Thoughts of an introverted bookworm and avid jigsaw puzzler
The Bird House is a 1000-piece puzzle from Buffalo Games, and the artist is Charles Wysocki. I got this at a puzzle swap with a bunch of other Wysocki puzzles.
I really enjoyed this one. It has the classic Wysocki feel with enough going on that it wasn’t too difficult. Although I have been thinking, if I get more of his puzzles, I will try to get 500 or 300 piece versions for when I want a quick one.
Rickshaw Ride is a 500-piece puzzle from Laila Luxury Puzzles, and the artist is Asma Jamali. Laila is a fairly new brand that was started by a Muslim woman and features images by Muslim artists. The owner also has a background in mental health and is passionate about the many benefits of doing puzzles.
This puzzle comes in a round canister which is lovely if a bit impractical. The pieces are in a cotton bag, and there is a nice size reference poster to use while puzzling. Additionally, there is a good variety of piece shapes that hold together well with no false fits.
I love how colorful and vibrant the image is; it was truly a joy to put together. The finish is velvety soft, which I know most people really enjoy. I do not care for that myself, but I still had a great time doing this puzzle because of how much I like the artwork and the quality.
Here are some closeups that show off how good the art is:
I recently entered a giveaway for a $50 gift card to Puzzledly, which is one of my favorite online puzzle stores, and I was shocked to actually win! I do have puzzles on my wishlist on the site, but when I looked at the new arrivals section, I found two Werkshoppe puzzle that were on pre-order that I fell in love with.
The one on the top is called Beach Boardwalk, and the bottom one is Autumn on Main Street. Both are 1000 pieces, and the artist is Cathy Walters. I have always enjoyed puzzling buildings, so these storefront images really spoke to me.
Because Puzzledly gives 20% off when you buy 3 or more puzzles, I was able to add in a mini puzzle. I chose Garden Serenity, which is a 99-piece puzzle from Olleo. The artist is Salome Herzog. I actually did that one during my lunch break one day, and it is so pretty!
Last week was pretty quiet for me. It was also a short work week because I took Friday off. It was so nice to have an extra day to relax. I did some reading and watched a couple of shows I have been wanting to see. I also caught up on taking pictures of my finished puzzles and getting them put away.
Today I decluttered and organized one of my hall closets. I made enough room to move three boxes of Michael’s old Lego pieces/sets from one of my bedroom closets and pile them in one corner of the hall closet. This gave me room in my bedroom closet to get two new storage boxes for puzzles. I probably keep too many puzzles, but I like to hold onto any that I think I might like to do again.
I am so thankful for the amount of storage in this apartment. I have more storage here than in either house I have previously owned! I ran out of steam before I filled the new storage boxes, but I’m still happy with the progress I made.
In Town is an 86-piece mini wooden puzzle from Victory, and the artist is Kim Jacobs. They were having a special when I bought the other wooden puzzle offering a free mini puzzle with each medium puzzle purchased, so I got this one for free!
The image is just so pretty, and I love the color palette. This is another image I would hesitate to do in a large piece count but am happy to tackle in this size. It was very enjoyable to put together.
Because this is a smaller puzzle, it has fewer whimsy pieces than the other puzzle I just did, but they are still fun. One of the whimsies is a hand making the letter “V.” This stands for Victory, the name of the brand, and is included with all of their puzzles.
Midsummer Night’s Dream is a 256-piece wooden puzzle from Victory, and the artist is Lucy Grossmith. This is the first wooden puzzle I have purchased. I did one other one as a traveling puzzle a year or so ago and really enjoyed it, so I finally decided to invest in one myself.
I was really drawn to the image and knew it was something I wouldn’t want to attempt in a large piece count but thought it would be a nice challenge in the medium size. I was impressed with the packaging, although one piece came out of the box with a small chip broken off. I was a bit bummed about that because it is noticeable on the finished puzzle.
The process of building the puzzle was very enjoyable. It was a nice change from cardboard puzzles, and I am definitely open to doing more of them. I especially liked seeing all of the whimsy pieces, which are pieces that are shaped like something instead of just being a random shape. I took a picture of the back of the puzzle, and you can see the whimsies more easily from that. I loved coming across these pieces when doing the puzzle, especially all of the different rabbits.
I did end up contacting the company about the broken piece. They had me send them some pictures and said they are going to send me a replacement piece. Here is a pic of the piece that was damaged; a little chip came off the wing of the owl. I am not sure if the wing is supposed to be connected to the owl or if they are two separate pieces, so I am interested to see what they send me.
I don’t buy many books – I usually borrow them from the library using Libby or Hoopla – but Pamela Kelley is an auto-buy author for me. I always enjoy her feel-good stories, which are mostly set on Nantucket and have those fun beachy vibes.
Nantucket Second Chances is about Claire Shipman, who is going through a divorce and returns home to Nantucket to figure out what to do next. Did I mention she has a teenage daughter and is also pregnant again? As the divorce drags on, she decides to start selling her high end bags and shoes to make some extra money. She opens a little shop in the extra space owned by custom furniture maker Cody, and we get to follow along as she builds her business and develops a friendship (and maybe more) with Cody.
This was such a fun read. I really liked the characters, and the story was paced well and had just the right amount of drama for me. Highly recommended!
English Cottage is a 1000-piece puzzle from eeBoo, and the artist is Victoria Ball. This was fairly challenging for me, but I still really enjoyed it. I just think the art is so pretty, and I always like this brand. Some people don’t like it because the pieces are a bit glossy, but it has never been an issue for me.
This is going up a day late because I did not feel like getting on the computer yesterday. I had a pretty quiet week, but I did have a quick dinner with Suzanne on Friday and lunch/movie with Kim on Saturday.
My psychiatrist and I are still trying to figure out the new med I am on. I was taking a small dose twice during the day and a bit larger dose at bedtime. I was experiencing a lot of tiredness during the day, to the point where I was falling asleep at my desk. After reducing the daytime dose a bit didn’t help, we switched to me only taking the nighttime dose.
I thought it was getting better, but this morning I fell asleep at my desk again. I am going to give it a few more days and then contact her again to see what we can do. If this doesn’t change, I would like to get off the medication altogether. I already struggle with sleepiness due to diabetes and staying up too late sometimes; I don’t want to compound it with meds.
The Story Bean is a 500-piece puzzle from RoseArt, and the artist is Olivia Gibbs. This image of a bookshop is super charming, and the box it comes in is really cute, although a bit impractical for storage.
I love the feel of the pieces, but the fit was so loose and the connectors so similar that there were many false fits. The top section was especially difficult because of that an required a lot of reworking.
Here’s what the box looks like:
In So Many Words 