Monday, January 23, 2012

Housing tips and tricks & Winter Wizardland





I am asked all the time about decorating houses and to give ideas. This segment is all about tips and tricks that will help. Decorating is all about placement. Look on the internet for images,  I search all the time to find the area I want to recreate.  For this house I searched winter scenes. Once you find your image buy everything you need to recreate the image, everything except wallpaper and flooring for your in-game house. The bazaar is one of the best places to find all your housing needs.  


I have learned from decorating a splash of color helps in every design. Let’s take this ice school house, it’s full of blues, grays and white.  Without adding that splash of color your items would just fade into the background.  Snowy maple trees make the perfect splash for me in this house. I try to make houses look as natural as possible. Everyone has their own unique style of decorating.  Be yourself, show your style.


First 5 Steps
1. Gold, I always start off with 100k or more. Never fails I find something I want and did not have the gold for it.
2. Pick the right house for your need or theme.
3. Item count - know how many you can use for both inside and outside. The item count goes really quick when decorating.
4. Craft any items you want to use in the house.
5. Any crowns item you want. Get those first by purchasing or farming for them.

Landscaping
When placing trees remember, trees all don't grow around the edges. Trees can be in groups or place alone. You want a 3 dimensional feel to your house.  Walk under, around and through as you place trees. If all your trees are in one place or in one line you can lose the effect of your world being more than a image on a screen.  Same for the other items like rocks, snow, frozen items, and statues.  Don't forget that splash of color. ;)

The living house
Bring your house to life by adding pets, mounts and plants. One thing to keep in mind though is if you are creating a theme, as in this winter house I created, you will need to have items that represent that theme. Who would want a fire bush in a winter theme? You could even ask your family or friends to help you create a special area for ice skating or a dinner party, just have them dress up.


Inside Decor
Rooms-plan your layout
Decide what room you want to be for what, kitchen, bedroom, hallways, or just a place to view special items. For museums or show places make sure to count for platforms in item counts. Especially if you are making mazes all those pieces for each turn take up that item count really quickly.


Details,Details,Details
Details are the items that show what the room is made of.  Let's say you are creating a kitchen, okay well you need kitchen details:  shelving, food, pans and tables. Even the little details count. The more you give your guest to check out the more they like it.


Big rooms
All big rooms have a focal point. Like this ice school house the main visual point is the ice coming up through the floor. I found it so easy to decorate from that focal point out. I wanted that splash of color which was the green bamboo I in circled the ice with. Even if you are not creating a themed area like this house you should start with a focal point and work out from there. Focal points can even be a piece of furniture you really like. One thing to remember you do not have to completely fill the room for it to look great. Sometimes less is more.
Basic floating ,mat covered with snow pile.
Flooring and wallpaper
Now time to buy flooring and wallpaper. I know how hard it is to find that perfect floor or tile, let alone get them to look great together! This is usually because not all spaces are the same. The red brick floor I have in the mid-level rooms did not look so great in the main area of this winter themed house. Try lots of different styles. One tip I can give: keep one of each type of flooring and wallpaper in an attic. I do this so I can test each type in the room I am creating. I always place my floor and wallpaper last. It never fails if I place it first it won’t go with the decor I decided on for that room.


I hope this segment of tips and tricks answers some of your questions. Until next time, Happy House Decorating!


Your friend,
Paige MoonShade




Special thank you to Cass for the amazing video.







Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Raven's Hoard Pack!

Raven's Hoard Pack the newest of hoard packs out in Wizard101. This pack gives with 7 cards, a variety of items. You can receive anything from weapons , pets, a raven mount to furniture for only 399 crowns. What a great deal! 


feathered wall hanging




I have found some really awesome furniture items, my favorite is the hanging feathers , as seen in the image above. There is also frozen bears and wolves, snow piles and basins, there is even some snow covered rocks and stones.  The trees are amazing, just what I needed for some frozen housing ideas I have been working on. 


Misc trees
When I first saw the animated breakfast pan I about died , looks like one of my dreams had come true. This pan shakes as it is cooking and then flips eggs and bacon in the air. Simply Awesome! Then I saw the stuffed animated owl, faints. The owl turns it's head and flaps it's wings. I do believe KingsIsle is trying to make me go crazy . ;) I'll do my best to show animations in the images below.

breakfast pan

breakfast pan animated

stuffed owl

stuffed owl animated

Some other really great furniture items include a platform, frozen weapons and  frozen totems. There is even a tall wooden shelf I really like, I'll post that image below. There is a really great guide being made over at Wizard101 Central :  Illustrated Guide to The New Raven's Hoard Pack  operated by Jonathan RedFlame, lots of really amazing items in this pack. Hope you enjoyed this weeks segment. Until next time, happy house decorating.

Your friend,
Paige MoonShade

Tall wooden shelf


Thursday, January 5, 2012

Housing showcase: Elijah StormHeart


Elijah's royal playhouse shows much care in decorating. From the beach front swimming area to a hidden teleporter inside the waterfall. When I first came to Elijah's house I first saw the swimming beach front area. He detailed the water area with rocks and a fountain placed just in the right spot, even has the wooden walk pier to jump off of. On the beach were rugs placed to look like beach towels and torches with hay ontop of each for the umbrellas.




Once inside he offered me some tea. ;) and then I saw this wonderful kitchen nook with a cupboard for food supplies. That was when I asked may I take pictures. I always look for that special decorated area that make me go Wow! Oh and if you notice that plate of cookies and milk is missing , yeah that was me . ;)

Great place to have tea.

This last room  is where you ended up after going through the teleporter under the water fall. It is a pleasantly decorated music area and rootbeer bar. The only way out is through the other teleporter. I do hope you enjoyed Elijah's Royal playhouse as much as I did. Until next time, happy house decorating.

Your friend,
Paige moonShade 







Thursday, December 29, 2011

Weekly update & Mercenaries for Hire

Greetings Wizards,

It has been a very busy week, so not much of a post this week. I am still working on the studio recreation house, sunken palace and my next sun palace. I'll give you a sneak peek of the studio house at the end of this post.

I am working on getting all my Paige MoonShade wizards new level 68 spells. I have so far got the Balance, Fire, and  Death school spells.  Working on Ice now. My death is still soloing, finally got through Celestia's Trial of Spheres, it was fun. I did have some issues in the Savannah in Zafaria , thank you Olivia from Mercenaries for Hire  for helping me with the queen there. I still dunno why I was having so much trouble with her.

I was also trying to get my Ice level 60 gear from the waterworks. Still need my boots and robe. If you ever need help with a quest or just farming there is a really great group on Wizard101 Central , they are called Mercenaries for Hire aka M4H is run by John Shadow . This group helps with any quest that a player would need help with, some rules apply though for asking for help. I know sometimes it might take a small bit of time to get help as they can become very busy, do not fret though they will help you just have to be patient, this is all explained in the rules.

This group runs like clockwork with precision for each area. The Mercenaries for Hire  team that helps you will explain what you need in your spell deck and and explain each part of the area you are in. There is also a post for quick help guides: Help links . Here the list of M4H's amazing team of helps members Team of Mercenaries . I want to thank Joshua, Scarlet and Destiny for the amazing help and very quick run in the Waterworks.

Thank you for reading this mini weekly post.

Your friend,
Paige MoonShade

Thank you to everyone for helping me get all the info correct for this post.




Preview of Studio The green room ;) Fist steps:



Friday, December 23, 2011

Night Before a Wizard Christmas


It was the night before a Wizard Christmas, 
when all through the spiral,
Not a wizard was battling, it was rather quite frightful.
All the of spiral houses were decorated with much care,
All hoping Felix Navidad would soon be there.

The wizards were tucked all warm in their beds,
While dreams of pets danced in their heads.
 Greyrose with her wand and Ambrose with his staff,
While Cyrus was complaining about a classroom draft.

When out of the shopping district arose such a clatter,
Ravenwood staff arose to see what was the matter.
Away through the commons they flew like a flash,
Each on their wing mounts attached with a sash.

With all the stars glistening in the sky ,
Gave a wonderful glow to see where they would fly.
Arriving they find all the holiday pets loose,
A miniature wooden wagon, and eight tiny Chrismoose.

A red suited driver, so happy and quick,
They knew in a moment it must be Felix .
More static than lighting bolts his movements came,
Then he shouted, calling each pet by name!

"Now Snowball! now, Christmas Elf! now, Yuletide and Frostman!On, Polar cat! On, Arctic Pig! on,  Ice Snake and Snowman!To the top of Headmaster Ambrose's tower! over the brick wall!Now battle away! Battle away! Battle away all!"

Have a wonderful merry Christmas from me to you!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Fun at Walmart


I  was at Walmart today looking at some clothes when this lady came up to me ask said, “Excuse me but my Granddaughter says she knows you?” I said “She does?” And I looked over at this cute little wizard.  Her wizard name is Megan. She was giggling behind her Grandmother’s shopping cart. Megan’s Grandmother proceeded to tell me that is was something about a game the young girl plays. I said “Could it be Wizard101?” Little Megan was so excited. I said “Nice to meet you Megan.”  I am unsure why, but she asked for my autograph , so I signed it for her with a flourish : Paige MoonShade. We talked for a bit I had told Megan’s Grandmother about playing the game with my family and the she asked if Megan would like for her to play. Young Megan , "Yes!"

The whole event was so humbling and I am in awe over it.

I am unsure if you will ever read this Megan but if you do. It was great to meet you and your grandmother. I would love to meet in game sometime.

Your friend,
Paige MoonShade

Thursday, December 15, 2011

New Christmas Decorations



Christmas comes to the spiral in the form of decorations(visit crowned shop). From trees and presents to even wallpaper, candycanes and snowflakes to go on your walls. This year wizards of all ages can decorate their wizard101 house is a festive holiday theme. For outside we have the snowman and stick candycanes to trail any walkway.

Don't forget to put those cookies out for ole St. Nick that is right wizards we have cookies and milk this item is interactive. You can eat your cookies and milk but they do take away to come back. best to leave those for Santa. ;) Thank you Cass these are amazing.



Don't worry wizards I did find out you can bring them back by logging out of your account. If you do not want to wait and see how long they take to come back. Looks like I need to update my holiday house but I'll post a couple picture below of the new items. Until next time , happy house decorating.

Your friend,
Paige MoonShade




Welcome to my new Holiday House!