caught up in the hype…

Tim Holtz is fabulously creative and brings us humble folks in the crafting world, with the likes of Tonic, Ranger, Advantus & Stamper Anonymous, products that truly, I for one, would be lost with out.  I covert my scissors and oooh all those gorgeous distress products and idea-ology trinkets.  More recently I am in love with the District Market range…possibly because I’m a sucker for all things notebook and I was not disappointed when they turned up for the shop along with the burlap panels.

Now we’ve all see video footage of Tim at the shows with his trinket box full of idea-ology goodies and gone oooh with jealousy.  When I saw the new range of storage, and because I have access to these products because of the shop I ordered one, yep just one, of these Trinket cases.  It arrived this morning.

 

It’s my birthday next week,  but this was not a birthday present to myself. I genuinely wanted to know what they were like so I could decide if it was something I wanted to stock.

The trinket box was sent in the original box it was shipped in so when I realised I will admit to being a little excited and eager to open it, to take a peek at this prized possession.  What happened next surprised me.  You know when you get given a birthday present, and you know that your fabulous other half had provided someone with a list of idea’s at their request so they could get you something you really want, and you know each and every one of those idea’s was something you really wanted, then you open the present with them standing in front of you to find that they completely ignored the idea’s given to them but you still have to smile while you battle that sinking feeling.  That is how I felt this morning.

Now I knew it wasn’t going to be big, but I’m going to need a couple of these babies at least to house all my idea-ology bits and bobs. I ‘m also not enamoured with the quality of it either,  In the photo’s it looks quite good, nice solid handle, metal corners and latches, but the rest of it lets it down.  The faux leather trim, in my humble opinion it ain’t  all that when seen in real life.  the design frustrates me as the box opens out the opposite way to the way the trays open taking up, for me, much needed space on my desk to use it.  We don’t all have palatial studio’s to work in with huge expanses of worktop space.

 

The bottom tray is glued in place, as you would expect but, and yes I am being ultra picky now, the glue is all over the shop and not contained under the tray.  This isn’t ooze from using too much, this is brush strokes of glue. The tray are made from sturdy stuff, as is the box, but I am disappointed with the finish and with a retail price around the £30-£35 mark I’d expect something a little better, doubly so as it carries Tim’s name. This is of course just my opinion, and I dare say lots of you will be dismissive of it, and I’m probably missing a trick by making the decision not to stock them.  But there, you’ve now had my two-penn’orth, do with it as you will. I for one will continue to keep my trinkets in a RUB box with tray inserts.