Champagne and Chocolate ... A Post by Hope

Happy Monday, girls!
It's Hope!
With Valentine's Day
fast approaching
I've been dreaming a little of
champagne and chocolate.
I even placed a chocolate bon-bon button
on my headband today in honor of my post!

Here's a little Valentine quiz.
What is bubbly ...


and sweet ...


intoxicating  ...

and luscious ...

we girls, of course ...
and we all deserve a fabulous Valentine's Day!

If you'd like to wake up each morning
with a little chocolate waiting for you on your nightstand,
this sweet little lamp would do the trick!
The "Chocolite" from the Nemo Division of Cassina
has a glossy stem and base, reminiscent of pouring chocolate
and the shade is matte like a pretty little bon bon!
(Now all we'd need is a chocolate-scented lightbulb!)


What will you be doing on February 14?
Perhaps you will pour your heart our in a sweet love note ...


or accept the delivery of a single romantic rose ...

 Maybe you'll receive a gift that just makes your heart melt ...

or perhaps someone will ignite your passion.
set your heart on fire and
get your emotions all in a swirl ...

Giclee Print from All Posters.com

Whatever Valentine's Day finds you doing,
we Ooh La Frou Frou girls hope
your Valentine's Day is very sweet!

If you love champagne and chocolate as I do,
you may want to bring the pleasure
of both of them into your life in more ways than one ...
I say ... why not?

Why not a chocolate purse?


Clockwise starting in upper left ...
The chocolate Italian leather faux ostrich messenger bag
looks like dark chocolate with nuts.
And the Lady Dior is a chocolate bar extraordinaire!
The glossy Italian Guia handbag looks like
a sheet of shiny milk chocolate with a little caramel mixed in.
The La Regale faux croco roll clutch is much prettier than a Tootsie Roll!



How about this idea ...
we could walk all over town
in champagne and chocolate!

The Christian Louboutin Pink Champagne Peep-Toes
are something to celebrate and glossy chocolate patent leather shoes
always look deliciously sweet!
Shown are Jessica Simpson Chocolate Ladonna Heels.

 

If you were dreaming up the perfect
Valentine's Gift for yourself, what would it be?
I don't know about you,
but chocolate and champagne diamonds would be my pick!
I think the pink champagne diamond solitaire
would look oh-so-lovely on my hand!

Whatever you do for Valentine's Day,
be sure to stir up a little romantic magic!


Chocolate Bon-Bon Teaspoons

And to help you stir up that magic,
I'll finish up my champagne and chocolate post
with a recipe from Valhrona for these fabulous
Dark Chocolate Macaroons!
Mmmmmm .... ooh la la!
Have a glamorous week, everyone1

Images via:
Pink Champagne Flutes via; Strawberry in Chocolate via
Champagne Bubbles & Cork via; Chocolate Covered Cherries via;
Pouring Chocolate Image via; Chocolate Rose via;
Chocolate Ice Cream via;
White and Dark Chocolate Swirl Poster from All Posters.com via;
Two Chocolate Diamond Ring Images via; Chocolate Diamond image via;
Champagne Diamond image via

Aimee's Grande Paris Adventure Part III ... "Pink Champagne Bubbles"

If you're new or would like to read the two previous episodes of

Aimee's Grande Paris Adventure,

click here for Part I and Part II

where you'll see Paris-loving illustrated Ooh La Frou Frou girl Aimee

and three of her Ooh La Frou Frou girlfriends

arrive in Paris and suddenly feel like

~ real Paris girls ~

This week on Ooh La Frou Frou, we'll look in on

the girls' last day of their Paris adventure ...

so grab onto a cloud and let's float off to Paris for a peek ...

The girls have been having a très fabulous week in Paris ...

they've sipped the most delightful

hot chocolate with whipped cream at Angelina ...

... they've spent leisurely mornings and afternoons

 at different sidewalk cafes every day ...

... they've dreamt their way through

street after lovely Parisian street,

insisting that those streets would have been

more appropriately named

~ Rue de Fabulous and Rue de Charming ~

... and they've ended each day dressed in frothy skirts,

taking misty walks at sunset.

Now, they're ready to celebrate the stunning success of their

~ Grande Paris Adventure ~

~ Their Last Day In Paris ~

As they wake on this sunny last day of their

~ Grande Paris Adventure ~

it feels to Aimee, Hope, Belle and Alex

as if their beautiful apartment is filled

with champagne bubbles ...

... and as they plan an ooh-so-glamorous

~ Pink Champagne Party ~

to take place this very evening,

those sparkling champagne bubbles follow them

throughout their entire day ...

During their morning walk at

~ Jardin du Luxembourg ~

the girls see the beautiful

fountains, statues and tiny sailboats

through sparkling champagne bubbles ...

... even as they shop for delicious treats for their

evening party at fabulous food markets such as

~ La Grande Epicerie de Paris ~

the champagne bubbles follow ...

Paris girlfriend Milla of Not Just Another Milla

has provided lots of tips of places to see during the girls'

~ Grande Adventure ~

and now she has shared two of her favorite french recipes

for the girls to make for their

~ Pink Champagne Party ~

... So ...

... while Alex shops for ingredients for Milla's French Onion Soup ...

... Aimee shops for items to make Milla's Mousse au Chocolat ...

... and Hope picks up everything needed to make little triangles of

Croque Monsieur

{those delicious french crunchy ham and gruyere cheese sandwiches}

... and while the other girls are food shopping ...

Belle searches for

the prettiest flowers and

most delicious bottles of pink champagne ...

~ Once Back At The Apartment ~

The girls throw open the apartment french doors

and turn up the french music!

And as the lights begin to come on

all over Paris ...

the girls dance and sing as they cook

and prepare for the party,

while music drifts out onto the Paris street ...

Ooh La Frou Frou girl Alex

{who just lives to entertain}

 adorned the table with tiny Eiffel Towers ...

... and soon they were ready for

the party to begin!

~ A Paris Pink Champagne Party ~

As the music plays

and the girls start arriving,

pink champagne is poured!

In the illustration below:

~ Alex is the girl in the fluffy hot pink dress and hat on the RIGHT ~

~ to Alex's left with her hair up and in a black dress is Aimee ~

~ to Aimee's left, in a light pink dress and pink hat is Hope ~

~ and to Hope's left in a sleek sparkly black dress and hat is Belle ~

Milla is included in this illustration too ...

in a ponytail and gold gown on the right, standing in front of Alex.

The other girls are all a variety of fancy french friends

the girls have met during their

~ Grande Paris Adventure ~

~ Later ~

The girls' last night in Paris is complete

as they all leave the party in their gowns

and take a trip to the top of the Paris skyscraper:

~ Tour Montparnasse ~

for one more fabulous view

of the City of Light ...

And very soon they will be back

in their very own sparkling world  ...

Thank you for joining us for Parts I, II and III

of Aimee's Grande Paris Adventure!

If you, too, love Paris AND New York,

I'm including in today's post a new trailer for a glamorous read by

Isabelle Lafleche ... "J'Adore New York"

now available in the states!

Isabelle is currently working on "J'Adore Paris."

Au revoir darlings!

The illustrated characters created for the

Ooh La Frou Frou blog and card line:

Belle, Hope, Aimee, Alex, Sunny, Violet, Cherie, Tiffany

 are fictional and are the work of

the artist and creator of Ooh La Frou Frou,

Sandra Shelton Markwalder.

(c) Sandra Markwalder - All Rights Reserved.

You may purchase

Ooh La Frou Frou Collection cards here.

Credits and Sources:

Illustration Credit:

All illustration on this blog and on the

Ooh La Frou Frou Collection card line

is the work of Sandra Shelton Markwalder.

Photo Sources:

(Many of the photos were edited by Ooh La Frou Frou)

1. Pink and blue clouds

2. Blue clouds

3. Hot air balloons over Paris

4. Dreamy Paris

5. Paris Streetlight

6. Champaign bottle Moet & Chandon

7. Champaign bottles in bucket

8. Champaign Lanson

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Jardin du Luxembourg photos (placed in bubbles by me)

15. Moet bottle pouring champaign

16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. Poilane and La Grande Epicerie

(placed in bubbles by me)

22. Gold bottle Moet & Chandon champaign

23. 24. 25. Flowers (placed in bubbles by me)

26. Pink bottle of Moet and Chandon

27. Paris apartment with door open

28. Paris apartments with lights and Eiffel Tower

29. First party picture girl serving champaign to another

30. Second party picture pink dress pouring champaign

31. Paris at night

32. New York at night

33. Isabelle Lafleche Pink Lemonade Blogspot

Additional: La Grande Epicerie photo used

in the background of illustration of girl shopping is from here -

Illustration by artist Sandra Markwalder.

Calendar Girls

Hi Lovelies ...
how has your week been so far?
I've been so hard at work on the calendar illustrations
that October is just flying by!
Silly, silly me ...
I hadn't planned on creating a 2014 calendar,
and then in autumn came and I thought, 

"I can do it ... I have time."
Usually, before undertaking such a project,
ideas would simmer from the beginning of the year
and calendar work would begin by March.
So ... you can imagine the magic happening
in the studio right now!
But happening, it is!
I'm working hard to get it ready and available
hopefully by the
end of November!

If you follow me on Instagram,
you probably have seen a couple of illustration sneak peeks.
In thinking of what I'd like the calendar theme to be,
I imagined that it would be fun to
create a year where each month
we step into a dream ...
the dream of living a glamorous life in the city,
where we'd drop into exciting places on a daily basis,
as if money were no object ...
where couture clothes were the norm
(imaging slipping into Valentino, Dior, Elie Saab daily)
and glamour happened around every turn.

via Photography/Cinemagraph by the fabulous Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg

So, I am dreaming up a year's worth of girls
that are living an "Eloise-all-grown-up" kind of life.
Some months we may see a girl that lives in the city
and in other months, we may dream along with another
as she orders room service in one of the city's
fabulous hotels ...
I thought that stepping through a townhouse door
with an address of 2014 on the cover
and entering dreamland for a year
certainly would be fun.
Stay tuned!

It's been an awful lot of fun virtually
"shopping"
for the designer pieces that the calendar girls will wear
in each of the months ...

via Photography/Cinemagraph by the fab Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg

Following are a couple of the outfits you just may see on the calendar ...
elegant designer beauties especially for days where something other than
a long evening gown is called for ...

For instance, what gorgeous Dior skirt
do you think has been "shopped" and "bought"

for one of the calendar girls
 to sip champagne in at the Plaza Champagne Bar ...


... hint: it was chosen because it's pretty lavender flowers on the skirt ...
they so matched the purple glow
cast down and reflected off the crystal champagne flutes
 from the aubergine Rose Club chandeliers above ...

... and here it is ...

... and to go with the skirt, I'm sure she felt like a princess
when she slipped her feet into these ...

... and for February, another calendar girl is trying hard to decide what to wear
for that very special Valentine's date ...
hmmm ... how about this one ....
we see her suddenly sparkling as she tries on this gorgeous Elie Saab,
(that I "shopped" for right off the 2014 runway) ...


... and to go with that beautiful dress,
what could  be better than a pair of
Valentino Rock Stud heels  ...


Too much fun ...
I could get used to shopping like this!

Have a wonderful week, everyone
I'd love to stay and chat but I have lots of illustrating to do!
Till next time!


OOH LA FROU FROU
is the blog of illustrator
SANDY M

For custom illustration inquiries
leave Sandy a note here.


Photo credits:
The two incredible cinemagraphs are linked above below each photo
and are the beautiful work of Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg.
Plaza Hotel NYC Champagne Bar with purple light reflected via
Champagne Bar photo with green chairs courtesy Plaza Hotel NYC
Dior, Elie Saab and Valentino fashions and shoes above
can be found on Pinterest.