Here is the start of my latest project. I have been enjoying the fall colors. Our pin oak in the back yard had some beautiful color to it. I selected one of the leaves and scanned and printed it out on a 13″ x 19″ print. The scanner picks up some amazing detail.
Oak Leaf in Fall Colors
If you zoom in on the photo, you will notice the tips end in some very delicate whiskers. When you look at the cut puzzle, it does not have those! They would be too fragile. I just cut the leaf tips out to a point, and even those are proving to be a little problematic. Here is the leaf cut out of the background.
Cut out leaf
You will notice a couple of items. A color change and it is not as clear. The first picture was taken in the house under incandescent lighting using a Pentax SLR digital camera. I manipulated the photo a bit with Adobe Photoshop Elements for some clarity, but it is a much better picture and is closer to the true color. The second picture was taken down in the shop with my cell phone camera under fluorescent lighting. The picture is not nearly as clear and looks more purple. The next sets of pictures below were taken with the camera on my tablet in the shop under fluorescent lighting and are better than the cell phone pictures. All cameras are not the same.
Here is the puzzle cut in half. I cut it in half for a couple of reasons. One is that it is easier to handle as you are spinning the image around to make the cuts. The second is that it reduces the amount that the same piece of puzzle gets handled, which leads to less wear and tear on it.
Leaf Cut in Half
This is the same picture, but cropped and zoomed in on some of the tips of the leaf.
Tips of the leaf
You may notice that the whiskers are not there. You can also see how sharp of a point they come to. Those points are fragile and tend to be a problem point while cutting. I have to be sure and hold the puzzle by some of the straighter edges to prevent damaging the tips. In some cases, the print either lifts from the wood (rare now that I am using the dry mount press) or else the paper begins to de-laminate (this will be the topic of another post on another day). When that happens, I apply a small dab of white glue under the surface of the print, pinch it together, and wipe off the excess glue. I then place the piece on the work bench face down and put a weight on top of it for about 30 minutes to let it dry. The less often I have to do that, the better!
I started this project a couple of days ago, and have not gotten back to it. So far, there are 29 pieces cut. I expect this puzzle will have between 120 and 150 pieces when complete. It is hard to judge odd ball shapes like this one.
29 Pieces Cut So Far
In the background, you can see my bottle of glue. Right next to it are a couple of engineering squares that I am using for the weight while the glue dries. My stack of new blades is also sitting there. There is also a flip cell phone, but not the one I used to take pictures. It is odd, but my “good” cell phone does not get any reception in the shop. The cheap $5 flip phone in this picture gets great reception. So, it has become the shop phone.
I hope to get this puzzle done this week. I would like to get it listed on Etsy by the weekend. I have listed a few of my puzzles for sale on that website recently. I have also cut out another one of the eggplant flower puzzles that I need to get photographed and listed. The listings on Etsy are going up for a couple of weeks, but will come down in early November, as I will be unable to respond to sales. They will be listed again after the Thanksgiving holiday in time for Christmas shoppers.
Feel free to leave any comments and feedback in the boxes below about either my puzzles or my website. Also, be aware that many of the pictures above are thumbnails and can be clicked on for closer review.
Happy puzzling!