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Spiderwebs are the New Blackby Josephine Stone QuailBellMagazine.com There's a new way for those not-so design savvy to get shockingly detailed nails this Halloween. And, no, it does not involve visiting a nail salon. Salon Effects by Sally Hansen are nail polish strips that adhere to the surface of your nails and provide the glamour of an expensive manicure with the cheapness of falsies. Disclaimer: The imperfections that come with applying false nails also applies. Depending on the steadiness of your hand and the precision of your emery board working skills, these could come out beautiful--or bust. Chances are, you'll most likely land beautiful with these simple, step-by-step instructions.
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Painless & Classy--Japanese BookbindingBy Jade Miller QuailBellMagazine.com By Rachel Jones With DIY culture booming, Japanese bookbinding is becoming increasingly popular. It's an easy way to create a new sketchbook, scrapbook or commonplace notebook with simple supplies. It is also a great way to have a painless and classy book on your shelf that you can proudly look at and say you made yourself. Alternatively, Japanese bookbinding's a good fallback for fixing bindings on paperbacks that have been loved and read so many times that they’re falling apart.
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Get Your Witchy Heel OnBy Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com Whether you're a Good Witch or a Bad Witch, you'll need the right boot to survive the most spellbinding season of the year. Perfect with tights, leggings, or jeans, your witchy heels will get you stomping on the streets in style.
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A Grim Fairy Tale at The Visual Arts Center By Josephine Stone QuailBellMagazine.com What do you get when you put the James River Film Society, Richmond Macabre, Geeks of Doom, Doc Gillespie of Goblin Market and Fangoria all in one room?
This October 20th's James River Film Society's Third Thursday event at Richmond, VA's Visual Arts Center, showcasing a Halloween double feature with Giovanni Furore's "Pickman's Model," and Virginia native Stan Winston's "Pumpkinhead." The event, free to the public with a horror trivia contest and bonus Halloween treats, brought together horror buffs and geeks alike to do what they do best: indulge in the finest of horror film. "Pickman's Model" is a short Italian film by Giovanni Furore. The film, shot in 2007, is a depiction of the story by H.P. Lovecraft about a deranged artist by the name of Pickman. According to commentator Phil Ford of Richmond Macabre, the film was Furore's first as a director. For this fact Furore was critical--but that very fact makes the film all the more impressive. Take the suspenseful camera angles in the scenes where the main character nervously recounts his run-in with the infamous Pickman to a friend as his reflection interchanges with his feared antagonist in the mirror. An even better tactic of suspense is Furore's ability to contain the actual art of Pickman from the viewer's eyes as it's relentlessly described. That is, until the very, un-inevitable end. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Give Yourself an Edwardian WeddingBy Paisley Hibou QuailBellMagazine.com You fancy yourself such an adventurous girl that you delve into the wonder and mystery of the past, not the future. Rather than peruse modern wedding magazines in grocery store lines, you hit your great-grandmother's trousseau for old books. You've made up your mind. You want an Edwardian wedding. The era speaks of grace, innovation, decadence, and danger all at once. You want your wedding to do the same, whether in autumn, winter, spring, or summer. Here's how Quail Bell(e)s can give themselves an Edwardian wedding without jumping into a wormhole: By Christine Stoddard First, try to understand the atmosphere and mores of the era. The Edwardian period took place during the reign of the British king, Edward VII, from 1901 to 1910 (though some historians draw the cut-off at 1919 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.) The Edwardian era immediately followed the tight-laced Victorian era—so you can bet some folks were itching for change. With popular political campaigns involving socialism, labor rights, and women's suffrage, social mobility shed its fairy tale skin. Edwardians were well off; the middle class had more disposable income than ever before and what were once considered luxuries were swiftly becoming more widely available. All kinds of medical, technological, and generally scientific inventions flooded the marketplace—from the automobile to the phonograph to the telephone and more. There's ample reason the Edwardian era was retroactively dubbed la Belle Époque. Things hadn't quite reached the “party hard” mentality of the Roaring Twenties, but many people did find the years before WWI to be happy, comfortable ones. Of course, that's just a snippet of the whole picture. For the full oil painting, you better reach for your reading glasses. Snap to it and get studious. The Edwardians worshipped details, and if your wedding's going to come even close to that level of meticulousness, you can't skimp. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
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Six Halloween Costumes You Can Buy OnlineBy Starling Root QuailBellMagazine.com You have less than a fortnight to plot and execute your breath-taking Halloween entrance. Whether you're partying on the dance floor or spending the night at home with your closest friends, you'll want to shake your quail tail in style. Fledglings go for drama--or at least spunk. If you're too busy to make your own costume, consider ordering a get-up from any of the thousands of websites dedicated to the best holiday of the year (at least in QB's opinion). Here are just six beauties we pulled--all of which pay tribute to the imaginary, nostalgic, and otherworldly:
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Girl on Girl, Zombie on ZombieBy Jade Miller QuailBellMagazine.com Fall in Richmond, VA. Leaves changing, that crisp smell in the air, apple cider sorbet at Bev’s and the return of home bouts for the River City Rollergirls. There is not much I love more than seeing chicks in hot pants and tights knock around other chicks in hot pants and tights.
Before I discuss October 15th’s Nightmare on 3rd Street bout, let me do a quick explanation for those who are not well aquatinted with roller derby and its rules. River City Rollergirls, or RCR, is a league of Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), which means they play on flat ground as opposed to a banked track. In the Greater Richmond Convention Center, where RCR plays their bouts, the track is outlined on the floor in tape. Within each bout, there are two 30 minute halves, and within each half, multiple 2 minute jams. There are five members from each team on the track: 3 blockers, 1 pivot (with a striped helmet cover) and 1 jammer (with a star helmet cover). The jammer is the girl on a team who can score and the other girls on the floor make up the pack. The group starts out on the first line on the track, called the “pivot line," and the jammers start at the second line, appropriately called the “jammer line.” At the first whistle, the pack takes off and the jammers go out at the second whistle. The jammers then try to break through the pack, as the first jammer to get cleanly through becomes the lead jammer, who has the power to “call off the jam” at any point, by placing her hands on her hips. Calling off the jam is an important power to have in order to control who gets the points and how many. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Autumn Style: Grown-up GothBy Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com With steadily dropping temperatures, buying warm additions to your wardrobe is likely on your to-do list. But if your neighborhood's hardly brimming with vintage and speciality shops and you'd prefer not to go online, our Gothic Victorian Quail Bell(e)s might feel stuck. Don't. Here's proof that elegant whimsicality lies in every mall store this fall. You just have to look.
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Pee Your Pants Universal StyleBy Ani Mikaelian QuailBellMagazine.com Universal Studios is well-known for its assortment of intricate makeup and eye-opening technology. Now combine those claims to fame with the natural fun of Halloween, and Universal's Halloween festivities are only all the more entrancing and frightening to be a part of. From Friday, Sept. 23 to Monday, Oct. 31, creatures of all kinds will take over the celebrated studios. Though the outcome's always entertaining, it's the moments in between major "scenes" you have to watch out for. A monster lurks in every corner. Universal has five scare zones this year. “Scream” is filled with infinite Ghostfaces—which one is real? “Zombieville” allows you to step into a decayed world where nothing is meant to stay alive. “The Reapers” takes you to a land where The Grim Reaper plays God in every sense of the word. “Klownz” is home to circus rejects that are ready to take their anger out on anyone who steps in their way. “Freakz” is naturally a freak show, where the performers have acquired a taste for human flesh—and you’re next! Universal has also constructed six mazes this year, five of which are brand new, with only one returning veteran. “Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses” is back by popular demand. The maze offers its guests 3-D Zomebievision to heighten the attraction's colors and draw guests right into all the traps. “La Llorona” is the upsetting Latin American folk tale come to life, as well as Universal's first maze with a female villain. “The Wolfman” may present a traditional plot, but the production design's life-like appearance will make your body hairs rise in compliance. “Alice Cooper’s Welcome to My Nightmare,” meanwhile, allows you to enter the rock legend’s twisted mind. “Eli Roth’s Hostel” has a big name, and takes you right to Europe with the paranoia of never coming out in one piece. “The Thing” is the final addition, inspired by the movie of the same name currently out in theaters. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Make your own Moleskine!By Jade Miller QuailBellMagazine.com A story idea. A beautiful moment needing to be captured in verse. A beautiful stranger with eyes that beg to be sketched. These are the reasons that writers, poets and artists all carry some sort of notebook--to have a safety net to keep all those ideas snug and close by. Now the go-to, trendy journal of the times is a Moleskine. However, a writer or starving artist does not always have the cash on hand to purchase a name brand. Quail Bell will not fail you! Here's a tutorial on how to make a knockoff Moleskin with a cereal box and some paper: By Rachel Jones You'll need:
Steps:
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Old San Juan: Spanish History Buffs Unite!By Luna Lark QuailBellMagazine.com I stumbled off the airplane in a stupor, hardly cognizant of the fact that I had arrived. The stink of plastic-wrapped blankets still clung to me. Despite my Herculean will, I could barely budge my eyelids or put one foot in front of the other without tripping. My make-up had somehow dribbled all over my face and every strand of my hair seemed to worship the ceiling. But I deserved little pity. My six-hour bus ride from Richmond, VA to New York City and the subsequent two-hour flight had led me to the tropical and historical glory of San Juan, Puerto Rico. I was grateful for the escape, even if I was less than alert. Soon I would be visiting one of the oldest European settlements in the Americas.
A cloud of humidity and scores of singing frogs greeted me as I first encountered the island in darkness. Curse the color spots, I muttered. My vision had to adjust from the glaring institutional white I had abandoned a mere moment ago to the vast blackness beyond the line of taxis. After some awkward negotiations with a middle-age taxi driver, I staggered into the hotel lobby and mumbled the necessary words to the receptionist. I plopped down before the computer humming a few feet away from the front desk. The desire to check my email suddenly possessed me. I sent a few messages to my most beloved explaining that I had yet to be kidnapped or enchanted by any Spanish Colonial architecture. Then, noting my growling stomach, I ran to the only nearby restaurant open at 3 a.m.--Burger King (whose menu differed drastically from the one I grew up with in the Mid-Atlantic United States.) I was staying in the rather beachy El Condado, a district located near Old San Juan, the city's Colonial heart. Needless to say, as a Quail Bell(e), Old San Juan was the district that most arrested my attention. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Gin, Secretaries, and the Big Apple in the '60sBy Paisley Hibou QuailBellMagazine.com The whirs and blurs of Manhattan. The sophistication of Madison Avenue. The glory days of the kind of advertising that did not tolerate short-cuts. This is the world of the critically-acclaimed television series, "Mad Man." Since 2007, this fishbowl of '60s upper-middle class drama has awed viewers with sharp dialogue, fast-moving plots, and meticulous production design.
The show centers around Don Draper (Jon Hamm), who works as a creative director at the fictitious advertising agency, Sterling Cooper. Both a family man and a Casanova, a team player and a pariah, Draper constantly struggles to understand his place in a realm of rigid societal expectations and intense consumerism. Given their particular interests, Quail Bell(e)s should especially take note of the show's strong storytelling, historical accuracy, developed female characters, and stunning wardrobe. Ever wanted to witness 1960s folklore firsthand? Watching "Mad Men" is the closest you'll get without actually living it. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Gettin' Gorgeous the Regency WayBy Sandra Scholes QuailBellMagazine.com Think of all the beauty products we have at our disposal these days, those professional make-up artists use and endorse, plus new, ingenious creams for keeping the modern woman looking younger despite the rigors of modern life. Back in the Regency era, beauty products were a little more basic and sometimes even dangerous to use. Just as we consider certain looks unfashionable, those of the Regency era had similar thoughts. They deemed freckles and heavy make-up unflattering. There were plenty of products available for those who did not wish to be regarded as unfashionable by polite society, but often ladies purchased raw ingredients and mixed them themselves. Anti-Freckle Lotion Since freckles were considered unattractive, ladies of the day used several products to temporarily bleach them. One such product was called Unction of Maintenon. It removed both light or dark colored freckles. Using Unction of Maintenon required covering the face completely with elderflower water at night and then applying unction oil. In the morning, the lady would cleanse her face with rose oil (or "oil of rose.")
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Fairy Food: Arugula & Goat Cheese ToastiesBy QB Chef QuailBellMagazine.com Not everything fairies eat has to be served cold. They have hot plates and they know how to use them--albeit their form of a stovetop might baffle us. Fairies simply employ a firefly to sit beneath a mushroom cap. The firefly remains under the cap until the fairies are finished cooking. Stovetops come in handy when fairies make toasties, one of the few foods they enjoy warm.
A toastie, for those of you not from the British Isles, is a toasted sandwich. One very popular fairy toastie contains arugula and goat cheese. To prepare your own, just toast the bread of your choice, buttering it if you like. If you prefer your goat cheese warm, then toast it, too. Otherwise, serve it cold. Then add as many sprigs of arugula to your toastie as you wish. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Missed our premiere fashion show?Here's a screenshot of the program cover we actually used for our "Once Upon a Dream" fashion show: The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
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Civil War BelfryBy Paisley Hibou QuailBellMagazine.com Cupolas from the Virginia State Penitentiary Marker [Richmond, VA] The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
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Rehearsals on TombstonesBy Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com A moth, disoriented by the intrusion of bright lights and lanterns lately introduced to its world of graves, crashed into one of my curls. Its wing promptly snagged a ringlet. I took pity on the struggling insect and gently removed him from my hair. It was a humid September night, with a certain greasiness hanging in the air. In just a few minutes, I would be rehearsing my role as Virginia Poe at Shockoe Hill Cemetery in Richmond, VA. Autumn not only ushers in the change of leaves and ubiquity of pumpkins. It also releases an unusual creature from its lair. That creature is the annual Haunted Homecoming Tour—a hybrid living history and theatrical production centered on Edgar Allan Poe's life in Richmond. Haunts of Richmond, a local horror-themed production company, has put on the dramatic tour for the past couple years in an effort to raise funds for Shockoe Hill, a burial ground established in 1820. Haunted Homecoming is one of many Poe-related productions Haunts of Richmond has produced since 2004. Haunted Homecoming promises both education and entertainment. The tour's cast members take the audience around the cemetery, weaving tales and performing vignettes that incorporate the site's most notable historical landmarks. From John Marshall to Poe's adopted parents to the first mayor of Richmond, Shockoe Hill boasts a textbook's worth of information.
Still crouched by a few tombstones, I concentrated on becoming Virginia Poe. As soon as I entered the scene, I needed to thrust myself upon Edgar—but with innocent eagerness, not anything even remotely sexual. He may be my husband, yet our love is platonic. We are family, cousins first and foremost, with over a decade's age difference lying between us. Edgar's love for me springs from his idealization of my beauty and piety. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Tip Your Top Hat to the Top 10 Victorian FilmsBy Miranda Schmidt QuailBellMagazine.com The Victorian Age was an inarguably cinematic time. From brightly intricate dresses to stately top hats and horse-drawn carriages to ornate architecture, this was a time just begging to put in pictures (and, oddly enough, the time in which pictures of the moving kind were invented). There are so many Victorian-centered movies that it’s hard to choose just a few but I’ve done my best to choose a diverse top ten. 1) "Wilde"
With Stephen Fry playing the ever witty, and ultimately tragic Oscar Wilde, this movie already has a lot going for it. But cast Jude Law as Wilde’s lover, the spoiled but beautiful Boise and you really can’t go wrong. 2) "Moulin Rouge" Baz Luhrman takes on late Victorian Paris in this most spectacular movie. Starring Nicole Kidman as a Parisian courtesan who longs to be an actress and Ewan McGregor as a young English writer in search of love and adventure, this film mixes romantic Victorian detail and contemporary pop culture to create a world uniquely its own. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Private School Gets MagicalBy Samantha Highfill QuailBellMagazine.com The River King is a story focused around love, friendship, and the unknown. Written by Alice Hoffman, the book takes place in The Haddan School, a private school in Connecticut. The Haddan School contains quite a bit of mythical history based upon the paranormal and even the magical. However, it’s not until new students Gus and Carlin arrive that the story truly takes off. Gus becomes the portal through which the magic of the school can continue and, through a series of events, Carlin becomes his believer. The story begins to unfold as Gus and Carlin form their friendship, but it’s not until Gus is found dead that everything takes a truly mythical turn. The question of how Gus died haunts a local detective, Abel Grey, who refuses to give up on the case when the rest of the town is telling him to do so. The mystery of the night that Gus died unravels as clues from the living and clues from the dead slowly emerge.
In this novel, Hoffman delicately weaves together reality and myth as Gus seems to stick around, even after his death. The mystical elements are placed about so subtly that nowhere does the story seem stretched or overdone. Hoffman has created a beautifully effortless tale, one that is neither too far-fetched nor boring. A simplistic tone underlies a complicated story about what happens after death. One of novel's main areas of accomplishment is character development. Each main character is developed to a point that would satisfy the average reader--but no further. Hoffman has found the equilibrium between too much and not enough. Beyond telling a complex story, Hoffman also manages to work in lessons about love, even within the chaotic world of death. It’s a mystical story with just enough reality to make it almost seem possible. No matter what type of reader you are–if you love the mythical or if you hate it–don't cross this book off of your list. Hoffman has discovered a precise way to tell a story and it’s not one to be missed, not even by the nonbelievers. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
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Cutting Edge of Carytown's Fashionsphereby Josephine Stone QuailBellMagazine.com A.J. Cotman, LeenaLu's assistant manager LeenaLu is the self-proclaimed "New Kid on the Block" in Richmond, VA's Carytown shopping district. Those of the words of owner and assistant manager LeeAnn Ibañez and A.J. Cotman, respectively. Open since November 20, 2010, the store has already turned the heads of Sunday strollers, frozen yogurt consuming Sweet Frog-sters next door, and local publications Style Weekly and Richmond Magazine.
Located at 3143 West Cary Street, LeenaLu embodies the spirit and influence of Ibañez 's nine-year-old daughter, Leena, as well as….Carmen Sandiego? "Me and LeeAnn see LeenaLu as a character, kind of like the Carmen Sandiego of the fashion world," Cotman says when describing their store. "She's from the future and is always seen in outfits light-years beyond the fashions of the modern day. People always try to catch her or copy her style, but every time you see her again she's got an even more awesome style." The sleek, mysterious look that just keeps escaping the clutches of those who try to mimic LeenaLu's personified character is one that doesn’t come at a great price. In fact, the price of wearing Hollywood and New York's latest is fairly low. "At LeenaLu we feel that the consumer deserves the finer things at a 'refined' price," Cotman continues. Keeping prices low is what allows LeenaLu to have shoppers of diverse age and social status. Driving home the point, Cotman says, "From the high schooler with a little cash to blow, to the college student just learning how to balance tuition, fun and fashion, to the business woman and mother who need to shop responsibly to make sure the bills get paid--I mean, where else can you get a sassy cocktail dress for $25.99?" Good question. Oh, wait…there's a place. LeenaLu also doesn't pigeon-hole itself to the high-end fashion of far-away lands, either. Living in a fashion community, it's hard to keep the local inspiration out. Ibañez and Cotman pride themselves on working with local fashion designers and being an outlet for upcoming talent. Where else can you find LeenaLu apparel besides on Carytown's finest and frugal shoppers? This Sunday, October 16th at 4 p.m., the clothing of LeenaLu will be featured in the Quail Bell Magazine/VCU Barnes & Noble cooperative fashion show, "Once Upon a Dream", in Richmond. Come see what Cotman deems "Your wardrobe's not-so-dirty little secret"! "We are super-mega-turbo-ultra-dragonzord excited to be a part of the Quail Bell ["Once Upon a Dream"] fashion show!" Cotman says. And we, too, are whatever 'ultra-dragonzord excited' means! The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Fairy Legends--French, German, and EnglishBy Sandra Scholes QuailBellMagazine.com Sleeping Beauty (French) The Frog Prince (German) Cinderella (French) Beauty and the Beast (French) Snow White (German) When a child is asked to declare her favorite fairy tale, she usually comes out with one or more of the ones listed above. Fairytale legends are timeless, and many have been retold by some of the most popular writers in history using the same formula but changing character names, places and settings to give the story its own unique slant. Many on this list are French or German in origin whilst one comes from the English tradition. |
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