Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and it just puts me in that girly sort of mood…

I brought out a set of my antique French letters and added a few of my favorite

18th century French fashion plate photos to them and printed them out…

Would make great wrapping paper for some sweetheart. More on that

trend setting hairstyle via Surroundings here

The queen of decorating with gorgeous antique French script

is Carolyn Quartermaine. Photo above from her book Revealed.

Her website shows the latest she’s up to but I’m still entranced

by where she’s been. An earlier post I did of her  Pink and Gold

I framed nine of my favorite antique letters and set them

above a console in the master bedroom. Though stock

frames, I switched out the glass with archival glass.

Below is a set of ho-hum books I painted a few shades of blue

From Framing a Wall here (yes that’s a Quartermaine

script pillow in Stephen Shubel’s Paris apartment)

Love the packaging on these bars of soap…

Script, 18th century fashion plates, flowers…

Tokyo milk

Old garden roses from last fall with

a simple Japanese anemone…

Doesn’t everyone want to be pampered on Valentines day?

Love the elegant posture, brilliant yellow, the careful application

of powder to her high and heavily pomaded hair…

more 18th Century Hairdressing here

Silky yellow, lace, bow…

From Last Honeyed Drips of Summer here

One of my first posts…from peony border

to Sophia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette ‘s delicious shoes

Treasure Hues here

Hmmm…what do you get the menfolk for Valentine’s day?

Cravat, shoe buckles, walking stick?

More script  (what can I say… I love letters)

and wonderful video of Carolyn Quartermaine  here

Shoe photo from Marie Antoinette Style by Adrien Goetz

Most of the Fashion plates come from the “Galerie des Modes”   1778-1787

From my dogeared edition of Eighteenth century French Fashion Plates

in full color edited by Stella Blum

Special Note

Mélanie from the wonderful French blog Le Petit Cabinet de Curiosités will have

the Grand Opening of her boutique tomorrow. She has around 200 antique French letters.

Some are 19th century and are letters to a “Comte”. Others are contracts from the

beginning of the 19th century with crowns on them, which she will put up first.

She has around 10 that are from the 17th century.