Wednesday 31 December 2014

Wishing you an amazing 2015

A big thank you to everyone who has read my blog this year and also for the lovely comments on my posts and in emails :)

WISHING YOU AN AMAZING 2015, Natasha


Created with the beautiful kit Mistletoe and Wine by DigiFiddle Designs.
Take a look at DigiFiddles Website and the Gallery for lovely layouts and inspiration.

Tuesday 23 December 2014

Find Your Wings & Fly

Hello :) This post is a mix of photography and scrapping all brought together on my phone! What could be better than capturing a photo, processing the photo and then scrapping with it anywhere and at any time! And then being able to share it too :)

Find Your Wings & Fly
Find Your Wings & Fly
I love the whole flexibility of picture processing and scrapping on my phone. It's brilliant because you really can do it anywhere. It's great entertainment when you are waiting around for some reason or just have a few spare minutes.

First I took the photo! It wasn't the most exciting of photos but by the time I'd put it through some filters using the Stackables app it was transformed! Next I loaded it into the Rhonna Designs app and added some embellishments and word art. Finally I uploaded to Instagram to share.

The other aspect that I like with using apps on the phone is that they don't cost very much. With both of the apps above you can buy add ons once you have the app. Again these are not expensive and new add ons are regularly available to buy too. With Stackables, if you buy the Master Pack you get all existing packs and any new ones for free in the future. With Rhonna designs you buy packs that contain three different element sets in each purchase. There are a wide range of themes available too.

Who would have thought that you could get so creative with just your phone!

That is all for today's post and hopefully it won't be so long between posts next time. If you have anything creative that you'd like to share, please add a note and link in the comments section :)

Sunday 9 November 2014

#scrapwithapps: Capture the Moment

Hello :) I hope that everyone is keeping well and managing to get out and get snapping. What has everyone been up to? This week I am sharing my monthly Scrapbook Diary post that I write for the E-scape and Scrap blog. The 30 Day Scrap With Apps Challenge is just coming to an end and I am sharing my creations. The following layouts contain all but one of my #scrapwithapp images so far. I hope you enjoy looking at them and the layouts and journaling to go with them. I've had great fun and now I just need to catch up with some more new apps!

To read the full post: #scrapwithapps: Capture the Moment - November.

Capture the Moment - Beauty
Capture the Moment - Beauty
Capture the Moment - Autumn
Capture the Moment - Autumn
Capture the Moment - Journal
Capture the Moment - Journal
Capture the Moment - Autumn Journal
Capture the Moment - Autumn Journal
Capture the Moment
Capture the Moment
Capture the Moment - Flowers
Capture the Moment - Flowers
I used a number of apps for processing these images with: Snapseed, Stackables, Mystic and Hypstamatic. All of the photos were taken with my iPhone 5. For details of the kits used, click on the image to open in Flickr and the details are in the notes section.

Catch up with me on Instagram: natashaforder, and more layouts for My Scrapbook Diary.

Sunday 2 November 2014

Smile as you remember

Hello :) Today's post is poem and you've guessed it, showcased in a scrapbook page! But this poem has a little something different about it...

Smile As You Remember
Smile as you remember by Natasha Forder © 2014

I was asked if I could write a poem on grief to go into a scrapbook kit. So here is my poem as part of Lynne Anzelc Designs kit LifeLine Grief. I hope you like both the poem and Lynne's kit, (which I love) :)

The poem is in the overlay part of the kit and comes with and without the angel and I loved it when I saw it :)

The poem reflects how I feel when someone close passes away, and how, many years later I still often smile with a few tears when I remember them.

In my page layout I wanted to keep the flower of the background paper as a feature of the page and I've layered up around this. Even if I do say so myself I love how it has turned out :)

Sunday 19 October 2014

Autumn

Hello, I hope that everyone is enjoying the autumn weather, it's been a little wet here, but when the sun is out it's lovely. The leaves now cover my garden, and it won't be long before the trees are bare.

Today I have a new poem. Actually a bit of an unintentional one! I was creating a new scrapbook layout on an autumn theme and I ended up with the gap in the centre that was, well, poem sized! Before I knew it I was on verse three!

Autum Poem
Autumn Poem by Natasha Forder © 2014

Autumn

When autumn time is here again
And all the leaves are fallen
I rejoice with all my heart
The beauty of the season

The colours; orange, gold and red
The crunch of leaves beneath my tread
The cold crisp air, blue skies, and sun
That tell me autumn has begun

I know that autumn soon will end
With November rains once more to descend
And when December brings the snow
I will remember autumn and its beautiful glow

by Natasha Forder © 2014


Created with the following beautiful kits by Lynne Anzelc Designs (when designing as Aria Designs): A Walk in the Woods, A Scrap of Art, Earthly Delights, Together, Yellow.

For details of how I built up this layout, hop over to my craft blog and see my post Autumn Scrapping.

Wednesday 15 October 2014

Down the lane I walked

Hi :) This is the second of two pages with poems. The other can be found in the post On a beautiful day.

Down the lane I walked by Natasha Forder © 2014

I created this page with BH Designs new kits, Scenic Wales and In My Dream Garden Set 12 and I was inspired to write, to go with the scene :) Details of the kits I used by BH Designs can be found on the E-scape and Scrap blog post.

I've used this layout and poem in my latest Scrapbook Diary post at E-scape and Scrap: Poetic Licence! - October.

Tuesday 14 October 2014

On a beautiful day


Hello :) It's been a long time since I've written a poem, so it's great to be back writing them again. This is the first of two posts with my latest. One of my wishes on my Adventure Wish List for this year was to write a poem. Usually I find myself writing a poem when I want to write anything else! However, this year I just didn't have the inspiration.

On a beautiful day by Natasha Forder © 2014
I created this page with BH Designs new kits, Scenic Wales and In My Dream Garden Set 12 and I was inspired to write, to go with the scene :) This is the first of two pages with poems. The other can be found in the post Down the lane I walked. Details of the kits I used by BH Designs can be found on the E-scape and Scrap blog post.

I've used this layout and poem in my latest Scrapbook Diary post at E-scape and Scrap: Poetic Licence! - October.

Saturday 11 October 2014

30 Day Scrap With Apps Challenge

Hello :) Julie and Roxi at E-scape and Scrap are currently running a challenge on the E-scape and Scrap blog: 30 Day Mobile Scrap With Apps. And it's great timing for me as I've just got a new phone and I hadn't got around to having a play with the camera. So the first thing I did was to get an Instagram account so that I could join in sharing my creations :)

You can find me on Instagram here: natashaforder.

I've been having a great time getting arty with the images I've taken (in between the rain showers!) and using the apps. Today's, scrap with apps, post uses Snapseed and I love this app. This was the first one I downloaded onto my new phone a couple of weeks ago. It's free too, so definitely try it out. I'm also having a play with the other apps mentioned in the posts so far, catching up a bit and having lots of fun :)

This challenge has come at the perfect time and has really kick started my creativity in this area. It's fun and it's mobile, so you can do it anywhere!

If you'd like to join in, just tag your images with #scrapwithapps in Instagram so they can be found.

I am loving Instagram, there are lots of amazing images on there too and it's so easy to use.

The following are some of the images I have created so far:

Created using an accidental shot of a park bench! and applying effects using Mystic app
HDR 30% and framed using Snapseed
HDR 100% and framed using Snapseed
Vintage effect and framed using Snapseed
I hope to have some more creations on Instagram soon :)


Sunday 21 September 2014

Guernsey Scrapbook - creating the page

I created a post for forget-me-not craft with some details on how I created the Guernsey Scrapbook page in my last post. If you'd like to check it out the post can be be found here: Journaling Cards 1.

Sunday 14 September 2014

Guernsey Scrapbook 1

This summer Steve and I took a short holiday to Guernsey. I love Guernsey and this was my fourth visit and Steve's second. I've been very lucky, and every trip has been beautiful warm sunny weather, with blue skies.

I love walking around the coastline and the walk from Jerbourg to Fermain Bay is one of my favourites. The walk starts by dropping down, so you walk close to sea level, before gaining height again. The path undulates for the remainder. At one point it takes you through some pine trees, which make a great silhouette photo if you do the walk early in the day. At Fermain Bay there is one of the Pre-Martello Loophole Towers, a cafe and toilets. The return journey is inland and the route is partly via one of the old green lanes and a lovely way to end the walk.

Guernsey Scrapbook - 18th June 2014

The photo of the flowers was taken from Castle Cornet and it very representative of the wild flowers that I saw whilst I was there. For the last hour of the day it cost just £1 to go into the Castle and was a great time to visit as all the crowds had gone. An hour was just enough time to walk around the outside and capture some photos.

A note about the cake: The cake at the hotel was amazing and we did have more than one piece each over the holiday!

The porcelain background paper was created using a photo I'd taken at the Little Chapel. I created all of the papers and embellishments and some of these were from a journal kit I'd made a while back. They were perfect with this page as I wanted to write as well as use my photos.

Saturday 19 April 2014

The Story of Lucky and Buttercup

Hello, this weeks post is for a change not a poem but a short story. The inspiration for my short story, The Story of Lucky and Buttercup, came from a rabbit in a digital scrapbooking kit. I was looking to do a word only set of scrapbook pages for my monthly post, Scrapbook Diary, at the E-Scape and Scrap blog when Heather's (Algera Designs) latest kit came my way.One of the elements in her new kit, Peaceful, was this cute white rabbit who I instantly knew would be Lucky in my latest story! I couldn't leave out the chick and this became Buttercup.

The Story of Lucky and Buttercup by Natasha Forder
I have written a few 1000 word stories in the past, but this is the first time I've combined one with scrapbooking. I have used photos with my poems and compositions in the past, and more recently with scrapbooking, but stories have a lot more words to take into consideration!

I opted for a four page layout, a title page, two pages for the story and an end page and I think this worked well.

It's the first time I've let one of my stories loose in the wider world, so I was somewhat nervous about it. Especially as I had written it in a different style from usual. The conversation is from Lucky who likes to say a word or many in between the story narrative! The good news is that the feedback I've is that people have enjoyed reading the story. My stories were only ever aired in the past at Basingstoke Writers Circle where I used to attend and was chair for three years.

To catch up with, The Story of Lucky and Buttercup, go to MyScrapbookDiary page and scroll down to April 2014. Click on the scrapbook page and it will open larger in My Flickr. This page also links to all my posts for MyScrapbookDiary at E-Scape and Scrap.

Peaceful by Algera Designs can be purchased from E-Scape and Scrap.

Also check out Heather's post Past the Fence, which is a short story based on a great layout that she had created.

Sunday 13 April 2014

The Future...

Hello! I know it's been a while, but hopefully I will have more time for blogging from now on :) So a bit of catching up with stuff from the last few months that I'd like to share.

Back last year one of the Get Real Challenges at Real Life Scrapped was Future. It inspired me to write a poem. With the poem written I then created a background page to display it. The page was created from a number of my own photos. The butterfly was from one of my photos too, which I had already cut out and recoloured to match the page. Lastly I created the ribbon. It was another good excuse to combine lots of different creative stuff :)

The Future... © 2013 Natasha Forder

The Future
What is it that the future holds?
And where will it take me?
Will I soar like a bird, high in the sky?
Will I fly free to where my heart wants me to be?
But what if...
I fall hard to the ground
What if, my fear holds me down.

I grab hold of my fear
I won't let it take me
I won't let it hold me down, here on the ground
I will open my wings
I will fly, high in the sky
I will become all I always knew I would be.

By Natasha
© 2013 Natasha Forder