Another Day in the Vineyard

Last weekend was so special. For the first time ever, my hubby and I threw a joint birthday party. Our birthday parties are eleven days apart and for some reason we've never done this. It was so much fun. We held it at our local vineyard (I still can't believe we have a local vineyard!) that holds concerts through the season. This concert was an all doctor band, and my hubby works with some of the doctors in the band.



The weather was great and the fellowship was fabulous.



Our theme was "Mad Hatter n Alice" (why not?).




My daughter slid down a hill in the vineyard on a cardboard box (only after touring the vineyard at least twice). See my fleur des lis pewter dish? Can't you tell we love Louisiana!



Most of these photos were edited with my new favorite toy - befunky.com.

It's been a busy month and I don't see an end in sight, but that's a good thing. If you haven't found me on Facebook yet - please visit my page here.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

I Believe In Pink

I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles. ~Audrey Hepburn~


"Words to Live By" 20" x 20" by Melanie Douthit (Honorable Mention)

The Franklin Medical Center in Winnsboro, Louisiana is holding a silent auction to benefit Breast Cancer Awareness this week, Thursday, October 13. I created the above painting and the one below for the art competition. These paintings along with 8 others will be auctioned. If you would like to bid, they will take your bid via mail, website or phone. Call (318) 412-5265, Charlotte Boone. The website is www.fmc-cares.com. They are also on facebook. Bidding starts at $50.


"Pink: It's an Attitude" 22" x 28" by Melanie Douthit

Reposting from their facebook page: The winner and honorable mention will be used in a marketing and educational campaign to promote Breast Cancer Awareness.Funded with a grant from Northeast Central Louisiana Susan G Komen for The Cure we have begun a campaign at Franklin Medical Center to bring mammograms to more women in our communities. All of the art submitted and donated will be auctioned at the Gala on October 13th. Proceeds from the auction will placed in the "FMC Breast Cancer Awareness Fund." to provide mammograms to underinsured or uninsured women in our communities. We hope to see this fund continue to grow through generous donations from community members and future grants.

We provide digital mammography services right here in your community. Please schedule your mammogram today.

It was 2 years ago this month my my husband lost his cousin to Breast Cancer. We all know someone who has been touched by this disease. Please spread the word to your friends to get regular check ups.

Thanks for stopping by today!

A Beautiful Day in the Vineyard

We spent a beautiful day this weekend sitting outside with friends listening to a live Cajun band on the grounds of Landry Vineyards. It was so good to be outside and enjoy the cooler temperatures (finally).

I found some fun photo apps that I experimented with. My friend took this photo but when she saw the sun coming through behind us, she didn't think the pic would turn out. I was going thru the photos later and actually loved the effect. I used Instagram for the vintage look and frame.



For the photo collage, I used the PicFrame app. This is a fun one (thanks, Hilary!)


For the rest of the photos, I used a free online version of befunky.com. I love the effects you can create with it.


We loved the band!

I love taking pics with other "melanie's". :)


Girls, girls...


...and more girls.


...really love this effect. I think it was called grunge.

Do you have a favorite photo app? I'd love to hear about it. If you have a blog with pics showing what you've done, link 'em up here in the comments. I'd love to learn more creative things to do with photos. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

First weekend of fall

It's the first weekend of fall! What are you going to do today? We will be going to a local vineyard (betcha didn't know Louisiana had vineyards!) to listen to live Cajun music with friends. After such a long hot summer, it's finally beautiful weather so we are going to enjoy it as much as possible.

We are rotating the art in Ouachita River Art Gallery this weekend so I've been busy creating some French Quarter paintings. I'm planning on going back to New Orleans soon, just because I miss it. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy Northeast Louisiana with family, friends and maybe have some jambalaya.



Here's a little sneak peek I put together of some of my new art. (Now I'm craving a crawfish quesadilla from Marigny Brasserie and beignets from Cafe DuMonde).

Enjoy your first weekend this fall. Thanks for stopping by!

All About the Taylor Swift Speak Now Concert!

I saw the most amazing concert last night. I took my daughter along with a friend to Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now” concert. Charlie Worsham and Need to Breathe opened the show and they were awesome. But nothing compares to the show Taylor puts on. She oozes with creativity and I just breathed in as much as I could.



She (or her creative geniuses) put so much “Taylorship” into the set, the stage design, the bells (literally - bells) and whistles (figuratively) that make me - for lack of better words - go WOW! Pyrotechnics, acrobats, ballerinas, talented musicians of all forms, dancers and hair-whipping energy! I loved it all.

The red semi-circle curtain rose as the music started to play. I can’t even remember what song was the first. But there were 12 thousand cheering fans in this sold-out event.




I loved the elaborate stairs with the “s” scrollwork on the staircase, church pews and bridal party at the opening of “Speak Now” with the bride “yelling at a bridesmaid, somewhere back inside a room, wearing a gown shaped like a pastry” (Don’t you just LOVE the colorful lyrics? )




My favorite for this summer is “Mean”. (don’t we all know someone who is just plain old mean?) I especially love how she didn’t sugar coat the point she was making in when she chants…
“…All you are is mean, And a liar, and pathetic, and alone in life
And mean, and mean, and mean, and mean…” (take that, whoever you are that she wrote this song about).



And there was “Back to December”. Before the song started, snow-like white confetti started flowing down. She came from a trap door below with the white piano. As she did when she first sang this song live on TV, she interjected the lyrics “too late to apologize” towards the end.

The finale - OH MY STARS. She came back in a gold sparkly gown seated on a romantic sofa and sang “Fifteen”. Then the beginning of “Love Story” started and the balcony-like basket that was suspended near the ceiling (that my daughter saw when we were first seated), came down to the stage. And yes, she got inside and was lifted... up, up, up and around one side of the arena, towards the back, and back around the other side. She sang and waved as girls ran towards the railing to get a closer look. As she was lowered back down to the stage, confetti was showering her and the stage. Even tho there were a couple of songs I was hoping she would sing, I looked at my friend and said “That’s it. You can’t follow this with anything else”.



Thanks for enduring my off-the-beaten path blog post today! Have a great week and I hope you are creatively inspired by something new and exciting today.

Cookin' Up Something Different

I love cooking and when it's football season, I cook alot of gumbo - especially when the Saints are playing. For those of you that are from outside the south, we sometimes spell gumbo "gumbeaux", spontaneously post "who dat?" on our facebook wall when the Saints score, and alway say "y'all" for "you all". What can I say?

I recently was asked to create a sign for a friend's kitchen. She told me what she wanted it to say, the color scheme, but gave me complete liberty on the design. I've since gotten oodles of requests for this. When I catch my breath, I will put a couple in my etsy store.





Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great day and Bon Appetit, Y'all!!

Reach for the Stars

Have you ever been around someone that inspires you? Have you ever been around someone with what you would label as a "physical limitation" only to learn that the limitation in question is, ironically, their asset? My daughter and I spent a beautiful morning with one of the most fascinating people I've met. John Bramblitt lost his sight in 2001, and he is one of the most amazing artists ever... visual artist, that is. In order to understand this more, watch this video.

The Art of Living Gallery

John taught a workshop this past weekend. He challenged everyone to tap into their non-visual senses. To tap into the relationship of color and sounds, as well as tastes and textures. The students created while blindfolded. They listened to music and interpreted what they felt through color.




John sincerely went to each of the students and asked them to describe what they painted. He was genuinely interested in what color they used and why they used it. I will never create the same way again.






John's spectacular art will hang at the Old Post Office Museum in Winnsboro through the end of October. It's worth the drive to experience his work.