My Quit Smoking Zazzle

http://www.zazzle.com/myshelle

---

I would love to print on a product that Zazzle helped me quit smoking but of course in reality I dare not, it could be a best seller then again it may not. After all what nutty, post menopausal woman would out of the blue in a blog thingy make such claims. Just to detract here a little I say blog thingy because this is something else Zazzle has got me into Blogging, actually thats a bit of an untruth ! It is the lovely forum buddies that threw me into the blog thingy world and you know what they still have me going around in circles blogs that is not my forum buddies.While I am stuck behind or under the damned dashboard of these places I am frantic to see what is going on at the front. I have started 3 of these blog thingy's, where I believe I have deleted more than I have printed I have hit the help button so many times in the trying to help myself mode that I have frozen my poor old computer. Anyhoo...  Back to this later.

Now I have, oops had been a pack a day smoker for 40 plus years and I can remember saying at a young age that " if cigarettes ever get to a dollar a packet I will give up" hmmm something happened along the way, I think it is called addiction, something when I was 15 or so never entered my mind and sadly the cigarette companies didn't want me to know and the many others like me and so, on and on we smoked.
I smoked through all the usual ups and downs of life which like many there seems to be more downs than up, my two daughters and grandaughters to date know me no differently, any photos that have escaped censorship show me ciggy between fingers or in mouth and I often wondered what I was going to look like as I aged, I now dont have to imagine that.

So how did Zazzle come to be a rather odd quit smoking buddy? A work injury to my shoulder led me, 8 months later to needing quite a repair job which would keep me home one handed and not my favoured hand for at least 6 weeks before I return to light duties, also here In Australia we have what is called Workcover for those injured at work, but if you are not back at work within 13 weeks you lose 10% of your pay and consequently at 26 weeks you lose 20%. Financially I just had to cut back.
I had also started thinking about what I would do to fill my days once I had recovered past the first few days and in a sling and so it came to be that in a forum for beading jewelery a member had provided a link to her Zazzle store. Seriously I had never heard of Zazzle and how handy that Google search button is,for all the answers as we all know. I remember 2 hours had passed when I looked to check the time from when I had started my Zazzle search so engrossed was I. Honestly I was and still am over awed with the photography,artistry, pictures and graphics on Zazzle, the store owners spend hours working on placing their talents onto many gifts,cards,apparel,mugs,bags with babies and pets not left out.

Here was one answer I was looking for to not only fill in my time but to help try keep my mind off having a smoke. I still had the ability to use the computer with one hand and for capitals in the early days a pencil in mouth to reach LOL.
Second answer to Nicotine withdrawel for me was a product available on prescription here in Australia called Champix this is not a nicotine replacement product but one which works on the addiction centre of the brain,you keep smoking when you first start taking the tablets and pick a day between( day 1 and day 14) to try and stop, for me it happened a little by accident on the 12th May, 8 days after I started taking the tablets.
I cannot say in truth that it has been easy all the way, but I am truly amazed as to how much easier it has been, to what I imagined and all I can say is if I can do it ANYONE can!

So each morning the trusty old computer was turned on as soon as I got out of bed and after the regular checking in the email dept, into Zazzle I went if I wasn't working on products I spent much of my time in the forum, in the Zazzle help pages and reading an excellent write up called "Zazzle you suck" strange name I know.I visit many stores NO not to steal ideas but to learn how to do and present my shop and products better. I still have a long, long,way to go.
This then threw another challenge up at me how did a lot of these Zazzle store owners create such great gifts with amazing clarity and hindsight into their work,unique works of art from Posters that can be framed in different sizes to beautiful Stationery perfect for any occasion, you come up with the occasion and I could guarantee you will find something to suit it. So I veered into photo editing programmes,image programmes and boy are they mind boggling.
Now between all of this when I would have been diving in and outside for a cigarette, I drank numerous glasses of water interspersed with coffee I love coffee and if I can't have brewed, I like Nescafe.Chewing gum became my other ally and I tried many until I found one I not only liked but that the flavour lasted.

Cravings for nicotine when I got them and may I add here it does get better day by day were fobbed off by not leaving the computer until I had made and published a product, this took me an awfully long time from the first week until about the 4th week after my operation,
Most of my photos are my own on my products I adore Roses,nature,greenery of any description, the beach and sunrise and sunset and at one point when I could not take any new photos during my recovery I gave thought to purchasing photos on-line. I asked about this in the Zazzle forum where one of our most helpful members advised me a few good ways to improve on what I already had rather than purchase these other photos, she was right I did then and still do revise a lot of my descriptions of each product,increase my tags it certainly kept me occupied I still have many I have not yet got too, "thanks Shoppa".
Basically in Zazzle forums never be afraid to ask a question because somebody will always come along to help you.