#jigsawpuzzlelovers

Recently I had a small medical issue that resulted in limited lifting and walking restrictions for a duration of several months.  Preparing for this I put the house in order, stocked the freezer and refrigerator with lots of good food.  Then I began to address all this spare, possibly boring time I was about to have.  Not one to watch a lot of TV I decided to load up on books and knitting projects.  While at the book store my shopping companion and I noticed a shelf of puzzles.  She thought this might be a good way to keep me busy for a while.  Not wanting one of the 1,000 to 2,000 piece puzzles, I agreed upon a 550 piece puzzle that looked very colorful and fun. 

                                                                                                                                                                     

Now I haven't worked a puzzle since my grandchildren were small and most of those were of the wooden type.  But years ago when our family worked puzzles during the long winter months, I do remember that you should put the edge of the puzzle together first, after turning all the pieces face up on the working surface.  Which I proceeded to do.

Day one and two:

 Once that is done you are free to work as you wish.

Day three:

 I have to tell you that there were several surprises in this puzzle.  I began to find pieces that I didn't have a clue to where they were to go.  Finally looking closely at the box top I saw items I hadn't noticed to begin with. I didn't see the butterfly at the top or the tape measure above the gold thread. I was also surprised by the colors in the fork at the bottom. I guess that's why it's called a puzzle.  Right?

All in all I loved working with the colors and articles that were represented in this piece.  It's all things that I deal with in my art work, love of clocks and unusual objects.  These were things I really didn't notice when I bought the puzzle.  I was mainly looking at the different shades of yellow.  

It was bitter sweet when I placed that final piece in the puzzle.  I almost wished it was larger so I could work a few more days on it.  

Day five and the finished puzzle:

 I have to admit I left the finished piece on my dining room table for another week.  I just didn't have the heart to tear it apart and put it back in the box yet.  Finally I decided enough was enough so Gretta, my helper, and I disassembled it.  Hopefully it will be passed on to someone who will enjoy it as much as I did.

 Now that I've worked this one, there will be more puzzles in my future and who knows I may venture to the 1,000 to 2,000 piece puzzles.  But that remains to be seen. 

Storm Row Studio - featured artisan

I have some exciting and fun news.  stormrowstudio/etsy owner #RhondaMcCormack is featuring me as a guest artisan in her #Etsy store.  She has chosen my knitted washcloths and knitted purse pouches as the featured items, which are two of my favorite products.  


To be included with the amazing art that Rhonda has in her store is an honor.  She uses up and recycled new and vintage papers and fabrics in her artwork.  Her most common technique involves many steps and by layering tissue, pattern, art paper with fabric, embroidery thread, acrylic paint and glaze, patterns and textures develop organically.  Much of her material has been passed down from her grandmother. 


It took us almost a complete day to stage, photograph and complete the posting of my products.  It was a lot of work and I found out it's not a simple process to get everything as perfect as possible.  But in the end I think it turned out great.  Of course, we had to have our tea and cookie breaks which gave us much needed energy.  All in all it was a productive and fun day. 


If you are interested in seeing any of what Rhonda or I have on Etsy, you can log onto etsy.com/shop/stormrowstudio.
You can also follow her on patreon.com/stormrow or stormrowstudio blog where she is featuring her latest writings.