Category: puzzles

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Mushrooms

Mushrooms is a 1000-piece puzzle from Cavallini & Co. It was the oldest puzzle on my to do shelf, so I decided I should finally tackle it. This company has unique packaging with each puzzle in a decorative puzzle tube with a mini poster and a drawstring muslin bag for the pieces. It’s quite distinctive but a bit awkward on the shelf.

The quality of the puzzle itself was good with a couple of issues. I loved the smooth feel of the pieces, but one was bent and wouldn’t lay flat. Also, the image was coming loose from the knobs when I would try a piece and then have to pull them apart if they didn’t fit.

The first half of the puzzle was pretty easy as there are several distinctive sections of different colors. It did get challenging after that and when I got down to the pieces that were all or mostly cream, I had to sort by shape and then try each piece one by one to find the right spot.

I did enjoy the challenge, though, and the finished puzzle is very pleasant to look at.

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Wicked

Wicked is a 300-piece puzzle from Buffalo Games. A friend gave this to me for my birthday because she knows how much I enjoyed the movie.

It was super quick to put together. Even though there is a lot of green and pink, the shades varied between sections so pulling out the pieces I wanted was easy. It was also a lot of fun to do; I love puzzles that are in a sort of grid like this one.

The puzzle she gave me for Christmas looks very difficult with lots of dark areas, so I’m glad I was at least able to do this one easily.

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Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Baby, It’s Cold Outside is a 1000-piece puzzle from New York Puzzle Company, and the artist is Ana Juan. I got this one several months ago and was holding onto it until wintertime. It is a random-cut puzzle, which have traditionally been my least favorite to do, but I found this one to be more enjoyable than I expected. I think I must be getting used to the random-cut style because I am considering getting more of them.

I just love this image with all of the adorable dogs dressed up for the cold. I love their outfits and their expressions/personalities. Which one is your favorite?

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Vivid Vinyl

Vivid Vinyl is a 500-piece puzzle from Buffalo Games, and the artist is Josie Lewis. I just love her artwork! I have been collecting a lot of the puzzles with her artwork because they are so fun. I actually have an ebay alert set up for Josie Lewis Puzzle so I can watch for the ones I still want to get.

This puzzle turned out to be pretty easy to do. I started with the border and then pulled out all of the pieces with the middles of the vinyls. Once I had those in place, I just worked my way from the pieces with the most color on them down to the last few that were just white.

I think this is such a happy puzzle (at least that’s what it evokes for me, lol), and I am looking forward to doing more of hers.

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The Cambridge

The Cambridge is a 1000-piece puzzle from Buffalo Games, and the artist is the much-loved Charles Wysocki. I love his images, and this was an especially good one because it had so many different buildings as well as some fun words and interesting boats.

I really enjoyed putting it together. I still have four more of his in the 1000-piece size to do when the mood strikes!

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All Good Things Are Wild & Free

All Good Things Are Wild & Free is a 1000-piece puzzle from Flow/Workman Puzzles. Flow is a magazine and an international brand that celebrates mindfulness, creativity, and the simple pleasures in life. This illustration was done by Dutch artist Valesca van Waveren and was inspired by Henry David Thoreau’s words in Walking.

I really enjoyed this puzzle, and I did find it very relaxing to do. I love how there are little details scattered around the image so there aren’t large sections of just one color, and I like the little touches like the rounded corners. The finish of the pieces feels smooth and clean, just how I like them.

I got this one at a puzzle swap. There is another one called Everything Is Made Out of Magic that looks really pretty too that I might consider getting.

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Rig Views

Rig Views is a 1000-piece puzzle from Ravensburger, and the artist is Jason Taylor. This is another of his indoor/outdoor images that I have fallen in love with. It was actually a much quicker build than I expected. I did it on a Sunday afternoon/evening while I was doing my colonoscopy prep. ☹️

There are a lot of fun little details and textures in this puzzle, so I was never stuck or bored. I love the contrast between the beautiful nature scene with the colorful items inside the vehicle.

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Midnight in Prague

Midnight in Prague is a 1000-piece puzzle from KI Puzzles, and the artist is Mandalina Tantareanu. She is a Romanian illustrated based in Germany, and she especially loves drawing cities.

This is the third one I have done from her Cities at Midnight series. My son Michael gave it to me for Christmas in 2024, and it was the last puzzle from 2024 still on my to do shelf. There are three more puzzles in this series, which I bought myself for Christmas in 2025 so I would have the whole set.

I love puzzling buildings and words, so I was glad this puzzle had some of both. The cobblestone bridge was also fun to do. The top section with all of the blue and white was a lot more challenging but doable.

Such a lovely image!

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All Day Long Food Truck

All Day Long Food Truck is a 1000-piece puzzle from Ceaco, and the artist is Stephanie Peterson Jones. Most of the food truck puzzles I have done of hers have been 500 pieces, so it was exciting to see one in a larger piece count.

I loved the bright colors in this one. My favorite part to put together was the words on the signs and menus; I find them really fun to do. I also really liked the piece shapes in this one; they are different from what I usually see from Ceaco. It did have the largest reference poster I have ever seen, which was really annoying to use but necessary to see the entire image.

Recently, one of my cousins asked me to post pictures of the process I usually follow when doing a puzzle, so I took pictures of each step as I was putting this one together and posted them on Facebook for her.

Step 1: Pour out pieces into sorting trays.
Step 2: Flip pieces over and pull out edges.
Step 3: Build border of puzzle.
Step 4: Start pulling out pieces with distinctive colors or patterns.
Step 5: Repeat as needed – this was my progress after my first session.

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Corner Bakery

Corner Bakery is a 750-piece puzzle from Ravensburger, and the artist is Elissa Della-Piana. It is one of their large piece puzzles, so it completely filled up my puzzle board, which is designed to hold up to 1500-piece puzzles!

I love this image. The bakery seems so quaint and cozy. I especially love the red shelf and the chalkboard menu. It looks like a place that would be fun to visit, and not only for the delicious treats.