What been wrote on the other forum

[Cyanure]

[quote Inkibus]
Okay, before things get too complex;

IS THERE ANOTHER FORUM we are discussing this? Please email me it, if there is.

Janet, in her last post to me, made the point of how we are going to execute this.

The best thing I see;

Get blank puzzle material-
(Graeme has indicated he's capable of this, and I am positive I am also able to do this part of the task too.)
Determine EVERYONE participating swiftly
Cut 1 piece for each member.
Mail piece to each member
Each member paints/draws on each.
Each member sends each piece back to someone in USA.
USA member mails it to Carol at given time.

But this in it's self is tricky;
Have to be done this week, the mailing would cost, even for little items.
(No one if going to get away with putting a small semi-flat puzzle piece in a simple envelope! It will saw out.)
And we'd have to all be swift, that goes without saying.

The only thing I offer for this;
I have a jigsaw, and the ability to make the puzzle clean and smooth as a baby's butt.
I also have the very great option of, if I had all the finished pieces, I could professionally finish them with lacquer/vinyl sealer and finishing buffs so that the artwork on each piece would not rub off.



Okay, that's my input for the hour. ;-)

[/quote]

[quote Xenia]When I went to the new forum it told me it was locked to new posts, too.

Here's a thought:
a puzzle needs to be made that will fit together properly. If we each make our own piece, it might not work. I recomend that one of us who owns a jigsaw or scroll saw make the puzzle from 1/4 inch stock. It should have a line or grid or some lettering (a message from us all such as "we're all in this together" or "we love you" or "love lifts you up" or "hugs and chocolate forever" or whatever we come up with) The lettering or lines should be done before the piece is cut, to give us all a guidline for our artwork/messages so it all fits together, and to help in assembling it at the end, when Carol gets all of the pieces.
The pieces could then be mailed in flat, padded envelopes to all of the participants--who would send some remuneration to the sawer to cover postage.
If we cut a 24 piece puzzle (not sure how many folks we are up to at this point) from a piece of wood 16 X 24 inches, we would each get a piece about 4 inches square to work with, which would fit nicely in an envelope.

Any thoughts on my thought? Any other thoughts?[/quote]

[Juliejools]

I mentioned this to Janet earlier....

Rather than sending money to cover costs it might be more sensible to make a donation to a cancer charity. Too much money gets used up in bank charges etc transferring from one currency to another.

Should you decide for Graeme and I to make and post the pieces out we are happy with this arrangement

[Janet-Xenia]

What jools sent me:


Graeme has offered to make the jigsaw puzzle, well I volunteered him actually. I was wondering how we could have some sort of theme running through the puzzle, like a pink ribbon or as you suggested an uplifting quote, to link all the pieces together.

I don't think posting stuff out will be too expensive and we can get the padded envelopes cheaply. I could include a sticky label with Carols address already on it and the envelope could be reused in an effort to save the planet a bit ;o) Maybe instead of everyone chipping in for the postage it would be better for everyone to make a donation to breast cancer charities instead. Too much money gets wasted in tranferring from one currency to another

I'm sorry I can't be bothered to send this to everyone but feel free to copy/paste it if you want ;o) I just got back from a really shattering day at work, need food and sleep now :?

Love Jools

I really like the idea of the pink ribbon running through it, as that is the symbol of breast cancer awareness. If Graeme cuts it out, he could mark each junction with a 1/2 to 1/4 inch line showing where the ribbon enters each piece, and where it exits. each person could then decide how the ribbon interacts with their piece and add their own thoughts, pictures and ideas. The ideal medium for wood is acrylic paint. i don't know how everybody feels about using it. But it isn't hard--even I can do it.

As for the pieces sawing out, if you wrap them in soft cloth and put them in a padded envelope, they should be fine.

I also like the idea of sending all the pieces to Inki to be sealed and finished. That way, if there are any problems, she can find them and we can solve them before Carol gets the gift. But i also like the idea of each piece arriving from a different location, individually. Maybe Inki could put all the finished pieces back in their original envelopes, box them up and send the whole thing to guen, who could put all the envelopes on their Christmas tree.

[ajchimaera]

Sounds good I've read through that a couple of times and can't find anything to add. While I like the thought of bits arriving one at a time so it slowly comes together, an all-in-one on christmas, if that were able to be arranged, would be excellent
I'm not great with acrylics, but I do have them and have learnt a fair bit, so I'm sure I can come up with something. I can always practice on something else before I work on the real piece, of course. And if Rosie doens't feel up to it then I'll do the painting for the design she comes up with.

[InKibus]

Whatever happens, I'd be happy to give the puzzle a final-coat or sealer to guarantee it would last.

Acrylic paint is fine.I use common FolkArt paint in my props, and haven't had the lacquer disturb it.

That way, if there are any problems, she can find them and we can solve them before Carol gets the gift.

Good point, god forbid a piece is chipped or broken, I could probably fix that.

while I like the thought of bits arriving one at a time so it slowly comes together, an all-in-one on christmas, if that were able to be arranged, would be excellent

I am kind of for the all together at once, and sort of discovering each piece from each person together.
But I'm easy.

Then, I'd be very happy to send it to Guen, or another Hower closer in proximity if that is required. .

[Avara]

I really like the idea of the pink ribbon running through it, as that is the symbol of breast cancer awareness. If Graeme cuts it out, he could mark each junction with a 1/2 to 1/4 inch line showing where the ribbon enters each piece, and where it exits. each person could then decide how the ribbon interacts with their piece and add their own thoughts, pictures and ideas. The ideal medium for wood is acrylic paint. i don't know how everybody feels about using it. But it isn't hard--even I can do it.

Ok, a couple thoughts from me.

• Marking each junction with a 1/2 to 1/4 inch line showing where the ribbong enters each piece... is the ribbon going to remain natural wood color? I ask because we may not all use the same shade of pink. If no one has a problem with the ribbon being multi-shades of pink, fine. Otherwise, it needs to be painted before the pieces are mailed to us to add our own art/words.
  
• Guess I'll be buying some paint. Hopefully I won't be the one person to royally screw this up. (I don't paint.)
  
• I do like the idea of the pieces being sealed so the art is preserved, but I really liked the idea of each piece arriving separately too. I'll go with the majority though.

[Juliejools]

I'm a little concerned about her getting all at once for this reason...Carol will be emotional on Christmas Day anyway, when she sees all the bits at once it might just tip her over the edge as it were. A little bit at a time might not be so mindblowing all at once. Does that make sense?

[Avara]

Perfect sense to me. (Carol isn't my only friend battling breast cancer right now, she just happens to be the one with the better chances.)

[Janet-Xenia]

I was thinking the ribbon could change hues of pink as it goes through each piece, just as each of us is a little different. If the ribbon is painted first, we would have to paint around it, instead of having the freedom to paint it around whatever else we want to do.

What do you think of the possibility of getting all the pieces to Inki for a final polish and having her send them one at a time?

[Juliejools]

How about we all paint a pink ribbon somewhere on our piece rather than have the continuous ribbon?

I think Inki may not really have the time to keep going to the post office every couple of days to post the puzzle, maybe I'm wrong but I know they're busy most of the time.

[InKibus]

How about we all paint a pink ribbon somewhere on our piece rather than have the continuous ribbon?

I think Inki may not really have the time to keep going to the post office every couple of days to post the puzzle, maybe I'm wrong but I know they're busy most of the time.

Well, there's a good point. I wouldn't be able to continually mail little bits, that would eat up too much time for me.
Possible, since Carol is in the USA.... but not totally practical for me to do.

[Janet-Xenia]

OH, good point. I forget that the post office isn't just around the corner for
Inki. She could send the box to me. My post office is not far.

I prefer the continuous ribbon as it "ties' the whole thing together. Besides, it'll give Carol some guidance in putting the thing together. Otherwise, she'll have no clue how the random pieces fit and we might end up sending her a frustratingly difficult puzzle. That would be counter-productive. I'll try to do some sketches, too, and send you my ideas if I can. My desktop is down at the moment and I don't have the camera software or a scanner on my laptop.

[Avara]

I agree with Janet that the large ribbon is what will help guide Carol to know where pieces belong. We don't want her going mad while she's trying to put it together.

Janet, you don't need camera software on the laptop to load photos. In both Windows XP and Vista all you do is attach the camera and it will pop up the window asking you what you want to do. There is a camera/photo wizard to upload to the computer. That's how I've done it on both my laptops. I couldn't tell you the last time I installed the software that came with my camera.

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