Good morning! I know it’s been quite some time when I’ve come here to actually post and write what is going on. Well maybe not quite some time to you . . . but for me to actually get into the post and write . . . it’s been quite some time!
First, the pink cast is gone and I’m wearing a wristlet type of brace. I go back to the doctor on the 11th and I guess we’ll see what happens then. 
Second, the bronchitis is breaking up and I’m feeling a lot better in that regard. Have I cut down on my smoking? You bet I have. Have I quit entirely? Not yet . . . but it is an inevitable reality for me. I’ll know more about that on October 15th when I see yet another doctor. I do have to tell ya though . . . my favorite time of all during the day is when I get up and I have that first cup of coffee and cigarette. I don’t care where I am . . . in my recliner, watching the sunrise from the hot tub or sitting on the curb in a parking lot of a non-smoking hotel . . . it is my most favorite part of my day!
So much for my medical updates . . . I can think of so many more fascinating things to tell.
During the last month or so while sitting around letting my flabby ass get even flabbier 
, I’ve been keeping a notebook of ideas. Mostly they are pictures I’ve found of items that inspire me, just like the boots in my new banner. Have you noticed it? LOVE those boots and would have them on my feet if I didn’t think they would break the bank.  But seriously now, take a close look at those boots. Then, take a look at this scrap 1×6
and this Grungepaper, Grungeboard and Maya Road alphabet
Do you see what I do?
All I can say is this! I finally walked into the studio last night with the intent of working . . . it felt foreign to me. I’ve been somewhat unmotivated and decided that if I didn’t make myself start a project, I probably never would again. A friend of mine said recently that she could shuck the entire stampy, crafty thing. I was taken aback and was surprised . . . I understand it now. All that is a post for another day however.  Let me just say . . . the wood is now painted black and there has been some die cutting going on. It’s a work in progress!
So, thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a fabulous day! Me? Mr. Stodgy told me last night to go buy myself an iPad . . . maybe I’ll 
today!
Oh one more thing. Do you want to follow along with me? Do you need Grungepaper, Grungeboard or chipboard alphabets? The sale at eclectic Paperie is still going on until October 3. All you have to do is use coupon code OWHCARDS and you will receive 10% off your entire order (min $10 order).
Well my friend…..It is wonderful to see you made it through! I was beginning to worry a little, as I know exactly what you are going through! It is really tough when it feels like someone set a cinder block on your chest and then pressed down.
I love your new banner; it is “So You!” Can’t wait to see what you got going on!
Sherry, I am so glad to see a post from you again. I follow your blog by email and LOVE to see what you are up to….I am so sorry you are going through such a rough time. I am praying for a total healing in your body and a restored JOY in your heart.
Get well, my friend out there in blogland.
BTW, your new banner is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! And the font fits the boots!!!
Who did that for you?
Love,
e
Sorry to hear you’re feeling kind of down. Love your work and anxious for you to get back in the swing. Sometimes I wonder why I make card also as have so many other unfinished quilts, scrapbooks and whatever. Truth is I love card making. And all the things that go with it. Keep it up as your cards inspire me. Edna
You bet I noticed those boots….. LOVE em :-). Girl, know what you mean about shucking it all….. some days are like that…. and some days I’d like to put my boots on an literally walk away…from everything.
Anyhoo, can’t wait to see what you are going to create :-). Glad you’re feeling better, was starting to really worry….
hugs
I’m so glad to hear you’re feeling better! I KNOW you can quit the smoking, but I also KNOW how that first cup of coffee and cigarette is the best thing EVER!! My wish for the final moments of my life is to have a beer and cigarette sitting on the beach somewhere!
Love the new banner! I call those Cowboy Flip-Flops!! I can’t wait to see your finished project!!!
First let me say I’m so glad you are feeling better – kick those cigs to the gutter my friend – bad bad Sherry – I have a good friend who has COPD and still smokes. I know it’s hard to quit but doing without beats not breathing. Keep on that track of trying and you can do it. KICK THE STAMPING THING – OMG! Shut your mouth. We would miss you so much – the stamping world would not be the same without your creations – I have really missed your postings. And I LUV those boots!
First, so glad you’re beginning to feel human again! Hope the “mojo” returns with a vengence. I am with you on the coffee & cigarette in the A.M. however my “bronchitis” was lung cancer & so basically for the last year, I have been living on “borrowed” time. Regrettably, I still smoke, but wish that I had quit on one of the MANY occasions I had planned to. Maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference, but then again maybe it would have. Rooting for you, whatever you do.
Hi Sherry –
So glad to hear from you and to hear that things are looking up for you. Missed you and your wonderful sense of humor. Love, love, love those boots! I have always had a thing for boots, unfortunately my calves have always been to wide for the boots I loved – sigh. Can’t wait to see what you have cooking up your sleeve or should I say boot – LOL! Nice to have you back.
Elaine Allen
Sherry…I quit smoking 10 years ago. I used Wellbutrin and a positive attitude. Do I miss it? Not any more, but I did. The important thing to remember, the “need” to have one passes quickly, and everyday becomes much easier. Look at the positive, your health and also….lots more money to spend on craft items! Hang in there, I KNOW you can do it. I want you around for many, many more years….so come on girl….Them boots were made for walkin….they also were made for kickin…. so kick that little white buddy right in the butt!
Glad to hear you are feeling better, keep taking care of yourself! Good luck on quit smoking. I can’t wait to see your completed project!!!
I’m glad you are feeling better, Yoda!! No lectures on the smoking here. I don’t smoke, so I don’t “get it”. But…..seems to me that breathing would rank higher!!
And can the girl from Wyoming just say I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your new banner!! All of a sudden, I’ve got the urge to go get me those ropin’ boots that I’ve wanted for several years!!
So glad the bronchitis is getting better – as for the smoking, no lectures from me – I smoked for 43 years, quit smoking in 2007 after going thru surgery and radiation for breast cancer (used Chantix which is heaven sent!!!), and have developed COPD so I have to use oxygen and inhalers, BUT YOU DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO and life is still great ’cause I can scrapbook and makes cards and SHOP!!!!
Hang tough and when you get your mind in the right place – you’ll be able to stop – WARNING——you will probably gain weight but so what!!!!
jackie
So glad you’re feeling better. Bronchitis can really kick your butt. I just got over it a few weeks ago.
The new banner ROCKS–and so do you.
Can’t wait to hear all about your new iPad.
Welcome back to hopefully the creative Sherry we know and love. I’m looking forward to seeing you strut your crafty stuff in your fab cowboy boots, even if they are only blog pictures, (I can really see you wearing these though).
I’m glad the bronchitis is getting better too. Good luck with stopping smoking too.
Think of the money you’ll save if you stopped…. you could save it up & buy your boots! :oD
hugs
Alexandra
Good to have a post from you…My very Best Wishes on feeling great again, and getting some new found MOJO…and your “BOOTS” are adorable.
Before my divorce I was obessed with making Wooden Santa’s and little by little other wood objects…after the divorce, I never touched a piece of wood to craft with. NEVER EVER figured out why I have that little BLOCK there. But went on to other things to fill my need to stay busy.
Best Wishes, We love your input so truly hope you keep us informed…
Sherry, I was happy to see a post from you, have missed your talent and those witty remarks glad you are down to a wristlet. Best wishes with the quitting smoking, it is very difficult to do, I’ve been there, stick with it. Think of al the new goodies you can purchase with that “saved cigarette” money. Personally I do not think I saved any, I just spent it on something else. Best wishes to you in your efforts. Waiting for those ideas on your BAD side to appear on your blog.
So glad to see your post. You have too much talent to stop stamping. You need that creative outlet in your life. So you are going to quit smoking…good for you. I quit 21 years ago and now I don’t know how I ever smoked! When I quit my sister and brother-in-law had been here for the weekend. We played pinnochle, drank beer or coffee. You know you smoke more in a social setting and then with beer and coffee on top, my chest hurt. I took my cigarettes and lighter and threw them in the trash. I have never smoked since. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. Good luck. You can do it. Love the boots on your new banner.
i am very new to your site. i cant believe you are talking about quitting. i love your creations and you are so very very good at what you create. Dont let that fall by the wayside – you are too important to people like me out here counting on your ideas for some ideas.
Glad you are feeling better and the cast is gone.
A new admirerer of your work. suzieq23
Sherry, the banner is great looking; love those boots. They certainly would look good walking around in Texas when I return 🙂 Glad you’re feeling better and are cutting back on the smoking. I probably would have started smoking as a young woman, but a “friend” said I looked like an Indian sending out smoke signals when I thought I was looking pretty cool; she saved me a lot of money…ha ha!
PLEASE DONT LEAVE ME!!!!! Where else, seriously, can I go and read a blog and have it be REAL LIFE conversation… “flabby Ass” SERIOUSLY… you keep things REAL and FUN… it IS possible to be YOU and still craft… I guess it’s foreign to some, but I LOVE ME SOME SHERRY!!!!! 🙂
When you quit, it has to be when YOU are ready, whether it takes days, weeks or months… OK, So I hear, I’m still smokin’ but I’m not ready…. 8)
You hang in there Sherry and know that I am here waitin on pins and needles to see what you see… LOL I am blind!!!!! LMAO
kj
Ever thought about trying e-cigarettes? I quit the hard way 25+ years ago, but it ain’t easy; a young friend of mine is trying e-cigs now and she’s finding it much easier. Worth a try, I would think.
Good to hear that you are feeling better. I can’t wait to see what you create.
Hey Sherry,
Glad to hear the pink cast is gone, that’s good. 🙂 I just quit smoking this year. Oh my gosh I loved that first cup of coffee and my cig in the morning!! I really enjoyed it!! But I took the pill and believe it or not that worked for me, and my husband still smokes weird huh and I have smoked for many years. I did have to change the way I do things but you do get use to it. Good luck! I am so glad your back we all miss you!
That is when I was finally able to quick smoking in 1997, I had gotten bronchitis really bad and every time I would smoke would just get me coughing and feeling really bad and I thought really what are you doing to yourself, so I quit cold turkey after having smoked over a pack a day for 17 years, I was lucky in the respect that at the time I didn’t have close friends that were smoking around me, so the temptation wasn’t close by, it was hard when I would go to the store and see them, especially after I started feeling better but by then I had gone through all the really rough part of quiting, and my family was so happy that I had quit, it was one of those I didn’t want to let them down or myself. I know what you mean about the first morning one, it’s like I couldn’t start my day until I had it, you just have to find new rituals, it is life changing thing that is for sure, and I can’t say even to this day when times get rough especially that I don’t want to fall on that crutch, by I feel my life has been so much better without it, why let that rule me. I had tried to quit many times before this last time I finally was able to kick it but I always had too many people around me that smoked too. I often wonder if God let this sickness come over me so that I would hate feeling that way so much so that I would have a reason to finally quit, but I know that sure helped. I guess I am just letting you know you can do it and your worth it in every way to beat it, and life will go on and be good too 🙂 Wishing you luck and the strength to get through it.
Hi Sherry 😉 Last I saw you was at Stampaway in Ohio, at the concession area table. It was busy, exciting and crazy and I was so thrilled to see you there and get to spend a few moments. I hadn’t actually seen you since we were together at the class in Indiana with (superfun) Wendy! Of course her stuff was what we bought LOL. Anyway, wanted to tell you that I am someone who flat out quit smoking one day – cold turkey is the ONLY way (in my humble opinion). I had been at my mom’s on our usual Sunday together doing her hair and as she bent over the sink and I could hear her wheezing – I said “Mom let’s smoke our last cig together”….we did ….I quit, she didn’t. She is gone now and I miss her more than I can say here, she was my best friend. As usual, I digress…anyway I know it sounds crazy but after that day every time (which was every 9 minutes back then) I got the urge/little voice/nudge/desire to grab a cigarette – I twirled my post earring instead. A few seconds later I was thinking about something else, or my phone would ring – and when it hit me again, I’d twirl the earring. I kept telling myself – no…you already quit…it’s done. I almost forget I ever smoked now. It doesn’t bother me AT ALL …I can be with someone who smokes, they can blow it right at me – doesn’t even register, like it was someone else. The great part is that I don’t mind if someone else smokes (except I want them to live of course) – the smell is not that big of a deal, I was around when everyone smoked everywhere including work, the movie theatre and no one complained or thought it was such a big deal. I am a totally “addictive” type so am addicted to enough already – food, stamps, ink, paper LOL. But I want you to know everyone who quits doesn’t crave them, or have a hard time. You will find your special time in the morning is still your favorite but you’ll be doing something else you love. Spend the $50 on stamps and ink 😉 I loved not worrying all the time about do I have a pack in my purse? where is my lighter? oh, I sat down and they are in the kitchen, where is the ashtray – I NEVER NEVER think about it now. Ever……you can do it. You deserve it and you have so much to give us all, your winning smile, your gift that only you can give us. I love the new look of the blog and the banner, boots are too cool girl – anyway love and hugs to you.