As it happened (from my Journal archives)

May 18, 2003

9:40 pm - Did some initial cutting and the scalloped border for the Vermeer puzzle today. Will do more tomorrow. Backlog unchanged.

May 19, 2003

8:19 pm - Today I cut about 120 Creative Style pieces in the Vermeer puzzle. Lots of interesting pieces, will have a picture when I've completed the puzzle. I'm doing quite a bit of color line cutting in the puzzle, more than in any commissioned puzzle I've done to date. I'm a bit less than 1/3 done, the puzzle will have around 380 pieces. Tomorrow I expect to cut a bit more than I cut today.

May 20, 2003

7:22 pm - I got off to a very late start today as I decided to wait for a UPS re-delivery attempt, an image I ordered for a customer "poster puzzle". Ended up waiting 'til past noon. I also had a visitor from Tijuana - an artist who does wood work in three layers and was wondering if I could be contracted to do some cutting. I agreed to take on one job and provide an estimate for future jobs. Some of the wood is nearly 2" thick, so the cutting may take a long time even though I would be using much thicker blades. No date set as to when I would be doing the trial job. So.... I didn't even get 100 pieces done, did about 90 more Creative pieces in the Vermeer puzzle, so I still have quite a ways to go. Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment, I'll try to get the puzzle done. Creative style, as usual, is taking a long time to cut, particularly in this puzzle as these pieces are Large pieces (about 1 square inch in size on average). There are some very nice pieces, will have photos when I'm done.

May 21, 2003

6:13 pm - Puzzle cutting in the afternoon. I did another 95 or so pieces this afternoon, so I'll finish the puzzle tomorrow morning, as I have about 70 more pieces to go. This puzzle is one of my most spectacular Creatives so far! Due to the extremely long time it is taking to cut this Creative puzzle (I've already put parts of four days into it , I'm going to increase my Creative pricing to reflect the time it takes me to cut Creative. I've determined that unlike my other styles, cutting in Creative style is not sustainable, particularly with the repeat order discount pricing - as my throughput in Creative is a bit less than 1/2 my throughput in my other styles. If I never receive another Creative order again, that's OK! I will continue to occasionally offer puzzle cut in Creative style within the 100 Puzzles Project. 2016 Edit - This puzzle was really the one which fully established or came close to fully establishing my Creative style.

May 22, 2003

7:58 pm - Finally completed #436, The Artist's Studio, by Vermeer. The puzzle is quite spectacular looking and I consider it to be one of my best Creative cut puzzles. It has around 380 pieces. The poster paper cut extremely well.