Displaying My Love for Tim Holtz

This Configurations Tray ended my month-long love affair with Tim Holtz over at Let's Capture Our Memories. I have been wanting to do a printer's type tray for quite awhile and decided to take the plunge when I saw this one at the LCOM STORE. I'm not going to lie - it was pretty labor intensive, but I think the end result was well worth the time put into it!

Creating a project using the Configurations Tray was a no-brainer for me. The boxes can be moved around and arranged in any formation, and they are perfect for inking, painting or covering in paper as I did. And, of course, I was able to ink, tear, crackle paint, and otherwise distress to my heart's content - and let me tell you, I had a VERY CONTENT heart by the end of this project!

Want to see some close-ups? Here you go:

I think the two things I enjoyed the most about working on my tray were that 1)the depth of the boxes allowed me to create little individual 3-D tableaus inside each space, something that's not really possible with a traditional layout; and 2) I had a field day pulling out all my old stickers, charms, ribbons, buttons and, of course, all my Tim Holtz goodies. I was able to use so many cute, eclectic things from my scrappy stash of goodies that I had to have over the past two years but had never found a use for - and I felt totally rightous about those past random purchases!!! In fact, I felt so vindicated that in a post-project shopping orgy...spree...fit of madness...um...trip...to Hobby Lobby I didn't even think twice about buying 8 drawer knobs from the clearance section. Do I have a clue what I will do with them? Nope. But I am positive that the right project will come along. And when it does, my drawer knobs and I will be ready!

Do You Like a Good Challenge?

Do you like a good challenge? I know I do! Challenges are one of the best ways to push yourself to grow creatively. AND they further benefit you by helping to keep your layouts from all looking the same. You know what I'm talking about, right? It's that moment when you look at your last 5 or 6 layouts and realize you have 3 flowers, two pictures, 1 journaling tag and a cluster of brads on every single one of them!!!

My layout is a lift of Amaryllis' ENJOY LIFE, found over at BIRDS OF A FEATHER. Amaryllis used this Page Maps sketch for her layout (at least I think it's this one):

Now, as it turns out, I had previously completed a layout using the SAME sketch a couple of months earlier; however, Amaryllis had a completely different take on it. So, when I lifted her layout, I got a completely different look the second time. See? Here's my original layout done a few months ago:

So, what's my point to this little ramble? CHALLENGE YOURSELF!!!! And what better way to do that than to participate in, you got it, challenges (duh)! And who is having some fun CHALLENGES? BIRDS OF A FEATHER is, that's who. Every month, five new challenges are posted. You don't have to do them all. You don't even have to use the monthly KIT, although they are so well put together you are going to wish you did! The only thing you have to do is to HAVE FUN!

I hope to see you there!