Ooh La Frou Frou Girl Hope ... Close Up!

Hi girls!
This is Sandy,
the artist and creator of Ooh La Frou Frou.

I wanted to say thanks so much to all of you
for being a part of Ooh La Frou Frou.
I love all of your comments
here on the blog, as well as on
Twitter and Facebook.
When you visit us each Monday,
I hope it feels as if you're opening a door
and stepping into an imaginary world ...
 a world of glamour, city lights, pink, pearls and girlfriends!

It's fun when someone tells me they recognize
little bits of themselves
in one of the Ooh La Frou Frou girls.
Someone told me recently that she IS Violet!
I think most of us see little bits of ourselves in all of them
and that's exactly what I was hoping for.

Since we have so many new friends visiting us each week,
 I thought it might be fun to
occasionally recap a little about
one of the eight Ooh La Frou Frou girls,
as well as introduce a little something new about her.
So, today ...

You've probably noticed that the girls
have a pretty exciting life.
That's because they live the fantasy life
that we would all like to lead ...
With Hope, we can go fantasy shopping,
popping into New York's trendiest boutiques.
Isn't that part of the the fantasy world
you'd like to live in?

If asked to describe Hope,
I would have to say:
"City Girl."
She loves everything about the city.
When Ooh La Frou Frou began last year,
(before the blog was even created)
a very short video clip was created as part of the launch ...
in the video clip Hope comes to life as
she and her poodle Olive appear
in an elegant city elevator, shopping bags in tow ...
(the elevator looks rather like the elegant Plaza Hotel elevator, no?).
That short video clip is below
and can now be found on You-Tube by searching for
"Ooh La Frou Frou Elevator Girl"
(note:  the "See Card" link below has been disabled).
Here's the video clip!
Oh yes ...
the voice you hear on the video is mine.


The second way I would describe Hope
would be
"Girly Girl."
She's all about beautiful clothes, jewelry, shoes ...
well, beautiful anything, darling.
You may remember Sarah Jessica Parker
when  she appeared a few years ago
in a Gap "Pretty Khaki" commercial
in which she sang
"I Enjoy Being A Girl" ...
Well, Hope certainly enjoys being a girl ...
I can see her standing before her dressing room mirror,
with her eyelashes "all in curls" ...
trying on gown after glamorous gown.
Here's the Gap "Pretty Khaki" commercial ...


Yes, Hope's a "Girly Girl City Girl" that loves to shop..
In fact, the cards that Hope has been featured on
have often been in front of, or inside, boutiques!



If you've been with us since the blog launched in August last year,
you may remember some of these Hope post illustrations.
Her dressing room that looks like a boutique ...


her Dior runway fantasy ...
how many of us, like Hope, have wondered
what it would be like to be a runway model
during Fashion Week
in New York or Paris? Ooh la la! ...


we've gone perfume spritzing with her ...


we've watched her declare a "Me Day"
reserved to do whatever she wanted
(wouldn't we love all of our days to be Me Days?) ...


and we've seen her enjoying that "Me Day"
by walking leisurely through her neighborhood,
enjoying a cappuccino, watching neighbors come and go
to and from their fancy townhouses,
on her way to an afternoon of shopping at Henri Bendel ...


For our "something new" about Hope,
let's talk about where she lives!
In designing Hope's apartment building,
I had to think about a few things.
First, she should live on a tree-lined street in the city.
But one with lots of excitement and action
with lots of taxis at the ready.

And by all means ...
she should have a doorman.
I think that all of us deserve
a white-gloved doorman to open the door for us
when our arms are full of groceries, don't you?
Perhaps someone to call a taxi for us?
To buzz our apartment to notify us
that someone handsome has come to call
and ask us if it's okay to let him up
or are we doing a facial ... again?
A doorman to be standing there
when we arrive home late at night.
I wanted Hope's doorman to be the kind to say,
"Hello, Miss Hope, how are you this evening?"
as she approaches the door ...





Well, Hope has that doorman ...
and you can, too, in this fantasy world.

Yes, we love a good doorman.
Hope's apartment building should also have an awning.
Don't you think beautiful awnings add that "something elegant?" ...







Hope's apartment building has a sleek black awning
to protect her hair from rain
as she exits a taxi and walks to her door.
Of course, an elegant building
with chic entrance topiaries and doorman
needs a name ... and hers says it all!

What is the name of your fantasy city apartment?
Here at Ooh La Frou Frou,
I'm sure you live just over on the other street!

We'll see much more Hope and Olive
in Ooh La Frou Frou cards and posts.
In the meantime, Hope will be
thumbing through Vogue
while Olive leafs through the new Pawsh.
(When you click over to Pawsh,
be sure to click on the magazine itself
to make it full-screen ...
you'll be able to read right along with Olive.)

I'll finish this post
by letting you in on what's
coming soon!
Our first Ooh La Frou Frou Boxed Notes
will be available in about a month ...
the first boxed notes will be called
"Ooh La Frou Frou City Girls"
and will feature twelve blank notecards,
four different designs,
lined envelopes.
The chic designs will feature scenes
of the girls in the city ...
ssshhh ...
that's all I'm saying right now ...
We will introduce
the first of the City Girl Notecard designs
next week!

Also, coming soon ...
mini-invitation notecards!
These are perfect for those times when
you want to invite a few friends over
for cocktails or outdoor entertaining ...
you'd like to invite them
with more than an e-mail invite,
but a real invitation seems a bit formal.
Our mini-invitation notecards
are blank notecards ... 12 of the same design in a box
and feature various party scenes.
Since they will be blank inside,
you can write your own personalized note ...
there will be boxed mini-invitations for
outdoor soirees,
bookclubs,
cocktail parties
and more!

Thanks for joining us for more
Ooh La Frou Frou fun, everyone.
Remember ...
you can be anything, darling ...
all it takes is a little imagination!

To purchase Ooh la Frou Frou cards
simply visit our website here.

Illustration credits:

All illustration in this post
is by Sandra Markwalder,
the artist and creator of Ooh La Frou Frou.
Illustrations: (c) Ooh La Frou Frou ~ all rights reserved.
For custom illustration .. leave a note here.

Photos via:
1. first doorman photo via
2. second doorman photo via
3. first awning photo via
4. second awning photo via
5. third awning photo via