High Rises WITH apartment mailboxes - No Mods!

It is a pain to get started making high rises. Really. I mean the ones without shells. The ones you build from the ground up. To do this, I placed the two apartments that don't have shells from Bridgeport in my house bin, and then place one of them on a lot of my choosing. Then I have to completely delete the whole thing except the apartment mailbox and garbage can just so I can have the mailbox. *Sigh* It's worth it though! No stick mailboxes for my apartments, and no mods necessary to have them either! YAY! I have recently gotten the bug to create another high rise. Don't ask...I don't know either. LOL! Anyhoo, I just thought I'd let you know that it takes a bit to create them properly, and then test them for any problems, so don't think I'm not around. :) Just creating something (hopefully) really cool! Hope this tip helps other builders create their own buildings without shells or mods. :) It CAN be done, and you CAN have apartment mailboxes in your high rises without mods! Really! Happy Building!

Love and hugs -

Illiana

Coming Soon

As we all know, real life can sometimes kick you right in the teeth and keep you from your keyboard and mouse. I've had my fill of real life for a while, so I'm kicking it right back. :P As for lots...well, yeah. Been working on those too.

For example: I am just finishing the interior on a 64x64 lot so it should be out in a week or so after I give it a good test run. It's a 4 bed, 5 bath horse ranch with a pool and garden. I would post a picture, but they seem to be disabled right now with the move. No biggie. I'm sure that will be fixed soon. :) After that, who knows! Just got Island Paradise, so I suppose I should play around with some resorts, or underwater fun stuff. We shall see! Hope you like the new lot, and thank you for all of your kind words and encouragement! TSR community rocks!

Love and hugs -

Illiana of TSR

Villa sul Mare - Massive!

Hello there fellow simmers...and simmerettes...got a new one for you! Miss CrissyJAY requested (quite possibly) the biggest house I have ever created. LOL! She wanted everything! Well, she got it, and hopefully you will want it too! Here are the stats on this new beauty:

Style: Mediterranean
Lot Size: 64x64
Rooms: 6 (Master, Butler's Room, Guest Room, 3 Kids Rooms)
Baths: 9 (Yeah...I said it! 9!)
Price: $887,551 decorated ($444,643 undecorated. Gack! Can you say "freerealestate"? Also, bills run in the thousands!)
Floors: 3 (2 regular, and 1 basement)
Custom Content: None...as usual.
EPs/SPs/Worlds: WA, Ambitions, Late Night, Outdoor Living, High End Loft, Fast Lane, Generations, Town Life Stuff, Hidden Springs, Master Suite Stuff, Diesel, Showtime, PETS, Sunlit Tides, Riverview, Lucky Palms, and Seasons.

TAKE NOTE: Seasons is NOT necessary for this lot. Crissy did not have that EP, so I created it without using any Season items. The lot WAS tested in Seasons though, and no snow in the house. LOL! This truly is a massive lot! Placing it will take a while before it is done processing. Be patient, it WILL place...it just takes a bit. ;) Get a sandwich, or check the oil in your car while it's loading, then it won't seem so long. ;)
Release Date: February 27th

Outside: Pool, multiple decks, hot tub, entertaining areas, landscaping, fountains.

Basement: Gym, Home Theater, fully outfitted bar and gameroom with multi-stall bathroom, wine cellar with press, laundry room, elevator as well as stairs.

Main Floor: Grand staircase, formal living room with bar, formal dining room, butler's pantry, large kitchen, family room, breakfast nook, library, guest room with private bath, butler's room with private bath, 3 car attached garage, 2 family baths, elevator with access to all 3 floors, back stairs down to basement.

2nd Floor: Bridge overlooking entry and formal living room, 3 kids rooms with private baths and decks, laundry room, master bed (with huge master bath, his and hers seperate walk-in closets, private deck, fireproofed fireplace).

Hope you like it! You can see all the other shots in my upcoming area.

Love and hugs -
Illiana

Eleusis - A New Modern!

Been working on this one for a bit, and it is currently in testing. :) Will update with the release date when I am sure. Here are the stats:

Beds: 2
Baths: 3
Floors: 2
Custom Content: None...as usual. ;)
EPs: I have WA, Ambitions, Late Night, Outdoor Living, High End Loft, Fast Lane, Generations, Town Life Stuff, Hidden Springs, Master Suite Stuff, Diesel, PETS, and Seasons. I ALWAYS patch my games.

Worlds: Sunlit Tides, Riverview, Lucky Palms

Outside: Attached 2 car garage, extensive landscaping, pool, hot tub, grilling and dining area, seating area, party deck with bar/firepit/sectional, fountains.

Inside: Open floor plan, fireplace, master with bath and private deck, central dining, all skills/alarms/phones.

I do hope you like it! :)

Love and hugs -
Illiana

Saddleburr Stables

Well, I did it...I broke down and got PETS. Hated it in TS2, but it isn't the same in TS3. The pets and strays aren't even mildly annoying and they don't wander all over your lots like they did in TS2. Horses are a blast! Lots of new stuff with them, and I played for a bit, as you can see by the gorgeous black Unicorn I am now the proud owner of. :D Anyway, after figuring out exactly what horses need and how much room they take up (alot!) I have come up with Saddleburr Stables.

Due out: Feb 12 - Tuesday
Rooms: 3
Bathrooms: 3
Lot Size: 60x60
Custom Content: None...zero...zip...nada...really!

Outside: Barn, stocked garden, race training area, jump training area, several water stations with hay, fountain, landscaping, dog house.

Inside Barn: 3 Horse Paddocks, Sculpting area, Inventing area.

Inside House: 2 car attached garage, open floor plan, large kitchen with message center/computer area, fireproofed fireplace, small reading area, semi-formal dining, 3 bathrooms (2 up and 1 down), winding grand staircase, art area, 2nd computer area, 3 bedrooms, master has deck and private bath, and more!

All Skills/alarms/phones
Fully tested

For more pics please see the upcoming area of my site! Hope you like it, and thanks for checking it out! :D

Love and hugs -
Illiana

Briarwind coming on Jan. 29!

Thought you'd seen the last of my lots, eh? Didn't think I had it in me anymore, right? Yeah...well, I guess we were both wrong. :D Had a special request to build a "Southern meets Farmhouse" kind of lot...and she wanted it all! LOL! The lot is currently in testing and has this for stats:

Floors: 2
Rooms: 3 Kids, 1 Nursery, 1 Master Suite - All totalled? 5
Bathrooms: 3.5
Garage: 2 Car w/ parking in front for a 3rd
Garden: Yes - Large and ready.
Pond: Yes - Stocked with fish AND frogs! :D
Pool: Yes
Size: Started it on a 40x40...had to move up to a 60x60. :D

Outside: Garden, pond, treehouse, grill, dining table, playground, pool, landscaping, parking for 1 extra car, bicycles. A butterfly spawner as well as lightning bugs for you collectors. One stocked fishing area, one stocked french frog area.

Inside: Open floor plan, 3 fireplaces (fireproofed!), large kitchen with breakfast bar/island, den/library area, living/family room with video game console, formal dining for 8, 2 car attached garage, open play area upstairs for kiddies, skill room, and all bedrooms.

Here are some sneak peaks at the house during testing. I do hope you like it! It should be done with testing in a day or so, so keep your eyes peeled for it!

Altruistic Dining

Been working on a new set, and have some other ideas for the guy sims in our lives. Here's a quicky pic of the Altruistic Dining Set currently in testing. Am working on a few more little objects for it, but so far it's looking pretty good in testing. :)

Hope you like the set! See you soon. :)

Love and hugs -

Illiana

At a Crossroad...

Been doing some thinking...yeah I know! Scary, right?... Anyhoo, in TS2 making lots was far more complex. The plants had to be "just so" or the gardener couldn't get to them. The CFE cheat was more controllable and the land stayed where you put it. Stuff like that. Creating lots was far more of a challenge. I love the new look of the TS3 buildings because you have more control over the colors and patterns even without using custom content, which I am notorious for, and they look more realistic.

However, you can't really do community lots anymore. Not the way we used to. They've gone the way of the "Rabbit Hole" and as I have never been one to make a building "shell" and publish it, this has been a major adjustment. This leaves residential lots. Just how many houses can a sim have anyway? LOL! There are billions of residential lots available, and with the new Create a Style tool everyone can make really awesome looking lots. Daily I see fabulous lots uploaded, and they are beautiful...as they should be! :D The loss of one non-CC using lot builder in this sea of fabulous lots full of fabulous custom content would go easily unnoticed.

Therefore, I am going to occasionally make lots, but not to the extent I used to. There is truly no need. I think I will focus on making things, mostly for guys (as they get so little attention), and just build lots when I am really inspired. Lots turn out WAY better when the lot builder is inspired by something. Who knows...maybe I will see a building and figure I'll give it a shot in-game. :D Until then, keep on playing, and have a great time! That is, after all, what it is all about! ;)

Love and hugs -

Illiana

Upcoming Garage Gear 2 Set!

Finishing up the final screenies and testing on these 12 new items for your macho sims.

Set includes: Tool Chest/dresser, Hanging Tools Unit, Hanging Ladder, 2-tier Shelf, 3-tier Shelf, Large Plastic Bin/coffee table, Small Plastic Bin/chair, Cooler/coffee table, Paint Can w/brush, Paint Can w/out brush, Simoil, Lawn Mower/Sculpture.

Once approved I will post the release date. Hope you like them! Now time to work on a nice house...just a nice little house. :P LOL!

Unsociable Wretch!

I had a few people ask me the other day why I'm not as social on the site as I used to be, and how come I don't answer comments anymore? Well, the answer is simple... When I was just a part-time cashier I had scads more time to create, socialize, and answer comments. Now that I am a divorced single mom of a 7 year old and work 12 hour shifts it's a little tougher to find that kind of extra time. So I had to decide, do I want to create less, or socialize more? That's all there is to it. :) I wish I did have more time in a day! I miss chatting it up with people! Life isn't always so simple though. :( The Sims game is my wind down...my break time. I need what little time I have to myself to spend in creating stuff. I do hope everyone understands, and if things slow down enough I would love to go back to socializing and answering all of your wonderful comments...I do read them, and they DO inspire me to keep creating and building! Thank you all so very much!!!!

(((Hugs!!!)))

Illiana