I have a Black Belt...

IN...

Hee... hee... (*^_^*)

I finished the project I've been working on for the last 2 weeks. A special someone recently celebrated his birthday and I made him a picture puzzle consisting of photos from his childhood all the way to now.

My initial idea was to have his friends e-mail me with b-day wishes and I would somehow figure out how to present it to him. His sister then offered to send me pictures and that's when the seed of idea started to take a life of it's own.

I toyed with a couple of different concepts - first was to make little flags with the wishes printed on it and stick each flag on the cupcakes I had ordered. Second was to create a picture mosaic but the individual pictures were too small to print the wishes on. I finally settled with the idea of creating a picture puzzle big enough to hold the wishes and also make a nice keepsake.

So the e-mail party commenced, wishes and pictures started pouring in and I found myself immersed in planning and execution and enjoyed every minute of it.

2 days before - cutting each piece with x-acto knife ... OMG!, my arm was so sore the next day, thankfully my cute and totally gay chiropractor did some muscle manipulation on my left arm and made it all better...yeay! Fedex/Kinkos did a great job of bringing my concept to life. The finished product was printed on a foam board and laminated. I was quite pleased with the outcome.

5 down and 30 more pieces to go... each puzzle piece took an average of 8-10 mins to cut -

Night before - using sandpaper to smooth out the edges of each puzzle piece

Day of ... with 1 hour to go, a shower to take, a dress to steam, a hair to fix and a dinner to get to...aaaahhh!

Whew! barely made it -

This was definitely the funnest project I've worked on to date. It was a little bit harder than I thought in terms of the initial lay out, cutting the individual puzzle pieces, smoothing it down so that each piece would fit and finishing it on time. It was well worth it in the end - to see the joy in his face was priceless.

I love birthdays - I love celebrating it, I love making the celebrant feel special and I especially love reminding them that their birthday is a gift in itself and it is something to be commemorated.

His puzzle represents moments in his life and how it is all interconnected. Each picture tells a story and the wishes from his friends and family are the glue that will keep the memories complete.

When you reflect on your life and the moments captured on the view finder, what would your picture puzzle look like? How will the pictures connect with each other? What stories will the picture tell? The relationship of our lives whether platonic or romantic consists of conversations and interactions all connected. Make sure that all your pieces are intact. Avoid missing a piece. Be Whole. Be Happy. Be Love.

My picture puzzle will be made up of places I've traveled, my sisters and I in tight hugs, me giving my mom kisses, a montage of my favorite things, Tugboat, my girlfriends in our drunken antics, my special someone and all the amazing people I've met along the way who has helped made me the person I am today. My picture puzzle will be shaped like a heart for it will embody everything that I LOVE.

Special Thank You to Chao for helping me bring this project to life. Your Kung Fu is strong, My Friend (^_^)

The rest of my week focused on getting back in touch with myself to get re-inspired for my next project. Christmas is right around the corner and I have some really fun crafts in the works - more of this later...

Thursday - Picnic at Stinson Beach

Friday at Smuggler's Cove

Saturday - Brian's 31st Birthday at Pier23

Sunday afternoon stroll at Land's End

This is how I stay connected - The music for my soul, the sunglasses for my bright future, the pen for the script and my phone ... to stay connected with the rest of the world outside of my head.

Love Y'all to Puzzle Pieces,

Jakey