Real Women Scrap with Tasra Dawson

Free Handmade Cards: Pass It On

You might remember I declared August a giving month. I felt challenged to do what I could to give to others. The response and my experience were both amazing. From giving away free books and prizes, to sending out copies of my book, to featuring real women, it was all worth it.

In fact, I'm still working through some of the list of emails I received. You wouldn't believe how many requests there were! I loved it and was humbled by it as well. If you're still waiting to be featured, feel free to send me an email reminder or leave me a gentle reminder in the comments. 

One more recent request came from Kathy Robinson. Kathy recently felt compelled to start a blog, Pass It On. Kathy gives away handmade cards at least twice a week so the winner can pass on some encouragement to someone they know who needs support and love. The image above is just one of her cards.

It's really that simple. She sprinkles in a bit of herself in her cards and in her blog posts. You'll be encouraged and be an encouragement. Would you take a minute to stop by and leave a comment to encourage her? Who knows? You just might be the next winner!

Learn How to Be the Hero in Your Own Life

Is that possible? Yep! I've got Noah Blumenthal, author of Be the Hero here to answer a few questions about how we can make change in our lives. It's not just philosophy or theory but three powerful practical ways to overcome challenges in work and life!

Keep reading after the questions for how you can get your hands on a FREE copy of Noah's book!

What inspired you to write this book?

My youngest daughter had a health scare during which we lived in the hospital for five days. The family who shared our room faced a much longer ordeal including brain surgeries, breast cancer, and numerous drug therapies. Yet they maintained an amazingly positive outlook and ability to respond effectively to their challenges. Their actions were a tremendous inspiration.

These ideas have been written about before, but I think most people have an especially hard time turning the vague idea of positive thinking into concrete, valuable action. I wanted to give readers a practical and easily usable set of skills to respond to life’s challenges as effectively as my friends from the hospital have. I was particularly eager to write a book that went beyond inspiration and draws on techniques from eastern philosophy, positive psychology, and even neuroscience to help readers create and reinforce really positive and resilient behavior patterns.

What are the top 3 things we should stop doing right now in order to "be the hero"?

1. Stop giving others the right to choose your emotions. No one else can make you mad. Your life can’t make you angry or sad or anxious. Only you can do that. So stop giving others the power....

Photo Challenge: Beach Day with Granny

My kids don't have the luxury of Granny living nearby so when they get a beach day with her it's a special treat. I wanted to capture the moments so they could remember during the cold winter months ahead. 

Shot with my Nikon D50 and 24-70 mm lens. I wanted to capture the environment as an establishing shot that would set the mood for the close-ups I knew would follow. I love combining landscape and portrait photography. 

What about you? What are your favorite types of images to capture?

Coming next week, I'll post some digital scrapbook pages I'm creating with images from the day. There are over 300 so it takes some time to go through and pick my favorites!

I have to admit that reviewing all the images is one of my biggest challenges. Once that is done, then comes deciding how to share them. Will they be posted on Flickr, shared on the blog, uploaded to Facebook? Will I create a digital album, a traditional scrapbook, or an original project? Sometimes the unlimited options creates more stress than a single, simple option. Would you agree?

Warriors in Pink FREE Stamp Set Winners

There was a heartfelt and excited response to this giveaway. So many women and men have had their lives affected by breast cancer either directly or indirectly. This stamp set celebrating warrior woman is one way to make something amazing out of something challenging.

If you missed the article and project ideas, make sure to go back and check it out! 

Martha Stewart and Ford are recognizing Warriors in Pink in honor of breast cancer awareness month. They've created a new stamp set, Symbols of the Warrior, that was featured on "The Martha Stewart Show" yesterday. 100% of net proceeds go to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation throughout the entire year. It's a perfect gift for someone special.

Without further ado, the two winners of the stamp sets chosen randomly by random.org number generator are...

Mannie (@mannied on twitter) She's got a colorful blog you just gotta see. I can't wait to see how she uses these stamps to brighten someone's world!

Ingrid (@ingridew on twitter) Ingrid is part of my tasra365 photo challenge, improving my photography 300% in one year. You can check out Ingrid's images at her site Ingrid365. 

Congrats to both of you! Stay tuned for more giveaways coming very soon!

Photo Challenge: New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward

Life-changing. Mind-altering. Challenging. Humbling. The list goes on. Today I visited the lower ninth ward of New Orleans, one of the hardest hit from Hurricane Katrina. Here's a taste of what I saw...

You can see a series of images from that day and read about this man and his home at tasra365.

And the winners are...

Winner of the Jump with Jill CD is Christy! (@shoplulubelle) Congrats!

Winner of a new copy of Branding the Man is Ginny! (@momoftwodancers) Ginny is "Mommy of 2 beautiful girls. Love scrapbooking, reading & blogging." Congrats Ginny! 

Winners of the free Warriors in Pink stamp set will be chosen later this week! Stay tuned...

Muster Up Some "Perseverance"

Here's how. An age old remedy to feeling down and discouraged is to get outside yourself and your world to see things from a different perspective. Particularly lately, I've had many emails and messages with busy women feeling overwhelmed and frustrated for numerous reasons. I can relate.

I particularly like when I can find a book, movie or story that engages me in a way that reminds me of what I do have, as well as the strength of the human spirit. A new book, Perseverance: True Voices of Cancer Survivors, does just that. The publisher was kind enough to send me an advance reader copy. Since it's targeted to youth and teens, I let my daughter read it first.

Here are her initial thoughts and an inspiring video...

Scrapbooking with Mighty Mend It

You read that right. I was scrapbooking with Mighty Mend It. Yes, the product you see on late night infomercials, with flags blowing in the wind and people using parachutes.

The company sent me a sample to try out for myself. It really works and dries crystal clear. For the first few days, my daughter and I were trying it on everything that needed to be repaired. From the hem on some of my favorite slacks to a rip in my husband's shirt, it worked.

Then I moved on to use it in some of my scrapbook projects. One of the Scrapbooking on the Wall projects I created over a year ago had a few pieces that were starting to fall off. I kept reattaching them with regular adhesive, but they never stayed. I'm not sure if it's the humidity in the South that was affecting them or not, but I decided to try Mighty Mend It. Since then, not a problem. Everything stays in place.

If you haven't checked it out, it's worth giving it a try. From the time and labor involved in minor repairs to clothing, to the more fun scrapbooking and craft projects, it's a handy product to have around the house!

FREE Martha Stewart Stamp Set—Symbols of the Warrior

Do you consider yourself a warrior? If not, change that perception because you are. Being a woman in all that you do and who you are makes you a warrior in my book.

We are fighters... real women in the midst of a battle for our families, friends, children, loved ones, homes, careers, health, finances, and sanity. Isn't it true?

Martha Stewart and Ford are recognizing Warriors in Pink in honor of breast cancer awareness month. They've created a new stamp set, Symbols of the Warrior, that was featured on "The Martha Stewart Show" yesterday. 100% of net proceeds go to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation throughout the entire year. It's a perfect gift for someone special. With the holidays coming, I'm thrilled to have two sets to giveaway.

Keep reading for details on how to win and some great scrapbooking and stamping projects inspired by the Martha Stewart team...

Branding the Man - FREE copy

Isn't that what women have been trying to do for centuries. We do it with boyfriends, husbands, sons. Maybe branding is a strong word, but how often have you met a man who admits that his clothes were picked out by the lady in his life? Happens pretty frequently.

So I was intrigued by the title of a new book, Branding the Man, by Bertrand Pellegrin, author and brand specialist. I thought it'd be interesting to hear from the man himself about what we can learn about the men in our lives. Bertrand was kind enough to agree to an interview exclusively for you! And he's giving away a FREE copy to one lucky reader. Read to the end to find out how to win your copy!

What inspired you to write this book?
I wrote this book because I think there are a lot of misunderstandings about who the modern man is; how he thinks of himself, how he shops, and how he views the retail experience. The old mantra that men "grab and go" is, in my view, not exactly accurate. The male customer is changing, and I believe they are a long-term investment that will pay off in dividends for a broad range of consumer markets.

If we're not retail store owners, how can we apply the information to the men in our lives? ...