Farewell to a friend - the loss of Dawn Inskip

It is with such a heavy heart that I post today.

Regular readers of my blog will know Dawn Inskip and her amazing work.

It is with great sadness and utter disbelief that I write that Dawn passed away in the early hours of this morning. I cannot believe it.

 

She e mailed me on Monday to say she had been admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties which they thought might be related to the extreme heat. Sadly they then identified she had had a small heart attack and they ended up putting her into an induced coma whilst they treated her. Her husband rang me this morning to tell me they had lost her.  I cannot believe it. It is too shocking to contemplate.

Dawn was an amazing lady. She was a fighter, fighting against adversity and was very much old school ... you put your big girl knickers on and get on with it. Whatever life chucks at you, you deal with it. She had a love of every living creature. She loved her pets and I will forever remember the adorable Marvin. She loved her birds and they were both so thrilled when Carly followed her dreams and works with birds of prey. They hand-reared many of the babies at home and they brought the whole family joy. She adored my cats and had a special affinity for Fiki - her little boy. Never a Christmas or birthday went by without them having presents from Aunty Dawn and they still sleep on the special snuggle blanket she bought them.

 

Dawn had a great sense of humour and we laughed a lot when we we were together. I first met her back in 2003 when we were the only people each of us knew at a national scrapbook event. We went on to work ont he same design teams for magazines and UKS and when Dawn started designing digitally she, of course, asked me to play along though my skills were not great.

 

She was incredibly talented. Years before scrapping she had designed knitwear and was a crochet superstar. She had an eye for design of all kinds and was an amazing artist. Her digital designs were truly like nothing else out there. She was unique and original. Her kits featured watercolour drawings, watercolour papers and elements, they were fun and quirky, they were filled with meaningful word art, they celebrated life and joy and animals and birds and fun and often celebrated overcoming life's lemons. I am so pleased that she got to live her dream and design because that was surely what she was meant to do and I hope her creativity will live on with so many people using her creations.

 

But all of that aside, Dawn was a family girl and her family was everything to her. She was devastated when she lost her mother recently. She and Paul were just an amazing couple. They were true soul mates and not everyone gets to experience that in their lives. I have been blessed to have that with Nigel, and Paul and Dawn were the same, which breaks my heart even more as poor Paul will be bereft without her. And then there was Carly. She was an exceptional, a truly exceptional girl. I have spent a lot of my life working with young people and there are few as special as Carly. A tribute to her upbringing and the love her parents had for her. Carly, like her mom, is allied closely to all things animal and bird and she is wonderful with them. We were privelidged to spend a private day at the bird sanctuary with her and the bond she has with those birds is like nothing we have ever seen. It was real love. They adored her. And Dawm was so very very proud of Carly - quite rightly so. She was the centre of their universe. Every time we spent time with them as a family we always left saying what an amzing family they were, so easy to be with, such good friends to have. It is wrong that Carly should have had to loose such a wonderful mom way too early.

 

Miles separated us and we didn't see each other as often as we would have liked. The last time we all met up was in February and I have to share what we didn't know then but was our final selfie. 4 older people not very good at selfies!!!  We would often meet up at zoos or animal parks ... or in Florida ... dear to both of our hearts.

 

 

I cannot believe you have gone, my friend. I hope you are at peace and I pray with all of my heart that God will give strength to Paul and Carly to help them through the next impossible months as they start to come to terms with this most awful of losses.

 

 

 

Comments

[Calvina]

So sorry for your loss of a great friend!

[Barb inAK]

Oh, Karen, I am just shocked! You shared so many of her wonderful designs and kits over the years, and it just brings tears to my eyes to think the scrapping world has suddenly lost a talented, creative woman like Dawn.

You are so right about friendships being made online, and how they just pick right up where you left off when you meet in real life. I was just at a retreat with online scrapping friends--some whom I have known for over 20 years through the internet. The last 10 years, we have met together in a scrap house in Kansas, and we always "pick up right where we left off."

May you and Dawn's family find peace and comfort. Again, I am so very sorry for your loss. Love and hugs. :'(

[Lythan]

What a shock! That is a beautiful tribute to Dawn. I’ve never got the hang of digital scrapping but was always in awe of her designs and remember her pages in the UK Scrapbooker mags. Her husband and daughter and all those who grieve her loss will be in my prayers ❤️

[Kate]

Oh Karen, I am so sorry for your loss. Your love and friendship for Dawn shines from this post. The digi community has lost an amazing talent, Dawn touched so many of us with her kindness and friendship, her beautiful artistic spirit and her love of the natural world. My condolences to you and to Dawn's family, thinking of you all at this difficult time. Love and hugs to you all xxx

[Christa]

Karen, Thank you for sharing this loving and beautiful tribute to Dawn. As so many have already said, the digi community has lost an awesome designer, artist, talent and friend. I am so blessed to have been on her creative team, making beautiful memories with her creations. She will live on in everyone's pages with the art she made. Her beautiful smile, her caring love and friendship will be sorely missed by all. I am so glad you had that truly wonderful bond and friendship with her. I am keeping Paul, Carly, you and Nigel, along with everyone who knew and loved Dawn, in my thoughts and prayers.

[Bernadette]

This is such a beautiful tribute to such a beautiful and wonderful lady. I am heartbroken at the loss of someone I called my friend. IWe binded over our love of digitak scrapping and animals, not necessarily in that order. Dawn was such a special person. I miss her already RIP sweet Dawn xxx. Thank you Karen for such a wonderful tribute xxx

[Cynthia/MrsPeel]

I have been crying almost non stop since I heard yesterday.... I'm heartbroken, as I am sure most of the scrap community is... I was so proud when she invited me in the team back a few years ago, then my health took me away from lots of teams, so I was so happy when she came to The Lilypad and since, we have developed a friendship...she was so encouraging, so talented and her heart was huge, I am not a native English speaker and don't think I can say anything the way you have....but I am with you with all my heart... I am trying to keep my Faith strong, praying for her family with all my heart. if I am heartbroken the way I am, I cannot even start to imagine your pain, Karen... I know we have never spoken but I love your pages and I think the Pad';s community is united as one family... so a huge huge hug for you, and if anything at all I can do to help (I'm in London) please let us know. Huge huge huggzzz

[Deanna]

Thank you for sharing your special times with Dawn. I only knew her from her outstanding creations, and her kind spirit when I emailed her a few times. She really was a special lady, and yes, she and her amazing talent will be terribly missed!! ((HUGS)) to you and condolences to her family.

[Ann Morton]

This is so terribly sad. My condolences to you, to her family, and to her friends. Sending virtual hugs. :(

[Amber Jane]

Omg Dolly I am in shock, poor Dawn and her family. Such a talented scrapbooker and crafter and such a nice lady. All my love to you as her friend I am so sorry for your loss dear Dolly x

[dana]

I'm sorry for the loss of your friend! I cried when reading this and goosebumps all over me. She was an inspiration in her designs, so unique and different! I'm sending my prayers to Carly, Paul and all of her loved ones! Thank you for sharing this wonderful tribute!

[Jo Willis]

A lovely tribute and touching words for Dawn. I am so sorry you lost such a good friend, My thoughts are with you, Carly and Paul xxx

[Mel]

So sad for her friends and family..... Dawn was my UKS mentor when I first joined the forum as a newbie..... Sleep safe lovely lady xxx

[Anna Bowkis]

I am so sad to read the news of Dawns passing . Such an amazing talent and lovely person . My condolences to her family xx Anna

[nightshadow]

Thank you for posting this, I have been in shock ever since hearing of Dawn's passing and have been wondering what happened. She was far too young to be taken and my heart goes out to her husband and daughter. We in the scrapbook community all feel a loss because of her talent, her kindness and her generosity. My condolences to you on the loss of a wonderful friend.

[Susan Hall]

Blessings to you, Karen, at this time. I couldn't imagine anything harder than to deal with a loss of someone so dear! I sure wish You and all of Dawn's Friends and Family the very best through all of this!
Godspeed!

Su

[Liz R]

Hi... I don't think we have ever passed paths before... I am Liz, known across the internet as easyeyes4you... I followed a link from Vicki Robinson's post today to this this Blog of yours.. I tend to be pretty quiet most of the time and have a mission to get my life scrapped before I die, which I don't think I will be able to accomplish , thus I do not do CT teams, nor do I read Blogs, etc... I try to keep focused on why I am doing this and if I did all those things that others do, I would never get a single page finished... I just wanted to say, how much I enjoyed reading about your friendship with Dawn.. She is one of my oldest designers that I follow... From many years back when I followed a link on a page someone had posted, to find a kit done by Dawn, that I wanted... Much of my Lily Pad stuff is Dawn's! and I bought from her at SBG also... It was a pleasure to read a post from someone who knew her personally... That said, my sense of loss and shock was a strong as that of those who did know her... Such a loss... I feel your pain...thank you for sharing....

[Mycorneronline]

Thanks so much for sharing. I loved her designs and her challenges and her warm heart. She will be greatly missed.

[Ronda]

Karen,
I think about Dawn all the time. I lost my husband in Nov. at the age of 62. He had heard her name mentioned many times while I was on her ct team.
I hope they got to meet. {smiles}
I still use so much of her stuff for my scrapping.
I miss her wittiness so much.
Hugs