Polly Picks: Scrap Like EllenT Challenge!

Welcome to the next edition of our newly revamped Polly Picks series, where each month we will chat with one of our Pollys about their scrapbooking style and fave things and give you the chance to win a $5 code for the store just by scrapping like them.

Before we jump into the August challenge, let me announce the random winner from our July challenge – big congrats to tanteva! (You’re prize will be sent shortly through conversations so watch out for that this week!)

This month we are featuring EllenT! Ellen is the most prolific and quietly hardworking Polly! She could fill a newsletter by herself and has been in the Top Contributor sidebar for as long as I can remember. Her gallery is a whopping 332 pages full as I write this in mid August, (mine’s at 144 pages for context) and is here but I’ll link some specific pages below when we get to the challenge part from her gallery that caught my eye and feel to me like they are definitively her. Ellen seems like she has the ability to use any kit and will embrace any theme. Her use of wordart, flowers and patterned paper pieces really stands out to me and I have secretly thought for years that if there was any Polly that could put every single piece of a kit on a page, Ellen could do it and make it sing!

Let’s get find out more about Ellen’s scrapping from her with an interview. Here’s my Scrap Like A Polly Q&A with EllenT.

Your digiscrapping history and style:
1. How long have you been digiscrapping and has your style changed since then? I started scrapbooking 25 years ago when my son was in elementary school. I was the PTA’s Historian for 8 years and I made scrapbooks for the school. I discovered digital in 2006. At first I filled my pages with lots of pictures, because I had to for school events. But then my style turned more artsy.

Your page focus and process:
2.What do your layouts usually focus on and how do you usually start a page? I first start with the kit and any wordart that inspires me. It used to be hard to find photos, but I started to use a site called Freepik, and it has made things much easier. Once I find photos to use, I pick out a template.

​Your must-have products:
3. Is there a specific type or category of element you must have on a layout? I have to have flowers, lots of flowers and leaves to go with them. Even on guy pages. I’m not into journaling so I depend on the wordart from the kit. I need to have something to hold the photos down, so I use buttons, staples, and stitches. I also love to use brushes and paint on most of my pages.

​4. Are you most drawn to patterned papers or solids for backgrounds? I usually go with a “dirty” solid for my background. If the kit doesn’t have a paper I like, I will blend 2 papers to get what I’m looking for. Brushes look better on a light background. If a kit has lots of patterned papers, I will use a template that has layers of papers.

​Examples of your gallery faves:
5. Can you share 3 fave pages with us and tell us a bit about why you love them?

I love this page because it really show my artsy side.

I really liked Surfer Boy because it was simple, not my usual style. I also got a GSO for it!

This page has clusters of flowers, brushes and wordart

Thanks Ellen. I hope that school appreciated the scrapbooks! What a great role!

Now it’s your turn to Scrap Like A Polly!

Just scrap a new page using the ingredients listed below that channel the featured Polly’s style and upload your page to the TLP gallery and come back here and post the link to your page in the comments please.

These pages helped me come up with the ingredient list below and my own EllenT style layout.

Ellen scraps really well with a theme and uses a mix of mixed media, patterned paper pieces and solid-ish background with big feature wordart titles supported by additional wordart to reinforce the theme and add to the story in place of journalled text. She definitely has a cluster and element heavy look to some sections but uses negative space to balance it all.

Following on from that, these are the ingredients you need to scrap like EllenT:

• Maximalist page style
  • Fill the page with any combination of photos, papers, wordart and elements.
• Use 1 or more photos that are visibly fastened with something!
  • (button, stitching, staple, tape, photo corner etc. just not invisible glue! LOL)
• Use a solid-style paper background PLUS 2 or more patterned paper pieces
• Use a wordart title with extra wordart!
• Include a a cluster of flowers or foliage
• Include some paint or stamping/brush work
• Embrace a theme and use 2 or more themed elements

Let me show you some currently available goodies that suit scrapping in Ellen’s style that might help kickstart your scrapping and then the page I made channeling my inner EllenT!

This is the page I created in Ellen’s style. I’ve used a mix of Hear My Voice & Project Mouse to create a themed but artsy mixed media page. The title is a few different wordarts clustered together and I went with a floral and Frozen theme based on my photos, with the snowflake elements and patterns that allude to the characters iconic outfits.

Now it’s your turn! You have from now until the next Polly Picks post in the last week of September to scrap like EllenT using the ingredient list above. Feel free to use products from any designer currently selling in the TLP store and add anything extra to the ingredients to make your layout. Don’t forget to link me to your page in the comments or in the August Scrap Like a Polly forum thread for your chance to go in the random draw to win. We also have a Polly Picks gallery category to pop your page in – it’s here.

The deadline is 21 September. Can’t wait to see what you create.