Together We Can Do So Much

This lovely Christmas campaign from 1973ltd has an animated Helen Keller quote drawn by me.

Inkymole's company charity of choice for the last ten years has been Mind, so I couldn't have been happier to help out with this project!

I was put forward for the job by a long-time client, Jamie MacDow, who used to work for AFishInSea (who doesn't love a good pun?) who now works with 1973ltd. Alison and Tom there asked me to create a hand-lettered interpretation of Helen Keller's quote 'Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much'.

Due to the fast turnaround (Christmas isn't it!) I decided to create this piece using my Apple Pencil and Procreate, which would allow for fast changes, additions and fidgets. As it was, very few of those were required - I sent five options, and one was chosen with virtually no changes, just a little polishing here and there.

Here's the progress from blank screen to final; you can see where I've used a clock face to get a good circle, since I can't draw freehand circles very well!

To read the full text from the campaign go here: https://bit.ly/2Bt3qEo

Thanks to Tom and Alison at 1973ltd for inviting me to work with them on this! And should you wish to contribute to Mind, you can do that here.

The Great Inkymole Giveaway Part 4.

Every time I complete a book cover, I wait a few months then get a copy of the book in the post, as it's important I get to see the finished result. Since I've done over 150 books, this is starting to create something of a hefty pile.

Now I do seem to have done a lot of chick-lit. You know...beach reads, girly fiction, romantic heroes, affairs and happy endings...bestsellers, but not my cup of tea. So although I like the covers, the poor things have sat unread on my shelves for months, and I've decided to give them away to people who would like to read them!

If you want any of the titles below, it's yours for a donation of £1 minimum to Mind which as you may know is Inkymole's supported charity. I'll cover the postage! You can have one book or several, but it's first come first served! You can always 'Amazon' something if you're not sure. And since holidays are coming up, it's a good time to pack some serious brain-off reading matter for the sun lounger/train/plane/back of the car.

So, email me (sarah (at) inkymole (dot) com) if you want anything! It's all got to go. And there'll be more where this came from!

There's a list after the photo!

Louise Bagshawe:
The Devil You Know
A Kept Woman
Career Girls
Tall Poppies
Glitz
Sparkles
Monday's Child
Tuesday's Child

Adele Parks
Love Lies

Chris Manby:
Marrying for Money (hardback)
Marrying for Money (paperback)
Girl Meets Ape
Flatmates
Second Prize
Getting Personal
Deep Heat

Jessica Fox:
Gard To Get
Always The Bride
(Mccmillan's 'Little Black Dress' series)

Sophie Kinsella
Remember Me? (hardback)

Heather McElhatton
Pretty Little Mistakes

Neris and India's Idiot Proof Cookbook

Kristin Harmel
Italian for Beginners

Some children's books:
Princess Diaries 9 (I have two copies - 11-14)
Cathy Hopkins' Zodiac Girls (young teens)
Oxford University Press Maths Trackers 'Dance Fever'
(teaching counting using dancers and dancing!)
Collins' Big Cat series - Percy and The rabbit, illustrated by Nick Butterworth

Inkymole Is Running For Cash: The Final Analysis!

No. of runners: 15,000 (ish)
Miles: 13.1 / 21.09km
Amount of cash raised for Mind: £1061 and counting
Chip time: 2 h 30 mins
How long did that silly grin stay on my face? 2 h 30 mins!
Place finish: 9433rd
No. of stops/pauses to walk: 0
No. of bottles of water: 3
No. of Strawberry Shot blox: 5
Silly running costumes spotted: 4 - a fish, a dinosaur, a 3D Mind logo, a ballerina
Chances of me doing it again: 100%

Crikey, I am my dad in this picture!



The day was overcast, cool, with outbreaks of sun or gentle cool breezes just when we needed them - and the most breathtaking atmosphere. I was so excited, and the miles just flew by, as did Buckingham Palace, Pall Mall, Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, the Millennium Eye, and the Thames - if you'd like to see the route here it is.

Thanks to every client, friend, relative, neighbour, yoga classmate and fellow illustrator who tucked cash into my trainers. I had an excellent time, and am already getting 'the twitch' for the next one.

If you were one of those (and you know who you are!) who were 'waiting to see if I did it' before chipping in - well, here's (www.virginmoneygiving.com/inkymole) where you go to make good on that promise!

Can't wait to get out for a run again, at the end of the week. Meanwhile here's my sustainable wooden medal. Nice!

Inkymole Is Running For Cash, Part Two: Runner No. 14749

It's been two months since I put up Part One of this blog. And in that time, there's been a large amount of running of course (this month I hit two 'highests': longest run and most amount of miles in a month), but what's been really fascinating is all the psychological wrangling.

You see I knew this would be hard work on the legs. Obviously. But I'm surprised that it's been relatively easy to raise my distances from where I was in June (about 5 miles for an average run) to 'nearly-there'. What I should have predicted though, but didn't, was the BRAIN's role in gearing up for the 13.1 miles in October.

I go to the gym for weight training and have done since I was 23. Many times over those years I've slacked off, made no progress for weeks, then been reminded that your body will more or less do what you need it to - but only if the brain allows. I've been tricked into lifting 20 extra pounds, or accidentally put 5kg on extra by accident, and still lifted the weight: because the brain thinks nothing is different, it just gets on with the job. And that's how I've had to look at it: it's a job I've got to get on with like any other. But training has been tricky to maintain in a zen-like flow because it only takes a pressured workload, a headache, or something that's really worrying me, and the Control Centre sends out 'woah! this is hard!' messages.

Remember this little fella? The tiny alien that sat inside the big alien's head was in charge of everything, and when he got tired or injured, the big fella struggled. That's what happens to me. Look at his tired little eyeballs. So the focus lately has been on looking after this chap, and making sure he's calm and ready in his tiny cockpit.

Rather apt then that I'm running for Mind. The brain is just so powerful, yet staggeringly fragile too. At the start, my aim for the half marathon was merely to survive it; now I'd like to do it with some style - not fast, since that's another issue and another blog! - but with a certain amount of confidence and dignity.

We're up to £544 - but I've promised to raise a grand. Thank you hugely for all the dosh so far; people have been embarrassingly generous. Go here to tuck some of your own cash into the waistband of my slightly worn-out running shorts: http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/inkymole

Or here to read about what Mind is, and what they do: http://www.mind.org.uk/about