Olive Octopus handwritten text with sketch of octopus

Relay for St. Jude (2026)

September is not yet over, and I'm joining the Relay podcast network (home of the Pen Addict podcast) community to support the life-saving work of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I originally started streaming on Twitch as OliveOctopusInk to spread awareness of the campaign during September in 2023. So far this September I've been less available to stream, but plan to finish out the last couple weeks leading up to the podcastathon with my usual streaming schedule (and maybe a bonus stream or two).

Background

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. After raising more than $5 million dollars since 2019, the Relay community is joining together for an eighth year to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital throughout September.

Relay and St. Jude are again providing the ability for individual members of the community to run a sub-campaign with their own milestones and rewards to extend the reach of the campaign beyond the podcast community. I'm running my fifth campaign this year with Twitch streams, matching donations, and custom thank you rewards related to my interest in fountain pen inks, including lots of stuff to paint with fountain pen inks.

The 12-hour Relay Podcastathon for St. Jude 2026 will stream on YouTube starting at 11am Central on Friday, October 2nd.

Twitch Streams

Streaming remains an important part of my weekly routine and I look forward to getting back to my usual schedule, especially Sunday artsy streams.

Screenshot of a Twitch VOD of swatching inks on Col-o-dex and Col-o-ring cards including Troublemaker inks Sepia Hour, Golden Orchid, and Rodeo, a few of the Diamine music series inks, and more.

I'm getting a late start this year but my goal is to raise $1,000, and I'm matching the first $250 raised with a $250 donation. I'm offering a variety of thank you rewards to those who join me in supporting St. Jude. While I'll have extra graphics with the campaign details and progress visible on screen and will occasionally share updates or answer questions, the campaign will mostly be in the background and I want to invite people to come hang out and explore things with me such as:

  • fountain pen ink swatching
  • painting and sketching with ink
  • fountain pens 101 (and beyond?)
  • writing experiences with different dip pens and fountain pen nibs
  • comparing fountain pen friendly papers

Questions about what I'm working on or general pen, ink, and stationery questions are always welcome on stream!

Regular Twitch Stream Schedule (CDT)

  • Tuesdays from 7:30 (ish) to 9am
  • Thursdays from 7:30 (ish) to 9am
  • Sundays from 9am to 12pm(ish)

Any additional details about my streaming schedule, topics, or bonus streams will be kept up-to-date on my Supporting St. Jude page.

My Campaign Rewards

I'm offering special donation rewards specifically for those interested in fountain pen inks and paper or who would simply enjoy some "happy mail" of handwritten (or hand painted!) postcards. Please visit my campaign page for the latest rewards details and availability. I'm busier than usual this year through mid-October, and while I should get most rewards fulfilled fairly quickly I expect to get all rewards fulfilled by mid-November at the latest.

Featured Reward Offerings

I've included a range of rewards because every contribution, big or small, adds up to support the life-saving mission of St. Jude. Whether you can support financially or not, helping to spread the word can make a big difference!

Postcard Thank You (Mailed) | $5
I'd love to personally thank you for joining me & Relay in support of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital by sending a fun postcard!

(NEW!) Painted Postcard (Mailed) | $10
I'd love to personally thank you for joining me & Relay in support of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital by sending a postcard painted by me.

(NEW!) Olive Octopus Sticker Pack | $30
I will send a set of stickers I've had made including the Olive Octopus painted succulent card, two Ink Pony Club stickers, four floral stained glass stickers, and the "Work in Progress" sticker. I'll also include a few random designs on fountain-pen friendly paper to color or paint your own inky art.

Several vinyl stickers with painted floral and pony designs.

It's always Ink Pony Club time—the Ink Pony Club is my way of inviting people to try painting with fountain pen inks, or just taking some time to color with whatever coloring media is available, because anyone can color and it's fun.

  • Ink Pony Club (Mailed) | $25
    I have an open invitation to mail blank ink pony coloring sheets to anyone, but for this reward I'll add as much extra as I can. For U.S. addresses I can add an extra ounce stamp to include more papers and stickers, for international addresses I'll squeeze as much fun as I can into a 1 ounce envelope.

  • Ink Pony Club: Floral or Sea Creatures (Mailed) | $20
    Ink Pony Club started with painting a pony, but it's fun to paint all kinds of things. These are sets of either floral or sea creature stained glass designs, printed on fountain pen friendly paper (b7 Natural)—12 sheets, approximately 4 inches square.

  • Floral Stained Glass Coloring Book (Mailed) | $50
    A custom small coloring book (about 4 inches square) with 12 floral stained glass designs, each repeated once for a total of 24 pages to color, printed on fountain pen friendly paper (b7 Natural).

  • Paper Sampler Booklet (Mailed) | $75 (3 available)
    A custom A6 paper testing booklet made with 12 different fountain pen friendly papers, with 12 blank pages for writing tests and 12 stained glass floral designs for swatching/coloring/painting tests. This booklet is similar to the A5 Slim version I've been filling in for myself on Twitch streams.

Small A6 booklet, Ink Pony Club envelope and painted ponies, small square papers with stained glass sea creature and floral designs including one that's painted with fountain pen ink.

Note: Unfortunately due to uncertainty with the USPS and international shipping, and mail restrictions varying from country to country, some items will need to be limited to U.S. mailing addresses only. I'll do my best to provide as much as I can internationally, feel free to reach out to me beforehand to discuss what might be possible for a given location, especially for the booklets. Thanks for understanding.

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