Ink samples (5x) GIVEAWAY

Just hit 300 followers this morning after 170 days on Twitter! Woohoo! Thanks so much everybody! pic.twitter.com/UaeZPTSJLE
— Peninkcillin (@Peninkcillin) July 23, 2014

This past week I reached my first 300 followers, after 170 days on Twitter. I am both happy and humbled by this, since I had no idea what might come out of my Twitter presence. I used to be a social media luddite until recently, but things changed when I realized that instead of viewing social media as another time-wasting internet fad, it's much more lucrative to see it as a tool.

Though I'm not on Facebook (which I don't see as relevant for my blog, especially since I'm not a business), I've come to see Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest as very powerful tools that can expand one's audience, fans, and connections for a particular subject. In my case, the subject includes inks, fountain pens, calligraphy and handwriting, and stationery in general.

I try not to tweet about subjects that are not relevant to the above. On the other hand, I'm more lenient on Instagram, where I've been known to post pictures of things that I cook for myself or other stuff that I might find interesting. Still, the majority of my focus is on the bread and butter of this blog.

To celebrate my 300-follower milestone, I decided to give away 5 ink samples from my ink collection of 15 inks, to one lucky participant. I'm grateful and humbled by all the attention and support I've been getting since this blog launched, and this is my small way of thanking you, my readers. Unfortunately I can't give more than 1 prize at this point, but hopefully there will be other milestones down the road which I can celebrate with more giveaways.

Also unfortunately, this giveaway will be valid only for US residents (including Alaska and Hawaii), because otherwise the shipping would be prohibitive.

Here's a list of 15 inks that you can pick from. Notice that next to each ink there's a quantity in milliliters. This signifies the maximum amount that I will give out from each ink. Some inks I have more of, others less, hence the disparity.

You can check out my reviews for each ink by following the links.

1. De Atramentis Black Green (3 ml)
2. Diamine Green Black (2 ml)
3. Diamine Orange (3 ml)
4. J Herbin 1670 Bleu Ocean (3 ml)
5. J Herbin 1670 Rouge Hematite (2 ml)
6. J Herbin Vert Olive (2 ml)
7. Iroshizuku Fuyu-Gaki (2 ml)
8. Monteverde Brown (2 ml)
9. Noodler's Heart of Darkness (3 ml)
10. Noodler's Gruene Cactus Eel (3 ml)
11. Noodler's Navajo Turquoise (3 ml)
12. Noodler's Nikita (5 ml)
13. Noodler's Polar Brown (2 ml)
14. Waterman Florida Blue (3 ml)
15. Waterman Havana Brown (2 ml)

How to participate

I chose to use Google Forms to collect your information. I've been suggested ROFLcopter or some such but I don't really trust these 3rd party services and Google Docs is already integrated with Blogger, not to mention incredibly easy to work with, so in the end it was a no-brainer.

Head on to the giveaway form and please fill in the required fields.

I will need a name/nickname/screen name, so I can announce the winner by it. It doesn't have to be your real name, just something that you will recognize when I make the announcement. I will also need a valid email address so I can ask for your mailing address if you win. Not least, you will need to pick 5 inks (no more, no less).

Submissions are open until Saturday, August 9th, 12:00 AM CST. I will most likely announce a winner on Sunday, August 10th.

How to increase your chances to win

There are 2 additional ways in which you can increase your chances to win.

1. Follow me (@peninkcillin) on Instagram and post a relevant picture with the tag #picgiveaway1. The picture should be related to the subject of this blog (ink / fountain pen / handwriting / stationery).
2. Follow me (@peninkcillin) on Twitter and re-tweet the giveaway tweet (which will contain the tag #picgiveaway1).

Rules for participating/winning

• The giveaway is US-only, really sorry about this :(
• You can pick no more, nor less, than 5 inks.
• The giveaway won't cost you a thing - I will ship the 5 samples for free.
• Winners will be drawn at random from the list compiled from the giveaway form  + Instagram + Twitter participants. Submitting entries on Instagram and/or Twitter will increase your chances to win. I will use a popular online random number generator to pick the winner.
• The draw will take place 2 weeks after the giveaway is announced.
• You will be disqualified if: your data is incomplete, OR the email address is invalid, OR you are outside the US, OR you re-tweet or post on Instagram without following me, OR you re-tweet the wrong thing, OR the Instagram picture is not according to the guidelines listed above.
• If I contact you and you don't respond to my request for a mailing address within a week of the drawing, you will be disqualified and another drawing will be held.
• Once I obtain your mailing address I will ship the 5 samples you picked within 5 business days.
• I will ship via USPS Domestic Flat Rate so theoretically you should be OK if you are inside the US.

Final words

If you win and write/draw something cool with the inks I sent you, and post it online, feel free to let me know so I can tweet it or otherwise broadcast it.

Good luck and may the ink gods be on your side!