same can be said about the hoodie as you can give the tee a pattern or make it a graphic tee with a large pattern or pattern the sweatshirt in different ways changing the look.  I'm typically not a fan of deep V necks on guys but I seriously love these two shirts. 

All in all I think this set had some amazing additions for the guys in terms of style and variety(Please More!) but fell backward in terms of versatility for the female clothing and hair compared to last months Everyday Casual Chic despite having a few Gems.

I would give this set as a whole a 7/10. Definitely worth buying the whole thing if you are planning on buying the male tops and maybe buying one or two of the female outfits/hairs. Thankfully if the female hair and clothing aren't your style you can always opt for just purchasing the 7 male items in the set.

New Store Sets and Website Problems

Unfortunately I cannot get into The Sims 3 Store website to purchase the new set so it took a little bit of doing, but I was able to download the Everyday- Hot Summer Days set from the shop mode in the Sims 3 game. I am downloading and installing it now so I should have my review of this new set done in a couple hours.