It is important to let people know how much they mean to you every day with a kind word, love, support, a sweet note or a little treasure they might keep and enjoy. Letting others know how special they are is a gift you can give any time....

Create a beautiful room with artwork from theRDBcollection.

Whether you like to go to market with a durable tote or bring your journal and art supplies in an inspiring artist bag or throw your suntan lotion, magazines and beach towel into something striking, a tote from theRDBcollection will be perfect.

So much beauty and inspiration in the South.

With Mardi Gras gone and the Lenten season here, crawfish boils with friends and family are a weekend get-together must. You can smell the spicy delight of crawfish boils in neighborhoods throughout New Orleans and the soft wafting of music and laughter because any time New Orleanians come together for food it becomes a celebration.

It is the 300th year of the founding of New Orleans and the theme of the Mardi Gras Day parade from the krewe of REX centered around that with gorgeous floats created to depict major contributors to what has made La Nouvelle Orleans New Orleans from Bienville and Iberville to the Ursuline nuns and the Mississippi River to carnival with its traditions.

The carnival-filled days of floats, costumes, celebrations, balls, parties and all that king cake might be over but enjoying the beauty and magic of Mardi Gras can continue with pieces like this striking bookmark from the RDB collection.

I've created these wonderful Happy Mardi Gras postcards using art from my portfolio. On the back I styled a vintage-looking back for you to enjoy penning a note to someone special. Such a beautiful and fun way to celebrate carnival season now or any time!

The Gallette des Rois is the French King Cake. It is the cake of the kings and is absolutely delicious. The delicate, flaky pastry with its wonderful filling and a féve hidden inside is now a New Orleans tradition brought from France. With New Orleans strong ties and history with France this is another wonderful thing we have incorporated in to our culture to this day. Many New Orleanians, including our family, get the first gallette des rois on Twelfth Night, January 6, to celebrate the beginning of carnival season with champagne and a small party.

Twelfth Night, January 6, marks the beginning of carnival season every year. In New Orleans parties, champagne, king cakes, a Joan of Arc parade (it's her birthday too) and the first ball of the season kicks it all off that night. The Phunny Phorty Phellows even dress up in costumes and ride a streetcar down St. Charles Avenue throwing beads and announcing the beginning of another carnival.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!