Some thoughts crossed my mind ....

I am really honoured and thrilled every time I win a challenge or get a mention in the top 3 or 5 or .... and I treasured each badge that I earn and display on my blog with pride.I love the fact that some wins are on merit and some random as I was also a newbie to blogging and challenges just over two years ago.

I have come to realize that entering challenges is much like the lottery, the more entries you have the better your chance to win

Winning  is fabulous and being able to choose your digital prize is super - the badges on the sidebar of my blog bears testimony to the number of times that I have been 'lucky'.  

I was thinking about the tangible prizes offered, and the wonderful blog candy that is so often up for grabs.  As I live in South Africa which is a very long way from the US or the UK where many of the blogs call home, is the postage too much for me to be considered as a winner .... I think so, and my reason for thinking this is

- by the law of averages and judging by the number of blog candy giveaways I have entered and shared, I should already have won at least more than the ONE over a year ago;

- by that same law of averages I should already have won ONE tangible prize in the challenges I have entered, other than the prize I won where I was the only entrant;

Also, I got to wondering why when you do win a prize and you are asked to email to confirm your win, do you never hear another word - yes I do check my junk mail and spam regularly.

Another few thoughts regarding challenge rules are also puzzling me.  I have been a DT Lead and  challenge co-ordinator on a few challenge sites so do have a little background knowledge on the workings of challenges, but the one rule I could never understand is the one where you are limited to entering a certain number of other challenges too.  Why?  Isn't the idea of a challenge to increase your store/challenge's exposure?  If I come across that rule and I want to enter more than the specified number, I knock that challenge off my list.  That means my 325+ followers will never get to see that link, nor will each commenter from the other challenges I have entered.....   I understand the the number of times a crafter can enter a challenge could be limited, but entering outside challenges too ... I can't understand the thinking behind that one.

Something else I can't understand is the practise on challenge blogs that are not linked to a particular store to show no links to DT blogs, nor give info as to which stamps they have used.  This is the case where it's clear that the images are not from a particular sponsor.  So we are left in the dark, or the is non-disclosure deliberate?

Thanks for reading ... if you got this far in my rant .... I needed to get this off my chest.  I am not expecting any comments but if anyone can offer any enlightenment or thoughts - thanks so much.

I will carry on entering the challenges cos I love the excitement of a challenge, I love the badges, and I love sharing.  If a challenge blog goes to the trouble of setting up a challenge, the least we can do is support their efforts and enter!!!

Three cheers for challenges!