Let the Good Times Roll

We had a whirlwind new year! We had some guest's come and visit right after New Year all the way from Minnesota, so we decided to take them to New Orleans. It was spring-like the first week in January in the French Quarter.

We strolled the quarter, ate beignets at Cafe Dumond, listened to jazz music, ate more food, and then went to see the Lion King. We even ran into some folks from back home in the lobby!

Since we were there on twelfth night, we HAD to get some king cakes. Well, we actually brought back three (from two different bakeries). What a way to ring in the New Year. The temps dropped drastically during the night, and we woke up to rainy cold weather. On our way home, we ran into sleet and ice. In fact, the airport was shut down and our guests couldn't fly home the next day, so we spent one more afternoon together and took photos of this beautiful frozen fountain.

Our guest were able to experience three of our four seasons on their short trip: spring, winter and Mardi Gras! 

If you are visiting this post for the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge - then welcome!  Our theme is "sweet inspiration".

And our sponsor this month is Stampendous! And our guest designer is Guest Designer - Fran Seiford. 

The prize for our winner this month is a $25 gift certificate.

Since our theme is "sweet inspiration", I didn't have a problem getting inspired. I have Mardi Gras on the brain. I don't know how I looked at the adorable stamp set I used and thought "Mardi Gras" (it must have been the king cake), but this is what I came up with!

The Stampendous items I used were: Spring Sparkle Embossing Powders, Dreamweaver Stencils Embossing Paste, Whisper Garden Perfectly Clear Stamps, and Thicket Metal Stencil. 

I had a blast creating something for this month's theme.

I hope you can play along. Make sure you visit each designer's blog and leave some comment love for them... we LOVE hearing from you all!

Please follow these rules to be eligible for placements and prizes. Entries not following our rules will be deleted.

* You must use our challenge graphic in your challenge post.

* You must comment on at least 3 design team member's blogs. 

* Your post must link back to the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge post

* Add a link to your direct post, not your entire blog, a YouTube Video or a Pinterest Board

* You can combine with up to 4 other challenges. 

* No Backlinking (linking a project completed before the start date of our challenge) allowed! Any back-linked entries will be deleted.

* You can enter up to 5 times, create whatever you want, and HAVE FUN!

You have until 11:55 pm EST on February 28 to enter!

Custom Mardi Gras Pet Paintings

I'm working on a few Mardi Gras pet paintings this week. One of the orders came from an owner who ran into one of the first paintings of mine that Mimi's Cafe obtained over ten years ago. It still hangs in the Albuquerque, NM. 

Here is a sneak peek of the progress.

If you would like to keep up with the daily peeks into my studio, follow ("like") my facebook page 

at https://www.facebook.com/MelanieDouthitArtStudio.

Hanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Melanie

Mardi Gras Art Print Giveaway

In Louisiana - everything is gearing up for Mardi Gras, which is right around Valentine's Day this year. I thought I'd spread some love, so I'm offering a chance to win a print of my "Mardi Gras Nights" painting. The original painting belongs to a collector and hangs in a room overlooking Royal Street - one of the best places to be during the parades.

For your chance to win this, go to Melanie Douthit Art Studio on Facebook and share it! Simple as that! You have till early Thursday morning, then I will announce the winner. Note that I only ship to US addresses. Thanks for stopping by!!

Mardi Gras and Murder Mystery Dinner

This has been a jammed packed month with heart themes, mardi gras and mystery. Over a week ago I attended the local "Go Red" event for the American Heart Association. The day before the event I had the privilege of assisting the coordinator and her team in decorating the venue for an expected 350 people. They chose a Mardi Gras theme of "Krewe de Rouge", and had red mardi gras mask centerpieces, gift bags, red chair covers and other beautiful decoration. I love event planning, so this was right up my alley. Some local artists donated paintings, pottery and other hand made items for a silent auction. My "Felt With the Heart" painting was purchased by a Louisiana Senator and his wife. I was so honored that they chose my piece for their home. Another highlight of the night was meeting Jenna Bush Hager. She was the keynote speaker for the event and was just as beautiful, if not more, in person.

As soon as that event was over, I had to get busy for my own Mardi Gras themed event - a murder mystery dinner! This special dinner for eight included gumbo, muffelettas (New Orleans Style), king cake, and a Mardi Gras Ding Dong cake, something I put my own unique spin on. The ficticious setting for this party was a New Orleans Garden District mansion and included a notorious gothic author, a southern beauty queen, a Las Vegas trailer trash gold-digger, a French Quarter street musician, a bayou boy, a lawyer and last but not least, hired help in the way of the chef and the maid. My husband and I took the roles of the hired help. I love how my friends took the time to dress the parts of the characters. No one read the scripts beforehand (including myself) so we were in for hilarious surprises throughout the night as we tried to guess who the murderer was. If you have never done a murder mystery "game", you can't imagine how much fun it was. We can't wait for the next one.

Meanwhile back at the studio, I have a mardi gras dachshund custom painting in the works along with some canvases that I haven't decided what they will be yet. Want to take a peek?

I have another fun event to attend next week and hubby is already planning our spring break vacation. I told him to surprise me! I'm too tired to think about anything but I will be ready for a new adventure soon.  Thanks for stopping by. I promise I'll have more new art up soon. Have a great day!

It's Mardi Gras Season

It's Mardi Gras time in Louisiana! Our local Mardi Gras parade is tomorrow. I have friends that will bring their camper downtown sometime today, park it and have a spread of food there tomorrow. Mid afternoon is a Mardi Paws pet parade (can you say "aawwee") - with the parade later in the evening. It's a fun time for family and friends, and very different from what you will see in New Orleans. It's the "G" rated version of Mardi Gras. :)

Last week I created this painting for a silent auction fundraiser at a local Mardi Gras ball.

"Let the Good Times Roll!" (Laissez les bons temps rouler.)

Size: 20" x 20"

I'm planning something fun next week for Mardi Gras. I've always wanted to host a Murder Mystery Dinner, so I'm organizing a "Murder at the Mardi Gras" mystery dinner. We are all excited about this fun evening. Everyone has been assigned a character with a description about them. I'll post about it afterwards.

Next week the Creativity Tribe is having a blog hop. Be sure to check back. I'll have links posted to the main sight so you can follow all the participants. Our theme is "Love".

Happy Friday, Everyone and Laissez les bons temps rouler.!!!