242 pieces. This one is the third try as I had problems with the dry press. I think I finally figured it out. I turned up the temp (250 degrees for 1 minute) and I used waxed paper between the image and the kraft paper that the platen pushes against. No image lift! I did still have some paper lift that required gluing after cutting, but much, much better! This is a birthday puzzle for my sister. It’s the most piece count I’ve done so far, and I’m super proud of the “Anissa” piece. I was sweating bullets when cutting it. I named this “Birthday Surprise” not because she will be surprised to receive a puzzle, but because I put an extra piece that doesn’t fit into the box (since I had extra images from the first failed attempts) and I cut a miniature (Stave-like) of the image because I know she like this. Additionally, I did “swirls” and “grass” pieces and found a style when cutting the sky that I really like. Overall, I’m quite cuffed with myself.
