The Fun Book for Couples : 102 Ways to Celebrate Love (Hardcover)

Book Description

From the author of the wildly successful The Fun Book: 102 Ways for Girls to Have Some, comes the next step in the process. You became such a fun girl you attracted a fun guy. So have fun together, and keep having fun together, for it leads to happiness, or in this case, keeps a relationship alive and happy. Planning surprises and adding fun to dates and down time puts action behind the words "I love you." As we all know, the couple that plays together stays together, and The Fun Book for Couples holds many ways to spice up and maintain a healthy relationship:When booking travel accommodations, always say it's your honeymoon. Act like it is. Leave notes on his pillow or in his wallet. Write things like "Come home early. I have a surprise for you." Carve your initials in a heart under the kitchen table (or the dining room table if you are really committed). Brush each other's hair. Watch Out of Africa for inspiration.Where merriment abounds, there is contentment.

Halloween: Romantic Art and Customs of Yesteryear (Hardcover)

When I first got this book, I flipped through it and thought,"hey,where's the 'wish list' postcards(Winsch,etc.)?". After I started reading it I realised that the postcards shown were perfect in illustrating the subject matter in each chapter. Also, the "reason" for some of the unusual images (cabbage people, etc.) I had seen on Halloween postcards became clear. A fun and informative book.

Halloween in the United States wasn't always a children's trick-or-treat holiday. In the beginning of the 20th century Halloween was a time when young adults peered into the murky haze of things to come and used all manner of methods to try to prophesy their romantic futures. Parties were the rage where bobbing for apples wasn't just a game but a chance to search the omens found in apple seeds and peels. Auguries in candle flames, in pumpkins, seeds, nuts and mirrors all were employed by the curious. This wonderful book uses the illustrations of full-color vintage postcards that were the rage in the early 1900s to show the many delightful and quaint oracles that were consulted. It includes numerous Halloween poems and party ideas from a bygone era, even some super costume ideas that could be used today to stunning effect for a nostalgic Halloween celebration. The text is filled with detailed history about the customs of yesteryear and the abundant appeal of the postcard images, pictures of antique table favors and invitations is sure to delight. Do not miss out on this book if you love Halloween. It contains a forgotten and very charming aspect of Halloween and Americana that I found very enjoyable and I think you will, too.






Costume Design

Review
"fascinating compliation of costume designers' sketches and photos of the finished products..." - Express News

"looks at what actors wear on screen. Interviews with costume designers chronicle the creation of elaborate get-ups..." - Erin Hanafy, Associated Press

Book Description
Dressing actors to suit character, place and period is more crucial to the filmmaking process than many realize. Costume Design provides compelling insight into this fascinating craft, featuring interviews with 14 world-class international costume designers, including the designers of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Batman, Shakespeare in Love, and many more.

*Vast cultural and artistic range of costume design brought together in one publication for the first time
*No other book uses so much visual content from the designers
*Contains interviews with some of the most celebrated costume designers in the world

This book is invaluable for anyone interested in learning about costume design--from the designers themselves. Fourteen highly accomplished designers discuss their craft in highly engaging and informative interviews, conducted by the author, Deborah Nadoolman Landis, herself an Academy Award-nominated costume designer. This is the kind of stuff that is usually neglected in "Making Of" film books and Hollywood history tomes. The interviews are augmented by hundreds of color and black-and-white photographs and costume sketches, which in themselves are more than worth the price of the book. Highly recommended!

This book is ideal for anyone interested in fashion or costume, and the creative process that goes into the creation of design. Landis, a costume designer herself, interviews most of the best costume designers working in film today. So unlike other books on costume design, where you get one person's opinion on the craft--and that person is usually a critic or academic who doesn't really have experience working in the field--here you get straight information direct from the creative people themselves.
The pictures are fabulous, so I think this book has appeal for anybody interested in clothes, movies, or design. Obviously, it will be a necessity for anyone interested in costume design or interested in being a costume designer.

Although there is a section on Landis' work on such movies as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Coming to America, she has obviously expertly edited the interviews that make up the text of the book. It seems as if the reader is sitting in the living room of these famous costume designers, chatting casually about how they got started, what inspires them, and some of their most interesting professional experiences.

Besides Edith Head, how many costume designers can you actually name? This book is a phenomenal collection of interviews with some of the best working film costume designers. You get a rare insight into what it's like to design for the stars, collaborate with the director and other craftsmen/women on a film set. Hollywood is well represented, but international designers get their due here as well. Designers describe what it's like to design for the much-lauded period films and the often-overlooked costumes of contemporary films (the author is herself an Oscar-nominated costume designer for "Coming to America"). The book includes lots of color photos and illustrations. You don't have to be a film historian to appreciate it.

The most recent book in Focal Press' Screencraft series, this book is a revealing look at the job of a film costume designer, told from the point of view of the practitioners. The names, faces and stories behind the most famous costumes from cinema are represented. From period films to contemporary, from mainstream to art films, from stylized costumes to naturalistic, the designers interviewed reveal their design process and the purpose of costume design, as well as what it's like working with stars and directors. The Academy Award nominated (if not winning) designers interviewed include: Theodora Van Runkle ("Bonnie and Clyde"), Italian designer Piero Tosi ("The Leopard"), Jeffrey Kurland ("Erin Brokovich"), the books author Deborah Nadoolman ("Raiders of the Lost Ark"), Ann Roth ("The Hours"), Japanese designer Eiko Ishioka ("Bram Stoker's Dracula"), Anthony Powell ("Tess"), Albert Wolsky ("All That Jazz"), Sandy Powell ("The Crying Game"), Gabriella Pescucci ("The Age of Innocence"), Ruth Carter ("Malcolm X"), Milena Canonero ("A Clockwork Orange"), James Acheson ("Dangerous Liaisons"), and Bob Ringwood ("Batman"). A fascinating behind the scenes look at a craft typically invisible to the audience. All of the designers deserve this long overdue recognition, and this book celebrates their work with interviews, color photos, and costume illustrations. Perhaps a future second volume might include interviews with designers Colleen Atwood, Patricia Norris and the design team of Jenny Beavan and John Bright?