Tim Holtz Configuration box
I love every thing Tim Holtz and when I discovered his configuration boxes a few years ago I went insane. I had to have one. Since doing my first one I've made 3 or 4 but this one remains my favourite. There are heaps of ideas on the internet if you search for images of configuration boxes. Some of the designs and ideas are amazing. I especially love the apothecary ones. I think I'll give one of those a go next. But for this post I wanted to share with you my first configuration box. I themed it around a little house, using little pieces from dolls house collections. Each section of the box represents a little room. It was fiddly but I was at an annual weekend scrapbook camp hosted by Pam, my kaszazz consultant, and so I had heaps of time to dedicate to it. The other boxes I've done have taken several weekends. A bit here and a bit there which is mostly how I scrap. It was awesome to be able to begin this one on a Friday evening and have it finished by the Sunday.You Tube is also a good place to get configuration box ideas. I've included a couple of links. The first one is from a lady who attended a workshop held by Tim. It's a basic style and design but still awesome.
Configuration box 1 - basic design
The second clip is more of an outside the box design, literally. I haven't tried this style yet but I hope to make a Christmas configuration box similar to this style before December.
Configuration box 2 - boxes on the outside.
Both presenters mention the "gathering" of bits and bobs. They are almost a necessity to putting one of these together. I say almost, because I did make one of these purely from Kaszazz products for my consultant Pam as Kaszazz also stock a similar configuration box. So it proves that you can use papers, stamps and embellishments that you purchase without the need to add "collectables". Next time I catch up with Pam, I'll grab some more pics of it and post a story to show you what I mean.
Unlike the box in the first video, I didn't join the boxes together with tissue tape from the beginning. I wanted to be able to pull them out to work on them as the box developed. So each compartment is lined with decorative paper and then edged using washi tape. I found it much easier working with the little boxes separately rather than the whole box joined as one. I also like that each box is defines as a separate room. Once I was happy with the layout at the end, and before I decorated the face of the box, I glued the boxes in to place.
PARLOR ROOM
The first little compartment is meant to represent a ladies parlor room. I used Tim's dress form die from the mover and shapers series. I love these little dies, they work well with configuration boxes, just the right size. I made the little book (fiddly but totally worth it). In the bottle is a piece of stamped paper made to look aged. I rolled it up and stuffed it into the bottle and it has unwound over time, pushing right out to the edge of the bottle. The background paper is from Kaiser craft 6 1/2 " paper pads. It's from the "Charlotte's Dream" collection. No longer available to order from Kaiser but I've seen it on American scrapbook store sites. Hanging on the back wall of this box I placed a dolls house picture in a frame. I picked these dolls house items up years ago when Lincraft used to stock them. I added a little gem from a broken piece of jewelery. TIP: Never through out broken jewelry, it can be used to embellish many pieces.
GIRLS ROOM
Next to the ladies Parlor is the girls room. I made the little dresses simply from cutting dress shapes out of some material I had. A couple of flowers decorate the background with little birds (broken off of an old charm bracelet) sit at the front. In hindsight, I would turn the little bottle into a perfume bottle. I might do that one day.
BOYS ROOM
In this little room I used Kaiser paper again for the background. You could use an actual card if you had some. I also used a Tim Holtz Bingo piece, a draughts piece and a dice. I'm not sure if you can see them but under the little sling shot (made from a stick on the ground) are two old 1c and 2c piece coins. I'd kept them for ages to put in a project. I think they are perfect for a "boys" room.
JUNK ROOM
This room was made so I had an excuse to try out one of Tim's pocket watches. The back comes off of them and you can decorate as you like. They are 3 dimensional so small embellishments can be used in them. I've also used some Tim Holtz film strip. I find it very frustrating to work with as it curls up from being stored in the tiny canister. I struggle to get it to go where I want it to. In the end I just let it do it's own thing and stuck it with glossy accents.
SEWING ROOM
A stack of buttons glued together, some measuring tape ribbon and a Tim Holtz spool mini die that comes along with the dress from. The black button leaning up against the spool is from my Nanna's button tin. I have some very fond memories of playing with this tin when I was a small child. Sentimental items can make a configuration box really special.
PANTRY
Lined using an old book page, this little pantry looks awesome. I bought the bottle as I said from Lincraft years ago. They were already filled with food like bits. The canister, saucepan and egg whisk all came from the same place. the little box of food I purchased from eBay in a pack. I used chip board to make the shelves in the box.
HALL WAY
I entered this configuration box into one of the competitions over the weekend. It was a colour challenge competition. It could be any project we wanted as long as it incorporated three specific colours in it that we were given in our challenge pack on the Friday when we arrived at camp. The blue I used in this box was one of the chosen colours. It is a stunning addition to the colour range of the box. The hanging light is again a dolls house piece and the clock is one of the Prima wooden clocks.
GARDEN
the final compartment is the garden. The flowers flowing up the edge are Prima except for the bold blue one, bold salmon one and the pale yellow one that you can only just see the bottom of. these I made using Tim Holtz's Pine Cone die. These were the three colours that needed to be incorporated into the project as part of the colour challenge. The little nest I made from twigs I gathered from outside the facility we were staying at and the blue bird was cut from Tim's birdcage die set. The little eggs came with the dolls house kitchen set and I added the blue colour to them as well as the little black spots to make them look more like robin eggs and less like chook eggs.
On the top I added a little door knob from Tim's collection and the word ART from some scrabble tiles.
The whole project probably took around 20 hours but it was worth it. It went down a treat. It won the colour challenge competition and sparked enough interest from the owners of Kaszazz to inspire them to add a configuration box of their own to their collection.
I hope you've enjoyed exploring this little treasure with me. I certainly enjoyed revisiting it again. It's inspired me to get into making some more sooner than later.
Cheers
Fiona
