Puzzle Blocks Class

[Quinn]

Instructions coming soon! Sorry to be late; haven't felt well & have been crazy trying to finalize things with my house (living at my mom's except to sleep). My goal is to post them by the end of the day. April, could you post your photo of the completed puzzle in this thread? Thanks!

[supermombritt]

I am excited to see this Quinn.

[tpowers]

This was a way cute idea. I can't wait to use it and give it to a kid.

[Quinn]

Puzzle Blocks

1. Setting up your workspace:
- Puzzle has 9 1” blocks; 3” w x 3” h
- Create 6 x 6 document in Photoshop (larger workspace than print size)
- Set Grid Preferences (“Preferences” “Grid” “Gridline every: 2 inches” “subdivisions: 1”
- Make sure “Snap to Grid” is checked in “View” drop-down menu
- Turn on Grid to see where block divisions will be “View” “Grid”
- PS has keyboard shortcut “command/control” “quote key” to turn on/off the grid; Elements doesn’t have this keyboard shortcut

2. Making Rectangular Frame Square (Bear Puzzle)
- Select an edge of the frame using the square marquee tool
- Copy the frame layer (right click on frame layer: select layer via copy or in the layers palette, drag the frame layer to the new layer icon)
- Using the move tool, drag the selected area of frame to the edge of the photo so that the edges of the frame are continuous
- When the copied layer of frame is where you want it, “deselect” to release the marquee (keyboard shortcut: apple/ctrl “D”)
- Now go back to the original frame layer & use the marquee tool to select any area of the frame that may need to be erased; once selected hit “delete”
- Select both frame layers in the layers palette by holding down “shift” while selecting & merge them (make them one layer) by selecting “merge layers” in the “layers” drop-down menu
- Now you can add a drop shadow to the frame layer if you choose

3. Creating a Brush from an Element (Bear Puzzle - swirl)
- Open desired element & select “define brush/define brush preset” from the “edit” drop-down layer menu
- When using the brush tool, select the created brush & apply it on a new layer

Attachments show the Bear Puzzle & all the other 5 sides to the puzzle. Supply list for each side to come soon in this thread. All photos are included on the Park City CD & I can make them available for anyone who missed Park City.

[Alyson]

This is really a fun idea Quinn! I was so sad that I didn't get to attend your class, so I'm super happy to get your instructions. Thanks so much!!

[Wendy]

Thanks for the instructions, Quinn! I saw these demo'd at This is the Place last summer. Of course, they weren't done digitally - just photocopies that you hopefully made the correct size. What a pain. They had done family history photos on the six sides - grandparents & g-grandparents. I have been meaning to figure it out & make them for family Christmas gifts. Now maybe I will :rolleyes: Thx!

[Quinn]

Wendy, that's such a great idea! I should have mentioned that when you go to print you'll want to print slightly smaller than the block size. Since I did 3 1" blocks, I printed my documents at 2.9". I've seen puzzles done on 2" & 3" blocks & they were all really fun! I just love that family history idea! My friend did a block puzzle with pictures of the Salt Lake Temple, each side showing the Temple in a different season. These are so fun to sit on a coffee table.

[crystalclark87]

Very cute! I love this idea!

[CelesteDavis]

k, but what is the best way to cut them into the little squares and adhere them to the blocks? I am scared...

[Quinn]

I took a ruler & wrote on the back of the photo the lines to cut. Then I used double-sided tape to adhere the pieces to the blocks. To really make it stick, I'd paint mod podge over all the sides after you're done. Don't be scared! It's not a big deal! You'll be totally fine! Maybe to be safe, print yourself 2 of each side in case you make a mistake. You can fit 2 puzzle sides onto a 4x6 print & those are dirt cheap. No sweat, my dear! xoxo

[LucyLu]

where did you buy the little puzzle blocks? I looked at roberts but did not see any there

[A-to-Z]

I think she got hers at Michael's Dottie but I'm not sure.

[Kim Hansen]

....... No sweat, my dear! xoxo

Quinn, I can just hear your sweet little voice!

[Kelli West]

so true Kim. I think of Quinn talking now everytime I read her posts!

[Quinn]

where did you buy the little puzzle blocks? I looked at roberts but did not see any there
I bought mine at Michael's (way to go, Amy!). They were back in all the wood blocks. If there aren't 1" any size can work. You'd just want to resize your documents accordingly. At Michael's they came in a little bag with 11 blocks inside (or something close to that).

[Quinn]

Quinn, I can just hear your sweet little voice!
so true Kim. I think of Quinn talking now everytime I read her posts!
You two crack me up! I don't think of my voice as soft. I always feel like I'm yelling or talking too loud. I can hear your sweet voices when I read your posts, too. How fun that we all got to meet in person! That definitely enhances the forum experience.

[LucyLu]

thank you Quinn