As it happened (from my Journal archives)

March 18, 2004

6:48 - Late last night I printed the 11 prints for the bank logo puzzles. I'll mount these during the course of the next few days.

I spent the first half of today hiking in a burn area looking for the areas where I took some lichen photographs last year. I did find several of the sites, some were not burned. I plan to do detailed comparison of the digital photographs I took to see if lichen really grows (lol). I'll post some pictures within the next few days.

This afternoon I started cutting the very cool The Magnificent Flowscape Pattern image. I cut about 60 pieces after completing some initial cutting. I plan to spend a lot of time on it tomorrow, I'd like to get 300 or so more pieces done. This pattern puzzle is going to be extremely difficult to assemble, so difficult that I briefly thought about not continuing with the cutting, but I will.

March 19, 2004

9:51 pm - Today I put in several intense cutting sessions, cutting over 300 pieces of The Magnificent Flowscape Pattern 100 Puzzles Project puzzle #33. The puzzle will likely have over 800 pieces. The puzzle is going to be so extremely difficult to assemble that I'm seriously thinking of not auctioning it. Perhaps I should make a Swirl Curl version with 300 or so pieces. Currently, I'm probably going to go ahead and auction the 800 piece puzzle, but put in a warning; something like "for the puzzle collector who wants a really extreme puzzle - assemble once and put on permanent display - this is a very, very hard puzzle to assemble."

March 20, 2004

8:20 pm - Today another long day of cutting The Magnificent Flowscape Pattern 100 Puzzles Project puzzle #33 - I cut around 300 more pieces. I plan to finish the puzzle tomorrow, I have 100-150 more pieces to go. As I mentioned yesterday, the puzzle is going to be fantastically difficult to assemble. As I've been looking at the image in great detail these past few days as I've been cutting it, I've come to decide that this is one of the very best pattern images I've ever created! The cutting is flawless so far, so as a puzzle maker and an artist, this certainly is one of my major works. I'll have some pictures, of course, after I complete the puzzle.

I promised a "metal artifact" would be included in the auction. The "artifact" is going to be a very fancy Creative style puzzle piece cut from aluminum. There will be a small hole so the piece may be hung as a pendant. I purchased a sheet of aluminum this morning. I need to have a tiny metal embossing stamp made for my signature to be placed on the artifact. I have a design for the embossing stamp in mind, I need to create my "metal signature" artwork and have the stamp made from tempered steel. I'll cut the "artifact" before the auction begins, but I might not have it "signed" until later. I'm tentatively setting the auction start date to March 22th.

March 21, 2003

10:45 pm - I've set the auction start date for Flowscape to March 23 (Tuesday) afternoon; see update at Auction. I want a full day to cut a nice metal piece for the auction bonus item.

5:58 pm - I completed The Magnificent Flowscape Pattern 100 Puzzles Project puzzle #33 today, an excellent puzzle. Pictures have been delayed until tomorrow: I applied two coats of tung oil to the back of the puzzle to enhance the mahogany backing and the puzzle is currently in the shop, drying. After I take pictures of Flowscape for the auction, I need to disassemble the puzzle in order to count the pieces. I'm a bit hesitant to do this, but I have to, as I don't plan to reassemble it, due to the extreme difficulty level and lack of time. Auction to start on Tuesday afternoon.

This afternoon I subdivided a large sheet of aluminum in preparation for making the "metal artifact" to be included in the auction. I have now buffed one piece of aluminum cut from the large sheet to increase the smoothness and shine. Tomorrow I'll cut the "metal artifact".

Note: I ended up including six metal "artifacts" with the auction.