Hey Everyone,

Thanks to all of you who filled out your surveys so quickly. The wonderfully soggy weekend we had here in PA gave us the much needed chance to get all of your rewards packed up and ready to ship.

We're going to start shipping them out over the next few days, so long as we don't have any major downpours. We don't want any of your packages arriving soggy! 

You should receive an email with your tracking information. It will be sent via Backerkit.com or [email protected], so be on the lookout for that. 

As always, if you have any questions, just contact us at the email above. And to those of you who still need to fill out your survey...we're waiting. 😉

That's all for now. Have a great week everyone! 

Lara & Eric

Hey Everybody!

Just a quick update to end the week. We'll be sending out surveys this coming Monday, April 15th, so please check your inbox for that email. 

Our plan is to start shipping no later than May 15th, so please be sure to fill out your survey by then. The earlier you fill out your survey, the faster we can get you rewards to you.

If you have any questions, just email us at [email protected].

That's all for now. Until our next update, take care and have a great weekend!

All the Best,
Lara & Eric

Hello Good People,

Well, we're just about at the end of the road. Pretty uneventful, like a leisurely walk through the open country where you can take in all that is going on around you.

We're very happy to have achieved the goal, that means a lot. Lara and I are quite thankful to have had the opportunity to turn a pastime we shared into a business adventure. Our goal was to introduce unique, original anime style art, work with the artists directly who created them and then make some really outstanding puzzles out of it.

And that we have achieved. We sincerely hope you will enjoy these puzzles and understand the goal for us has always been to create something you'd remember fondly rather than just us pumping something out for profit. Our integrity to make a quality product always outweighed the take we would receive in the end.

These may or may not be last puzzles we will ever produce. Only time will tell. With that, we'll keep you updated after the campaign of when you can expect your puzzles to ship. The good news is, you won't have to wait long. =)

Best to all of you,

Eric and Lara

Here is the last chapter of Goldi-chan and Three Puzzles.

Note: If you missed a chapter you can always look back at the previous updates.

Father may be Wise but Mother Knows Best

They all hooted with delight, exuberantly holding out their plates as Mrs. Owl lovingly cut a wedge for each of them.

“Oh, boy!!” Hermes Chirped.

“Positively scrumptious, my dear!” exclaimed Archimedes as he shoveled a forkful into his beak.

“This is sooo…good mother!” Olivia canted.

That afternoon, the owl family, satiated by their supper, sang the praises of their magnificent mother and her culinary creation. Now that their bellies were warm and full of good food, they forgot all about their prior inconveniences and the mysterious placement of puzzle pieces by pernicious pad foots.

The moral of this long-winded, winged-tale is, aside from the quality of the puzzle and cut of the pieces themselves; a good puzzle is one that has just the right dose of difficulty and can hold your interest.

At Playing Grounded we believe:

A puzzle that is too simple—low piece count, big pieces, lacks challenge—and is easily completed, may leave one wanting and unfulfilled in the process.

A puzzle that is extremely difficult—high piece count, small pieces, fuzzy image, lack of detail or repulsively repetitive—may leave one uninspired and unwilling to go any further with it. This will also lead to an undesirable outcome.

But when piecing a puzzle together that has a moderate piece count (i.e. 500-1500 pieces), an imaginative, inspired work of art that is well drawn, painted, or photographed, and that is brimming with bright colors and crisp, clean details, the experience is much more inviting. This kind of puzzle will leave one with a simple satisfaction that would seem to be the perfect fit for an overall enjoyable puzzling experience.

And lastly, a mother’s love is the heart of the hearth and usually knows what’s best for her nest.

~ The End ~

Hello Everybody,

We're now just about in our last week of the project. There's no real news to share but we do have is the next chapter of Goldi-chan and the Three Puzzles. Hope your enjoying the suspense, we're almost to the end.

Have great rest of your week,
Eric and Lara

Heart and Stomach

Over the course of the next hour, the three brooding birds had done exactly as they were told. The puzzles were slowly but surely picked up and put in their respective boxes, the table was set for the afternoon meal, and they had all cleaned and preened themselves thoroughly.

Archimedes sat in his chair ruffling the feathers under his beak as pondered and scribbled notes in a leather ledger, while the two younger owls squirmed in their seats glaring and making faces at one another from across the dinner table.

Just then, the kitchen doors banged open as Mrs. Owl rolled a serving cart into the room. Its wooden wheels clattering on the floor boards roused everyone to attention. She then placed a large silver platter in the middle of the table.

The owls gave up on their brooding as their hunger gave way to the delectable odors that wafted across their beaks. Mrs. Owl went about serving the afternoon meal, pouring a cup of strong Earl Grey tea for father, milk tea with sugar for the children and a cup of sweet tea with lemon for herself.

Then, she reached for the round covered baking dish that sat in the center of the tray which held the other owls captivated as they goggled in anticipation. They waited eagerly with their mouths now watering as she peeled back the heavy cloth napkin, releasing the billows of steam that flowed under it, a golden crusted, freshly baked mince mouse pie.

Stay tuned to for the finale, Chapter 7 in our final (next) week.

Good morning Everybody,

Last night we moved past the goal post, so it looks like your participation in this puzzle project has paid off! If all goes and stays well, you will have some nice new puzzles delivered to your doorstop before summer.

We can't thank you enough for supporting us in keeping our little business going, and giving the hope of introducing new puzzles to our portfolio. Believe us when we say, "every little bit helps." We know we're never gonna ever be the the big dogs on the block with their mass of followers and limitless media exposure, but it still warms our heart to know that people really appreciate what we do, and that makes the journey forward into uncertainty that much more rewarding.

So thanks again for believing and giving us the courage to continue. As a little something extra to go into your weekend, here is chapter 5 of Goldi-chan and her adventure.

All the best.

Eric and Lara

Guest in the Nest

At that moment, the youngest owlet squawked out, “Hey! Who finished my puzzle? Mom, she finished my puzzle!”

“I didn’t touch your puzzle, you grubby little larva!” the elder sibling retorted harshly. “I’ve got my own puzzle if I want…huh, who’s been working on my puzzle? Mother!”

“Lydia, you know I didn’t touch your puzzle. My feathers are full of chores to do around here. I’ve no time for games. Which reminds me, Lydia, I need you to set the table for supper. So all of you, please find somewhere else to play with your puzzles.”

“Mom!” the littlest owl protested. 

“Hermes, do as I say, and no squabbling about it!”

“But Olivia, you know the light is better in…,” Archimedes stopped mid sentence as Mrs. Owl shot him a sideways glance, the feathers furrowing on her brow, and then disappeared into the kitchen with her bundle.

Having lost the argument, the big owl sheepishly shuffled up to the table of his neat rows of perfectly stacked pieces only to realize that one of them was missing from its place. “Hmm…,” he murmured peering over the bridge of his glasses. “It appears that we have had an uninvited guest in our nest!”

Hello Everybody,

Well, we've reached the mid-way point in the campaign and we are so close to the goal. Thank you again for investing in this little project. Just have to hang on a little longer and hopefully see it come to fruition.

In the meantime, we hope you're enjoying the little tale Goldi-chan and the Three Puzzles. I'm adding an additional chapter this week because there are a few more to go and we won't have a enough time to finish properly before the time runs out. So here you go...

Note: If you're new and haven't seen the previous updates you can go back to the beginning from there.

Until next time, hope you have a pleasant week.

Eric and Lara

Picking Up the Pieces

Feeling like an unwanted intruder at that moment, she was about to leave when she noticed that scattered on the big table there were three jigsaw puzzles in progress. Goldi-chan loved puzzles, and, feeling a bit curious, she wanted to see what the pictures were. The first puzzle had larger pieces and what appeared to be a barnyard scene with different types of farm animals.

Goldi-chan looked over the image, and before she realized it, she was fitting the the pieces into place. No sooner than she noticed the puzzle was completed “Oops, I finished it! That was a little too easy I guess,” she whispered to herself.

Not feeling satisfied, she proceeded to the head of the table where, next to the largest puzzle, there stood neat rows of perfectly stacked pieces all indexed according to their particular shape and size. She could see that this puzzle was definitely more complicated than the last. The picture appeared to be an aerial view of some kind of topographic map and detailed descriptions.  She picked up one of the pieces from a stack, which were much smaller than the first puzzle, and attempted to see if she could find where it might fit. Having failed to achieve this after several minutes, she grew frustrated and gave up. This one is way too hard for me, she thought to herself before moving on to the third and final puzzle at the other end of the table.

This one seemed like it was more up to her speed. It was a picture of a page from an illustrated field guide of all the different types of flowers in the area. The art was very inviting. The illustrations of the flowers were colorful and brimming with fine little details that made them almost look real. The pieces weren’t so large, and, from what she could see, only a portion of the puzzle had already been put together. Goldi-chan found herself so taken with the beautiful art that she immediately sat down and started working on piecing the puzzle together in front of her.

Look Hoos Home

Time seemed to flow by quickly, and the minutes turned to hours. Goldi-chan, coming out of her focused fixation with the puzzle, became completely conscious of the methodic ticking on the wall above the entryway to the kitchen. “Jumping Jiggers! It’s almost 11:30!” she exclaimed. “I’d better get home. Mama will be calling me for lunch, and she’ll get worried if I don’t turn up.”

Goldi-chan got up quickly without undoing her damage and, only taking a brief moment to notice the owl’s lovely kitchen, proceeded out the backdoor. From there she got a spectacular view of the forest foliage and the wide-open countryside that lay beyond the woods. She could see the large white-painted barn of a neighboring farm not far off in the distance. Goldi-chan then plotted her course from that point, carefully climbed down the great oak and safely found her way home, just in time for lunch.

It was just a little after midday when the owls returned to their roost. Breathing a sigh of relief, Mrs. Owl, clutching a wicker basket in her wings, exclaimed, “Thank goodness, it’s good to be home.”

“Yes, it certainly is,” said the rather large and impressive looking owl that flew up next to her, and pushed open the front door. There were two owlets in tow. The littlest one piped up as he fluttered his way inside, “I’m starving! When do we eat?”

“You’re always hungry,” said the elder of two owl children.

“We’ll eat in good time. Now you two, go preen your feathers while I prepare supper,” their matronly mother commanded.

“Ahem…I have some work to do in the study,” said the wise Archimedes.

“Oh no you don’t Mr. Owl. You go clean those talons of yours. They’re a fright, and I will not have bits of fur flying around my dinner table!”

 Next Update: Chapters 5 - 6

Afternoon Everybody,

Hope you're enjoying some good weather which will hopefully proceed into the weekend. Not much to announce about the project. We have reached the halfway point, which is good. We feel that keeping the goal modest was the right decision. It's better to have a small victory than lose the outcome entirely.

So we'll remain hopeful. After all, we're not a contender for top placement. Enjoy the ride, I say, and make the most of it. With that, here is chapter 2 of Goldi-chan and the Three Puzzles. There are a total of 7, so we might have to step it up a bit before the campaign's conclusion.

Til next time, have great weekend.

Eric and Lara

Table of Contents

Goldi-chan thought to herself, Great I can ask him to help me find my way home. She was just about to knock when she noticed a note tacked just beneath the sign written with perfect penmanship. The note read, “Have gone hunting, will be back by tea time tomorrow. ~ Archimedes Owl ~”

It seemed that Goldi-chan had missed her opportunity to meet the Wise Owl. But being exhausted from her ordeals and wanting to calm down a bit and gather her thoughts, she gently pushed on the handle of the door and soon found herself inside the home.

The house was impeccably clean, tastefully decorated and well-managed. The front room was furnished with a couch, a couple of high-backed chairs and a sitting table, made from a sliver of oak, in the center. A painted vase full of freshly cut flowers rested atop a linen napkin that sat firmly in the middle of the impressive hunk of wood, but the focal point of the room had to be the hearth. It had a fireplace of intricately laid stones encased in columns of smooth and polished wood shelves with rows upon rows of leather-bound books. It was a cozy little nest, to be sure.

Goldi-chan moved toward what appeared to be the dining area in the far end of the room. It was complete with a perfectly round dinner table and four chairs. In the corner, next to the entry way to the kitchen, stood an ornately carved hutch filled with painted cups, bowls and plates. Goldi-chan could tell by the surroundings that the Wise Owl must have a family and that they were probably (hopefully) all together.

 Next Update Chapter 3: Picking Up the Pieces

Hey Guys and Gals,

While at the moment there is no super exciting news to share with you like... "Yes were just about to meet our goal" or we're half way there," for that matter, we'd we poor sports and rather ungrateful if we didn't give a shout out to you who decided to depart from your hard earned money to participate in this project. So, thank you, you have our gratitude.

Since there is nothing really to share about the campaign so far, we would still like to at least offer some content for you to enjoy. A year back I (Eric) wrote a short story for the post page for our website.

So, just for fun we thought we would share a chapter a week. With that being said, we hope you enjoy the somewhat original fairytale of Goldi-chan and the Three Puzzles.

Happy Sunday, it's getting warmer out there.
Eric and Lara

Cabin Curiosity

One bright, sunny morning, a little girl named Goldi-chan was playing in the woods that surrounded her village. After chasing a bright green butterfly for a time, she realized that she had left the well-worn path she’d been traversing and had somehow gotten herself lost along the way.

Goldi-chan looked for the tallest tree that she could find and decided to climb it hoping to see where she might be. After making her way up the sturdy limbs of an aged oak, now high up in its branches, she found what seemed to be a little cottage nestled soundly in the towering timber.

As she got closer, she could see that it was indeed a cabin, carefully constructed out of the sticks that littered the forest floor beneath her. There were windows cut into its walls, with lace curtains adorning the interior and a little porch jutting out from its face. Curiously, she walked toward the front door. It seemed to be made of planks of polished wood that were firmly held together, and on the door there was a plaque that read “Wise Owl of the Woods inquire within for assistance.”

 Next Update: Chapter 2: Table of Contents