Journal 52, Week 49: Doodle

Some of you may have noticed I'm late with my Journal 52 entry this week, which is Doodle.  Beside the fact I've been running non-stop since Wednesday morning, those who are frequent visitors to my blog know I don't doodle.  Now Chelle claims it's:

such a calming way to just take 10 minutes for yourself and create, and like I said, best of all – very minimal clean up!

I hate to tell you Chelle, but doodling is NOT fun, is NOT relaxing, is NOT calming, and takes far longer than 10 minutes for anyone who was born with a debilitating form of arthritis.   Even simple doodles require resting the hand because, I for one, grip my pen so tightly, I only get a few strokes, then have to straighten and massage the fingers in my dominant hand with my non-dominant hand.

Of course, to paraphrase my internet friend Johanna, that's why it's known as a challenge!  And never one to get overtaken by, or back out of a challenge, here is my take on Doodles.
 My materials of choice were my used file folder, pigment ink, a Micron pen,

and a faux credit card I used to draw the lines on the third heart.  Note also where I included the week number this time.

Now there are many of you who have played in this challenge for nearly a year, and I want to say a few words about Journal 52.  I was originally on the fence about joining in 2015, because when I first started back in January, I thought the name of the challenge was PROJECT 52.  I totally spaced off the JOURNAL part, because many of you know I don't journal.  I got confused because several of my internet friends were signing up for the Documented Life Project, which I rejected because it requires a specific type of journal, a calendar, drawing skills, and lots of washi tape.  I have an art calendar that I share each month, but I own nothing else on the DLP list.

Then two people offered an impassioned plea for me to join DLP in 2015.  Nothing has changed, except I am NO LONGER on the fence about Journal 52.  If a gal like me doesn't have to do a whole lot of journaling, then I plan to stay with J52.

Here are the reasons I'll be with Chelle another year, and I hope you will join me, too.

1. I don't have to buy anything.  Chelle made it clear from day 1, I didn't have to buy anything and so far, I have purchased NOTHING for this project.  My substrates are all used file folders and I still have a ton of them.

2.  Chelle makes the prompts easy (unless it's a doodle {grin}), and you don't get behind unless you choose to.  You don't spend an entire week on your project, only a few minutes in a single day.  I usually spend about two hours on mine, sometimes less, sometimes longer if there's drying time involved, from start to completion. That includes step-out photos when relevant, scans, and loading the whole shebang onto Blogger.

3.  Chelle doesn't push products that people don't have, and her prompts assure you are free to create whatever YOU want to make, not imitate her designs or journal page.  And you use whatever products you already own.

4.  If you are strictly a blogger like me, and are not a member of Facebook or Flickr, she has added an InLinkz link that includes a thumbnail of your art.

So, for someone who does NOT journal, I assure you, this is THE place for challenges in 2015.  And if this NON-Journaler can do it, so can you.  Please, please consider joining this challenge in 2015.  Yep, I'm no longer on the fence, and am now one of Chelle's biggest advocates.

Because I like to show my completed project a second time, here is my latest J52 entry yet again.  And you don't have to tell me I need to clean my scanner, because I saw it when I uploaded the scan.