Jigsaw Obsession – scattered pieces from the mind of a crafter of jigsaw puzzles

This is my first post in my new blog – Jigsaw Obsession, scattered pieces from the mind of a crafter of jigsaw puzzles.

I’m going to talk about the about the art, science and frustrations of crafting our small, 35 piece jigsaw puzzles which, when completed, reveal a personal message or greeting, like “Happy Birthday”, or “You’re Awesome”. Think greeting card, but more intimate, more thoughtful and, let’s face it, way more fun.

And it’ll be about more than that. It’ll be about the joys and frustrations of building a small crafting business in a digital age. The real difficulties of trying to tell people about a new, innovative and exciting product (“Jigsaiz”) when it doesn’t fit into the stifling, regimented categories imposed on e-commerce by Google, Amazon and particularly Etsy – don’t get me started …

It’ll be about the ups and downs of craft fairs too. People keep telling me they’re a dying breed, but it never seems like that on a busy Saturday afternoon in the run up to Christmas. Then there’s the great pleasure in meeting other crafters, many of whom are people with amazing, humbling talents, producing work that’s original, innovative and often downright fun. People who are willing to share their tricks (and their treats) at the drop of a hat. Did I say that they’re doing this in their spare time?

At the heart of this blog will be an obsession. It’s a phrase I often hear when people describe puzzlers – “so and so’s obsessed with jigsaw puzzles”. Two of my friends completed 60, or maybe 70 puzzles, during the first year of lockdown This caused everyone to raid their garages, lofts and bookcases to find that elusive Gibson or Ravensburger to donate to their “to do next” pile.  Show me a puzzler worth the name who’s not looked at the clock to find that its 2.30am, but who still won’t contemplate going to bed until that 12 square inches of flat, grey sky is safely in place.

Our family obsession is designing, making and selling our jigsaw puzzles. Welcome to our world.

You can see the Jigsaiz range of puzzle on this website – just follow the link https://jigsaiz.co.uk/jigsaiz-shop/.