WILDLIFE!!!!

WOO!!! Wildlife finally came!

anyways, I hadn't started on the Kinkade project, so I shelved that, and started sorting Wildlife

anyways first a pic of the insane move I made with the Kinkade puzzles...

 Yes, I mixed both 3,400 pieces sections, AND added the 2,000 pieces of disney dreams puzzles... If the 6, 750 piece kinkade puzzles were of a similar quality, I would have probibly added those, but they had black backings so I didn't

 Anyways, Obligatory puzzle box photo

 Obligatory open box photo

Aaaaand my sorting process...

The way I do it is as follows, I grab 2-3 handfuls of pieces from the back box, put them on top of the tray, and  flip them over. I then go through the pile sorting by, lion/leopard pieces, Pieces with black/white and pieces with the baboon texture (I'm including shadows in this section), all other colors that don't fit in groups 1 and 2 are in the 3rd grouping, then edge pieces, and finally any green piece that doesn't fit in the other sections...

This is going to be challenging, but fun... Once I have sorted into these 5 categories, i will spread the pieces out, and pick out the different colors, sorting as I puzzle...

Side Note, I am sorting pieces into the round cups, but then dumping my overflow into the square containers in the back.

My first Educa Puzzle!!

So I decided to try a 1,000 piece educa puzzle for my first educa puzzle... as we all know im in the process of waiting for wildlife... so I wanted to get the feel for an educa puzzle...

anyways... pics....

 my edge piece method... I start with a corner... and just work to the left...

 edges done

 At this point I received the foam mats that I had bought... I replaced my wood-like surface, and cut them to size... I think the area turned out very nicely... and it solves the issue of my cat playing with the pieces as the friction of the foam rubber keeps the puzzle in place... unless I want to move it... it's a little hard to move, but the tradeoff of not having to cover the puzzle everytime im done working is nice...

 deer and flowers

 birds and part of the owl

 Leaves

 Little girl

 And DONE!!

this was a fun puzzle to be honest, and I like how it looks when done, it's a nice finished project to look at... however, the puzzle pieces were looser than the amsterdam red light district... it's almost impossible to move around without it crumpling... I have many MANY fears about storing and moving wildlife and life now that i've actually done one of these...

anyways... since it looks like it might be awhile before wildlife comes... I was thinking I might do one of these mixed beauties... 3,400 mixed pieces in each... OR i'm actually contemplating mixing them for 6,800 pieces total LOL... so the question is... WHO WANTS TO SEE THAT!!!!

Everything is Awesome!!!!

So I graduated today, got home, and took a nap, then went outside to find my foam puzzle mats on the doorstep... I then went to see the lego movie on a whim (CAN'T GET THAT DANG SONG OUTTA MY HEAD) and got home and assembled and cut them to fit the space I have... I now have an approximately 32 square foot puzzling area to work on (that I'll probably be allergic to... at least till the smell gets better)

anyways, here are a few pics of my puzzle area, and the puzzle I am working on =)

 the puzzle on the old puzzle board...

 The new puzzle mats set up...

Close up of the puzzle on the mats =)

The one problem will be moving sections  during a larger puzzle as the friction is high enough that I really had to work to move the puzzle back onto the mats, although, I don't think it'll be quite that bad once I have the entire puzzle finished...