Monday, September 27, 2010

A Post by Hope . . . Glamorous Autumn


Hello, Glamorous Girlfriends!
It's Hope!
Five of the eight Ooh La Frou Frou girls have
posted on our new blog already:
Sunny, myself (Hope), Cherie, Belle and Tiffany.
Violet, Alex and Aimee have yet to write their first post.

I'm
posting again this time, however,
because I have a "little something" to tell you about
that has to do with Autumn and me!

But first I just want to tell you how much I love the city in Autumn.
Well, I love the city all the time, actually.
There's always so much to do, always something exciting happening!
Even sitting in a restaurant, looking out at the beautiful city, is exhilarating!

 (c) Sandra Markwalder 2010 - Painting from artist's archives -
by Sandy - artist, Ooh La Frou Frou Collection
Autumn in the city, however, is very special.
The hot summer is cooling down and there's the crisp smell of
Autumn in the air.
Just a simple walk down the street
provides glamour for the eyes, as stores and restaurants
decorate for this magical season of color!

Photo taken by Sandy

And speaking of color, nothing says Autumn like the fire of
bright oranges, deep reds, rich coppers and golden yellows.
And "Glamorous Autumn"
can be seen all over fall 2010 fashion pages and runways.

Drew Barrymore modeling Gaultier Paris - October 2010 Harper's Bazaar
Floyd Klein - Fall 2010
Emilio Pucci Fall 2010
Fall 2010 Emanuel Ungaro
Lanvin Fall 2010
Giorgio Armani Fall 2010
Hermes Fall 2010

Speaking of fashion,
today I'm introducing a little fall fashion myself in a whimsical
Autumn Ooh la Frou Frou Collection card
called "Falling for Fashion"

Ooh La Frou Frou Collection Autumn Card Entitled "Falling for Fashion"
Inside Message: "Happy Autumn"
Actual Card has sparkling glitter accents and Swarovski Crystals on some "Autumn purses."
Card will be available for purchase on the website Wednesday of this week!



It was so fun posing for this card!
Olive and I dressed in couture autumn fashion
and posed in front of an oh-so-glamorous city store
whose windows were filled with
fun Autumn bags and clutches!
Notice in the left window the glittering
pumpkin bag, leaf bag & caramel apple clutch
and in the right window the
sparkling oak leaf bag (with 2 tiny acorns for clasps!),
the acorn bag and a larger leaf bag!
My lovely dress is in all of the glorious fall colors!
The card sparkles and sparkles with glitter!
Olive loved posing in her little orange sweater with pink edge details.

Immediately following the photoshoot for this card,
the artist, Olive and I sat down at an outdoor coffee cafe
and discussed this fabulous card and the next Autumn card
which is coming this week
and will star Violet!


Let's Talk About Autumn Fashion for the Home!
I love my city apartment and it's always fun to decorate
for all of the holidays.
I keep a three-ring binder where I store all of the ideas I see
for all of the seasons.

I was leafing through the Autumn section the other day,
thinking about how to decorate this fall.
These are a few of the ideas!
Credits aren't mentioned because
they're clippings in my notebook
which I've had for quite a while and the source is unknown,
but if anyone knows where they've seen them,
I'll be happy to add the credits!


I love these mums in an urn!  This would be pretty on my entry table
A bouquet of colorful leaves would also be pretty in an urn.!



And I'll definitely plan on spray-painting some leaves silver
and combining them with some creamy gourds!



Would my kitchen smell YUMMY if I made some
little berry pies and topped them with jack-o-lantern faces
for an after-theatre snack with the girls back at my place!



And maybe I'll serve some apple slices to dip in apple-cider caramel dip!



Here's the recipe for the
Apple-Cider Caramel Dip so you can make the same thing!
(Makes about 2 cups)
4 cups apple cider
1/2 vanilla bean split
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons heavy cream

Make the dip:
Combine the cider and vanilla bean in a medium saucepan over high heat and reduce to 1 cup -- about thirty minutes.  Add the sugar and lemon juice and cook until the mixture turns a deep amber -- about 10 more minutes. Remove from heat, strain and stir in butter and cream.  Serve at room temperature.


I love these little pumpkins stacked on top of each other to form topiaries for my windowsill!




Putting a little bouquet in a pumpkin would look adorable in my powder room
I think my flowers would be pink and orange!!





I love walking around the city
to see how people decorate for Halloween!




The artist showed me photos of her decorations one year in a house she previously lived in.
She put masks on the pumpkins and placed some of them on a nest of multi-color lights.






She also placed a mask on the cement dog that sat outside her house!



This was her front door that year




And I can't forget trick-or-treat!
This would be fun to do this year -
I think this came from Martha Stewart.




In closing, since my post is all about Glamorous Autumn,
and to celebrate wearing my dress made of a
flurry of leaves for my Autumn card,
I thought I'd leave you with a
Glamorous Halloween outfit idea!
This photo was actually a photo from a few years ago,
advertising the Vermont Leaf Show and the fluttering antics
of the dance troupe Fall Foliage Fooleries,
but I think they'd be the perfect outfit.
Your arms might get a little tired, however!


Another Ooh La Frou Frou Autumn card
will be introduced next Monday by Violet!














28 comments:

DSS said...

Ooohhh...what lovely decorations! I adore the idea of mums AND treats in a pumpkin. So very clever :)

And your dress...ooh la la!

Ryan K said...

WOW..beautiful fall stuff :) My most favorite time of year! Love the girl with the fall leaves dress :) BEAUTIFUL :)

ABC said...

Oh Hope, what an absolutely BEAUTIFUL card! It's frame-worthy! Happy Autumn, sweetums!

Rachael said...

Those berry pies are so cute!!

www.rachaeldiab.blogspot.com

Annemarie said...

Gorgeous post! Autumn is the BEST time of the year. I just wish the weather in Los Angeles would catch up with season! It's supposed to be 109 today. Have a fabulous day love XOXO

Julie Leah said...

Welcome back, Hope!!

What an incredible post!! Absolutely gorgeous! The dress you're wearing on the card is stunning. All the things you talked about are some of my favorite bits of fall, as well!

Sandy, that front door is amazing!! So so beautiful!!

Love to you both!!

xoxo

Sandy at Ooh La Frou Frou said...

Hope and Olive wrote the following notes for me to give to:

DSS: So glad you liked the ideas! I love keeping a little book with ideas that I see and then just pull it out whenever I need inspiration! And thank you for your compliment on my dress! I just hope the leaves don't blow off in the wind! ;)

Ryan Kay: Fabulous! Another fan of my leaf dress! Thank you, Glamorous Girlfriend!

ABC: I LOVE the idea of being framed! I think we'd all look rather cute on a wall in a dressing room, don't you?!?!

Rachael: Yes, Girlfriend, and if you were there when I invite the other Ooh La Frou Frou girls for an after-theatre bite, I'd make one especially for YOU!

Brunch at Saks: Oh I was hoping that you'd leave a comment because I wanted to tell you ... the artist, Sandy, told me about YOUR post AND THAT NEW LOUBOUTEN BARBIE! We all had to see and all of us are planning now to buy one!!! Aimee said she wants one the most because she's what we call our Paris girl because she loves the city SO MUCH and I saw that there was a little pink book included about a year in Paris. But, I think we all want it JUST AS MUCH!

Julie (brown eyed belle): Darling, darling, cutie-pie! Oh, could you die about that dress? I loved loved loved it when they brought it to my dressing room for the photoshoot for the card!!! So glad you loved all of the fun autumn inspiration! Oh, Sandy wants to say something ....

[Julie, thanks from me (Sandy) for the compliment for my door. I'm very big on doors. I'll probably show some of my Christmas doors sometime here as well. Glad you enjoyed the photo] ;)

Have a glamorous day ... and week! Hope

The Simply Luxurious Life said...

What a fun post. Bring on Fall! I love the ideas for mums in the urns and pumpkins. They really do signify the arrival of the season. In a couple of weeks I'll be picking out my pumpkins for the porch and I do enjoy this every year. Love the Falling for Fashion card - absolutely gorgeous and a perfect way of incorporating the two. Sandy you do lovely work, truly. I always love my Mondays. :)

Margarita Bloom said...

Fabulous Autumn post! I love that card...and that darling leaf dress! XOXO

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post - the colours in the photos are so vibrant, anyone of those images could inspire an entire room's colour scheme (well, maybe not the one with the dog in the mask!).

Thanks again for the eye-candy!

Beth's Blog said...

Fall is my favorite time of year!I Love, Love the card! gorgeous!!!

Sandy at Ooh La Frou Frou said...

A little note handed to me by Hope and addressed to:

The Simply Luxurious Life: What a special friend! Yes, I love the flowers in urns! The artist uses urns for lots of things like her paintbrushes and pencils. I think I might just start using urns for lots of things!

Margarita Bloom: So glad you love my leaf dress, darling! It looks so pretty when it ruffles in the wind!

TLC_Designs: Thank you for your compliment on my post! Yes -- the color of the season makes it the most beautiful to me!!! I love that your mind takes the color and goes right to a room's color scheme ... a true designer!!!!

Beth: Oooh, yes, fall, glamorous fall!!! It is the most BEAUTIFUL of the seasons! I'm so glad you love my Falling for Fashion card!

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to drop by to chat with me! I sooooooo appreciate all of my Glamorous Girlfriends!

Have a VERY Glamorous Day, girls! Love, Hope

Unknown said...

I love, love all of the fab fall inspiration! Great post!

Sandy at Ooh La Frou Frou said...

A message for Sue from Hope:

Thanks, Glamorous Girlfriend, for stopping by to visit and leaving a comment for me! Fall is such a beautiful time I just love celebrating it!

THE ALTERNATIVE WIFE said...

This post is chock full of loveliness! I so agree with you that autumn is such a perfect time to be in the city :) My faves here are that gorgeous pix of Drew, Hermes {of course:)}, that yummy dip recipe, and that oh so adorable card. Love! :)

Sandy at Ooh La Frou Frou said...

A little Note Love from Hope to:

The Alternative Wife: I know, I know ... can you believe how perfectly the tights match the purse in the Hermes photo?! And I wanted to say thanks for loving my card! That alone makes me so happy!

Piper Larson said...

Adorable card and a beautiful post. I'm really getting excited that fall is here.
XO Piper

Barbara von Enger said...

I adore autumn and the burst of colour everywhere in my garden. It's a melancholy season - one to be shared with friends by the fire sipping pumpkin soup to piano music.

Sandy at Ooh La Frou Frou said...

A little note from Hope for these Glamorous Girlgriends:

Piper (DailyDivaDish) I'm very excited for fall too! Usually picking up a little fall something to wear starts me down that road to autumn love! Glad you loved the card -- thanks for coming to visit me!

Fashion, Art and other fancies: I love the image that you gave me from your comment! Sitting with a throw over your lap by a fire sipping pumpkin soup to piano music! Makes me feel so cozy just thinking about it! Thanks so much for dropping by and leaving me a note!

Hope you're both having a very Glamorous week! HOPE

Anonymous said...

I love the card, it's gorgeous! Autumn colours are so beautiful and rich... I dug out my deep red Dior bag today, I felt it was now the right time :-)

Sandy at Ooh La Frou Frou said...

A little message from Hope to:

Cafe Bellini

Ooooh, a deep red Dior bag! What a glorious autumn fashion accessory ... J'adore Dior! I'm so glad you love the card -- Olive and I had fun posing for it!

Anonymous said...

I bet you did (have fun)! I've added you to my blog list :-)

Paula said...

FABULOUS post! You've just about covered EVERYTHING that's wonderful about Autumn! Will definitely be trying out that apple-cider caramel dip recipe - it looks yummy! Although, wont be eating too much or I wont be able to fit into one of those gorgeous Autumnal outfits you've featured! xx p.s. LOVE the new card design!

Sandy at Ooh La Frou Frou said...

A little note from Hope to:

Cafe Bellini: THANK YOU so much, darling girlfriend, for adding our blog to your blog list! xoxo

Mrs. Sutton: You'll have to let me know how you like that apple cider caramel dip when you make it! And thanks so much for your lovely comment -- sounds as if you're a lover of Autumn, as well -- and I'm thrilled that you "fell" for the Falling for Fashion Autumn card!

Have a very Glamorous Autumn! Love, Hope

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

Let's talk about that gorgeous leaf bedecked skirt. Love love love!

Sarah Klassen said...

Again *sigh* I want to leap into this entire post -- it is so fabulous... the colors, the textures, everything. You always inspire with beautiful words and images -- thank you so much :) I will probably come back one more time to visit this post...

Enjoy the remainder of the weekend,
xoxo

Anonymous said...

This is my second visit to this post. I absolutely love it. Love the city shots and must say you have great taste in floral design. I'm inspired (as a professional) by the mums in the urn. One of my clients or maybe my shop window, or both, need that. Also the bouquets in the pumpkins are precious and sophisticated. It was worth all the work that obviously went into this. Thank you.
Suzanne

Piper Larson said...

I think your Falling for Fashion card is my favorite one so far. So glam!
XO Piper