Contest Drawing Results!

Above: The pocket size journal that was the prize in the drawing this year. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Congratulations to Beki! She won the drawing for the small journal prize.

The name of everyone who correctly guessed that the robot sticker was on spread 46 of my fake journal was put in a bowl. Dick drew out Beki's name.

To help you spot the robot if you want to go and see for yourself, spread 46 has a woman on the left page, and a man on the right page (with the cut out words "Almost Nothing"), it was created 4.15.13 and this notation appears at the bottom right of the spread. The robot sticker is also in the lower right of the page spread.

Thank you to everyone who watched with eagle eyes and wrote in!

I have a few more posts coming up in the next two weeks before I wrap up 2013 IFJM. You'll find a post about my final thoughts about my 2013 journal, links to other folks' posts about their 2013 IFJM experience, and I'll also be posting a transcript of the text in my 2013 fake journal so that you can read that while looking at the image in the video—it will make my wrap up about the experience make more sense, or not. Sometimes I wonder…but that's what's coming up soon.

A Video Flip Through of Roz's 2013 Fake Journal

The video flip through of my 2013 fake journal has been crunched. It's up on YouTube here. If the embedded video doesn't work please go to YouTube.

UPDATE: May 22, 2013. I have posted a transcript of the written text of my 2013 fake journal on this blog. You can read what is written on each spread, as you watch the video (as the video does not allow for close ups of the tiny printing on some pages. See the transcript of my 2013 fake journal here.

In the coming weeks I'll have more to say about the pages—as well as some more "stages" photos, now that you can see the finished piece. I hope to have professional photos shot at the end of May and they may give you a better idea still, of some of the details.

I will also be creating a page on this blog where I'll write out what it says on each page so you can read what she wrote on the pages. (Most often what was written didn't have much to do with what she created visually.)

But for now you can get the gist of the whole book.

The work on the book began on March 18, 2013 with some Gelli Arts Plate Printing sessions. Actual journaling in the book began on March 31. I completed 3 page spreads a day (because neither I nor my character seem to be great at simple math). There was one day where I think I only did 2 page spreads.

You may or may not notice the following:

1. The final shot in the video is a truncated view of this year's button. I crunched the film two times, after adjusting this shot, and finally let it go. People will see the button if they come to this blog, and I couldn't work out why WISIWG (what I saw I wasn't getting).

2. I found some incredibly wonderful music from Kevin MacLeod on incompetech.comhttp://incompetech.com/. I'm not a musician (all those years of piano lessons don't add up) and I'm unaware of half the editing tools in iMovie so any butchering of his rhythms and melodies is all on me. The musical pieces I selected perfectly captured the character's constant theme and mood in her life—upbeat, but aware of the quirky, and always alert to another shoe about to drop; the upbeat is key though, because she doesn't let shoes dropping break her stride. Anyway I wouldn't have had half as much fun doing this video without MacLeod's music and I recommend you check out his site and support this creative person.

3. The page spreads are numbered for your reference in the contest below.

4. The character puts a large red dot on each spread and writes the date around that dot (you'll see that all more closely on the photos I post at the end of May, but you can see this on the video if you look in the bottom left or right of the pages.

5. I'll have more to say about the character, but for now the video opens with a couple important details about her.

The Contest:

As I mentioned in an earlier post this year, the contest is going to be a "where's Waldo" sort of thing. On one page spread in this journal you'll find a ROBOT STICKER. He's a retro-toy robot. He's less than 2 inches tall.

Watch the video, note down the page spread number that you find in the top left corner of the frame for 4 seconds as each spread comes up on the screen. Also note down something else you see on the spread—are there words large enough to read, or there sketches of a dog or a person? That sort of thing.

DON'T TRY TO ENTER THE CONTEST BY WRITING IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF THIS POST—that's grounds for immediate disqualification. Don't spoil it for others.

Send me an email at rozjournalrat@gmail.com

The Subject Line MUST READ: IFJM 2013 Contest.

In the body of the email write the spread number on which you found the robot and the other details of identification you noticed.

You have 48 hours to enter.

All entries must be received by SUNDAY, MAY 12, at 8:30 p.m.

A winner will be drawn from the correct entries and receive a really cute small, pocket-sized watercolor journal from me that is just perfect for pockets, pursues, and especially for use as a 2014 Fake Journal!

2013 Contest for IFJM

NOTE: Responding to this email in the comments section with your answer to the contest "hide and seek" means automatic disqualification—don't ruin it for someone else, follow the steps below to enter.

I'm happy to report that despite a chaotic family situation right now I've found time to keep working on my 2013 fake journal (I've got 30 page spreads so far as the "author" does 3 spreads a day—which means Roz has to stay up rather late, but it's keeping me sane).

Unfortunately the journal is impossible to scan (large and unwieldy—when you see it you'll see why) and so my only option is to video tape it. I have not yet had time to set up the lights and work out a way to do that. I expect to have some of it done by this weekend—so watch for the first in a series of video flip-throughs, and there's a good reason to watch for that.

This year for the contest I've decided to play a little hide and seek, which is perfect in the journal that's developing.

To participate in this year's contest you'll want to watch the videos I post of the journal. And you'll want to do the following as you watch:

1. Keep your eyes peeled for a small silver gray, retro looking ROBOT STICKER on one of the page spreads. (It's only about 1 inch tall on a 9 x 12 inch page, or an 18 x 12 inch spread as I'll show the journal in spreads.)

2. Make a note of which page you spot it on. You will want to note down what the dominant item from that page spread is, e.g., portrait of a dog (if you don't know the breed of dog, mention the color I used to paint it); portrait of a man or woman with some sort of distinguishing feature (blue hair, orange cheeks, whatever); portrait of a bird (ditto on the details). You will want to note down any important LARGE text on the page. Also include your postal address so that I can mail your prize. 

3. You will want to put the information from item 2 into an email and send it to me at rozjournalrat@gmail.com—the subject line must be 2013 IFJM Contest. (Be sure to include your postal address.)

4. You may only enter one time.

5. Your entry must be received within 48 hours of my posting of the video of the final section of the book. NOTE: It looks like I'll work through this book before the end of April if I keep up this pace, so I would suggest that around April 18 you really check every day to see if the final video has been posted.

6. If you spot the robot in one of the earlier videos (because I'll be taping the journal in parts) by all means go ahead and enter at the time you first see it and can note down the particulars of the page. But remember you only get to enter once. (There will be only ONE ROBOT in the entire journal.) If you want to wait and watch all the videos at once, or check yourself by all means go ahead and do that. Entering early is not important. All correctly directed and filled out entries go into the drawing.

7. Once the final video does go up I'll post a note as to the exact time the contest will end. Entries received before that time and which follow these steps will be put into a hat and a winner will be drawn.

8. The winner will receive a lovely little handmade book (I'm sorry I don't have a photo of it but it is really cute!). It is 3-1/16 x 4-1/8 inches (so just right for a pocket or small purse). It contains 60 pages of 90 lb. cold press watercolor paper that's perfect for all sorts of visual journaling with wet and dry media.  The covers are covered with gray Japanese bookcloth and decorative paper handpainted by me. (It has a retail value of $18.00, but I don't make these for sale any more so you can only get one if you win.) Even if you don't like to work small and have a journal in your pocket your fake journal author for 2014 might just enjoy that! And it will be the perfect journal for that. (Note: if between now and the drawing something happens to this little book I reserve the right to substitute another small handmade journal of equal value, just as cute.)

9. The winner will also receive a 2013 IFJM Commemorative Button.

So keep your eyes peeled. In the next few days I hope to make the first video installment and also start writing about what has been happening here during IFJM and in my journal. Once I post the first portion of the book in video form you can start looking for that Robot!

Happy Hunting!

Note: As of April 18, 2013, 11 p.m. CST the INTERACTIVE aspect of my 2013 fake journal is completed. No more interactive entries should be sent. (Due to a math error on my part I did too many journal pages each day and ended up finishing before April's end.)

NOTE: Responding to this email in the comments section with your answer to the contest "hide and seek" means automatic DISQUALIFICATION—don't ruin it for someone else, follow the steps above to enter.

2013 IFJM Participants List Has Started

Just a heads up in case you come to the blog and don't normally look around on the whole "page." I've heard from several fake journal keepers who have already started posting their entries from their fake journals for 2013.

I have put those names in a 2013 Participants List that is located in the right-hand column of this blog, just below "Pages" and "Contests for 2013." If you click on one of those names (listed alphabetically by surname) you'll be taken to their blog or Flickr site which shows their 2013 fake journal entries. You can watch them grow over the month of April (and into May if they get behind in their scanning, as I know I'm already behind in mine).

If you are posting your blog publicly please send me an email at rozjournalrat@gmail.com and include the url of your public site (blog, website section, or Flickr section) and I'll be happy to add you to the list. (Be patient as a lot is going on here so I'll probably only update the list once a week on the weekend.)

I've just decided on what the "contest" for this year is going to be but I don't have time to post about it and explain until later this week. Don't worry, it will make sense once I start posting.

Until then, get busy in those journals. I've enjoyed seeing the pages people are posting.

I'd also like to provide some words of encouragement to folks who are working privately. Some of you have already been kind enough to send me private emails with a spread attached and it has been very fun to see that you are participating and to see what you're doing. I think there are a host of reasons to participate privately and I want you to know I hope you keep going and let your mind and your character wander and that you embrace the exercise with gusto. You'll get a lot out of it working privately too.

Everyone keep working—I know I have to go back to painting RIGHT NOW!

P.S. If you don't see your name on the list and you sent me a note already please send me another note because I must have lost it! I want to be sure to list everyone.

New in 2013—Roz's INTERACTIVE Fake Journal

UPDATE: The Interactive portion of my 2013 fake journal celebration has ended as of April 18, 2013, at 11 p.m. (CST) when I filled my fake journal. Do not send any more entries. Information on ordering a button will appear in a separate post. Buttons to participants used on my pages will be sent out sometime next week (the week of April 22).

While letting the ideas of what my 2013 fake journal might be run through my head I had either a brainstorm or a mini stroke. I thought it would be fun to have my first interactive fake journal. That's right I'm going to involve other people in the creation of this year's fake journal—the creator/author of which still has not and may never have a name.

So here's the deal, as I so often say when explaining things—your task, if you'd like to participate in my 2013 fake journal, is to send me something in the mail which I can incorporate in my fake journal. (See below for a detailed list of criteria you'll need to follow.)

Each day in April 2013 I'll draw an envelope and use what's in the envelope on my page that day.

If I draw your envelope I'll send you a free 2013 IFJM Commemorative button (which is rectangle this year and really spiffy, but I haven't had time to post it yet!).

Here's what you can and can't send (there have to be some guidelines because I'm journaling with what you send).

Things You Must NOT Send:

1. No perfumed items of any sort. Sadly they won't even make it into the drawing pool. (I'm that allergic—and if I have to hover over the smelly journal for days while working on other pages, you get the idea…)

2. Nothing that has been sprayed with fixative of ANY type, or written on with any solvent inks.

3. Nothing that has been in close proximity to or stained by food (I just don't want to deal with the archival and bug issues). This includes fortune cookie fortunes. (I've got a ton of them I'm saving so there's no point.)

4. Nothing vegetative. (See item 3.)

5. Nothing animal—hair, fur, feathers, etc. (See item 3.)

6. Any original artwork of yours unless you are truly comfortable with my character totally defacing it and maybe obliterating it.

7. Nothing one-of-a-kind at all. (See item 6.)

8. Nothing of value, except that it is valuable because it interests you or you think it might interest my character. (See item 6.)

9. Nothing three dimensional! It must be flat and be able to be glued down. Cardstock thickness is workable, cardboard thickness is probably not going to get used.

10. Nothing you've already altered. (This includes everything from rubbing stamp inks on something to make it look aged, to dropping it in a puddle so the ink runs.)

11. Which reminds me—nothing wet or moldy!

12. Nothing commercial, unless it's simply paper scraps. So don't send store-purchased "fake" ephemera, but you can send a postcard, or scraps of marbled paper that you made or used on one of your own projects.

13. No photocopies.

14. No receipts for anything from your day—you'll probably need all that for your tax records anyway; and you don't live where my character lives so it would be difficult to explain how she came up with them.

15. Any personal records of any sort. My character doesn't need to  know anything about you.

16. Any whole or partial rolls of anything—i.e., no rolls of decorative tape which you could argue is flat, but which I would argue is valuable and excessive, and isn't flat in transit!

17. No shredded paper.

18. No chips of anything like paint or pottery, even if they are very flat.

19. NOTHING WITH ANY GLITTER or small micro beads on it.

20. No money or gifts of any kind—this is just about sending something I can collage with. If your envelope doesn't get drawn in April I'd never know would I?

Things I Think You Probably Should Not Send:

1. I don't know how I feel about scanned things that you then print and send the print of to me. Right now I think you shouldn't do this. But just maybe you're more in sync with my character than I am right now and you know she would love a scan of  the tread of your running shoe. Just know this is an iffy category to enter with.

2. I'm also not sure how I feel about very thin fabric swatches or bits of thin ribbon. The page I'll be working on isn't very supportive (thick) for thicker collage and this will be border line. But it might hit just the right creative nerve.

Things to Send:

1. FLAT, paper items like the following:
•scraps of paper
•scraps of decorative paper
•postcards
•photos (old or new, but if they are old they should not be one-of-a-kind, and they should not be valuable!)
•Newspaper or magazine articles or bits of articles from March through April 30th 2013 only. (So any day between now and April 29 because even if you live near me you have to mail it, you can pick up something, read it and send it to me.)
•Paper ephemera you picked up during your day—small handbills, flyers, etc.
•paint swatches from the hardware store, and anything similar to that, but flat. (Don't send any Pantone Swatches—that's like sending coals to Newcastle.)

2. Before you send anything please re-read the list of "Things You Must Not Send" and make sure your item isn't on that list.

Where To Send Your Bit of Stuff and How It Will Work.

1. All envelopes should be sent to me at  Roz Stendahl, P.O. Box 141434, Minneapolis, MN 55414. Nothing should be sent as an email attachment. 

I'm thinking that your item should ideally fit in a number 10 business size envelope or something similarly small. If you're sending a whole article you need to use a larger envelope, but then you might also want to reconsider what you're sending and just send me the headline to save postage!

2. Include your name and postal address CLEARLY printed on a separate slip or sheet of paper so that I can send you your commemorative button if your piece is drawn and used. (DO NOT WRITE ON THE ITEM you're sending to me.)

3. I will NOT be announcing receipt of any items in this drawing. You'll find out if your piece is used either because you are reading the blog and following along with my posts and spot your piece on a page, OR because you receive a button in the mail back from me.

4. Do not write on the item and don't send any explanation with the item.

5. Each day in April I'll draw an envelope, open it up and see what's inside. If it contains something on the "Things You Must Not Send" list it will be tossed and another envelope will be drawn.

6. Any envelope drawn from April 1 through April 30 containing a useable (as determined by the guidelines) item will have that item used on that day's journal page. The sender will receive a commemorative button for 2013 IFJM.


That's it! So if you would like to join in on the interactive journal now you know how to do it. Keep your eyes open! And mail early so I have something to work with. Thank you.

UPDATE: The Interactive portion of my 2013 fake journal celebration has ended as of April 18, 2013, at 11 p.m. (CST) when I filled my fake journal. Do not send any more entries. Information on ordering a button will appear in a separate post.