Moonlight Puzzle Cutting Journal

Elvis stamp puzzle

2011-02-09T22:08:00.002-05:00

Here is the latest stamp puzzle I have cut. It is of Elvis. If you are interested, it can be found on my eBay page, just click on the link to the right.

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Elegant Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles !!!!

2011-01-08T21:30:00.003-05:00

I have been working on a new puzzle style for myself, and am very happy with the results. What I do is not to have a picture on the puzzle, but make the puzzle the picture itself. I do this by staining certain pieces of the puzzle different stain colors. I have made several of the in the last few months, and below are the results!! Let me know if you are interested in a puzzle in this style!!!

The first is a double spiral that is approx. 16" in diameter, and is 353 pieces. It was a very challenging puzzle to assemble.

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Next is a Celtic Cross puzzle that is 19in tall, and 14" wide. I made 2 of these puzzles as gifts for family members and was running close on getting them done in time, so I never got to assemble this puzzle for myself. When they tell me how long they took for them to put together, I will edit this post.

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The last one I have made is a smaller version of the big spiral. This one is about 6 1/2 " in diameter, and is 97 pieces. I cut 2 of these, and the first is on ebay right now. It would make a great coffee table puzzle and took my wife about an hour to put together. Since she puts a lot of my puzzles together, I am guessing it would take the average person about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to assemble it.

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Latest stamp puzzle (Breast Cancer Awareness) ....

2010-04-05T23:06:00.003-04:00

I cut a new stamp puzzle today. It is an older stamp for Breast Cancer Awareness. Really good stamp for a puzzle, and I hope several people will like to have one of there own. Check out the auction here:

Breast Cancer Stamp Auction

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new puzzle made from stamps

2010-03-25T21:11:00.003-04:00

I found a set of stamps that are a picture of a parade. I decided to cut them all together and make it one big stamp puzzle. Here is what it ended up looking like. Tell me what you think.

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Boy with Kite will be listed tonight ....

2010-01-05T13:03:00.001-05:00

I am listing the puzzle shown below, tonight (1/5/10) !! When it is up, you will be able to click on this link to see it.

Boy with Kite puzzle

Check it out!!!!

Boy with Kite puzzle - Art by Judith Stein

2009-12-08T12:39:00.002-05:00

Here is my #17 puzzle cut from the art of Judith Stein. I think it really turned out great, and will be selling it soon. It is not an overly difficult puzzle, and could be a good puzzle for an older child. It was cut in swirl/wiggles style, has 179 pc, is 8x10, and only has one figural, my man in the moon. It has 2.2 pieces per square inch.

If you are interested in this puzzle, send me an email, and we will work something out.

Check out the pics:

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Jesus sticker puzzle ...

2009-12-07T13:22:00.002-05:00

I tried something different this weekend. I bought some stickers that spell JESUS with the J being a candy cane, and cut one as a puzzle. It turned out really cool. Check it out!!

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More Christmas Stamp Puzzles ...

2009-12-02T12:52:00.002-05:00

I have cut some more Christmas Stamp puzzles!!! Check out the pics and tell me what you think. I always like to hear from people who enjoy my hobby!!

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Check these out on Ebay also by clicking on the link at the top right of this page.

2009-11-11T12:46:00.003-05:00

I decided to try something a little different. I wanted to see if I could cut a stamp puzzle using the swirl cut technique. Below is what I ended up with!!! I really like this, and will probably start cutting some stamps in swirl cut. If you would like one in swirl, email me and let me know.

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Nativity stamp puzzle ...

2009-11-09T13:02:00.002-05:00

I have added a nativity stamp puzzle to my stamp puzzle list. Here is a link to the ebay auction.

Nativity Stamp Puzzle Auction

Here are some pics of this stamp.

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Ebay Auction for the "Two Sisters" puzzle ...

2009-09-18T08:00:00.002-04:00

The auction for the "Two Sisters" puzzle will start tonight. When it starts, this link should then be active.

"Two Sisters" puzzle on Ebay

Please check it out, and bid if you are interested.

New stamp puzzles ...

2009-09-10T12:49:00.003-04:00

I have cut some new stamp puzzles in the past couple of days. Here are the pictures:

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and also

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Let me know in a comment what you think, and thanks for looking.

Two more stamp puzzles I have cut

2009-07-23T11:09:00.002-04:00

I am really beginning to enjoy making stamp puzzles. Seems like that is all I want to sit and cut. Maybe it is because they don't take hours on hours to make like a bigger puzzle. Not sure.

Anyway, here are the latest stamps puzzles I have made. The first is a 1 cent Tiffany Lamp stamp that is currently out at the post office.

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The second is a 1975 10cent stamp of the Apollo Soyuz Space Test Project. It is about 3 times the size of a regular postage stamp, and as such, it ended up having 32 pieces. The pieces seemed to get a little bigger as I went, so when I cut the next one of these, I think it will probably end up in the 40-50 piece range. Not bad for a puzzle that is made from a postage stamp!!!

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New Stamp Puzzle - Year of the Ox Chinese Lion Stamp

2009-07-14T11:08:00.003-04:00

I cut a new stamp last night. It is the Year of the Ox stamp from the postal service. It is a bigger stamp, so it has more pieces. This one had 14 pieces, but I could see even having a few more. Check out the pics. Also, if you would like one, check out my ebay listings or email me.

From finished puzzles

Finished "On the Terrace (Two Sisters)"

2009-07-07T10:51:00.003-04:00

I have finally finished the puzzle "On the Terrace (Two Sisters)". This was a great puzzle to cut. I really enjoyed working with it. In the next few days, my wife will probably put it together, and we will see how difficult it is. Puzzle is 15 3/4" X 13" and it ended up being 328 pieces with 13 figurals. I did do a some color line cutting in it, as well as some not so obvious edge pieces.

Please take a look at the pictures and then, leave me a comment about what you think.

From finished puzzles

Back to working on the "Terrace"

2009-07-01T08:21:00.001-04:00

I finally got back to working on "On the Terrace (Two Sisters)". I have about 1/2 of the puzzle done, and plan to finish it this week. Right now, I have been really pleased with it. I am cutting it in my Random style which means pretty much knobs but with no definite shape to the pieces. Really looking forward to getting it done and seeing what my wife thinks about it. I will keep you posted.

new stamp puzzle ....

2009-06-30T08:54:00.002-04:00

I have started cutting a new stamp into a puzzle. It is the new 44 cent wedding rings stamp. I think it turned out really cool, and would be a great tie on for an anniversary or wedding present. If you are interested in it, please see my puzzles on ebay link, or send me an email.

From finished puzzles

More cutting on "On the Terrace (Two Sisters)"

2009-05-26T08:22:00.002-04:00

I have been cutting more on the the puzzle "On the Terrace (Two Sisters)". So far it is going really good. The butterfly figurals are turning out very nice. I have about a quarter of this puzzle done, but I am planning on trying to get it done this week. We will see how that goes, LOL!

Mother's Day Puzzle ...

2009-05-11T09:12:00.004-04:00

Here are the pics of the puzzle I cut for mother's day. The only thing I wasn't happy about with it, is that I didn't spray a clear coat over it, and I think that would have made the image look better. It was 11" x 13.5"262 pcs with 11 figurals. This makes this puzzle 1.76 pc per sq in. I hope to make my pieces smaller in my future puzzles.

Here is a picture of the initial cuts.

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Here is the picture of the finished puzzle.

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What I've been working on ...

2009-05-06T08:10:00.003-04:00

I have been cutting a little on the "On the Terrace (Two Sisters)", but I have had to set it aside to cut a puzzle for my mother for Mother's Day. I will post pics as soon as I can.

New Stamp puzzle ...

2009-04-27T16:52:00.002-04:00

The other day, I cut a new stamp puzzle just for my wife as a small present. It is of a love stamp currently at the post office. Turned out really nice, so I wanted to share a picture of it with the blog.

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I was very pleased at how well it turned out. Thanks for looking.

Initial cuts into the new puzzle "On the Terrace (Two Sisters)"

2009-04-20T14:43:00.004-04:00

I have started cutting "On the Terrace (Two Sisters)". I thought I would post a picture of it during the initial cuts. As you can see in the picture, I am cutting many butterflies into it. Should be a really cool puzzle. It is pretty big, so this one will take me several weeks to do, especially with both of my boys playing baseball this time of year.

Please comment if you can.

From finished puzzles

New Project ...

2009-04-15T08:51:00.002-04:00

I have started cutting a new project. This will be a large puzzle that I will probably sell if it goes well. It is a public domain painting by Renoir called "On the Terrace". I am going to cut butterfly figurals into it, and I think it will make a great puzzle. We will see...

Monet's "The Water Lily Pond" Mini Puzzle

2009-03-31T08:27:00.003-04:00

I cut a small mini puzzle of Monet's "The Water Lily Pond". In this puzzle, I put no figurals, not even my "man in the moon" piece, and I also cut several internal edge pieces, to make it more difficult. It took my wife about 30min to work this puzzle, which for a 66 piece puzzle, makes it not a very easy puzzle to do.

It is 6" x 6" and I plan on selling this puzzle on Ebay. Here is the link.

Here are some pics.

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Parrot test puzzle...

2009-03-30T08:57:00.004-04:00

I have been talking with a new artist about cutting some of her work in puzzles. Her name is Judith Stein, and you can see more of her work here: www.judithstein.com . Her work includes a lot of really nice pictures of children, that I am sure you would like.

The puzzle is about 4" x 6" (a sample to try some paper), and I ended up with 27 pieces. I cut it in swirl cut, something new I am trying to learn, and it turned out pretty good. I did get some of the swirls a little thin. Just need to remember while cutting to give space for the swirl on the return.

I am going to do some larger puzzles with her work, and plan to offer them for sale. If you see one of her paintings that you would like in a puzzle, let me know and we can work out the details. Then I can order the print from Judith on the paper that works best for puzzles.

Here are some pics:

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Stamp Puzzles ...

2009-03-25T09:06:00.000-04:00

I have been cutting a lot of stamp puzzles, and I would like to thank Carter Johnson for introducing me to this great art. I thought I would post some of my pics of stamps I have cut. I have several more mounted ready to cut, and I will post more pics when I get to them. My stamp puzzles tend to end up between 8-12 pieces per puzzle, although some stamps I have mounted will be more because of the size of the stamp.

I am definitely not as good at this as Carter, but I enjoy it none the less, and I am seeing improvement.

Please post your thoughts by clicking on the link below the post, and thanks in advance for you comments.

If you are interested in obtaining you own stamp puzzle, check out this link: Puzzles

From finished puzzles

Cut a new puzzle this weekend ...

2009-03-16T08:49:00.000-04:00

I needed a gift for my aunt's birthday, so to the saw I went. I cut a great image of a school boy walking to school back before the time of cars.

I didn't cut any figurals in it, except for my signature piece, and I also cut the pieces larger that I normally do, to make it easier for her to handle the pieces. I did a little color line cutting, but not to much. It ended up being 131 pieces, and that made it just over 1 piece per sq. inch.

Anyway, cool puzzle that got a lot of complements at her party.

Here are some pics:

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Do you want a puzzle?

2009-03-11T16:53:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about this, and have decided to offer my puzzle cutting to the public. With that, if you would like me to cut you a custom puzzle with an image that you supply, or a public domain image, please email me and let me know. We can then work out the details. Click on my profile to get to my email address.

Greg

"Clowns on the Reef" puzzle is finished!!!

2009-03-09T22:07:00.000-04:00

I finally finished my ocean puzzle. I have titled it "Clowns on the Reef." It ended up being 437 pieces with 15 figurals and it is 15" x 20". Here are some pics.

From finished puzzles

Please post comments and tell me what you think.

Greg

Valentine's Day Puzzle is done!!!

2009-02-13T09:15:00.000-05:00

Well, I got the Valentine's Day Puzzle done last night. It is not perfect, but I am still proud of it. I learned a lot with this puzzle. It is the first one that I have done with sliver drop outs. Here are some pics.

From finished puzzles

This puzzle ended up being about 8in square, and was 152 pieces. The drop out text, I feel, will make this a challenging puzzle. I will post what my wife thinks after I give it to her.

Getting close to done ...

2009-02-12T08:20:00.000-05:00

My Valentine's puzzle is getting close to being done. I got in about an hour or so of cutting last night, and it is turning out pretty good. I did have some problems with the ink (it was a photo injet print) coming up when I pulled a figural trace up. Where it came up was a really thin area of the figural, which didn't help. Luckly, it was really small, and it a solid color, so I just colored it with a marker, and it think it will be fine. I am going to have to find a way to keep that from happening in the future though for puzzles I want to sell.

Anyway, looks like I have about 1 more hour of cutting, and it will be ready. Going to try and get it done tonight.

Image to come ...

Cutting in passing ...

2009-02-10T07:59:00.000-05:00

Did some more cutting in passing, that I am famous for, last night. If I am going to get this puzzle done in time, I am going to have to sit down, and knock it out. Hopefully, I will get to work on it a lot tonight.

More time on the Valentine's Day Puzzle ...

2009-02-09T09:01:00.000-05:00

Well, I got in a couple of hours of cutting time into my sweethearts Valentine's Day puzzle. The sliver text that I talked about before is all most done. I ended up switching to the 8/0 jewelers blade that I use to cut stamp puzzles with to do this text. That really helped, but I still had a time with it. I had to go really slow and think about every cut. But I think it will turn out realy nice. I will upload pics of it when I get it done.

Side note: We had Friend Day at my church Sunday, and there was a lot of people there. It was very nice to see the church full, and I hope everyone enjoyed the service, and want to come back.

Started my Valentine's puzzle ...

2009-02-06T08:44:00.000-05:00

Well, time was getting short, so I have shelved the reef puzzle for now, and started my wife's valentine's day puzzle. It is a close up of a rose with several figurals, and some sliver drop out text. It is also cut with an irregular border.

I got to the drop out text, and boy was that harder than I thought it would be! I may have picked a bad font for it, but we will see. As usual, I will post pics when I get it done.

More cutting on the Reef

2009-02-04T08:54:00.000-05:00

I didn't get to cut a lot on the reef in the last couple of days. I did cut some just in passing, which I am bad for, but not a lot. I did get 2 more figurals cut. One of them, I almost messed up on. It is an angel fish with thin pointed fins. I almost (may have) gotten it too thin. We will see how it stands up to handling. This puzzle is only for my family, so no big deal, but just hate it when I make slips like that.

Super Bowl Sunday

2009-02-01T22:06:00.000-05:00

I haven't gotten time to work on the reef puzzle this weekend like I had hoped to. Maybe in the first couple of days this week I can get it finished. Really need to get it finished so I can start of something else.

Ocean Reef Puzzle to come ...

2009-01-30T13:17:00.000-05:00

Right now, I am working on an ocean reef scene. It is the biggest puzzle I have ever done so far, and is taking me a while. Hopefully I will have it done this weekend, because I have a valentines puzzle I want to make for my wife.

I will post pics of the reef scene when I get it done.

Puzzles for Christmas ...

2009-01-30T13:05:00.001-05:00

I started this hobby of puzzle cutting a month or so before Christmas. I cut several Christmas card size puzzles just learn, and I did make several presents this year, and this is the first of the gifts.

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I cut two of these, although the second one was larger. Here is it's pic.

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Both of these were gifts. They were cut in what I call random style which it kind of knobby, less uniform. I am going to try and keep better info on my puzzles in the future. I didn't even write down what size they were.

I got a pic of my sisters dog, and cut him into a puzzle. I really feel like it turned out well.

From finished puzzles

I also cut a winter scene and an enlarged set of stamps. Here are their pics.

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The ballarina's really turned out nice, and I enjoyed cutting them. I am looking into a painting to do with ballet as the subject.

Hello, and Welcome

2009-01-30T11:28:00.000-05:00

Just starting this blog to record my attempts at cutting wooden jigsaw puzzles. More to come latter.