Day 9

Today I finished the puzzle! But it wasn't easy and took 13 hrs! This is the 2nd half of the puzzle. Previously on this half, I had done the hot air balloons, some of the animals, the clown fish, and a few of the other fish.

Today, I started out by finishing the fish, and then doing the coral. Here are some pictures.


Once the underwater part was done, I finished the animals.


Next, I added the rainbow and filling in the blue around the animals, birds, and hot air balloons for the sky.


Then I filled in the rest of the pieces and finished it up!


The puzzle was too big for me to take a picture of the whole thing standing on the floor, so I took a side shot and then climbed on top of the kitchen counter and took a top view. The best part is...NO MISSING PIECES!!! :-)


Total hrs: 82

This was an exciting project to work on, and I finished ahead of schedule despite my busy work schedule and the other interruptions! Now, I'm going to break it back into the 12 pieces, take it to work, glue it, frame it, and then hang it as wall art in the office hallway. :-)

Double click any of the pictures to see a zoomed in view. I hope you enjoyed this project! Thanks for viewing my blog! :-)

Day 8

I was able to put another 7 hrs into the puzzle on Saturday. I am soooooo close to getting it done that I wanted to spend Sunday on it as well. Unfortunately, I had work to do... :-( But I was able to get a good start on the last 3 sections, which consisted of the underwater section next to the clownfish, more animals and water, the rest of the hot air balloons, the lighthouse, and the eagle. I think I'll be able to get it done next weekend!!! :-) Here are a few pictures:


I also caught a baby lizard who decided to sneak into my apartment. :-) Had to take a picture for my WI buddies!!!!


Total hrs: 69

Stay tuned for what will hopefully be the final post next week!

Day 7

I returned from the Orlando conference and have to say I miss my bed at the Marriott!! The bed is not only HUGE, but has soft fluffy pillows and a sheet/blanket that feels like heaven wrapped around me. :-)

Well, there is not too much to report this week. I only had a little bit of time today to work on the puzzle, however, I still was able to make some progress. The end is in sight!!! :-)

I went through the rest of the pieces and found a lot of the missing pieces with the clown (Nemo) fish. I also put together the water, finished a few more of the animals, and put the hot air balloons into place. Here are a few pictures:


Total time: 62

Day 6

Despite my crazy busy schedule, I found time to work on the puzzle. :-) I had each section on a separate panel, including an additional 6 panels of pieces on my bedroom floor. One of the things I had to do as I finished up the panels, is put them together. Because the edges of the panels didn't always lay flat (and to keep them from moving), I used duct tape - the answer to all problems - and taped the finished panels together. This allows me to attach pieces from one panel to another.

Then I finished the last couple hundred pieces to that half of the puzzle. Here are a few pictures.


It's hard to tell how big the puzzle is, so when my little sisters came to visit, I took this picture. :-)


Finishing up that half only took a few hours. Once done, I laid out pieces for the next half and got to work! After about 10 hrs of spending two hours here and one hour there, I made good progress on some of the hot air balloons, clown fish, and animals. Here are a few more pictures.




Next week I will be in Orlando for the Sterling Conference, so the puzzle will once again have to be put on hold. The good news is that I seem to be on target for finishing by the end of June!!! :-)

Total hrs: 55

Day 5

Hello all! Yesterday, I picked my baby sisters up from the airport to spend a week with me down here in warm, sunny FL. :-) With work being extremely busy over the next 5 weeks, the puzzle may progress slower than expected. (I don't think my boss would understand if I told him I didn't get my projects done because I was working on the puzzle.) However, some progress has been made, and I think you will be as happy as I am!!

I finished the birds and did the black and blue parts of the solar system and sky. This took about 7 hrs.


Once done with this, I tackled the top of the water around the boats, which includes the rocks, swordfish, and dolphins. This took about 6 hrs.


Total hrs: 42