Jigsaw Puzzles are for all ages

Jigsaw puzzles have always held a fascination and sometimes a challenge for me! To this very day I love my Jigsaw Puzzles.

As a child I loved doing puzzles. When asked by my parents, Aunties, Uncles etc what I would like as a gift for Christmas, Birthday, Easter my first choice was always a Jig Saw Puzzle, It did not matter what the picture was, just as long as it was a puzzle.

My choice of scene has changed over the years, but not my love of doing puzzle,s

Christmas Eve, (which is our Summer here in Australia) after everything was organized and ready for Christmas Day my JigSaw Puzzle would come out. I would set it up on a sturdy wooden board... Select all the outside border pieces, keep them separate from the rest, then I was on my 'way' !!!

I would do anywhere between 6 to 10 puzzles, one after the other, sometimes it would take 2 or 3 weeks to complete one, there was really no hurry.

I might give them a rest for a couple of months, then start over again on a new collection of Jigsaw Puzzles.

There is a sort of method I use when I select and start a Jigsaw Puzzle here it is in steps:

When selecting a Jigsaw Puzzle always purchase one of good quality, there is nothing I hate worse than trying to assemble a puzzle when the colors are not 'true' or the 'board' used in manufacturing the Jigsaw Puzzle is weak and bends.

If space is going to a problem. Before starting the puzzle make sure you have a non-bending board slightly larger than the overall size of the puzzle that you can start the puzzle and when not working on the puzzle the board can be slid under a sofa or a bed safely out of the way. There is nothing more likely to upset you than someone 'accidently' knocking over a half finished puzzle.

I have two options:

• The preferred option is a piece of Craftwood 3mm thick and with a border of about 50-75 mm around the outside when the Jigsaw Puzzle is completed. These boards cost me about $3.50 in a large hardware store.

• The other option is a roll-up mat that when folded keeps the part assemble pieces together (in theory anyway) I find that these mats tend to bend the pieces.

As I have said above, when I get down to assembling the Jigsaw Puzzle I firstly pick out all of the straight edges, especially the corners and put them aside !

I have heard that in an effort to make puzzles harder they are placing 'straight' edges inside the puzzle just to give that higher degree of challenge.

While I am selecting the straights and corners I will be sorting out the different colors according to the drawing/ photographer on the box cover.

A very important step is to ensure that the ambient light is very good and preferrably a daylight color so as not to change the color spectrum.

I then settle down to many hours of enjoyment, away from all the worlds worries lol

There are so many great Artists around and we all have different tastes in Art. These are my personal choices in no particular order.

• Anne Geddes.
• Ken Duncan.
• Josephine Hall.
• Kevin Walsh.
• Tracy Hall.
• Henry John Yeend King.
• T.C. Chiu.
• Ron and Jean Henry
• I'm sure that there are others! If you have your own favorite, please let me know via the 'comment' section and I will check them out, you never know I might discover another 'favorite'

Later in life I find that doing Jigsaw Puzzles keep my brain a little more active, they also give me some time out, and a lot of great ideas for when I am doing Mosaics, Tapestry or even Patchwork.. You can get some really beautiful puzzle designs by some great Artists which integrate really well with Mosaic, Tapestry and Patchwork designs.It just takes a little imagination and working out which goes better with what.

Some interesting 'facts' about Jigsaw Puzzles:

• According to some research solving Jigsaw Puzzles can exercise the brain and reduce the likelyhood on developing Alzheimers Disease.
• Guinness World Records have the largest commercially available Jigsaw puzzle listed as one made by a German Company called Ravensburger and is made up of 32,256 pieces.
• The first Jigsaw Puzzle was reportedly devised from a 'map', to be used as an aid for learning Geography, way back in 1760.

You can preserve your finished Jigsaw Puzzle with a Jigsaw Puzzle Fixative of your choice, then frame the puzzle, cover it with non glare glass to protect it from dust, then hang it on the wall. They look great!

I'm always looking for better products to use. If you have a product that you use and would recommend please let me know in the 'comment' section below :)

On a couple of occasions my Puzzles had a slight alteration to the design :):).

The reason being I had dropped a couple of pieces on the floor and not found them until later, "slightly chewed", that was a " you are a naughty boy Oliver" moment :) :)

I guess he liked the smell of the glue and obviously the taste of it? After a tiny 'hissy fit' (by me) we had a serious discussion and 'eyeball to eyeball' came to an 'understanding' :)

"He would not chew any more of my puzzle pieces".

The passion for building Jigsaw Puzzles seems to have passed on to my youngest son.
He and his partner love doing the 3D type jigsaw puzzles, which I am not good at, all of the colors seem to change between hand and board, which I find more than a little frustrating.
They in turn have past the passion on to their children (my grandchildren). Starting them off with the small 20 piece children's jigsaw puzzles, they have now graduated to the 500 piece puzzles, they also love it.
I personally believe it stimulates their brain, teaches them coordination, shapes and sizes,colors,plus patience, which in my mind is a good thing to happen !

So if you like building things? watching them grow? and come to life? this just might be a Hobby that you like and can enjoy :)
Happy JigSaw Puzzling :) :)