peaceful petals...mojo monday 331

hello tracey, mom and other friends new and old!

the weather here in new jersey has been lovely...if you love cold!  however, in the words of my pop...if you stick around a bit-it will change!

snow days for teachers mean catching up on important things-like report cards and progress reports, laundry and cleaning bathrooms.   for me, however, snow days are a gift and should be enjoyed as such.  they mean time to be still and enjoy the things i love, whether it is reading, baking or catching up on some shows i haven't seen in awhile.  this snow day meant time in my woman cave where i am finally getting the pretty pictures out of my head and onto a card!

this particular card is for the mojo monday sketch #331 julee created.  i loved playing with this one!  i've wanted to make a card using one of the new sets from the spring stampin' up catalog called peaceful petals...a beautiful flower set for when you are in the mood to sit and do some grown-up coloring therapy!  and...i just had to use this color combination as well!

stamp sets:  peaceful petals, en francais
cardstock:  pool party, vanilla and chocolate chip
inks pads:  pool party, chocolate chip, crumb cake, stazon timber brown, wild wasabi and marina mist
extras:  square lattice embossing folder, chocolate brown satin ribbon, subtles candy dots

i used my very favorite aqua painters with reinkers to color in the flowers and petals.  although it is hard to tell, i softened all of the cardstock  by sponging the edges with the same color (except on the vanilla i used crumb cake).  for the sake of my very sparkly mom, i used dazzling diamonds on one of the three i made this go around...  i always say, if you are going to take the time to make a card, you may as well make a few of them!  having said that, you can only imagine how long i sat and colored...three chick flicks worth of time!

recently i attended a district workshop...and like all other workshops, there is always an ice-breaker.  this particular day, after stating our name and position, we had to tell everyone a goal we had for the new year...'balance' was a recurring theme for many teachers in the group.  i think many people all over the globe struggle with this idea...and i have to say, there is no balance to be found on a snow day for me...no balance between work and play, between healthy and junky wonderful food, between time with others and time with myself...oh no...it's all about being downstairs, me and me alone, surrounded by my wonderful stamp sets, inks, papers and other beautiful materials, diet pepsi, my choice of movies and some chocolate!  some may say it might be selfish...i say it's what makes me a better wife, mother, friend and teacher when i return to the reality of life upstairs.


i leave you with this quote:  "we spend our lives asking the question-'what do people want me to do?  who do they want me to be?'  but this is a betrayal of our inner truth.  we should be investing our lives in the pursuit of discovering who we are and what we are meant to do."― Elizbeth Grace Saunders

i loved that you stopped by today!
peace be with you

oh! by the way...thought i'd share this little card i made my momma in honor of her birthday...
thought it was a cute way of sending her a little cash to spend on the things that make her happy!