Kitten & Puppy pt. 1

I've been photographing my puzzles and the individual pieces, and taking note of shape variations and dust levels and all sorts of documentation for this blog. I've had all these fantastic ideas about ... lots of puzzle related things.  I've been planning and plotting and have written very little. 

So, here it is, the new year, and I have an afternoon and evening to myself.  "What about your puzzle blog?" asked my good monster, when I lamented about not having an idea for my Next Big Thing to express myself creatively. In response, I fussed about because Fantastic Ideas!  Plots! Plans!  Complete lack of motivation!

I looked at the puzzle I'm working on now.  It was a Christmas gift from my good monster's children.  "You know what," I stated. "I don't need to do all these fancy pages and whatnot, I don't need a glossary or list of links or any of that.  It will develop over time." My good monster is loving and supportive and so here I am, motivated!  Welcome to this blog, reader!  Let's talk about puzzles!

"Kitten & Puppy"
Adrian Chesterman
Cardinal Puzzles

Stats:

Pieces: 500

Size: 11" tall x 14" wide

Shape: rectangle

Location of printing: China

Location of manufacture: China

Artist: Adrian Chesterman

Purchase location: (gift)

Start Date: January 5, 2018

This puzzle, as aforementioned, was a gift to me from O and N, two of the young people who live with me.  It was a perfect, thoughtful gift.  They know I love puzzles, puppies, and kittens.  It's a can't-miss, really. 

I finished a puzzle I was working on before this, a couple of days ago.  I wanted to start another, and this is the one that was next to do.  However, the kids were not at home that evening, so I wasn't sure what to do.  My good monster suggested the Ravensburger pencils ("Color My Heart", 1000 pieces).  Reason being, it's a puzzle I've done before that is always satisfying, and a very quick build.  Excellent.  Let's do that, then. I sorted all the pieces, and built the frame.  Fine work.  I can build the Kitten & Puppy inside the frame of the pencils.

So last night the kids were home and I opened up the Kitten & Puppy puzzle.  O helped do the first sort.  We both noticed how tiny the pieces are.  The box the puzzle came in is the size of a paperback of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and there are 500 pieces. Look at how wee they are compared to the Ravensburger: 

They are wicked cute.

The first sort was edges, pink stuff, white stuff, butterflies, blue, yellow, leaves, and fur.  We then separated out the whiskers and noses from the fur pile.  I built the frame while O did this thoughtful sorting.

I chose to work this puzzle without looking at the picture after establishing the corners, and O has preferred to refer to it periodically.  O's sort was quite spot-on, and I was able to build in from the edges, first with the pink at the bottom, the greens and blues at the top, which faded into the yellow and white.  I built the whisker and nose sections, and now I've just got fur left, and eyes and such.

All the inside pieces are the same shape, which has forced me to consider the color of the pieces much more than the shape, which I generally prefer. It is funny though, because on the back of the box it declares unique piece shapes.  

I won't be working on it again until tomorrow night, when the kids are home.