A new obsession. You knew there would be one.

For a long time, I've gazed longingly at the photo trays at the scrap store.  Like, LONGINGLY.  What is it about little squares and rectangles that fills my heart with longing and makes my fingers itch to put stuff in 'em?  Of course, that last part is "figurative" because that would involve scissors and glue and coordination.  Not that it changes anything, they still fascinate me and I still want one every time I go in to Michaels or Hobby Lobby or {insert harp glissando here} Archiver's.  

I spent a little time (ok, an hour - but that IS a little time where pinterest is involved [why yes, this is another blog post that is going to blame pinterest for everything]) jumping from photo tray (or printer tray) photos to even more photo tray photos.  You get the point.  Obsessed.

And then it sort of hit me out of the blue (wham!)  Just make one digitally!

So I did.

First I started with one that had six 3x4 openings, thinking that they would be easy to pop journal cards and photos in and get it done.  Snip Snap.

I stopped and played with it for a few minutes:

Not gonna lie, it was a lot of fun.  But I realized two things - this is digi, so slapping a journal card in a spot isn't any easier than slapping something else in a spot.  And secondly, six openings all the same size is sort of boring.  LOL.  And when I showed it to my CT, they daintily stepped around saying that exact thing.  But they meant it.

So I made more.

And More.

This set is pretty spiffy because they are 8" x 10" so a finished tray will pop nicely into an 8x10 frame, and hey!presto you have a gift!  And they have lots of little hidey-holes that will be fun to tuck things into.

Then I finally decided to cut loose and make a big one, which was what I really wanted in the first place:

  And then I sat down and played to my heart's content:

And now I'm hooked.  I want to do another one, and another one, and another one... I can think of about sixty themes, LOL.  And as a paper lover - well, there are twenty spots in this one, and I only used photos in 3 of them.  That's a lot of paper I can play with!  ::happy sigh::

The interesting thing about these templates is the degree to which you can personalize them - by clipping a "wood" paper to the frame and adding a little bevel, I got a completely different rustic look than the sleek blonde wood veneer of the template.  However, one of my CT ladies, Dolores, used the blonde veneer frame and it looks wonderful with the papers and photos she chose:

I really like the combination of photos, journaling, and embellished title all within the tray.  And the banner beneath sets it off beautifully!

Anita took a different approach - she clipped a paper to the frame, and created a collage of homey sayings and cute little embellishments, which I love.

Jan took the first template and made this gorgeous tribute:

After I saw it I took back everything I thought before about six equally sized openings being boring!

Kristen also did a tribute page - I love the bits she chose to enhance the photos.

Last is Lexy's with a series of darling photos and lovely clustering around the frame.  She also used a bevel and clipped wood to the frame.

So, as you can see, there are lots of approaches to take - all are attractive and effective, and entertaining.  For the creator as well as the beholder!

The Photo Tray templates are on sale through Sunday at the Digichick at the introductory sale price, so pick one up and see how much fun you can have  :)