Tutorial

Want to learn to Pic-a-Pix? Here's a great tutorial to watch!
After watching, you can go to learnpicapix.com and get some free puzzles to try.



Pic-a-Pix the Latest Puzzling Fix from Diane Baher on Vimeo.

Spring Evening Puzzles

Spring weather is here in Edmonton and yesterday it was so pleasant to be outdoors! (It was warm enough to be outside without a coat and bini, that's saying something :)

So last night I found myself wandering around the house with a bit of time. I was looking over a bookcase wondering if there was anything of interest, and wishing I had my Pic-a-Pix puzzles with me. I wandered out to the deck and found one of my sisters there, doing what? Pic-a-Pix puzzles!  I excitedly sat down and began one along with her, enjoying the beautiful evening out doors and the fun puzzling-turned-coloring game of Pic-a-Pix. It was a great evening!

WHO?

I picked up the puzzles again the other day and this one was fun because there was so much background filled in first, but I still had no idea what the picture was!

 The finished project: an owl. :D I like how the eyes and mouth are kind of snow-boarder-punk-ish.

This puzzle came out of a book of them: Pic-a-Pix, the Latest Puzzling Fix!

Puzzle Question: Global N.A.

We've got a fan who's stuck on a puzzle. :


"Global N.A. I've tried twice but can't get past this point. Is it solvable? Part of me says it must be, but the puzzle-doer in me is stumped here. If it is solvable, I'd love to know which row/column/square I need to look at next to move on."


Can anyone help them out?? Try to solve the puzzle and let me know how it goes!

Meet the Puzzle Creator

Diane Baher, puzzle creator and author of Pic-a-Pix the Latest Puzzling Fix tells her story. 

"How did I get to this point in my life where I am creating these Japanese logic puzzles and now marketing my recently published book?  I guess you could say that I have always enjoyed activities that require logic of some form or other.  That’s probably why as a kid in school, math and science were notably my favourite subjects.  I think I am a visual person, preferring to eye witness the steps taken to solve something and appreciating them as I achieve a particular result.  When you think about it, this is basically what a jigsaw puzzle does.  You start with a pile of pieces; begin by doing the easy part – the border, then working with certain colored groups or visually unique pieces, and finishing the sky last.  It all comes together to form that beautiful picture because of your patience and efforts along the way.  This same process is utilized when you do one of my pic-a-pix puzzles.  From coming up with picture ideas, through the compilation of accurate number clues, to testing out my own puzzles, this is something I just thoroughly love to do.  You could even label it an addiction of sorts, but at best it is a healthy one."

Click here to check out Diane's website. On her website you can find instructions, free practice puzzles, and a link to buy the book of puzzles!

If you havn't yet, try out Pic-a-Pix puzzles today!

Puzzling it out...

If you're like me you might wonder what a Pic-a-Pix puzzle is supposed to look like while you're figuring it out. As often as not they don't resemble anything at all until the very end! Because of the strategy of using the clues to color in one box at a time in all different places, the puzzle often takes until the very end to come together. Here is an example of a puzzle I did, at two points during my puzzling it out. Can anyone guess what it is?!?

Transcending boundaries

Living in France and Canada has made me realize that there is a ton of multiculturalism and mixing of cultures and languages going on. One the one hand, that is pretty cool, that people are starting to figure out how to get past those traditional barriers: language and culture.  On the other hand, there is often still a significant language barrier involved. So when you're thinking of an activity the kids can do to befriend others, or there's someone at work you could befriend except for that language problem...I have the perfect solution:

So, you're looking for a puzzle that isn't language dependent, (not to solve it or for instructions on HOW to solve it)?  

How about an activity that has almost no age-limit? 

What about an activity that boys and girls would equally enjoy? 

How about Pic-a-Pix!

Teaching someone how to do a Pic-a-Pix puzzle is as easy as letting them watch you do one, or watching a tutorial online:

Then, wa-bam! You've got something in common with others, and that is what helps friendships grow! 

Recently I took my "Pic-a-Pix, The Latest Puzzling Fix," to work with me to do on down time in the break room. My co-workers all asked what the heck I was doing, and it was fun to show them how to do the puzzles, and the cool pictures they create. I am planning on taking them a few printouts of free copies from Diane's website, I'll keep you posted on how it goes!


If you don't get how to do the puzzles, check out my blogpost: Intro to Pic-a-Pix. Then go to Diane's website and get some free puzzles to try it out!

Brain Health

Did anyone know that January is Alzheimers Awareness Month?

I just recently became aware of this fact, and so here is a post dedicated to brain health! 

My first two years of University I was a dancer. Music and Dance came first in my life, and I loved it. I started realizing that playing music and dancing are things that involve muscle memory, and that our brains work sort of subconsciously once we have learned a step or a pattern.  In my second two years of University I focused more on writing and research, and in one of my classes I ran into a student doing a thesis on dancing and Alzheimer's. Before she even began to explain her theory to me I knew it was a good one. The people getting Alzheimer's right now are the people who grew up going to social dances, their brains know how to dance, without thinking about it. So part of this student's research involved getting Alzheimer's patients up and music playing, and they just knew what to do! Amazing! Her study also noted several cases where while dancing, some of these people would 'come back,' meaning they could remember things and people. What a beautiful thing. 

Along with dancing and music, brain health in general is stimulated by anything that gets you thinking logically or problem-solving. That's exactly what puzzles do for you! According to retired psychologist, Patsi Krakoff, Psy.D., who writes a blog for "Keeping Your Brain Healthy," studies indicate that challenging brain exercises are key to boosting the amount of new brain cells your body creates. So by puzzling out these Pic-a-Pix puzzles, you are boosting your brain health! Can this delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease? I'm not sure if that has been clinically proven yet, but Pic-a-Pix sounds like a pretty fun prescription for boosting brain health!

Because Pic-a-Pix helps brain health, Diane Baher (Pic-a-Pix puzzle book creator) has set up a donation system with the Alzheimer Society of Calgary. She donates $1 from every book sold to the Alzheimer Society. Pretty great to be able to give back to society, and that's a fundamental part of bettering the world.  During this, the Alzheimer's Awareness Month, Diane was at the Okotoks Library for their Family Literacy Day event, pictured above. She had a Pic-a-Pix station set up with information and books for sale. Guest speaker at the event was Jayson Krause, who recently published "52 People," which isn't so much about brain health as relationship health. But in a way, if we have healthy relationships we'll have a healthier brain- it all ties together in the end. His idea for the book started when his best friend died and he realized he hadn't really known him. Thus began a crusade to really get to know people- finding the right questions to ask, and to persuade others to really get to know their loved ones, beyond just the day-to-day blather. I could write a whole 'nother post about just that. :) But here's where I sign off for today...

Sources cited: http://learnpicapix.com/2011/06/06/keeping-your-brain-healthy/; http://www.westernwheel.com/article/20111214/WHE0302/312149998/-1/whe/authors-success-not-so-puzzling; http://www.drivenbypassion.com/52/?page_id=1718 : Jayson Krause's blog.

Why Pic-a-Pix?

Let me tell you why I love doing these puzzles...as opposed to cross word puzzles, Sudoku, word-searches, etc. 

I have heard many times that doing puzzle-type things keeps your brain going- healthy, keeps it good at thinking, analytical skills, stuff like that. And we all know that such things are really important especially as we get older and start forgetting stuff. So it'd probably be a good idea to like doing those puzzles. But quite frankly I find them a bit dull. Well that's not entirely true. Word searches and cross-word puzzles are more so that way. Sudoku, unfortunately, is just way beyond me. Someone tried to make math fun, and I applaud that, but it is still way too hard for me, and there is no immediate reward I can see from finishing one. 

Pic-a-Pix, on the other hand...

Pic-a-Pix is kind of like Sudoku (as far as I can tell) in that you have to work with numbers. But the math doesn't go beyond addition and subtraction. Deduction skills are developed, which are an excellent thing for anyone to develop, and you have to cross-check yourself constantly, going back to parts you've already worked on over and over to find more clues. It's kinda like repetition, which is one of the best ways to learn. But all that stuff is pretty scholarly... the real reason I love these puzzles are because they keep you hanging--trying to figure out what the picture will be at the end!! I love that! #1 I like art and creating pictures and beautiful things (even if I'm not very good at it), and #2 the suspense is awesome. All the scholarly stuff is really just some awesome side-effects. Pretty good, hey?

Here is one of the first Pic-a-Pix puzzles I did:

WebSite

Eventually I hope to post puzzles right here on my blog, but the best place to find them right now of course is the creator's website!

http://learnpicapix.com/

This website was created a year or so ago and is a great place to learn how to do the puzzles, and try out free puzzles! I recommend trying out a puzzle or two on the website, and let me know how it goes. ;)

Intro to Pic-a-Pix

"Pic-a-Pix are exciting Picture Logic puzzles that form whimsical pixel-composed pictures when solved. Challenging, deductive and artistic, this original Japanese invention offers the ultimate mix of logic, art and fun while providing solvers with many hours of mentally stimulating entertainment."--ConceptisPuzzles

My first introduction to these puzzles was momentarily frustrating, then way tons of fun! I took the book of puzzles to dinner and would work on them while waiting for the food. My family laughed at first, but then they all wanted to try to do the puzzles too!

Before I get into any rules or anything else, here is a tutorial from YouTube, enjoy!

 

Fan-club Beginnings

I was recently at a family Christmas party and was approached by my aunt with a puzzling book-- a book of Pic-a-Pix Puzzles. The most puzzling part was that she had created all 100 of the puzzles by herself! I was amazed and began trying to solve the puzzles.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not actually a huge fan of puzzles, I'm not the type to do the Sudoku in the newspaper or take a book of crossword puzzles on a road trip, I'd rather read a book or take a coloring book. These puzzles are unique, however, in that they create pictures! It is sort of like a paint-by-number, where you create something beautiful at the end, but totally tax your brainpower the meantime.  And it was FUN! So in short order I agreed to start a fan- blog for her, to get the word out about these puzzles and to share them with everyone!

I'll use this blog as a place to share everything I learn about Pic-a-Pix, and pic-a-pix puzzle creator Diane Baher. Hopefully you'll have as much fun puzzle-ing as I am! Stay tuned...