First of all, I really enjoyed the days I did something, but there were too many little problems that I was not ready to face at this point:

1. I did not test the paper quality enough. The paper was so thin that there was no pleasure of doing anything in it.

2. I did have lots of ideas in mind, but never took the time to write about them to realize before heading head first into the month, that most of them were just not “right” in timing.

I really did like the fact that I was walking on the line between my real life and Fake-Me’s “stay” with me. Many facts and people were real, but I could just think and write the opposite of what I would have written.

April was the busiest month at work lately. I think another point in life would have been easier.

I also realized that blogging every day was (is) too much for me. It’s either journaling or blogging, but not the two.

I think I will start a “permanent” fake-journal, just to get “stuff” out of me that I would not want to say or write. But that one surely will stay very private.

I also think that I will participate next year, but before doing so I will

• test the paper
• write out a story-line
• blog about it the most once a week.

Thanks to Roz Standahl for being such an inspiration to me.

I just finished a workshop with her as well. Her (and the other 2) workshops are free and the instructions will be up for another 2 months.

I have so many ideas – just need to build all of that into my every day life. How much of it will be blogged about – I have to see.

Here my last pages I am going to post after which I will explain a bit what happened and why I am going home early.

As soon I classes started, I was just SO not ready to do the journaling thing on top of everything.

Here the original text that I covered.

Got really mixed up with dates.

Never got a habit of daily sketching. Writing would be ok, but not the other stuff around.

    Ok, that night with no electricity etc. was just the beginning of a row of bad days. Power outage for the whole evening. Nothing to do at candle light.

Just too many things that went wrong in just 3 days.

I am living this adventure tonight. Why? Well, I just cannot keep up with “her” life-style. It was good to stay with her for a while, but not any day longer. Just today I learned that ALL of her family comes tomorrow. I just do not want to meet more people like her.

She might see things differently, but I am out. Will be interesting to read at the end of the month how she interprets things.

Maybe I will be back next year, but not sure yet.

Thanks for reading me.

Fake-Me

Just a short note to you all. I am continuing my journal, but life is very complicated here. Never been so busy and never had so much surprises happen. Just some of them: an evening w/o electricity, an explosion in the oven, lots of mails to anwers … and so on. Tomorrow is supposed to be a “normal” day. Hope to get some pages from my journal up here and some more pages done.

Thanks for following me.

Will try to sketch some of the balcony – well, for now nothing has grown.

I really enjoyed my first day of classes. More to come on that as well.

Still pondering about all I heart about God. One thing is for sure: you cannot stay with her and not hear about God.

Why I call myself “Fake-me”? Well, that’s what she calls me – that weirdest friend ever I am staying with in April.

I almost lost it: she spent all day cleaning her balcony, buying dirt and plants and so on. Really not my cup of tea (actually her tea is ok).
Oh, btw: I will start writing in English in my sketchbook tomorrow. Have to. She is SO nosy. Caught her earlier looking through my stuff and reading my notes. Well, that’ll teach her.
Pretty soon I’ll leave for a concert with her. Will do my page later.

In my journal I write in German, but here I try to write something about the day in English so my international friends can follow. It won’t always be a translation of the page.

Oh, for those of you that don’t know: I am for one month in Lyon (France), living with a “friend” (more on that one later). Starting Monday I am going to participate at a workshop.

Left side: Project I worked on at her office yesterday: putting 3000 DVD’s into their boxes. Btw, met the strangest people EVER!

Really looking forward to the workshop. It’s all about layout and design.

Well, need to get off Internet to work on todays page. Started earlier, but not yet finished. T’was the strangest day in life, but more on that tomorrow.

I am planning on posting always the next day. Some days I might only finish the page late at night.

I like the idea, but as so many I thought: I never get that journaling idea down for my real life, why should it work as “fake” journal?

I followed may participants, liked what they did, but never had the courage to “just do it”.

Different this year. I found a very old notebook with 30 pages (one requirement is that it has to be a separate journal).

I turned two old pages of a coloring project into the new cover of the journal. Here the front page:

Last two weeks ago I just did this page, still not being sure what my “fake-me” would be like.

Text: “Having a different look at this world.”

And now April is here and the adventure started yesterday.

Actually, it is lots of fun. Discover the “fake-me” starting with the next post.

By the way, for now the text is in German, but that will change pretty soon.

Enjoy the journey.

Here are some pages I did during and after the workshop

Adding a pouch at the end of the sketchbook allows to collect stuff for futur pages.

Prepared with gouache.

The first page of a journal get usually “used” the most.

Here we cut off some cm (or inches ) from the right side to create steps. Hard to see on this image.

I have not yet finished the pages, but already ideas.

Prepared with gouache.

Preparing small journaling areas with gouache.

Add-ons to pages allow to created a dynamic to the page.

Text: Hidden thoughts

The french word for “thought” and the flower are the same. Nice possibility of playing with words.

Not yet finished page.

Add-on flipped open.

The back of the page in the previous image.

Another prepared page.

I did have a very full and busy month. Not only getting ready for the exposition, but also life in general was busy.

The expo went really well. 130 people came – basically from our apartement building. I got a chance to get to know my neighbors better – which was one if not the main reason for my participation.

The neighbor who organised it, is going to put a video together about the expo. I’ll post it as soon as I get it.