Starting a New Venture

I have been putting together jigsaw puzzles for as long as I can remember.  It is really the only thing I have 100% patience for....even really hard ones.  I can work on them for hours.  The purpose of this blog is to share photos of doing the puzzles and the finished product.   I suppose it sounds extremely boring, but I won't do just any old puzzles.  They will be unique in one way or another.  Also, I plan to share thoughts and ideas centered around puzzles of all kinds.

I just purchased a new puzzle that I will be working on.  What makes this one so unique is that it is the "mother" of all puzzles!  It has 24,000 pieces.  It is a beautiful puzzle called "Life: The Great Challenge" by Royce B. McClure.  It is officially the world's largest puzzle and holds the records for such. 

Here is a picture of it:

The colors are gorgeous.  From what I have read of others that have done this puzzle is that it is not an extremely difficult puzzle.  Actually as far as jigsaws go, this is fairly easy.  The difficulty comes in its shear size.  Framing and hanging seem to be quite major processes.

This exceptional mammoth of entertainment is 14 feet long and 5.2 inches wide.  I do not have a wall in my home that is this will fit, but I'm unsure if I want to donate it.  Look, it's not even in my possession yet and I'm thinking of what to do with it when it's done.  But I believe you must think ahead in situations like this when it's such a large project.

Educa is the manufacturer and they offer the puzzle at http://www.worldslargestpuzzle.com/purchase.html for $300.  I did find a New Jersey based retailer online, used a coupon code and got it for $252.  That was a nice surprise.

One of the decisions you must make before attempting this huge work of art is whether you want to actually do a 24,000 piece puzzle or four 6,000 piece puzzles.  The box comes with four bags; each having one-fourth of the puzzle in it.  The diehards like myself will MIX all the bags before commencing.  I feel that then I can truly claim I put together a 24,000 piece puzzle instead of four smaller ones.

My goals are: to do it in 200 hours or less and to be the first in Wisconsin to finish it.  There is a hall of fame for the puzzle and Wisconsin is yet to be entered.  I hope to be that person.  Wish me luck!

I just ordered it today, so it should be here by Monday, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Saturday so I can get started.

Feel free to leave comments or encouragements.

Thanks for reading,
Cortney