THE BEAUTY OF WINTER IN SL

ARYA BRAVEHEART

This month I decided to do something very different. Rather than decorating a scene or house, I thought I would showcase the talented sim designers around Second Life by taking you on a magical winter tour of some of the areas I am loving at the moment.

These are sims that have created stunning winter or holiday-themed areas for us all to share and enjoy. They are fantastic places to visit, walk through, and take photos. I am loving discovering all the creative ways they are showcasing the winter season already!

Aoi-ike is a gorgeous area with wide-open spaces, a lake, and Japanese-inspired architecture and decor. It is on the Overland Hills sim and is modeled after an area in Hokkaido. I love all the wildlife that roams the space, including swans, bears, moose, owls, foxes, and the cranes you can see in this picture. I chose this shot because I really wanted to sit in that chair!

Echo Ridge is one of my fav sims whatever the season. This winter, as always, there are plenty of things to see and do. You can skate or toboggan, wander through the snow, tour the cabins, or just sit by the fire with a hot cocoa and enjoy the night sky. Make sure you take the time to check out this stunning lake scene. I had not been to Le’eaf & Tinsel before, so I was keen to get on over and check it out. Absolutely love this town setting, and it even has a bookshop! I grabbed a Le’eaf & Bean coffee and had a fab time wandering the streets and more rural parts of this fabulous winter sim, admiring all the decorations ready for the holiday season.

Vita’s Village & Textures in the Lake Mountbatten region is also a new place for me, and I loved it. The store is on the sim, surrounded by a stunning public space for people to walk and enjoy. I love the lake and river with trees, cabins, and bridges to explore. This scene is at the river mouth and looks back up upstream, taking in these cabins and a very chilled cow!

Where Our Journey Begins is a year-round favourite place of mine for taking photos surrounded by awesome scenery and landscaping. I love visiting each season just to see what they have done with the sim. This is one of those places where you have difficulty narrowing down your photos to one spot as there are so many areas to choose from. It was the same when I went over to get this picture.Also, take your iceskates!

Holiday Magic is an action-packed sim, so make sure you leave plenty of time to enjoy all it has to offer. You can skate, pet the animals, race down the zip line, board a train, or just chill in the many gorgeous nooks this sim has scattered about. I am a sucker for all of the twinkling lights and Christmas decorations here as well as the lovely decor and builds. Make sure you take your skates and also check out the lakefront if you want an area to sit with a loved one and enjoy the view.

I discovered Winter Wonderland a few days back and am already a repeat visitor. The tree lined paths are so lovely, and you walk around corners to find wee houses, reindeer, and this fab cafe in the middle of nowhere. This is also a place of lights, so make sure you follow signs to find everything. This is definitely a sim to take your time to wander about. I will be going back again to see and find more!

Lastly, I just wanted to wish you all a safe and happy holiday season. Thank you for taking the time to journey with me throughout 2022 with all the builds, designs, furniture and accessories I could find. I hope 2023 is going to be a fabulous year for us all.