It’s always the small pieces that make up the big picture. – Author unknown
This month, God willing, I will reach my 42nd birthday. Since turning 40, I have always been looking for unique ways to celebrate the second half of my life. This year I decided that something special will be “42 in 42 for 42.” That’s right… 42 things in 42 days to celebrate my 42nd birthday. I have from June 21st until August 2nd to do 42 uniquely special things. They don’t have to be big things – getting a delicious cupcake, a special pedicure, a trip to the movies, or a simple family dinner. I do, however, have a few big things planned in these 42 days. The 42 days end while I am in Arizona preparing for Forever LIVE. In July, I will visit Hershey Park, The Hershey Spa, and Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola.
The kick off of my 42 in 42 for 42 will be in Miami, Florida. The next day I will meet up with a good friend, Cindy Swilley, and have a relaxing girls weekend in Key Largo. We have lots of fun planned, though most of it is a surprise since I have never been there. Cindy is making most of the arrangements. Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to this trip and my few days off.
The other day, a sparkly magenta envelope came in the mail. I am sure we all know that giddy feeling when you receive an unexpected surprise in the mail. I struggled to get the envelope open. When I finally did, there was a card and a burlap pouch. For a minute, it felt like opening a gift box just to find another gift box inside. I opened the pouch and poured a bunch of puzzle pieces on the table (Yup, another “gift box”).
It took me 35 minutes to put together that puzzle (Clearly, I am not the one you want competing in any puzzle competitions.), but I loved every single minute of it. The thrill of trying to figure out what the image would reveal. I put the title together first. That was the easiest part. A clever play on words brought back some memories of our last time together. I was also able to piece together the Jack Daniel’s Honey bottle, at which I burst into laughter at an inside joke. The image and the title have a very special meaning to me, more than can deciphered from simply looking at the completed puzzle. I knew that was precisely the “message” that Cindy was sending me. Now, I am even more excited to be joining some really special friends on my birthday weekend.
I would never had thought I would have had so much fun putting a puzzle together all by myself. I encourage you all to share in the joy of creating puzzles using Artisan software. A puzzle can be used for many purposes. Here are a few ideas:
- Baby announcement – “You are going to be a Grandma/Grandpa!” “You are going to be a big brother/sister!”
- Promposal – “I am going to prom, but you are the missing piece. Go with me?”
- Engagement – “You are the final piece!” “I love you to pieces.”
- Family vacation reveal – “We are going to Disney World!”
- Wedding announcement – “Be my Maid-of-Honor!”
In the comments section below, tell me how you would use puzzles to share joy.
I love this idea. I thought I might send my daughter a surprise. I have a lovely photo of her, but it is bit busy in the background. I have tried to cut out the background and lower the opacity on it, but it is just not accurate enough to get a clean cut around her face and hair. Can you point me in the direction of any other ways to reduce background clutter on a photo?
Many thanks Avril
This video was recorded in Artisan 4 – Clean cuts. It will give you ideas of how to get the best cut extracting your daughter from the background.
https://www.pixels2pages.net/2015/04/16/video-tidbit-clean-cuts/
Shelly Alexander also reviews cut options in this Start2Finish Video: https://www.pixels2pages.net/2017/05/04/start2finish-video-a-history-of-the-world/
Here are some Bright Ideas that are helpful in fading out the background a bit: https://www.pixels2pages.net/category/challenges/overlays-and-masks/
I LOVE this idea and I LOVE puzzles! How about:
For Grandparents day: Picture of grandparents with grandchild(ren) and The best parents get promoted to grandparents
For a small birthday party: invite (when, where, what, etc.)
For Valentine’s Day (or any love/relationship occasion): You Make My Life Complete!
A reunion: Come Together!
Words of encouragement: You can do this piece by piece
Now I need to get busy making one or more!
I just had time to read this!!! I love this idea!
I love the family vacation reveal idea.
You’re gonna love Hershey, Tameka. We used to live 8 miles away, and we could smell chocolate in the air when the wind blew our way. It was heavenly! Have a great time! Mikki
I love the way you embrace life and everything in it! You always make me smile, dear Meka, and I am so proud to call you my friend. I hope our paths cross again some time this year!
How about, “Happy Father’s Day – you complete me.” 🙂
Love this idea, so creative! Thanks Tameka.
I meant “Happy Anniversary” but Father’s Day was on my mind. Ha!
Those are both pretty cool!