hanging out with my Mother-in-Law

i'm one of those girls who actually REALLY likes her Mother-in-Law. we get along great, she accepts me, blue hair and all, and we make cards together. she's been a crafter for a LONG, LONG time, and when i told her i had started making cards, well she was on cloud nine, yanking out tubs of rubber stamps and catalogues. it wasn't long before we were planning our cardmaking nights, kicking everyone out of her kitchen, and drinking copious amounts of tea.

but the cardmaking nights have JUST made a comeback, as she spends the majority of her weekends down at the shorehouse in the summer. now that it's closed up for the season, she wants my company and we can get crafty into the wee hours. :)

such was the case yesterday! she's a clean and simple kinda crafter, and usually trumps my numbers in a big way, so it's no surprise she made 6 cards to my 4 between 4:30 pm and 1:00 am. needless to say, my mind is STILL planning cards for when i find some time, and yep, i'm a little on the sleepy side.

i take the time to write out all of the challenges i MIGHT want to do so that i have a long list of ideas before i get started. i pick and choose the ones i want to combine, try to put something together in my head, and hope it all turns out the way my mind imagines. what do you folks in the blogosphere do for challenge, when you're attending events, or just planning a full day of craftin'? i'm curious - i'm sure there are many different systems out there. mine may be rather time-consuming, but it works! :D

now then. here are the fruits of my labour from last night (plus one you can't see, as it's for an upcoming Design Dollies challenge)...


First card - SANTA!

Santa is for the following challenges:
BasicGrey Challenges - glitz and bling (Santa is stamped on some paper from the Obscure pack, i believe, and the background as well, which has been inked with an old background stamp i dug out)
PaperPlay Challenges - "read all about it" (it's faint but you can see some of the script i've stamped on the background)
Little Red Wagon - distressing!
Creative Inspirations - "SPARKLE!" - i absolutely LOVE that blingy snowflake, and there's a ton of Walnut Gold Glimmer Mist on the bingo card and on Santa
Moxie Fab - Christmas in the old country - my first time playing along with Cath, and i absolutely LOVE her blog!
Creative Belli Challenge - Christmas embellies
Creative Card Crew - "strings attached" - i'm in LOVE with raffia these days!
Friday Sketchers - LOVED the sketch for this card!


next - Sophie Landry's Chrysanthemum Fairy (a Humble Pie exclusive, available only at The Town Scrapper!)

again, i wanted to play along at Hope Stamps Eternal for the cupcake inspiration challenge. Rach provides the BEST images to get my mojo bubblin' over!
this card is also for the following:
Card Patterns - sketch #42. thanks for the tip about the circles - loved the way it came out!
caardvarks - color a stamped image
Allsorts Challenge - Christmas carol or song title


and finally, FHIONA (from Your Next Stamp)!

my Fhiona card was made with a slew of challenges in mind... let's see.
Your Next Stamp Challenges - #4, BE THANKFUL!
Sketch and Stash - for the sketch, plus new goodies (my Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg mini deck). apparently i missed the deadline for this one! oops! :D
Kaboodle - their challenge is buttons, bows and bling (check, check, CHECK!)
Cute Card Thursday - "teen terrors" (just how old IS Fhiona, anyway?)
Simon Says Challenge - "animal antics" - isn't Fhiona's puppy the cutest little thing?!
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge - "Nature-tacular" - to use nature as an inspiration, with fall colours
Pile It On - RUBONS. not my favourite things in the world, nosirree! but the sentiment and that hint of lacy edging to the right of the stripey layer are both old rubons from my stash.
and Anyone for Anya - their challenge is called "Make a Fake" - again with the faux lace rubon... i don't have any Anya stamps (yet), so perhaps i'll be lucky enough to win some?

yeah. so my BLOG CANDY ends tonight! get in on it, folks! remember, you have to be following me HERE, as well as HERE to be eligible. i can't wait to ship out this box o'stuff! :D

happy mundae, everyone!