Thoughts of an introverted bookworm and avid jigsaw puzzler
Happy Valentine’s Day! 💗
You’ve Got Mail is a 500-piece puzzle from Spaghetti Tree, and the artist is Loni Harris. This was my first puzzle from this brand, and I loved it! It is a random cut but the pieces are nice and big, so it was really easy to put together. I love the flowers bursting out of the envelope as well as the whimsical patterns on all of the butterflies.
It was the perfect puzzle to celebrate Valentine’s Day and love in all its forms! 💗
Here are some closeups:
I recently did two more of the Happy Camper series from Ceaco, illustrated by Stephanie Peterson Jones. Both were 300 pieces.
Costa Rica Camper is my favorite Happy Camper puzzle so far! It is so bright and colorful, and there were lots of large sections with unique patterns that I could pull out and do. I barely even needed to look at the box!
Beach Camper is another fun one. I love the turquoise on the camper and the pink of the flamingo and the flowers. This one was secondhand so the pieces were a bit worn, but it was still okay quality.
Cozy Nooks & Reading Books is a 500-piece puzzle from Designworks Ink. It was an impulse buy from Target in early December, but I didn’t get to it before Christmas. I love how festive it is, and it even has a red backing.
As an avid bookworm, I really enjoy seeing books in puzzles. I also enjoy doing words, so this puzzle was a lot of fun for me. I usually do the border first when I puzzle, but since this border was all dark green, I chose to do it last. I was impressed with the quality of this puzzle, especially with its low price tag. There were no false fits, and the pieces were nice.
At the puzzle swap I attended in November, I got two puzzles that had been used in the 2025 US National Jigsaw Puzzle Championship. These are both 500-piece puzzles from Ravensburger, who sponsors the competition.
Art Studio was illustrated by Jena DellaGrottaglia. It was trickier than I thought it would be to put together, but it did come together and it really quite beautiful.
Home Sweet Home was illustrated by Demelsa Haughton. I have done a couple of her other puzzles and find her style to be so charming. I loved discovering all the whimsical details and adorable creatures in this image. It went much more quickly than the previous puzzle, which was nice.
House of Colors is a 1000-piece puzzle from Enjoy Puzzles, and the artist is Ivaylo Ivanov. This is a new brand to me, and I was blown away by how nice it is. The colors are so deep and rich, and I love the image!
The puzzle quality is possible the best I have seen so far. The pieces are the perfect thickness and size, and they fit together so nicely without any false fits. I never got stuck or frustrated but just kept moving steadily through the whole thing. It was so satisfying!
One interesting thing in the world of puzzles is the debate over the use of AI, much like in the rest of society right now. I understand that people who want to avoid AI don’t appreciate companies that aren’t transparent about using it. I also understand that it is frustrating to artists to see puzzles with AI generated images that take opportunities away from them or even steal their work itself. However, I feel like it is inevitable at this point, so our best bet is to work on defining how we are going to use it.
All that to say that I post my puzzles in a few different places – Instagram, Facebook, and Reddit – and whenever I post something on Reddit that has any AI connection, other users always comment about it. I didn’t realize that this artist/company uses AI, but apparently they do. I don’t seek out AI images because I don’t like most of them that much, but I have come across a few that were really well done and have been okay with getting them.
I’m curious to know what other people think about this topic. Please feel free to share any thoughts – for or against – in the comments!
It’s Not Hoarding If It’s Books is a 1000-piece puzzle from ellembee gifts. This company sells a variety of products with fun sayings on them, and I thought this one was very cute!
The puzzle was pretty good quality, with random cut pieces that weren’t too small or weirdly shaped. However, it is what is called a “soft touch” puzzle, which means the pieces (and even the box) have a surface like velvet or suede. This is the second puzzle I have done that was branded as soft touch, and I really, really dislike the texture. It feels almost greasy to me (like it would pick up dust) and is very unpleasant. Also, the pieces are hard to move around in my sorting trays.
Many puzzlers love this type of texture, and I have heard that there can be variations in how soft touch feels and that some of them are better than others, but I am planning to avoid them as much as possible from now on.
Pumpkins & Gourds is a 300-piece puzzle from Ceaco that I got at a puzzle swap a few weeks ago. Thankfully it was still in good condition and had all the pieces.
This was an enjoyable build that didn’t take too long. I did it the same evening that I did the two MicroPuzzles. It would be a great puzzle for fall, but I didn’t want to hold onto it for that long, so I went ahead and did it now. This will be going back into my swap pile.
Alpine Village and Here Comes Santa are 150-piece puzzles from MicroPuzzles. Michael put these in my Christmas stocking, and I was so happy to get them. The pieces are so tiny! I would not recommend if you have arthritis or anything like that.
Alpine Village was a bit tricky because of the level of detail on the tiny pieces. Here Comes Santa is just so adorable with the happy snowman!
These puzzles come in a clear plastic tube with a screw-top lid. The packaging is super cute, but it does make it hard to look at the puzzle image as it is wrapped around the outside of the tube.
January 29th is National Puzzle Day in the US, created to celebrate all forms of puzzles. Of course, my favorite type is the jigsaw, as evidenced by the over 340 jigsaw puzzles I have done in the last 4 1/2 years.
Last night I hosted two friends who also enjoy doing puzzles. We had dinner together and then I had them choose one from my collection to do. They chose Cat Stamps, a 500-piece from Re-marks.
We had a great time putting this image together. This was the first puzzle I had done from this brand, and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality given the price. The pieces fit together well enough that we could pick up whole sections and move them around. The finish was pretty glossy, but I got used to that after a while.
Here is the finished puzzle:
Happy National Puzzle Day!
Starry Seasons is a 500-piece puzzle from 1canoe2. This gorgeous puzzle was on my wish list for a long time, but I kept passing it up due to the price tag. Then the brand had a $15 sale on their website, and I snatched this one up right away. I just love the vertical grid design and how beautifully each season is represented.Â
The quality was great and the puzzle was not too hard, so I was able to do it in one sitting. I typically pull out the edges while flipping the rest of the pieces and then sort as needed as I go along, and that worked pretty well for this puzzle. After doing the edges and the bottom sections, I pulled out the pieces that bordered each season and it was like doing four mini puzzles after that.
I am in love with the finished product and will definitely be doing this one again.
