Category: puzzles

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Art Crystal Jigsaw

This adorable jigsaw puzzle was a gift from my good friends Bill and Jenn. They recently spent 15 days in Japan and brought back souvenirs for Michael & me.

I don’t know the actual name of the puzzle because most of the writing on the box is in Japanese, but it does say Art Crystal Jigsaw in English.

Front of box
Back of box

The puzzle is 208 pieces, and they are both plastic and translucent.

The pile of pieces

This was a very fun puzzle to put together. It was harder than I thought it would be because the pieces were so dark, but the pieces clicked together in a very satisfying way. I did the inside first and finished with the border last.

Finished puzzle

I don’t usually time my puzzles, but I was interested to see how long this one would take. My total time was 1:35:50.

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Christmas Cornucopia

For my second Christmas puzzle of the season, I did Christmas Cornucopia from Elena Essex. It’s a 1000-piece puzzle with beautiful colors and gold foil accents.

This is also my second Elena Essex puzzle to put together. The first one was Woodland Magic, which was an absolute dream to do.

This puzzle was harder than the mushroom puzzle as there weren’t as many different colors. It was definitely doable, however, once I hunkered down and started picking out the different textures in each color.

The only downside of this puzzle was the border. There were so many false fits, and I really struggled to get the border completed. I had to move things around multiple times and was very far into the puzzle before I got it completely done.

How far I got before the border was done

I did love the colors and the gold foil accents. I also appreciated how well the pieces held together. It was very easy to move sections around.

Finished puzzle

I highly recommend this puzzle for a fun holiday experience.

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Snowman with Presents

Snowman with Presents is my first Christmas puzzle of the season. It’s a 500-piece puzzle from Bits and Pieces, and the artist is William Vanderdasson. I chose this one because of the cute image. I love snowmen, and the colorful presents and the hat/scarf looked like they would be fun to do.

The puzzle was enjoyable to put together. I have only done a couple from this brand before, so I had to get used to the odd piece shapes again. Once I did that, it came together fairly easily. There were a lot of white and gray pieces, but they did have varying shades on different parts of the puzzle, so they weren’t too bad to figure out.

Not a bad way to start off my holiday season!

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Cats In Quarantine/Thanksgiving

Today was Thanksgiving Day, and it was a good one. I got up early to start the turkey. It was my first time cooking a turkey. We were given a full Thanksgiving dinner from Michael’s caseworker, so I decided to give it a try.

My friend Ren̩e was already planning to come celebrate with me and Michael, and she was bringing the asparagus and dessert Рchocolate cheesecake for us and chocolate chip cookies for Michael. She ran a bit late, so I just let the turkey rest until she got here. Then I made the rest of the food.

While the turkey was cooking, I got out a 500-piece puzzle called Cats In Quarantine from Exploding Kittens. The artist is David Kantrowitz. It was super fun. I loved the image and the quality. The pieces fit together well, and you could easily move small sections around. The only weird thing was that some of the colors on the included poster didn’t really match the puzzle.

Cats In Quarantine

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Puzzled Cats

Puzzled Cats is a charming 1000-piece puzzle from a company called Two Bird Press. I had it on my Amazon wish list for several months but kept putting it off because it was a little pricier than I normally do.

Then another puzzle on my wish list that I really liked disappeared from the list. After that, I decided to go ahead and get this one while it was still available.

It was a very enjoyable build. The pieces were a tight fit, maybe even too tight. Sometimes, I had to force them together, even when I knew they were in the right place. The image was super cute, though, and it was just the right level of difficulty.

Puzzled Cats
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Hidden Cows

Hidden Cows is a Sandra Boynton puzzle from Workman Puzzles that was absolutely delightful. It is 1000 pieces.

I had previously done her 500 piece Puzzle Complaints, which I loved. So I was eager to get into this one. It was harder than the other one, but still fun.

I started out differently than normal by turning all the pieces over and pulling out the edge pieces but not sorting the rest of them at all. Then I just picked out the pieces that matched each section I wanted to work on.

About halfway through the puzzle, I sorted the rest of the pieces because I was tired of this method. Once I had finished the more distinct areas, I worked my way through the light green and dark green pieces. Towards the end of that, I had to sort by shape, which is the only way I got through all the white pieces.

Finished with all the easy parts
Completed puzzle

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The Art of Pendleton Patchwork

The Art of Patchwork Puzzle is a 1000-piece puzzle from Chronicle Books that features wool patterns from the Pendleton company.

The quality is very similar to the puzzles from Laurence King Publishing. The pieces are all two in, two out, the fit is very crumbly, and there were several false fits.

All that aside, I did enjoy this puzzle. Each pattern was like a mini puzzle, which provided just the right amount of challenge.

I actually got this puzzle on a trip to Fallingwater, in their gift shop. I know it seems strange that I didn’t get a Frank Lloyd Wright puzzle, but the ones they had seemed more complicated, and I was nervous to get one of those. I might get one of them now that I have a bit more experience puzzling.

First Day
Second Day – turned it around so I could reach the sections I needed to do
Finished Puzzle

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Circle of Colors: Ocean

After getting my last puzzle framed and off the dining room table, I decided to do an easier puzzle. I had a few 500-piece puzzles on my to-do shelf, so I picked one of those.

The puzzle I chose was Ocean from the Ravensburger Circle of Colors line. As you might guess from the title, it is a round puzzle. The artist is Asia Orlando.

This was a very fun, relaxing puzzle. It features an array of ocean creatures arranged in rainbow order. I sorted the pieces by color, then started with the edge. After that, I just went color by color around the puzzle. It went quickly; I never got stuck or frustrated.

Here’s a picture of the finished puzzle:

I highly recommend this puzzle!

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The World of the Brontes

I finally finished my first puzzle since moving into the new apartment! I had done The World of Jane Austen last year and liked it so much I framed it. I want to put it up on the wall above my TV, but it’s a bit small for the space, so a friend of mine suggested I do another puzzle to put beside it. I decided to do this one because it’s from the same line and is a similar style and the same size as the Jane Austen one.

This puzzle is from Laurence King Publishing, and the artist is Eleanor Taylor. It is 1000 pieces.

I spent a couple of hours sorting pieces because I knew it would be helpful to have the different buildings separated as much as possible. The first day I worked on it I finished the sorting and did the border.

It took me a while to get back to the puzzle, but when I did, I made some decent progress on the buildings. The fit was pretty crumbly, but I was prepared for that because the Jane Austen one was the same way.

Finally, I sat down and finished the puzzle. It was challenging in spots, but not so bad that I ever considered giving up. I am really happy with the finished puzzle.

I will post a picture once I have both puzzles on the wall. Next puzzle is going to be a fun, easy one!

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Catching Up – October 2023

Wow, it’s hard to believe it has been over seven months since my last post! A lot has happened in that time.

  • Told my husband I wanted a divorce
  • Found a new home for our dog
  • Sold our house
  • Paid off our debts with the proceeds
  • Found an apartment for me and my son
  • Finalized the divorce
  • Went back to my maiden name
  • Found a new church

I am really happy in the new apartment, and I love the church I found. I have only been going for about six weeks, and I just attended a mixer for new people yesterday. It was a lot of fun. I am also part of a table group that meets every other Wednesday night, and later this month I am going to a three-week class called Intro to the Journey to learn more about the church.

I was recently diagnosed with diabetes, which has precipitated some huge changes in my life. I have had to change a lot about how I eat, including quitting Mountain Dew cold turkey. The combination of the new diet and the medication I am on seems to be helping, as I have a lot more energy now. I have been able to get a lot more done at work and even work some overtime again. I had been feeling discouraged about my energy levels for a while and assumed it was autistic burnout, but it seems like the way I had been feeling was actually a physical issue.

I have even started puzzling again. I am working on The World of the Bronte’s. It is the same style and size as The World of Jane Austen, which I did a while ago and framed. Once this one is done and framed, I’m going to hang them both on the wall above my TV. So far I have sorted the pieces, done the border, and worked on a few of the buildings.

Michael seems to like the new place as well. We finally have a good Employment Specialist, and he has two phone interviews this week. I’m really hoping they go well!

So, that’s the update for now.