May be Long

Have you entered my Craftsy online class giveaway? I have extended the deadline to May 25. Go ahead and enter it now!

May is the longest month in the calendar. Not just because it has 31 days. It is the last month of the school year, heralding all kinds of end-of-year activities. From recitals to picnics to award ceremonies to graduation and graduation parties. And, BolderBoulder. Several events are packed into each weekend. I would like an auto-pilot for this month!

In between all the necessary stuff, we try our best to pack in the unnecessary but fun stuff. Like the Erie Balloon Festival. This is a 3-day festival held in the neighboring town of Erie. My friend, Lisa, and I go every year and we were there last year, too.

Lisa is High Maintenance
Lisa is High Maintenance

Hot air balloon
Up

Back with a Giveaway!

Some of you noticed that I had stopped posting. Thank you for that. So much happened right from the night of my last post — a huge stag leaped into the side of our then brand-new plugin-hybrid on the freeway, leaped back over the median, caused an accident, and was dismembered — to the end of the year and beyond, that with each event, my mind whirled and the words stopped flowing. I wrote but it seemed disjointed; incoherent, even. So I chose to go silent without a message, except a brief announcement on my Facebook wall towards the end of last year.

My silent blog did not bother me as much as the nagging feeling that I failed to deliver on my promise of a 10th anniversary giveaway in which all my readers could participate. But the best thing about a blog is that it doesn't matter. I'm the boss and I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. Even though we are well into the 11th year of IFR now, I am still going to have my final 10th anniversary giveaway. There are actually three giveaways: one for the readers of my blog who comment on this post, one for my newsletter/email readers (I will have the newsletter out soon), and one for my Facebook fans.

What am I giving away? A creative online class on Craftsy of your choice up to a maximum of $30.

Why? Because I like to keep my promises, however late I might be.

How? Same deal as last time. The rules are that there are no rules. There is no need to go blue in the face creating more noise than there already is on the social networks. If you want to, however, that is your choice! Simply leave me a comment on this post telling me what crafts you enjoy and how you plan to work that into your summer. That's it.

The giveaway will close at 11:59pm May 23 25, 2014. I will randomly pick a winner and post an announcement within a couple of days of the deadline. I will give the winner a few days to get in touch with me, failing which I will find another winner.

I will be sending out a newsletter to my mailing list with a second giveaway as well as announcing a third giveaway on Facebook — both Craftsy classes up to $30 value. If you entered the giveaway on my blog, you can still throw your hat in for these two giveaways. The modus operandi will be slightly different on those two platforms though.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Craftsy in any way. This post is not sponsored by Craftsy nor has Craftsy approached me with an offer. I do have a friend who works for Craftsy but that's where the association stops. My friend has not asked me to post this giveaway either. It is entirely my idea.

Photography continues to remain a passion and a huge stress-buster for me. I will leave you with a couple of my favorite photos of the Taj Mahal in the early morning light, that I shot in December last year.

First view of the Taj Mahal
breath-taking first view

Taj Mahal at sunrise
glowing marble at dawn

Now, you do your bit and enter the giveaway by telling me about your favorite crafts and how you plan to indulge in them over summer, ok?